How To Get The Most Out Of Your Live Wedding Band In 2024
July 2024 | Matt Oats
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How do you get the most out of your live wedding band in 2024?
Every newlywed couple wants to get the most out of their wedding and that includes the live wedding band they hire for their special day too. As a professional wedding musician of many years who performs week in and week out for all of you lovely newlyweds, I’m going to show you how to get the most out of your live wedding band with 15 quick, simple, and easy steps!
Quick, simple, easy, and well worth the effort
Although I’ve rummaged up more steps than any other guide out there (we’re thorough here at Seventh Second) don’t be put off. This isn’t some gigantic guide. All my steps are simple and very effective and really will help you get the most out of any wedding band you are thinking of hiring. I assume that’s why you are here reading this – you love live music like us and want to get the most out of the band you hire! All 15 of my steps can be used if you are hiring a function, event, or party band too so read on! I want you to get the most out of this guide so I’ve also packed all the steps into a handy infographic at the endof the guide for you.
Why listen to me?
What do I know? Well, all the musicians here at Seventh Second (including myself) are bonafide, professional wedding musicians and have been for at least 10 years so we know what floats our boat at weddings and we know which couples over the years have coaxed every last bit of energy out of our live wedding bands. There have been some weddings over the years where we have outperformed ourselves and it’s all due to the below steps.
We’ve also been producing hugely useful and popular guides on all things live wedding entertainment for a while now and below you can see some of our top guides that are well worth a read!
I want you to get the most out of us at your wedding!
Every week, we arrive at weddings only wanting to perform at our best and deliver the wedding party you’ve been planning for all those months and years. We know how important this day is to you and your partner and sometimes couples puzzle us by somehow magically conjuring even more than the best out of us. How do they do that?!
Buzzing with wedding excitement
We leave these weddings buzzing with excitement chatting about how amazing they were and how songs we’ve performed hundreds of times somehow sounded different and got everyone at the wedding singing, dancing, and laughing even more than usual.
What is this black wedding magic?
Over the years we’ve discussed and tried to work out what makes these kinds of weddings with their infectious party vibes come about. What is it that makes them get the most out of us? Well, I think I have all the answers now, so read on to find out how to get the most out of your live wedding band! If that wedding band happens to be one of ours, then hold onto your seats as you will be in for one amazing wedding party! I promise!
Here are my top tips in a nutshell:
Pick the right wedding band for your wedding theme
See what they offer by having a good look at their promotional material
Speak with them early on
Make sure they understand what you want from them
Listen to their advice
Ask about any booking options they have
See if they offer any freebies
Is your wedding venue live music-friendly?
Where will the band perform? Is it in a good spot?
Is the wedding dance floor close to the band?
Make the most of your band on the night
Look after your wedding band
What does your live band need from you?
Get your guests excited about them
Let loose and have fun with your live wedding band!
1. Pick the right live wedding band
You may have already picked your perfect band and we go over this topic in much more detail here but make sure the band you hire suits your wedding theme and can realistically meet your expectations. Picking a fantastic 1920’s themed act like Southside Sparkle (above) is going to disappoint you and leave them feeling frustrated as to why they couldn’t deliver the best wedding party for you when deep down what you wanted was a boisterous rock, pop, and indie wedding band like The League of Gentlemen below.
2. Have a really good look at their promotional wedding material
This probably sounds as obvious as the first point to you savvy wedding planners out there but a wedding bands promo helps you further understand what they offer and if they are for you. Pick the right band and you will get the most out of them and your wedding! Flair Twelve (below) are a great example of a live wedding band for hire with brilliant and accurate promotional material.
3. Talk to your live band
We mention this a lot in our guides because it’s a firm belief here at Seventh Second that you should always be able to talk with any band you are thinking of hiring. None of this salespeople nonsense! It’s why we are in the bandswe promote and are available 10 am – 10 pm, 7 days a week for a chat. We love to speak to you because we want to fully understand what you want from us and how we can make that happen. It’s a big part of getting the most out of any wedding entertainment you are looking at hiring.
4. Make sure the band understands what you want at your wedding
Regardless of who you book with, make sure you chat with your live band and have the opportunity to fully explain what you want from them come your wedding day – you won’t get the most out of them otherwise. Some wedding bands and entertainment websites just say “yes!” to everything you ask for but make sure they mean it. Hire a band that truly understands what’s expected of them. Just don’t forget to be realistic, wedding entertainers aren’t superhuman!
5. Listen to your wonderful live wedding band
Just as much as you need to explain what you want from your live wedding band, make sure to listen to their feedback too. We’re sure that just like our bands, most live bands out there want to help you get the most out of your wedding using their experience and talent. We use our 15 years of experience to make sure we exceed your expectations and suggest ideas we know will get the most out of your wedding party and the band you hire. Read more about wedding bands for hire and why they rock here!
6. Ask about booking options with any wedding band you hire
Seasonal discounts, special offers, and booking options are always useful in helping with your wedding budget but also ask your wedding band if they offer extra live sets or song (like first dance) requests among other things. All these little extras you ask or negotiate over squeeze every little last bit of brilliantness out of your wedding band. Our guide on booking a live wedding band on a budget has plenty more on this and below you can also see the kind of booking options we offer as standard with all our live bands.
7. Live wedding music band freebies!
The best wedding music bands in the UK will always offer freebies. That’s what we believe anyway! Get the most out of your wedding band by asking what they can offer. For example, all our wedding bands like the Usual Suspects (above) offer free song requests including first dances and free background music or DJ’ing in between live sets if you hire them. It feels good to give and you can learn about even more freebies wedding bands (including ours) can offer here!
