wedding reception

How to Hire a Truly Entertaining Live Band for your Wedding Reception

January 12, 2010 By Nina 1 Comment

Live Music at Wedding Reception

Music is probably the only thing in weddings that you cannot see or touch and yet it can make such a powerful impact on the overall event. In fact, the right choice in music can spell the difference between one that guests would dismiss as “just another wedding reception” and one that would truly captivate their attention and make them remember the big day for a very long time. This is why, it is imperative that couples do take the time to look for and hire live music bands that truly know the words, “awesome” and “entertaining.”

Here are some tips on how to do just that.

Collect your options. Get recommendations from family and friends who have recently gotten married or attended weddings. Attend bridal shows where many wedding bands would showcase their musical talents. Try to remember the weddings you have attended before. If you remember any one in particular that had a musical band that you truly loved, contact the bride, and get the band’s contact details. Make a list and call up as many as you can.

Request audio or video samples from the bands you are considering to hire. Be sure to consider the band’s musical style, if this is something that both you and your spouse-to-be would like. Think about the event as well and make sure that their music suits this. This is a good way to narrow down the options.

Call up your top three choices and hear them play live. This is important as audio and video samples may differ from actual performances. This is also a good way to gauge the band’s personality and see if they are the type that would have rapport with the audience. As you know, a good musical band should be able to give life to the event. They should be fun and exciting to be able to draw the crowd into the cheerful celebration. You do not want to hire a band that would bore your guests.

Talk to the band manager. Discuss matters such as schedule, list of songs, and price. Make sure that the band you hire is very well in your budget range. Overspending is not a good idea, since there are many bands out there that can sing and play exceptionally for a lower cost. Before signing any contract, read and understand everything to avoid problems in the future.

More Tips

Check the reception venue to ensure that it can accommodate the band’s equipment.

Choose a band that has played in weddings before.

Make sure that the band would arrive at the reception venue on time.

Ask the band to dress up accordingly to the event.

Pick a band that would be open to suggestions.

A good musical band is one of those things that can make or break your wedding event. After all, these people would provide ambient music and entertainment throughout the reception. For this reason, it is a big must that you pay attention to all the tips mentioned above so you can ensure that you hire a truly entertaining band that would be worth your time and money.

Wedding Reception – Organizing your Wedding Reception Seating Plan

By Georgina Clatworthy

Your wedding reception will be one of the biggest parties you will ever organize and one of the trickiest tasks you will need to complete will be organizing the seating plan. You may be thinking ‘why do I need a seating plan?’ well, without one, your guests will simply all file into the reception room and mill around wondering where to sit and who with.

A seating plan will give you greater control over who sits were and with whom so as to avoid any potential conflicts between people who do not get on and also with the aim of creating a happy wedding atmosphere by sitting people together who you are sure do or will get on. Giving your guests some guidance on where to sit will also speed things up and you will get everyone seated and ready eat in no time at all.

Seating plans are particularly important for a large formal wedding and even if you are not having a sit down meal, you may still have tables set out so a seating plan is still a useful tool for a buffet style reception. If your wedding is small and intimate then you may find that a seating plan is not necessary and in that case it can be wise to intimate to your guests that it is a ’sit anywhere’ event.

Traditionally, the reception venue will be laid out with a long table at one end of the room, known as the top table, with several smaller square or round tables laid out to one side of the top table. The aim with the arrangement of the smaller tables is for your guests to be able to see the bride and groom from wherever they are sitting. Now of course, some of your guests will have their backs to you but make sure there is sufficient space between the tables so they can turn their chairs to you when the speeches and toasts commence.

The tables nearest to the top table are traditionally reserved for the families of the bride and groom and all other guests are then fitted on the remaining tables. The top table will consist of you and your husband in the center, your mother and father on either side, the groom’s father and mother to one end and the best man and chief bridesmaid to the other end. There are many variations of the top table, particularly to accommodate parents who are divorced and remarried. The one constant is that you should both sit in the center and you can organize everyone else in a way that works best for you.

When working out who will sit where it is a good idea to write the names of each guest on pieces of card, followed by a larger card with the table numbers on. You can then arrange each guest around a table in a configuration which works well for you. There are some considerations though:

Try to sit people of the same age together
Avoid placing singles on tables of couples, try to put at least two single people together on a table but avoid any matchmaking!
Keep couples and those with children together
Try to sit people together whom you think will get on together well

You aim is to try to achieve lively tables where everyone can engage with each other in a friendly and cheerful manner. Once you have worked out where everyone will sit you can go ahead and have a seating plan board made to display at the entrance to the reception room.