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If your live wedding band cancels, check your contract with them or their representative so you know your legal rights and options. Secondly, read any supplementary terms and conditions they may have, and thirdly, see if legally they have to help source a new and reliable wedding band for you! Contractually, they usually have to but if this isn’t the case you may need to seek legal help or further assistance through the citizen’s advice bureau.
Wow, well this is a pretty awful situation to be in and although we’ve never had any of our wedding bands cancel a wedding performance in over 10 years, we do know exactly what you have to do if this awful situation occurs. It’s not always a simple process, so let me take you through all the possible steps you may have to take. Firstly, if you are really running out of time or understandably panicking, just contact us now and we will help in any way we can, obligation-free.
We have loads of other guides on our site that help you find a fantastic, reliable new band or just help you get clued up on everything wedding entertainment and more!
We’ve mentioned in our posts like are wedding bands safe to book online and live wedding bands to avoid in 2024 that it’s important for you to check any wedding band or wedding entertainment websites’ T&Cs and FAQ sections but what’s also crucially important is making sure you have a signed contract with any band you book and that you fully understand it. When the average cost of a live wedding band in 2024 is £1556 we really wouldn’t recommend hiring any wedding band or wedding entertainment without having a contract in place. If the worst happens and they cancel or you have to cancel and you have no legal protection, you could be seriously out of pocket. The recent pandemic has only highlighted how important booking contracts are. More on that later…
I’ve been involved in the wedding entertainment world for a pretty long time now and we make sure we have robust contracts that fully protect the client and the musicians. Below you can see what our contract stipulates when a wedding band cancels on you. This really is the industry standard and you shouldn’t expect any less. I always suggest you check your contract for this kind of information but if you understandably find contracts mind-boggling just talk to us. We’re always happy to help.
6.1 The Artist shall have the right to terminate this Contract only on the occurrence of a Force Majeure Event.
6.2 The Artist shall inform the Agent as soon as reasonably practicable on becoming aware of the Force Majeure Event. The Agent shall notify the Client of the cancellation as soon as reasonably possible after being informed by the Artist and make all reasonable attempts to find a suitable replacement artist of a similar standard, style and cost. Should a suitable replacement not be found, the Agent agrees to refund the Client the Deposit plus any other fees already paid in advance.
6.3 Without prejudice to any other rights the Client may have, should the Artist purport to terminate a Contract for any reason other than a Force Majeure Event the Artist shall pay within 5 working days to the Agent an administration fee equal to the commission due on the Contract (being an amount equal to the Deposit). The Artist shall be liable to pay to the Client the difference between the original Total Cost under this contract and the new fees charged by any replacement artist arranged for the Client by the Agent up to a maximum higher price difference of 20% of the Total Cost. The Artist shall not be liable for any loss, damage, cost or expense arising out of the breach, which was not reasonably foreseeable by the Artist at the date of the Contract.
6.4 No refund shall be given to the Client against the Deposit already paid, and no administration charge will be made to the Artist, if a replacement artist of similar value can be arranged by the Agent and agreed by the Client. However, should a replacement artist charge a lower fee, the Client will be refunded an amount of the Deposit pro-rata to the difference in fees and the replacement artist will be due their usual fee. The Agent shall use reasonable endeavours to contact the Client and Artist to agree this in advance.
6.5 The Client shall have the right to reject any last-minute replacement artists provided that the replacement artist is not required to perform. If the Client still requires the replacement artist to perform, then their full fee will be due.
The future looks brighter with covid under control but we never know whether it will be back or if lockdown restrictions will rear their ugly heads in the future. Any wedding music band you have hired in the past year or are looking to hire should have some up-to-date covid cover included in their booking contract with you. If they don’t and they’ve cancelled due to covid-19 or lockdown reasons that could become tricky to sort so if you are concerned in any way, make sure your wedding band has up-to-date covid cover or is willing to add it to your booking with them. All our acts have up-to-date and comprehensive covid cover here so head to that guide to see what you should be expecting from your wedding music band. If you are worried about anything related to your band and covid-19 you can always contact us. Stay safe!
Hopefully, you’ve been contacted by your cancelling wedding band or their representatives about how they will solve the situation but if not, once you’ve given the contract a good read, contact them as soon as you can as it really should be their responsibility to sort another wedding band for you. Again, any robust contract should already explain the next steps but make sure you are clued up with any contracts before you speak to them. I know it’s a scary and disorientating situation to be in but don’t let anyone off the hook, you deserve an excellent live wedding band for your special day!