8. Does your wedding venue encourage live music?
Wedding bands for hire will always try their best for you because that’s why they exist but if your wedding venue isn’t live music friendly it’s going to be an uphill battle getting the best out of your chosen act. Read our in-depth guide here all about what wedding bands require from any venue but in a nutshell, a venue with a restrictive sound limiter, unfavourable opening and closing times, bad lighting, bad acoustics, or that is simply badly laid out for dancing, and partying to live music can be a big hindrance.
9. Where will your live band be performing?
I briefly mentioned this above but if you want the most out of your wedding band your venue must put them in a good spot. This is pretty crucial! We’ve been lucky enough to perform at beautiful venues, exclusive events, and weddings all over the world only to be shoved in a room away from everyone by the venue’s staff. It led to us performing in empty if not totally empty rooms and not being able to create a memorable experience for everyone. We even had guests ask when we left “Where have you been performing all night!?”
So, I’d suggest having your live band performing in a room which also doubles as your bar room or at least has the bar nearby. I’d also suggest the room has a proper dance floor which is right next to the band and has enough seats surrounding it (but not too many tables) so your guests can relax but get straight back to dancing when they are ready. In fact, that brings me to my next step…
10. That wedding dance floor!
Your wedding dance floor situation is pretty paramount to getting the most out of your wedding band. A quiet dancefloor inspires no one so it’s important to consider what your guests would like to dance to. If they are into the band you hire, they will pack that dance floor and your wedding will rock! We cover this in so much more detail herewith loads of top tips on getting your dance floor packed but I speak for everyone here at Seventh Second when I say that when all the wedding guests and the happy couple are rocking it on the dance floor our performance level jumps up a notch. There’s nothing quite like a wedding party ramped up to 10 partying with a live wedding band pumped up to 10 too!
11. Don’t waste that wedding music band you hired!
It’s not always in your control and here at Seventh Second, we work hard with venues and couples to make sure everything runs smoothly but try and avoid food being served too soon before or during your wedding band’s live sets. No one likes dancing on a full stomach and your wedding band is usually only performing for 2 hours so don’t waste a minute of it! Any wedding band will also tell you that interruptions during live sets or having to stop them for an extended period can mess with the flow of their sets, the night, and their potential to impress you all!
12. Treat ’em mean, keep ’em keen?
I’ve never really thought this was a very nice saying and it certainly doesn’t ring true for musicians in a wedding band. If we are looked after and treated with common courtesy, we thrive and perform to our max. Some of our fondest wedding memories are simply made up of couples, their guests, and wedding venue staff looking after us and making us comfortable and welcome. Who can resist lovely hosts I can tell you right now that our wedding bands have performed extended sets, extra long encores, or unplanned songs off the cuff, for free and totally on the spot simply because the wedding couple and everyone at the wedding was so fabulously brilliant and kind towards them.
13. The wedding band rider
Whenever you hire a live band, they usually have a rider or list of requirements so they can perform at your chosen venue. Electric Jukebox (above) have a very simple and common rider which includes:
A place to safely park their vehicles for free at your venue
A place to change and leave personal items
A place to relax and warm up before or in between live sets
Food and drink for the duration of their stay with you
Ample access to plug sockets on a stage or performance area that’s suitably big enough and safe for them to perform on
Access to toilets
If you can cover your live wedding bands’ requirements you are well on the way to making them feel comfortable, relaxed, and happy and that can only lead to one thing… getting the most out of them come showtime! A good meal and access to plenty of soft drinks go an awful long way with our bands and any other band out there. Our guide on feeding your wedding band covers this further if you are interested.
14. Get your guests excited and ready to party!
We’re fun junkies here at Seventh Secondand we love nothing more than having a tonne of fun with a bustling all-singing, all-dancing wedding party. It means we are doing a good job and gives us a lovely little pat on the back. That inspires us to perform even better and your wedding party then gets the most out of us. So, put up a board explaining your wedding schedule to get people excited about seeing some personalised, one-off live music! How cool and exclusive is it to have a live band at your wedding?! Let’s all celebrate that to the max!
15. Finally, have fun and let loose!
I can say hands down that nothing gets me and my band Stan Darsh (above) more pumped up, excited, and ready to perform our hearts out than a beaming newlywed couple who simply can’t contain their excitement. Soon, they will be dancing along to a live wedding band who are performing just for them. It’s simply amazing and one big reason weddings are our favorite events to perform at – they are just pure happiness bottled up into one stunning day. Show your wedding band how excited and pumped you are for their show and trust us, it will pay off!
Get the most out of your wedding band infographic
Bye for now…
I hope you can see that we’ve really taken the time to know what we are talking about when it comes to performing at weddings and how to get the most out of a live band. We should do, we’ve been doing it long enough and we really care about it. You may be interested in this little article on music and how it can influence our emotions because we all want an emotional wedding day and the wedding band you hire is a big part of that. Let’s all get emotional with some music and follow my 15 simple steps and you will get the best out of your live band. It’s with that final point that I wish you a happy and amazingly memorable wedding day!
If you like the look of any of our wedding bands you can contact usor enquire in the top right-hand corner. If you feel I missed anything or you just want to have a chat I’d love to hear from you. We’re here via all the usual socials, live chat, email, phone, and text 7 days a week 10 am to 10 pm!
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