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Any professional wedding band for hire should be able to provide transport, PA speaker system, stage lighting, stage outfits, the capacity to play background music or DJ, back-ups for any equipment that could malfunction, PLI and PAT certificates plus all musical instruments, and any other instrumental backline required to perform. These items are seen as the essential and minimum requirements that any live wedding band should provide at your wedding.
Apart from obvious things like great live entertainment, themselves and their instruments (I’ve heard horror stories of this going wrong amazingly!) live wedding bands should ideally bring a completely self-contained live concert to your wedding. Why do you need to know this and why do they usually need to supply this? Well, so you have nothing to worry about and your wedding party goes off without a hitch and kicks ass! Woohoo!
Today’s advice concentrates on weddings but is relevant for any kind of event with live entertainment you may be planning.
A self-contained live wedding band is a band that can supply everything they need to perform in any venue to their max for you and your guests. Everything means transport, a PA sound system, a full lighting rig, all musical equipment, stage outfits, equipment for DJ’ing or the capacity to play background music, back-ups for any equipment that can easily break, and of course, PLI and PAT certificates.
All our bands follow the self-contained philosophy and have some best wedding band awards too! Why not take a look below?
Punctuality, professionalism, and politeness wouldn’t go amiss either – don’t accept any diva behavior! Any wedding music bands that call themselves professional that can’t or won’t offer all these basic and essential items are to be avoided unless you or the venue has equipment the band either has to use or can use. Read more about this here and all about live wedding bands to avoid here.
A big reason it’s good to know what your live band can provide is that if they, for example, don’t supply a PA or stage lighting and your wedding venue doesn’t supply one or both of these you could be left with no sound or lighting for your first dance and evenings partying.
Throughout my 15 years of experience performing at weddings, I’ve heard of wedding bands arriving at weddings without stage lighting because they assumed the couple and wedding venue had hired it in. That’s a wedding party and live wedding band with no light show! I’ve even heard of bands not bringing a PA sound system for the same reason. Not good, your wedding party could stop before it begins!
To help deal with noise complaints and sound restrictions, more and more wedding venues now supply PA and lighting systems. This can sometimes be good news and is probably for the best as any live wedding band can be or should be encouraged to use them by your wedding venue. We cover this (and so, so much more) in our bumper booking guide here (which really is essential reading before you hire any wedding band) but make sure any wedding band you hire speaks with your wedding venue so they each know exactly what they can and need to provide to get your wedding party rocking!
Here at Seventh Second, we don’t want you or any of our wedding couples worrying about any of the above so we have one simple rule. All our acts including our live wedding bands follow the self-contained philosophy. The self-contained philosophy is important to us because it means when we turn up to any wedding anywhere in the world, we can relax knowing we have all the gear we need to perform to our best and we know that you’re relaxing in the knowledge that we have everything taken care of. We offer this at no extra cost and other wedding bands should be doing the same. Speak to us 7 days a week, 10 am to 10 pm via phone, email, live chat, text, or via all the usual socials to find out more.
You have enough to deal with when organising a wedding so worrying about a live wedding band’s professionalism, organisation, and what musical equipment they may or may not bring shouldn’t be added to your list! Here at Seventh Second, we supply everything needed to have a memorable night’s partying and if your venue does have PA or lighting we need to use, no problem, we have a lot of experience working with wedding venue equipment and getting the most out of it. You can learn more about us and our unique way of working here if you are curious…
Below is what any wedding band you hire should be able to provide for your wedding. No ifs, no buts, this is all pretty essential!
Transport
PA speaker system
Stage lighting
All musical equipment and instruments
Performance attire
Background music and/or DJ equipment
PLI and PAT certificates
Back-ups for any equipment that could easily malfunction
Professional and friendly attitude
Let’s have a quick look at each item in the list so you are clued up
All professional wedding bands should have transport of course but it’s always worth checking if they do. If you’re planning to have your wedding abroad this is something you should doubly check as that can be a different logistical story.
