Thursday, December 30, 2010

What You Should Know Before You Hire Wedding Band

By Rick James


There are few days in your life as memorable as your wedding day. All efforts should be made to prevent anything spoiling the perfection of this wonderful day. This means taking the time to find just the right musical entertainment for your reception. Read on to learn some things you should know before you hire wedding band.

Live music vs a DJ:

Whereas a DJ can only play pre-recorded songs from a play list, a live band has the flexibility to adjust their music (within the constraints of your own personal music preferences) to suit their audience. They can build a unique relationship with their audience and judge the mood of the night and choose music appropriate to that mood. Another handy benefit of choosing a live band is that you may be able to ask one of the band members to act as MC for the evening.

When to start looking:

Ideally you would begin searching for a band to play at your wedding reception at least six months before the event. This gives you plenty of time to ask around about good bands, listen to some of them play, and work out all the details they will need to know before they play.

How do you find the right band?

Decide on a musical style that you would like to have performed at your reception to help you find an appropriate performing group. Ask wedding consultants, event coordinators, relatives and friends if they know of any good bands that they would recommend. If you can't find a band that already has plenty of experience playing at wedding receptions, make sure that your band is crystal clear on all the details before the night.

Where possible, try and see your potential entertainment performing live. This will give the best idea of their musical competency and the relationship they create with their audience. Otherwise, ask for a recording of their work, preferably in video format.

Details, details, details:

Knowing beforehand what pieces your band is going to be playing is key to ensuring that you and the audience enjoy the selection. Get a copy of the band's regular play list, and don't be afraid to tell them what you want. Some bands will even learn new pieces for you, so if there's a particular song you have in mind, just ask if they would be able to include that in their play list.

Call up the venue ahead of time and ask if they have any kind of restriction in place for noise levels or the space the band uses. Talk with the band too, and ask about any special requirements, how many power points they will need, how much space they need to set up, etc. Have a look through venue and double check that it will be suitable for your band to play in.

A contract is necessary to make sure that everyone understands what is expected of them. It should contain all the details of dates, times, set-up and departure, payment of the band, break times and refreshments, attire, insurance, transport arrangements, overtime, and other unforeseen costs. If you would like the band to act as your MC for the evening, this must be added into the contract. Band members should be named individually in the contract, and the desired play list or musical style should be written down.

The band should start setting up at the venue an hour before the reception starts. This will provide plenty of time to work out and problems and do all the sound checks.




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