By Adam Hughes
Choosing the right style of music
When selecting a band for your wedding reception you shouldthink about atmosphere. Do you want a party atmosphere fordancing or would you prefer more background music to allow moreconversation?
For the party atmosphere, most people like the band to play "abit of everything" from the 50s to present day to suit the wideage ranges of wedding guests. Professional wedding bands tend tohave a wide repertoire of music and can normally adapt well tosuit any wedding reception.
To select the right band for your event consider the taste ofyour guests, their age range and whether they would like todance, listen to the music or a mixture of the two.
Your first dance
Most couples like to choose a well known song for their firstdance. Get any specific requests to the band well in advance sothe musicians have a chance to prepare them before the weddingreception.
Popular first dance requests:
'Angels' - Robbie Williams
'Lets Stay Together' - Al Green
'It Had To Be You' - Harry Connick Jr
'Stand By Me' - Ben E King
'We Have All The Time In The World' - Louis Armstrong
'Wonderful Tonight' - Eric Clapton
'Let There Be Love' - Nat King Cole
'Everything I Do (I do it for you)' - Bryan Adams
Finding a wedding band to suit your budget
The cost of a wedding band varies depending on their style ofmusic, how many musicians are the band require, how popular theyare, how long you want music for, what time the musicians needto arrive and the travel distance involved to get your weddingreception venue.
The following table shows guide prices to give you an idea ofhow the cost varies depending on the number of musicians andlength of performance: Solo Musician 2 Hours£150-250 4 Hours £250-350 Duo 2 Hours£250-400 4 Hours £400-550 Trio 2 Hours£400-600 4 Hours £600-700 Quartet 2 Hours£500-700 4 Hours £700-900 Quintet 2 Hours£600-800 4 Hours £800-1000 Sextet 2 Hours£700-900 4 Hours £900-1300 Septet 2 Hours£750-1000 4 Hours £950-1500
If musicians will have to travel more than 75 miles for yourwedding reception, modest travel expenses should be added to theabove prices.
Set-up time
The Musicians Union state that reasonable set-up time should beincluded when booking a live band i.e. the band start chargingfrom the time at which they are booked to arrive. Therefore, theabove 2 hour guide price would consist of roughly thirty minutesset-up time for the band and an hour and a half of performance.
Cost vs Quality
LastMinuteMusicians.com believes that quality should be yourmain concern when booking a band for your wedding reception. Pubbands, although cheap, often lack the experience and reliabilityof professional wedding bands. Don't risk the success of yourwedding reception by booking a cheap pub band.
Worst case scenario
Should the unexpected happen and your musicians let you down atthe last minute, most pub bands would struggle to find anappropriate replacement band. However, most professional weddingbands (such as
Your wedding reception venue
Check that live music is permitted at your wedding receptionvenue. It is now UK law that venues must have a license if morethan two musicians will be performing live. If your venuedoesn't have such a license, consider booking a duo - piano &singer or sax & piano are popular choices.
Some venues have sound level limiters, which cuts off power tothe band if they exceed a certain volume. If this is the case,don't forget to tell the band. Also, remember to check thatthere is a power socket available near the area in which youwould like the band to perform.
Musicians will have to bring heavy equipment to your venue so itis always a good to idea to check with your venue to ensure thatthere is somewhere for the band to park. The more details aboutthe venue that you can tell the band, the better!
What next?
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