Wedding Band Information
However cheesy and unoriginal they are , Wedding Bands are essential in providing wedding music to ensure the wedding is memorable. You would have passed by your teenage years saying
“I would never have a band that plays this …. at my wedding”, but now all of a sudden, you now have to choose a band that performe sing-along melodies that can entertain guest from 2 to 92 but still manage to have some remnants of ‘cool’. That is probably why you are reading this now.
Looking for the right wedding band can be a major task. It is essential to use an established music agency to provide a band that will be professional from day one. This will ensure you are stress free before, during and after your wedding when it comes to dealing with the music for the day. It is important to book your wedding band early if you are getting married on a Saturday in summer, as the good band always get booked for this period up to two years in advance.
At Music for London we have been providing couples with wedding music since 2001, and we have not had an unsatisfied bride or bridegroom. We have provided music for civil ceremonies, church ceremonies and civil partnerships, we provide music for the wedding ceremony, the wedding reception and the wedding party. We also provide unique entertainment if required, this can be cabaret performers, circus style performers of various styles to table side entertainers like magicians.
If you are getting married in the London, Greater London, the home counties, or the rest of the UK, do contact us to see what we might have available for you, you don’t only need to use the venue recommended suppliers as they can lack in choice and price. As you will be booking and paying for the venue it will be within your choice (if you push for it) to choose the entertainment you want though the venue can make it slightly difficult due to all the commissions and kick backs they receive from their recommended suppliers.
If you are booking a wedding band that plays all the top Covers tunes including a few ABBA ones for good measure, try to use a wedding venue that does not use a sound limiter, as sound limiters in wedding venues act as party dampers and can severely be a hindrance to the fun in the evening especially towards the end. The venue sales staff, wedding bands and music agencies will often tell you otherwise, but we only recommend two piece backing track bands or a DJ if there is a sound limiter at the venue. These two set ups will be able to control their volume with less effort. Some sound limiters are attached to an auto power cut device whereby when the sound levels peaks for the 3rd time in one night the power supply gets cut, it then needs to be reset by a council staff, usually the next day, by then your guests would have left the building just like Elvis!
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
8th December 2012
Did David & George kill the Wedding Band?
The triple dip recession and upcoming quadruple dip recession has spelt nothing but bad news for the 1000s of well educated and qualified musicians in London and the rest of the UK. Work is becomings scarce to them. As an agency we now just assume everyone is available when we take on an enquiry, because 9 out 10 times the musicians are available even at the peak dates.
After watching the movie the Wedding Singer starring Adam Sandler, one would have thought that CGMs (Couples Getting Married) would firmly beleive wedding bands ‘suck’ and is too cliche to have them at a their wedding. However far from that, the movie gave birth to more wedding singers and wedding bands than Britain had ever seen.
CGMs, we use this term as more civil partnerships are taking place and live music is a big part of the celebration, to use the traditional term ‘bride and bridegroom’ would be not PC.
The mid 90s to 2009 saw almost every wedding have a wedding band, it was a norm. Since 2009 DJs or just the Ipod on an auto playlist have replaced the Radio Stars on stage for weddings.
Setting up a wedding band gave financial freedom to 1000s of independent musicians and a great partime income for others who had regular jobs.
Wedding Bands seem to have gone out of fashion since 2010. A semi professional musician who could earn an average of £8,000.00 per year playing at weddings is lucky to have made £4,000.00 per year since 2010 actually more or less averages £2000.00 – £3000.00 per year playing at weddings. The only consolation for most wedding bands is, it has been a partime job. However this has not been the case for bandleaders who were taking home £15,000 – £20,000 a year. The bandleaders were the ones who invested in the main PA equipment, lights and the transport vehicle. The bandleader dealt with the couple from begining to end, planning the set list, learning the first dance song and generally being their music and entertainment consultant for the day.
So did David & George kill the wedding band or has it just gone out of fashion? In my opinion it is most certainly the current state of the economy that has led to this unfortunate state for the professional and semi professional musician.
In 2008 when HBOS cancelled a large corporate booking (there were already various cancellations and musicians were becoming agitated and demanding cancellation fees) . There was bandleader in tears at our office, saying she had so many cancellations she could not keep up with her loan payments on the equipment she had invested in.
Most Wedding Bands, want couples to think they are really busy to keep up their image, but that is far from the truth. Wedding Bands have become a luxury for those who can afford it, its no longer a staple of the middle class. The established Wedding Venues appoint ‘Approved Suppliers’ these relationships are fiercely guarded within the old boys network which means, whats left of the pie is only eaten by a few rather than it being spread out. Couples are not allowed to choose a wedding band from the open market, they have to use bands that are recommended by the supplier to the venue. Lots of cash and gifts change hands to keep this golden relationships at the expense of 1000s of upcoming and budding musicians.