A PA system is fundamental to any live wedding bands performance and professional wedding bands should always have one available. Without a PA, your band isn’t making a sound so unless your wedding venue has one, someone is going to have to rent one and that doesn’t always come cheap. It’s why all our acts come equipped with top-quality PA systems free of charge.
If you want your live band to look great as well as sound cool stage lighting is a must and although some wedding venues have lighting, great wedding bands should have great stage lighting to complement their professional look and sound because it’s needed more often than not. You can never have too many lights either!
Yep, I’ve heard stories of wedding bands forgetting to bring instruments, bringing the wrong instruments to weddings, or leaving their DJ equipment at home. Nightmare! All our acts own and provide fantastically well-looked-after instruments with plenty of spares because they care about their profession and any live band you hire should be exactly the same.
Stage lighting is all well and good but you want the band to look the part too! Just check out Southside Sparkles’ carefully designed look above! All good quality wedding bands should be able and willing to dress to impress and compliment your wedding theme. Dressed smart, casual, or even themed, wedding bands are there to blend into your wedding, entertain and look awesome doing it!
You may have hired a wedding DJ or have your own playlists for your wedding but there’s no harm in having spares or other options!
The League of Gentlemen (above) who gig week in week out at weddings across the UK always have their DJ equipment and backup background music gear with them and around 70% of the couples they play for love to make use of it. It’s a very popular free booking option with all our wedding bands and should be made available to you by most other professional wedding bands out there.
We speak all about these certificates in our little guide here but suffice it to say these documents should accompany any wedding band you hire. They are a must for most wedding venues nowadays so if your live wedding band doesn’t have them, they aren’t performing! All our acts carry up-to-date PLI and PAT certificates so they can always perform at all sorts of stunning weddings every week.
Professionalism and politeness should come as a standard too. Any live wedding band that can’t or won’t offer the essential items listed are to be potentially avoided unless you or the wedding venue has equipment the band must either use or can use.
They don’t get much more professional or friendly than From the Top above by the way!
Your wedding is so important and a one of a kind so bands you speak with should treat it as such. They should be polite, professional, offer their expertise, and enjoy planning your party as much as you do! A wedding is one of the happiest occasions known to man after all! It’s a big reason we are in the bands we advertise, we love being musicians and we love performing and designing wedding entertainment with happy couples who are in love.
First and foremost, ask any wedding band you are considering what they can bring to your wedding and if this costs any extra. Use my list or what your wedding venue classes as essential to keep the process simple for you. In my experience, most wedding bands worth their money will bring all they need to perform for you free of charge but always check. Better to be safe than sorry!
Having my list and your new-found knowledge will also help you avoid any cheeky extra costs or con artists out there. Unless specifically stated, live wedding bands shouldn’t really be asking for extra money when it comes to supplying everything I’ve mentioned today. Below is just some of what we offer free of charge and more.
If you have your heart set on one wedding music band in particular but they can’t supply all the essentials you have a few options. You either ask them to hire gear (preferably free of charge), find a wedding venue that can supply what your band can’t or you look at hiring the equipment yourself. With the help of your wedding band, it should be pretty straightforward hiring musical equipment.
We always try our absolute best for our wedding couples because we take your special day and our job seriously, but it is up to you if you want to pay extra and hire equipment for your band of choice. It could cost you hundreds if not thousands and you shouldn’t have to do it unless there are exceptional circumstances.
A truly professional wedding band should be there to help not hinder but if you are feeling put off by an unwilling or unprofessional wedding band, never fear, there are plenty more fish in the musical sea. We keep our roster small and select but just look at all the amazingly diverse wedding bands we have on offer including the award-winning Party Republic below!
I hope this little peek into the world of live wedding bands and what they bring to your wedding has helped you on your fantastic journey toward the perfect wedding. Myself and everyone at Seventh Second simply want every couple to have the best wedding they can so I hope this guide, as well as past and future guides, continue to help! Comments, questions, and suggestions for future guides are always welcome so get in touch with us here!
Hire a live wedding band that supplies all the above essentials and you are well on the way to a fantastic night’s partying and if you feel this guide may be useful to others and you liked what you read please consider sharing it.
Thanks,
Jon and the boys and girls at Seventh Second
