Things to ask wedding bands BEFORE you book them
When booking the entertainment for your big day, it’s essential to find out how they operate and if they are the best fit for your day. For most people, this will be one of the few times they directly book a musical artist, so a bunch of things are foreign territory when it comes to what may or may not be required on the day.
Availability
These are the basics which should be asked before anything else, it’d be quite hard to plan a wedding when these aren’t in place!
- Can they do the date in question?
- Can they make the location required?
- Can they adhere to any venue specific requirements?
Song Catalogue
Your wedding is all about hearing the songs YOU want to hear on your big day, so ask the band for a list of all the songs they play (for instance, we maintain a list available here for our band). Some bands will have a broad range, some will have a narrow range. There are so many wedding bands around, it’s much easier to find one who matches your requirements than to try and get a 70’s rock band to cover 2000’s pop songs.
Once you have the list, make sure to highlight any “must-play” songs, as well as any “don’t play” songs. This helps the band better understand your tastes. Try not to dictate ALL the songs a band should play, leave about 30% of the time available for them to choose from, as keeping a party going is an art, and having a bit of wiggle room to slide in a high energy song, or maybe insert a ballad is great for the band to be able to make those adjustments on the spot in the moment. They’ll still perform all of your “must-play” songs, they’ll just be able to cadence the show better with that wiggle room.
*Top tip - ask the band which of their catalogue are their best ones to perform, they’ll know which are the winning ones and getting them to play some of the ones they know are reliable will help a lot.
Song Requests
It’s not unusual to want a specific song performed at your wedding. Some bands are able to take requests more easily than others. This isn’t necessarily down to musicianship, it can be logistical - for example asking an acoustic 2 piece to cover a funk song which relies heavily on a brass section might be tricky, or a solo keyboard singer to cover AC/DC might also not work so well. In our band, we have some fancy lighting which we pre-program to match the song, so adding a song also requires programming lighting with a few other dependencies. Talk to the band and see if they take requests upfront, mostly given enough notice they can figure something out. If they come back with a “no, we can’t do that song”, PLEASE don’t take it personally, it may be down to a musical or technological dependency. If requests are something you really need, consider the next point in this blog
Performance Times
A usual performance contract consists of two 45(ish) minute sets. As with anything, this is just a guideline to help set a precedent for the quotation which comes in after all the extra bits and bobs are added in.
Main Sets
As stated above, most bands will play for roughly 2 hours, with a break in the middle. Some clients can have a special request sometimes for a 90 minute one set performance, or three 40 minute performances. Depending on the band you are dealing with, they might not be able to meet these adjusted requirements. However, it is a lot easier for mellower music to be performed for longer in one go.
top tip - ask the band what usually works best for them with audience reactions
top tip - try and plan for dessert to be in between the band’s sets, and if possible something guests can walk and eat, like ice cream cones or paper plates for wedding cake
Unplugged Sets
Some bands (us included) can perform an acoustic set either before, the main sets, or in lieu of one of our main sets. This can often be a really good addition to the day’s entertainment as you have a sonic departure from the rest of the show. Unplugged sets also can take place not in the main dancing are - for instance a band can play acoustic and low key at the drinks reception, and then later on in the main dancehall area after dinner. This will usually add to the cost, but will be far cheaper than hiring additional entertainment on the day
Ceremony Music
Perhaps you want some contemporary live music at the ceremony provided by the band? This can be possible too and usually adds a really cool element to the ceremony, especially if there is a song which means so much to the couple. We offer this, and our compact battery powered speakers allow us to perform in areas with no power, such as a forest or garden. Often this adds very little to the quote but can add so much to the ceremony. Some bands won’t offer this, but if you know it’s something you want it’s best to ask up front and find someone who can provide this
Other non-performed music
Are you looking at also booking a DJ for the wedding, or just having a band? Most bands will offer an “unmanned DJ service” before, in between, and after they finish performing. This usually means they leave their sound equipment setup and allow a pre-defined playlist to play, which is supplied by the wedding party. This is a great chance to sneak in all the requests, the family favourites, and the left-field songs. The reason this service is “unmanned” is to avoid the inevitable drunk uncle coming over and forcefully demanding that Led Zepplin gets played exclusively for the next 25 minutes. The supplied playlist is a great chance to collaborate with your friends on a shared Spotify playlist, which will allow you all to add your own songs. Delegate one person to put them in an order which makes sense, and hey presto - you’ve got a party with all your favourite songs the band couldn’t play
Equipment
Bands vary a bit in what they provide. Luckily, most wedding bands will offer a PA system which caters to +-80 people, all of their own mics, speakers etc and usually a light or two to set the mood. However, it is best to check with them what they are bringing and how many people they will cater to.
