What Should a Wedding Band be like?
So you’re looking for a wedding band. The pressure is on, you haven’t done this before and hopefully you won’t have to do this again! It’s important to get it right as wedding bands can make or break a wedding. Everyone’s been to that wedding where the band were either all everyone could talk about the next day, or were an anticlimax to the whole day.
First of all you should consider when you would like the band to play.
Do you envisage live music during the ceremony, the wedding reception, the wedding breakfast or as the main event to the proceedings. Some bands specialise in an amplified stage performance, performing to the whole crowd at the climax of the day, much going to see a live concert. Some bands are more versatile and can be used at multiple parts of the day, be it the ceremony, wedding reception or wedding breakfast ie. a Roaming Band. This can inject live music into multiple parts of your day, really helping to bring energy and life to moments that could potentially be quiet, dull or even awkward.
Live music brings a certain classiness to a wedding and gives you the chance to stamp your own creativity on moments where you have chosen a specific band to play a specific type of music at a specific moment and can really make your wedding stand out as an experience unique to you and your guests. Which brings us onto the next question…
There are many options for live music and each factor should be considered before making an enquiry.
If you’re looking for a UK based Roaming Band, please do get in touch and we can help make your event truly unforgettable.
What style of music are you looking for?
Are you wanting your guests to get up on the dance floor and move their bodies in celebration, or do you want your guests singing their hearts out to their favourite song? Do you want the musicians performing on a stage like a festival or concert or do you want them mingling with the guests, joking with them, taking requests and interacting in a way that breaks the ice?
Party bands are the amplified stage type bands that will play all your dance-floor classics from Disco tunes to your modern chart hits. They can often range from 3 piece all the way to 12 piece bands, complete with backing singers, saxophones, trumpets and percussionists. They usually have a set repertoire but some Party bands take requests before the event so they can prepare and arrange songs that you like.
These types of bands can be genre specific too with some specialising in 80s Rock or Mumford & Sons style folk pop or you can even get a tribute band if you just can’t get enough of that one act that you love!
Roaming bands tend to have a very broad repertoire of music from background relaxed jazz or motown, through to big belting sing-a-longs, or dance-floor classics reimagined in an acoustic style. A good roaming band can take requests on the spot from your guests and impress by performing songs you might not usually expect, potentially even in different languages, catering to your international guests.
Promotional Material
When searching for a band make sure you watch their promotional videos so you get a good feel for what the band is like. Bands often have Main promo videos that are pre-recorded with the band looking and sounding nice and sharp, but this doesn't give you an impression of what they actually sound like in real life, or how they interact with the crowd.
A good band will have an active social media that shows live footage of them performing at events where you can see the true personalities of the band members and hear and feel what it’s like to be at one of their events. If a band doesn’t have this, some bands play public shows where you can go see them first before you book or you can request to be present at one of their rehearsals where you can meet the band members themselves.
Budget
When considering which band to choose, you should have an idea in your head how much you would like to spend in relation to the rest of your wedding budget. Things to consider are:
1. How long you would like them to play. The average band play 2 x 45 minute sets and may charge extra for anything additional to this ie. an additional set during the ceremony or playing past a certain time ie. 11pm.
2. If the band is performing with amplification this will affect the cost of the performance as equipment hire and the cost of a sound engineer will be added to their overall fee.
3. Experience. Bands that have been going for a long time will often charge more for this as they can guarantee that they have the experience needed to get to an event on time, act professionally and create the kind of atmosphere you want.
4. Where the band is based. If you are choosing a band that is based far away from your event then the cost of their travel to the venue will also need to be factored in. Search for a London Roaming Band if your event is in London and you’re looking for a roaming band or alternatively many bands travel internationally or all over the UK. Booking local bands can bring the cost down.