Are you having a band at your wedding?

At a recent wedding the father of the bride had a request – he wanted to do the Hustle with his sister. I went up to the band leader and gave him the request.  “Sure” he said, “Give me about 10 minutes.” Time passed and I reminded him again. “We’re working it in” he said. No one ever got to roll their arms or sway their hips to Hustle that night.

Earlier I had given him another request to have a contest to give away the centerpieces. “OK” was the reply. By the time he made the announcement half the centerpieces and the guests were already gone. NOTE:  make sure announcements like this are made right before the cake is cut when you have everyone’s attention.

When you have a band they’re not as flexible as a DJ. If you want to have a contest to give away the centerpieces make sure it’s on the activity sheet with all the other announcements given to the band prior to the wedding.

If someone wants a special song – and the Hustle was just a request that came out of the blue – make sure it’s on their play list before making the request. If they didn’t rehearse it, or they don’t know it, it’s not going to get played no matter how many times you ask and they OK you to death.

A band requires more advance planning then a DJ. It’s likely they’ve made a set play list (with breaks) that was rehearsed and distributed to all members prior to the event. Adding a song means another one has to be taken out and if they’re in the middle of a set it may have to wait until the next set and then it’s possible it will be forgotten by the time the next set gets underway. Ask to see your bands play list BEFORE your event so you can check if any of your “do not” play songs are on it. A DJ can be much more flexible. If a DJ doesn’t have the song you want it’s likely they can download it from iTunes before the night is over.