Yep, I understand. Terms and conditions and FAQs are about as fun as paint drying but as mentioned at the beginning, there’s a lot of important stuff in there. Hiring a live wedding band online can be daunting and a little bit nerve-wracking and when the worst happens any information can be crucial so it’s always worth a quick scan through. Many wedding entertainment websites are essentially staffed by salespeople and not musicians so they may not understand the finer points of a situation such as a wedding band cancelling. Give those pages a scan as you might find just the information you need to either back up your case or get things moving quickly in your favor. You’ve got the biggest and best day of your life to organise after all.
Ok, so at this point, I’m assuming you’ve spoken to the wedding band and their representatives, checked your contractual rights, and had a little look over the T&Cs and FAQs but you’ve hit another issue. They either can’t find another suitable band, won’t find another suitable band for you, or the band they’ve offered you is way more expensive or completely unsuitable. What do you do? At the very least, you should receive a full refund from your cancelled wedding band but if things turn nasty you should check your consumer rights here.
In the meantime, go and look at other websites that have special bands that can deal with last-minute cancellations. These bands like Paper Boats (above), aren’t typically different from other wedding bands in any major way but they are able and willing to perform at weddings with very short notice. We have such a page here where all the bands you see are able to rally the troops and head out to all sorts of weddings saving newlyweds all over the country with very little notice. Yey!
I perform in the bands here at Seventh Second like Southside Sparkle (above) who sometimes help with these last-minute situations and usually, we have enough time to really understand what a couple wants for their wedding and deliver it for them too. It can be high-pressure but very rewarding work! Enquire now and we will try our absolute best to help. Our last-minute wedding bands don’t charge a premium or add extra fees for this kind of work either and we are available 7 days a week from 10 am to 10 pm to help! To protect yourself, I would recommend that as soon as you know your wedding band has cancelled, start looking for alternative wedding acts, and checking their availability. Hopefully, everything will be sorted by your cancelled wedding band or their representatives but if not, at least you’ve started looking for another band. Time is usually of the essence in many of these situations.
This may seem an impossible task given your rising panic levels but I know couples who have simply reached out to everyone they know and posted on social media about their wedding emergency and they’ve either found a live wedding band or a wedding DJ that’s free for their big day. Super! It could be worth trying but if all else fails, make yourself your perfect playlist on Spotify or iTunes and blast it out at your wedding. I know it’s not ideal but your guests will understand and you should still have that packed dance floor you dreamed of. Get those dancing shoes ready, no one is going to stop you from having a fantastic wedding!
I hope this guide has been helpful and I hope your wedding band troubles don’t look so bad now. I thought I’d bring you a little interview with one bride we helped back in 2021. Hopefully, her story will demonstrate you are not alone and that you can fix what probably seems like a total disaster. The Usual Suspects wedding band came to Shelley’s rescue and you can see their video above.
Here’s Shelly’s story…
“We had a great wedding band booked for our wedding in Oxford for the 14/5/21. I couldn’t wait! Planning my wedding had been very stressful but fun and with a week to go, I felt like I was slowly able to relax a tiny bit and picture my wedding day with friends and family. Everything seemed on track. The band contacted us five days beforehand and said they couldn’t perform anymore! I couldn’t believe it and they didn’t seem very willing to help me sort the problem. Their agency didn’t seem to have many great options so me and my mum searched all one day for other options. With great relief we got The Usual Suspects band sorted with the guys at Seventh Second and to my surprise, they actually performed more of what we wanted than the other band said they could. We had a great wedding party in the end. I’m not sure how we managed it but it was such a huge relief to have it all sorted. My wedding day was stressful enough! It was a horrible place to be in because we hadn’t done anything wrong and I felt my wedding was going to be a disaster but there are options out there and musicians like the ones at Seventh Second who can help.”
Well, that’s a great way to end this blog post but again, if you are feeling totally stranded and stressed please just contact us and we will help. Alternatively, there are a few forums where people have shared their experiences that you can check out including You and Your Weddings and Hitched.
Either way, I am confident you will have a memorable wedding and love every minute of it! Lastly, we spend a lot of time making our guides the best we can for you so if you liked what you read please consider sharing it with others, especially if they have been let down by their live wedding band too!
Thanks,
Jon and the Seventh Second Team
