Most brides would find it difficult to choose the moment that was most special at their wedding.

But for Jennifer Mancia, it was the students she selected to play music at her ceremonywho stole the show.

On Nov. 4, members of the Roxbury Youth Orchestra,part of Revolution of Hope, a conservatory-level after-school program that classically trains students in underserved communities, tuned their violins and cellos, and performed as Mancia and her now husband, Jonathan, tied the knot.

“For us it was not even something we had to keep thinking about because we are both city kids and that was the value that we saw in it,’’ she said. “We just wanted to give back in some way.’’

Although the students, who meet five days a week and practice for hours on end, have played smaller weddings in the past — mostly for people they know — this event marked a milestone for the group. The teenage performers, who range in age and musical skill, were invited to Serafina, a stylish Italian restaurant in the city’s Financial District, by a complete stranger who put trust in their abilities on her special day.

“It was fancy,’’ said David France, founder and executive director of Revolution of Hope, which he launched in 2013 after being inspired by a similar program called El Sistema, in Venezuela. “Having this be a complete stranger who said ‘Play for our wedding, and stay for the reception’ was amazing.’’

The Mancias met France last year, while he was plucking at his violin at South Station, a place where he often busks to raise extra money for the organization. France always keep fliers and information about the youth orchestra handy when he performs, so people passing by while rushing to a train can grab one and read up about the group. The hope is that they will donate to the cause, one that France said gives students a voice through music, and training “that might be out of their financial bracket.’’

Mancia was heading to the train with Jonathan, right after signing the wedding contract with Serafina, when they stopped to listen to France. She picked up one of the fliers, and within minutes knew that she wanted the Roxbury Youth Orchestra to be there when she said “I do’’ — even without having heard the students first.

“It was the best decision we could have made,’’ said Mancia, 37. “They were the best part of the wedding.’’

Both Mancia and her husband’s families immigrated to the United States — hers from Portugal and his from El Salvador — she said. Jennifer grew up in Cambridge, while her husband grew up in a single-parent home in Somerville.

Mancia was briefly exposed to the violin in middle school, but was later pulled from the Cambridge public school system to attend private school. She followed a straight path to college because, she said, her parents worked multiple jobs to ensure she furthered her education. Jonathan, she said, had to enter the workforce in high school to support his family.

Now in their 30s, Mancia works in the field of workforce development. Her husband is pursuing an education at the Harvard Extension School, in data science, while working overnight shifts, she said.

On the big day, France said the students played for 30 minutes before and during the ceremony. The group was paid $1,000 for the performance, money that France said went directly back into the program. Each of the students was also tipped by the bride’s mother.

“She secretly and slyly slipped each of them a $20 bill,’’ France said.

Tiffany Silva-Sanchez, 16, said being part of the wedding was an honor — and the food was delicious.

“It was bigger and grander and I felt like it was sentimental and very nice,’’ said Silva-Sanchez, who plays the viola and lives in Dorchester. “It felt like a big honor, you know? Someone liked us so much that they wanted us to stay, and treated us like family. That felt good.’’

France wrote about the group’s foray into the wedding-band business in a post on LinkedIn recently, titled “How one Boston Bride shared her wedding day with a group of Inner City Youth.’’

In the post, he spelled out the reasons that the event was meaningful for the students.

“Music can open the world to young people,’’ he wrote. “[This] experience brought my young people to a part of the city that maybe they don’t routinely visit, they met people they never would have met, ate food they never heard of, and were shown a more noble way to be human in an age of increasing division.’’

Steve Annear can be reached at steve.annear@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @steveannear.