One of the big decisions you will need to make as part of your wedding plans is selecting your wedding entertainment. Whether for the ceremony, cocktail reception or the full wedding reception, you will want the right wedding music band. After all, part of your special day is having great wedding party entertainment.
Of course, the day is about love, commitment and having those you love witness your marriage vowels. But it’s also about celebrating your marriage. Part of the celebration is hosting a great wedding reception that will make all those attending glad they came. That includes a wonderful ambiance, good food and drinks, and fantastic wedding party entertainment.
Once you have the date and site selected for your reception, you should go about finding possible wedding music bands for your reception. The further ahead you do this, the more likely you will be able to book the band you want. Good wedding music bands are in high demand, especially in peak wedding months.
How do you go about picking the right band for your wedding entertainment needs?
Online Approaches: You can always Google “wedding bands.” Google will show you all the jewelry stores who offer wedding rings and bands. I doubt that Tiffany & Co. will supply the entertainment you need for your wedding reception.
Okay, what next? You can try Googling “wedding entertainment.” You will find many creative ways to wow your guests with live painters, games, photo booths and other ideas. You might also find some ads for entertainers as well.
Try again. You can go to sites that list wedding music bands such as The Knot, Brides or GigMasters. They will give you a list with a short description of the band with a link to more information about the band.
Getting Referrals from Other Couples: You can get references from other couples about the bands that played at their wedding. What did they like and not like about their performance? At least this gives you firsthand knowledge and not testimonials from some anonymous persons on the Internet who may be relatives of the band members.
The problem with getting recommendations from others is that its your wedding, not theirs. You have your own ideas of the type of music you want and the vibe it will create at your wedding. You want the wedding entertainment to suit your personal taste, budget, space requirements, and what you have in mind for dancing.
Working with Wedding Music Bands Can Be Like Herding Cats
If you choose one of the above methods, you will be dealing directly with the wedding music band and the facility for all the arrangements associated with music entertainment for your event. That includes negotiating price, contract and rider requirements. Rider is a term you probably never heard of outside of sitting on top of a horse. The contract deals with the price, hours and all those legal clauses that we have come to expect, e.g., cancelling, liability, etc. The Rider contains all the technical and hospitality requirements the band require on top of the performance fee.
There are a host of things you will want to know, see and do before deciding on the band for your wedding reception.
- You will want to see them perform. A CD or video may be enhanced. You also want to see how they work the room and engage their audience.
- You should see if they can provide your personal style and the vibe you want at your reception.
- You are going to want to see if they can perform your personal request song list as well as songs they must play and songs they should not play.
- You are going to need to determine if there are any issues with the site of your reception. These can be space, electrical, acoustic, sound amplification, access and other issues that need addressing for the band to be able to play.
- You will want to negotiate price and have that price tied to the specific number of musicians and vocalists to perform. Often bands offer several different configurations at different price points.
- You will need to negotiate rider issues and provide all the things required in the rider.
- You will need to figure out who does what regarding set up, master of ceremonies, how song requests are made, etc.
There are a lot of things to deal with when working directly with the band. This is compounded by the fact that bands are made up of creative people. They don’t respond quickly to emails or phone calls. They are about their music and the business stuff get second shrift.
A Better Approach is Using a Wedding Band Booking Agency
An agency that deals with providing wedding entertainment bands knows how to deal with both wedding bands and the venues that host wedding receptions. A good wedding entertainment booking agency can give you peace of mind about your wedding entertainment while you deal with planning all the other elements of your big day.
Thinks about it. Would you rather have someone with little or no experience dealing with all the issues involved with your wedding entertainment or would you rather have someone who deals with such things daily?
Not only that, but they can save you time and money as well. Often, they can quote you a performance fee that includes their fee at or below the fee you would have gotten for your wedding entertainment. That’s because they know booking fees and can negotiate better deals than you can yourself. Bands see them as an agency that can book them for many events, not a one and done deal for your reception.
That’s only the beginning. They do all the coordinating between the wedding music band and the facility holding the reception. You provide the agency with what you want from the entertainment and they do the rest. A good wedding entertainment booking agency already knows most venues and bands and what they require.
Why reinvent the wheel for your wedding? You have nothing to lose and everything to gain by getting a good wedding entertainment booking agency working for you. Services are free until the wedding music band is selected and booked. You have a team working to find the right wedding band for you.
TSE Entertainment has been doing this since 1975. We know what it takes for great wedding entertainment. Your wedding day, including the entertainment is something you will look back on fondly in future years. Using an agency can give you the peace of mind you should have on your wedding day. Isn’t that the way you should feel on this big day?
