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Generally speaking, you should hire a wedding band 10 to 18 months in advance as it fits in perfectly with the hiring and planning of every other aspect of your wedding and will mean you avoid any possible availability disappointments. Hiring a wedding band less than 5 months before your wedding is not recommended but there is no limit or real disadvantage to how far in advance you can hire a live wedding band.
Life can be unpredictable and we can’t always keep to our schedules which is why my guide today can be so helpful as you plan your wedding! I’ll explain why you should ideally hire your live wedding band in advance and what to do if life gets in the way and you can’t. I’m on a mission to make your wedding planning that much easier and rewarding and will explain the pros and cons of hiring a wedding band 2 years in advance right up to the last minute as after working in the wedding industry for 15 years, I know that not every wedding can work to schedule and some are even lovely last minute, romance soaked surprises!
Let’s start with the pros and cons of hiring a live wedding band well in advance. When I say in advance, I am generally talking about 8 months to 2 years in advance. In my 15 years of experience, this is the most common time frame in which couples hire their wedding entertainment. I’ll start with the pros as I’m sure you are trying to be a thoroughly organised couple. Well done, as hiring a wedding band in advance is generally the best way to avoid any disappointment.
Just before you read my pros and cons, it’s worth showing you some of our popular guides showcasing our finest live wedding bands. When are you ready to hire a band, make sure to look at these great guides!
One of the biggest pros of hiring early is that most live wedding bands are still available so your choice of acts will be large. From my experience and when chatting to other wedding agencies I find that every year, most live wedding bands prime Saturdays are all booked up by February, meaning most couples are booking at least 6 months in advance. We get plenty of couples booking in the autumn of the year before meaning they miss this early-year booking frenzy. Come February, 60% to 70% of our live wedding bands prime Saturdays have been booked for the year ahead so hiring early really does mean you have greater choice and hopefully, find the perfect wedding band like the super popular Paper Boats above.
I’d say this only really applies if you are booking 1 to 2 years in advance but the friendly musicians here at Seventh Second will sometimes offer or accept a 5% to 10% discount on their usual wedding prices if they are booked well in advance. Why? It’s just nice to know you have some gigs booked years in advance. It makes us feel all warm and fuzzy inside. I’d hope other live wedding bands would do the same. It also means you should skip the typical yearly inflation based-price increases the whole of the wedding industry usually experiences. Double bonus! If you are looking for more ways to save money on your wedding music band, read our post on how to book a wedding band on a budget in 2023. It’s a must-read for all you money savers out there.
It’s a simple one but hiring nice and early means it’s done! I remember organising my wedding with my husband and managing to get just one item ticked off the to-do list was worthy of a party in itself! It feels good to get your live wedding band ticked off your list early on Oh, and in case you are interested, From the Top (above) performed at our wedding.
Hiring your wedding band well in advance does mean you get to know them and properly talk about those amazing wedding ideas you have. After a chat, you might discover that adding an extra musician or acoustic set during the day is what you wanted all along, you just didn’t know it! If you fancy a band that offers a tonne of booking extras, you can’t do much better than Flair Twelve above. They are fab and can morph into pretty much any kind of wedding band you desire.
There are cons to hiring a wedding band far in advance? There can be a few so let me explain further.
I will say right now that this isn’t how our wedding bands operate but because live wedding bands know booking demand is very high 6 months to 1 year in advance, they sometimes add 10% to 15% to their standard prices during these peak booking months. I’m not saying all bands do this but sometimes it can pay to hire a band closer to your big day. Have a look at our huge and super popular guide on how much wedding bands cost in 2023 so you get a feel for how much you should be paying.
I maybe overdid that title a bit but again, if you are looking at hiring 1 to 2 years in advance, some (especially popular) wedding bands know the bookings are going to be flooding in at the beginning of the following year so they may not be willing to offer discounts or agree to requests or ideas you have. They know they can just get a wedding gig elsewhere later. Again, this isn’t what we are about and many wedding bands won’t be either but it’s worth being aware of.
I love to look at the latest jewelry on Instagram and have a bit of a bad habit of feeling like I’m always missing out on something new. It could be the same with a wedding band for you. There are always new ones popping up. Electric Jukebox (above) are one of our newest bands and let’s say you booked your band 1 or 2 years ago and suddenly saw their amazing video, you’d have every right to feel like you’ve missed out! Oh no! Hiring a brand new wedding band isn’t always the best route to go down and you can learn more about that in our post titled wedding bands to avoid in 2023.
