WEDDINGS

For a live band, playing at a wedding is similar to playing at other functions. Often the repertoire is similar - the age range of the guests might be a little broader - but you've still got to have a wide enough variety to pack the dancefloor.

But there are two areas where weddings are unique that need to be catered for by your live band.

The first one is the wedding dance.

The wedding dance is important for two reasons - often it's a song that has emotional significance to the bride and groom and also it's an unofficial marker of the transition from the more formal parts of the day (the wedding itself, the wedding breakfast, the cake cutting, the speeches) to the dancing and having lots of fun part of the day.

There's two options with the wedding dance, either we can learn it (but we need at least a month's notice), or we can download the original and play it on our system. We're happy to do either. Not a problem.

 

The second area where weddings are unique is the set up.

At most weddings the band needs to set up in the same area that the wedding breakfast will be served in. There are two approaches that can be taken to setting up in this scenario - set up and soundcheck before the guests arrive (often early afternoon), or set up AFTER the wedding breakfast and speeches.

Absolutely the best approach in our opinion is to set up BEFORE the guests arrive. Setting up after the wedding breakfast is nearly always stressful and rushed but there seems to be lots of other bands out there who prefer this (and who actually charge EXTRA for early arrival). So unless there's a space issue setting up early will always be our preference - and hopefully yours too!

 

"...it's a difficult thing to find a band who can encourage all age groups to dance, it was one of my main concerns when selecting a band...my concern should actually have been how to get them to stop dancing and come and wave me off on my honeymoon!"

Joanna Wood, London