Electric drums
A BIG trend now in venues is the ability to work with a noise level controller, which means they usually have to provide electric drums. Some bands won’t offer this, and you need to check this with the venue before booking the band. Our band offers a choice of a small acoustic setup (cajon + acoustic guitar), an electric setup (electric drums + no physical guitar amp) allowing us to work inside noise requirements, and the full setup (acoustic drums, guitar amps, the works).
PA and mics
The band should bring their own PA, that usually means they have microphones. These mics can be used for speeches, announcements, etc… however it needs to be cleared with the band that the mics will be used for these things, and if they will be wireless or wired. Usually it’s not an issue to use the band mics for speeches, and this can help keep the evening seamless when it comes to the logistics of everything
Lighting
Most bands will have some basic lighting with their show, however when a proper lighting rig is added it can be a game changer in terms of the audience experience. Chat to the band and see if this is an additional item they can provide, as it’s usually worth the extra cost involved. It will also make any photos from the party look that much more awesome
Staging
Most bands won’t bring their own staging to an event. This is usually fine where the attendance is under 50 people, however any more than that and stage should be mandatory. A lot of weddings also take place in marquees, where the ground is soft and unstable, which makes it unsuitable for having a drum kit on it. Staging is usually offered by the venue, or marquee hire company, and some bands (us included) will specify that staging must be provided where soft ground or more than 80 people are present. Bands can usually organise this for you, however it will likely be cheaper to source it from the venue.
On the day logistics
Co-ordinating your wedding on the day involves a lot of moving parts. A band can usually work around any of the day commitments, however it’s best practice to have a rough idea of these in advance of the wedding booking as it can create big changes to the booking.
Arrival and setup time
Setting up drums, bass guitars, speakers, lights etc etc can take time, and usually needs to happen in a shared area. Arrival time is usually calculated last based on what time the setup needs to occur, but this is often overlooked by planners. For instance, if the wedding planner needs the band setup by midday to keep the presentation of the room good, this could mean a 10:30am load in - if the location is a 3 hour drive from the band’s base, that turns into a 5/6am start with a late finish. Throw in a gig the night before and it can turn into a much bigger commitment than initially anticipated
*note for these reasons, we always try and take the night before a wedding off, to ensure we have the best rest for our bodies and voices, so we can deliver the best performance possible
Setup area
There’s nothing worse than your guests sitting down to enjoy a meal, while a team of sweaty men build a stage and rig speakers inches from the eating guests. Some weddings have a dancefloor in a separate room from the main eating area allowing bands to setup without affecting the guests. However, when setup needs to occur in a shared space, it’s far better to have the setup happen either before the food, or during the eating. It’s a very bad idea to have speeches overlapping with band setups
Soundcheck
The most abrasive part of a setup is the soundcheck. We’ve witnessed a band sound-checking drums while guests are eating and side-eying the musicians with disdain, this doesn’t set a good tone for the evening party. We pride ourselves on being soundcheck free (due to how we have our technical setup work) meaning we can arrive, plug in in silence, and from the first note we will be sounding exactly like we always sound. Some bands however need to have a proper soundcheck due to the nature of their instruments, as such this should NEVER happen with guests present. Work with the band and wedding planner to come to a reasonable agreement as to how to fit this into the days event. Again, the scheduling of this could vastly alter the logistics on the day for the band.
Packup Times
Once the band are done, the party isn’t over! Quite often a band will finish at 10/11pm leaving hours for the rest of the party to happen. If you have agreed an unmanned DJ service, the band will have quoted you on leaving the speakers on until a certain time. If possible, this is a great time to strike the rest of the gear, allowing a skeleton rig to stay setup until the curfew. This follows the same procedure (in reverse) as the setup, whereby there will be a lot of gear being carried and packed right next to a busy dancefloor. Perhaps this is something you want to avoid as it could be a small space where it will inconvenience the party happening.
Top Tip - A great solution is to book local accommodation for the band in order to let the packup happen the next day. This will score you HUGE points with the band as finishing a gig and then NOT having to immediately packup is one of the best feelings in life.
