You are sure to have a diverse range of guests at your wedding. Whether your guests are eight or eighty they will all need to be entertained. So how do you go about choosing the perfect band for your wedding? The Designer Card Company is here to give you some helpful tips.

Shop Around

Take a good look at the type of band you may be interested in booking. It’s best to arrange a meeting with them, and be sure to prepare questions to ask in advance. Are you sure that the eight piece band you have found will be suitable for the wedding reception venue you have booked? Do they play UK wide or are they based in one particular area? Will they provide you with a contract to safeguard your rights?  Also - ask your venue for suggestions.  Many venues provide preferred suppliers lists and this may include bands who have played at the venue before.  If the band nows the venue well it is more likely to be a success.

Be Sure the Band is Suitable for the Occasion

Not all bands are suitable to perform at wedding receptions. The band you see playing at your local pub may sound great, but will they be able to perform the type of music suitable for a wedding reception? Bar and pub bands play loud music often in one genre. That might be great for a little while, but bands that specialise in playing wedding receptions know that the key to success is a broad repertoire, from classic hits to modern music.  This will satisfy all tastes and generations.

Be Sure that The Band is Suitable for Your Venue

If you don’t go with one of your venue’s recommendations you may find that the venue you hire for your wedding reception will probably have certain requirements of the band you book. Many venues have installed sound limiters designed to govern how loud a band can play. This means that if a band plays over a certain level of sound, electrical power will be cut.  Ask the band you are interested in booking if they have experience working with sound limiters.

Beware of Hidden Charges

As with all the services you book for your wedding reception, you need to be sure that you are getting the best value for money. When you ask a band for their price, ask them if this is their final quote. Some bands will attempt to add extra fees to their quote at a later date – fees for accommodation, food, mileage or even hire of equipment.

Part Time or Professional?

You wouldn’t entrust the repair of your car to a part time mechanic, or a call plumber who has a day job working in an office, so why consider booking a band that only perform part time? Many function bands only play once or twice per month as a hobby and work in “normal” weekday jobs. Do you really want to risk booking a band whose members may be stuck in rush hour traffic after finishing work on the day of your wedding?  Try to pick professional bands wherever possible.

If you would like to produce a guide of the tracks being played by your chosen band The Designer Card Company can include this as part of the Order of the Day Booklets.  This gives your guests information on the schedule of the day.  The Designer Card Company are experts in personalised wedding stationery design and can provide a whole matching suite of luxury wedding stationery, including your all-important designer wedding invitations.

This entry was posted on Saturday, May 2nd, 2009 at 9:40 pm and is filed under Wedding News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.