Don’t worry yourself silly, hiring your live wedding band with 5 months or less to go before your wedding doesn’t mean you need to panic. It’s only 6 months or less until your special day, so soon all the stress and organising will be over, yay! Around 20% to 30% of our couples book with us in this time frame so here are the pros of hiring last minute.
It’s more likely that hiring a wedding band later rather than sooner could land you a nice little discount, sometimes up to 10%! If a wedding music band has struggled to fill a particular Saturday and you come along like a couple in shining armor, they may be happy to offer you a thank-you discount to secure your business. Our bands sometimes do this.
Again, because you’ve potentially done them a favor, or because like our bands, they are just really nice, you may find wedding bands are more flexible with timings, set lengths, and any manner of extras or booking options if you’ve hired them last minute. The League of Gentlemen (above) get quite a few last-minute bookings through being flexible and it pays dividends for them and their clients! If you’re in need of some last-minute musicians, why not check some of ours out here?
Remember my Instagram story? Well, hiring a bit nearer the big day means you get to see wedding bands most recent videos, photos, setlists, and repertoires. You are getting the most up-to-date version of a live band so you really know what you are hiring. I’d say that’s a bonus!
With my Insta story still in mind, I’m sure it’s obvious now that hiring nearer to the big day means you do get to see all the brand-new wedding bands out there. Maybe you’ll find your perfect match. We get quite a few couples struggling to choose a wedding band so new ones are sometimes just what they need. If you feel like one of these couples you will find the below guides very useful.
25 of the best wedding bands for hire
There are a few cons to hiring a live wedding band when your wedding day is looming. Sorry!
One of the obvious issues you can face with hiring a wedding band late on is availability. If your wedding is on a popular Saturday, there’s a good chance that the most popular wedding bands are all booked up. It’s not the end of the world but it does restrict your choice. Here at Seventh Second, we all perform in the wedding bands you see so sometimes we can help with this situation by designing a bespoke wedding band for you by pulling all available musicians together. It’s worked really well in the past so chat with us to learn more. Our wedding experts will work their socks off to make sure you have that dream wedding party!
I’ve never been great at maths but here goes.
The wedding season generally starts in mid-May and finishes in September so you are looking at 17 to 20 prime Saturdays a year when thousands of couples get married. The best wedding bands out there like The Usual Suspects (above) easily book those Saturdays up well in advance so leaving hiring your band late on may mean you don’t get the greatest wedding band or one that doesn’t quite tick all your boxes. You can get lucky of course and great live wedding bands do have last-minute cancellations or the odd free prime Saturday but the odds are against you.
I’m not great when in a rush and maybe you’re the same. Hiring your live wedding band last minute can add extra levels of stress. You may not get time to chat with them about all your ideas properly, they probably don’t have time to implement them properly or quite as you’d like either. They may not be able or have the time to add that extra keyboardist or singer you really wanted either. What a faff. There may be a solution to all this last-minute hassle however.
Our dedicated last-minute musician’s page is there to help you when you really need it. This page shows all our acts that can be free at a moment’s notice and are used to gearing up and delivering the best wedding experience they can for you with little or no notice. We’ve helped loads of lovely couples over the years and we can help you too. Don’t panic, a brilliant wedding can be hired, even at a moment’s notice!
I’ve covered a lot of ground here but on balance, I would always suggest you hire at least 8 months in advance so you get the best overall wedding band experience. I know it’s not always possible so I hope the extra advice today can come in useful. Feel free to chat with us if you feel you need more help or advice. We’re always happy to help.
I actually looked at all of our wedding bookings from 2022, noting when they were booked in so I could get the final word on booking trends for you. There weren’t any major surprises in there but it’s a good way to end my guide. Hiring early is the trend and it’s here to stay!
Hired 2 years or more in advance 6%
Hired 1 – 2 years in advance 40%
Hired 7 – 12 months in advance 32%
Hired 4 – 7 months in advance 20%
Hired 1-4 months in advance 2%
That’s all from me today. I hope I could help and I wish you all memorable weddings with amazing live wedding entertainment and if you liked what you read or know someone who could do with reading this guide, please consider sharing it with others.
We’re here 7 days a week, 10 am to 10 pm via phone, the usual socials, live chat, email, and text to help in any way and most importantly, help you hire the best live wedding entertainment for you!
Thanks,
Oana and the Seventh Second Team
