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Any live wedding band you are thinking of hiring should have valid PLI and PAT certificates. PAT certificates certify that the live band’s equipment is electronically tested and safe for live use and a PLI certificate is essentially third-party insurance in case the band hurts someone or damages anything at your wedding venue. Most wedding venues will not allow any live band to perform unless they have both of these important documents so they are essential for any live wedding band you hire.
Today’s guide isn’t going to be as fun-filled as our other guides (sorry!) but every couple should understand what PLI and PAT certificates are as they are compulsory for almost every single wedding venue in the UK. You may have noticed your wedding venue asking for these documents and wondering to yourself, what on earth are they?! In this guide, I will only reference live wedding bands but this advice is relevant for any live entertainment you are hiring for a wedding, party, or function.
All our party, function, and live wedding bands come fully equipped with PLI and PAT certificates so why not have a look at some of them below in our popular guides?
We have a lot of couples asking us what PLI and PAT certificates are and although we have this information available in our FAQ section I thought why not write a guide so everyone can understand what these certificates are and also take the opportunity to answer other questions that have popped up over the years of us performing at thousands of weddings all over the UK.
Neither documents are legally required but any wedding band worth hiring should have them.
All our bands (like Cadence above) have these certificates as we believe they are important documents that offer peace of mind and security to you and your wedding venue. As mentioned, most venues won’t allow a band to perform unless they have them and I’ve had quite a few couples hire a band with us because the band they previously hired either refused to obtain or didn’t have up-to-date PLI and PAT certificates. A situation I’m sure you’d like to avoid!
PLI stands for public liability insurance and can be commonly known as third-party insurance as mentioned, covers your wedding musicians in the event they damage the venue, someone at your wedding gets injured by their equipment or the unlikely happens and a musician injures a guest or staff member! PLI certificates need to be renewed annually.
Certificates have been around for hundreds of years for good reason! I’ve seen guests damage musical equipment and injure musicians but never the other way around. Regardless, it’s always best to be covered for all eventualities. I don’t want any wedding stopped over some missing piece of paper! PLI cover isn’t too expensive and is easy to acquire so any band you are looking at hiring should have a PLI or get them before they perform for you, even if the venue doesn’t ask for them.
A PAT certificate or portable appliance tester certificate is a document certifying that all of a wedding band’s electrical equipment is in the best possible condition before being used at any venue. This includes PA, mixing desk, stage lighting, amps, and any other electrical equipment like laptops, iPads, chargers, and plugs. Like PLI certificates, PAT certificates need to be updated and renewed annually.
Again, most venues will not allow a live wedding band to perform in their venue unless they have a PAT certificate and most PLI policies won’t pay out unless the band has an up-to-date PAT certificate either. Again, these are quite simple and relatively inexpensive documents to get hold of with plenty of companies out there offering their services wherever you are based. Live wedding bands have no excuse if they don’t have an up-to-date PAT certificate and you really shouldn’t hire a band that doesn’t have one.
As mentioned, all our party bands, function bands, and wedding bands for hire keep detailed and up-to-date PLI and PAT certificates so nothing stops them from performing for you, your family, or friends. All live wedding bands out there should be the same and any good wedding entertainment agency out there should encourage this same practice. If you experience any attitudes to the contrary, you should question this and possibly avoid said people and bands. Professional wedding entertainers will always carry up-to-date and accurate PLI and PAT certificates, it’s that simple!
That’s it for today’s guide but I hope it answered all your questions and worries regarding PAT and PLI certificates. For today’s weddings, they are important documents that any wedding band should have so make sure any band you are looking at hiring has them. If they don’t or you are unsure about their attitude come and hire a lovely wedding band with us. We are open 7 days a week, 10 am to 10 pm, and happy to chat with you, obligation-free via email, phone, text, live chat, and all the usual socials.
If you have any questions, queries or comments simply contact us and I hope you have a truly fantastic wedding with some fantastic (PAT and PLI carrying) live wedding entertainment booked!
Lastly, even with short and sweet guides like this, we spend a lot of time making them the best we can for you so if you liked what you read please consider sharing it with others.
Thanks!
Matt and the Seventh Second team
