Avoid These 5 Pitfalls!
This is serious business folks. Let’s face it. You’re in love…you’re trying to throw the party of your life and you just finalized your budget and have decided you want a band. Great! Now….before you throw yourself to the sharks and give away all your money on a band that doesn’t cut the mustard or make you want to cut a rug, learn from these cautionary tales.
1. “I was horrified when I saw the members of the “band” I hired for my wedding shake hands and introduce themselves to each other as they were setting up. Of course, there was no emotion in the music. I basically paid thousands of dollars for what sounded like robots going through the motions.”
-Sarah K, Charleston SC
This is what happens when you think you’re hiring a band, but you actually hired a staffing service.
A “band” model is the tried and true method….find people with a unified vision and rehearse until the gig comes to ensure the client gets what they paid for. A “staffing" service” type model pieces musicians and singers together for a singular event. Sometimes, band members are meeting for the first time on the bandstand…and while that model is a lot cheaper than a traditional “band” model, you get what you pay for.
2. “I spent weeks choosing the song I wanted the band to play for our first dance as a couple. I was so upset when I saw them discussing how to play it only moments before my guests arrived. You’d think a band would rehearse the biggest song of my special day….but I guess not. Very disappointing to say the least for the money I spent.”
-Brittney M, Roswell GA
It’s so important to choose a band that regularly rehearses. You will be surprised how many people say “We do this all the time” or “We play a very refined setlist every week for many different clients like you” etc etc etc. Yeah yeah. We’re professionals. You’ve heard this dismissive talk before. The truth is, they don’t want to tell you that they actually don’t rehearse. They show up and just wing it. They’ll show up and run your first dance songs at soundcheck because they’ve never rehearsed them prior to the day of your wedding. The right thing to do is to rehearse for every event, because that’s what bands do to show respect for the client that hires them. No ifs, ands or buts.
3. “The music was either so loud it made my ears bleed or too quiet to even dance to all night. My new mother in-law basically spent the whole night asking the band to either turn it up or turn it down. Disaster.”
-Monique L, Chattanooga TN
If your band doesn’t have a dedicated sound engineer, this is pretty likely to happen. Every great concert you’ve ever heard that sounded amazing had someone behind an ipad or a sound board in front of the band mixing it. Sound engineers keep the mics from making that really awful high pitched scream that makes everyone hold their ears. You know what I’m talking about. MANY low budget bands will cut this dedicated job and say that “Someone in the band will run sound”….and in the beginning and middle of the show will run out into the audience to see if it sounds ok. Or, they’ll say that they’ll soundcheck before the show starts. It’s actually impossible to simulate what a room sounds like empty vs one that’s filled with 150+ people….so that’s a lie. Remember. You’re paying thousands of dollars. You deserve a sound engineer so that everything isn’t too loud…its juuuust right :)
4. “We didn’t get a chance to see the band play live before we hired them, but their videos were INCREDIBLE. The lead guitarist played licks I didn’t even know were possible, and we couldn’t keep our eyes off the lead singer because she was just totally captivating. We felt completely duped when neither of them were in the band on our wedding night.”
-Ashley S, Marietta GA
Sometimes there are emergencies. Or vacations. Not everyone is available 52 weeks a year and on every Saturday…but as a principle, the band members in the video should reflect the product you will see on your special day. No one wants to brag to their friends about this awesome band they booked only to see a completely different one on their big day. Things happen and demo videos are expensive to make for clients to observe….but….they should be current and an accurate reflection of what you’re buying. Right?
5. “We hired this incredible band with a 4-piece horn section, but it turned out the stage at the venue could only accommodate about a third of them, so the rest just went home (and yes, we still paid for them). I really wish someone would have caught that in the planning process to save us time and money!”
-Makenzie R, New Orleans LA
Handling a wedding is tricky…even if you do it all the time. The right details have to be given to the right people at the right time so that everything runs PERFECTLY the day of. The band should be busy doing band things…..not logistics. A dedicated coordinator to pass info to you or your wedding planner about the timeline and working on songs, dietary restrictions, stage requirements…..it becomes a lot to do very fast! Make sure your band of choice has someone that is dedicated to your details!
It’s a lot to navigate if you’ve never done it before. Luckily, at Shindig My Event, this is exactly what we do every day!
Music may be the most critical factor in the success of your big night/day (I mean…some people are REALLY picky about cake but….). Why not let the pros make sure it’s perfect? Click here to see how we can help.
Happy hunting!
Jacob - Shindig My Event!
