Choosing the right style of music

When selecting a band for your wedding reception you should think about atmosphere. Do you want a party atmosphere for dancing or would you prefer more background music to allow more conversation?

For the party atmosphere, most people like the band to play "a bit of everything" from the 50s to present day to suit the wide age ranges of wedding guests. Professional wedding bands tend to have a wide repertoire of music and can normally adapt well to suit any wedding reception.

Jazz bands are very popular for providing music at a wedding reception. They can add an extra touch of class to your wedding.

To select the right band for your event consider the taste of your guests, their age range and whether they would like to dance, listen to the music or a mixture of the two.

Your first dance

Most couples like to choose a well known song for their first dance. Get any specific requests to the band well in advance so the musicians have a chance to prepare them before the wedding reception.

Popular first dance requests:

'Angels' - Robbie Williams

'Lets Stay Together' - Al Green

'It Had To Be You' - Harry Connick Jr

'Stand By Me' - Ben E King

'We Have All The Time In The World' - Louis Armstrong

'Wonderful Tonight' - Eric Clapton

'Let There Be Love' - Nat King Cole

'Everything I Do (I do it for you)' - Bryan Adams

Finding a wedding band to suit your budget

The cost of a wedding band varies depending on their style of music, how many musicians are the band require, how popular they are, how long you want music for, what time the musicians need to arrive and the travel distance involved to get your wedding reception venue.

The following table shows guide prices to give you an idea of how the cost varies depending on the number of musicians and length of performance: Solo Musician 2 Hours '150-250 4 Hours '250-350 Duo 2 Hours '250-400 4 Hours '400-550 Trio 2 Hours '400-600 4 Hours '600-700 Quartet 2 Hours '500-700 4 Hours '700-900 Quintet 2 Hours '600-800 4 Hours '800-1000 Sextet 2 Hours '700-900 4 Hours '900-1300 Septet 2 Hours '750-1000 4 Hours '950-1500

If musicians will have to travel more than 75 miles for your wedding reception, modest travel expenses should be added to the above prices.

Set-up time

The Musicians Union state that reasonable set-up time should be included when booking a live band i.e. the band start charging from the time at which they are booked to arrive. Therefore, the above 2 hour guide price would consist of roughly thirty minutes set-up time for the band and an hour and a half of performance.

Cost vs Quality

LastMinuteMusicians.com believes that quality should be your main concern when booking a band for your wedding reception. Pub bands, although cheap, often lack the experience and reliability of professional wedding bands. Don't risk the success of your wedding reception by booking a cheap pub band.

Worst case scenario

Should the unexpected happen and your musicians let you down at the last minute, most pub bands would struggle to find an appropriate replacement band. However, most professional wedding bands (such as Wedding Bands at www.La stMinuteMusicians.com have a back-up network of quality customer services and endless music industry contacts to call on in times of crisis.

Your wedding reception venue

Check that live music is permitted at your wedding reception venue. It is now UK law that venues must have a license if more than two musicians will be performing live. If your venue doesn't have such a license, consider booking a duo - piano & singer or sax & piano are popular choices.

Some venues have sound level limiters, which cuts off power to the band if they exceed a certain volume. If this is the case, don't forget to tell the band. Also, remember to check that there is a power socket available near the area in which you would like the band to perform.

Musicians will have to bring heavy equipment to your venue so it is always a good to idea to check with your venue to ensure that there is somewhere for the band to park. The more details about the venue that you can tell the band, the better!

What next?

If you live in London or the South East try browsing Wedding Bands for hire in London and the South East. If you live further a field click here to search for a wedding band near you.

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