I love wedding gigs!

Dave R · #1 09-28-2008, 08:08 PM

We played our second wedding in two weeks last night. Reminded me why I love wedding gigs.

1. Our manager always includes a meal in our contract (if food is served.) Last night we got prime rib, fettucini alfredo, a nice hard crust herbed bread with garlic spiced butter, ceaser salad, and a few things I don't remember. Oh, yeah, a nacho cheese fountain and wedding cake. MMMmmmmm. Often we get cheesecake. Last wedding was all you can eat shrimp. Good thing rockin' out burns so many calories...

2. Good lookin' folks dressed in their finest. The view from the bandstand is awesome.

3. All the love in the air. CAAAAANNNN you FEEEEELLLLL the LOOOOVVVVEE to NIIIIGGHHTTTT. Dancers occasionally get a little frisky. Keeps the mood flirtatious and lively.

4. People on their best behavior. Everyone is kind and helpful. And appreciative of the good music.

5. CELEBRATION! People love to dance. The band feeds off the energy. We always play well, and have a great time.

6. The $$$. When you get in the high-end weddings, the pay is good. The referrals are often good, too. If there's a wedding planner, and they like you, they'll usually use you again. Likewise, the caterers and photographers will often take a few cards. We're getting to where a few of those are fans. And they refer gigs to us.

All that, and good music and good fun, too!

Lazylion · #2 09-28-2008, 08:40 PM

+1 wedding gigs are great! And don't forget...

7. Often there is an open bar.

Dave R · #3 09-28-2008, 08:47 PM

Right--but I never drink during a gig.

(Actually, I never drink, period.)

Bluesy Soul · #4 09-28-2008, 09:18 PM

...plus, wedding gigs usually pay as well or better than most clubs (at least in this area) and often require you to play only 2 or 3 hours, instead of 4 or more.

Bluesy Soul

seanm · #5 09-28-2008, 10:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bluesy Soul

...plus, wedding gigs usually pay as well or better than most clubs (at least in this area) and often require you to play only 2 or 3 hours, instead of 4 or more.

Bluesy Soul

I have only played one wedding reception. We started at 9:00pm and played till 4:00am. Five or six (I lost track) long sets. I'm not complaining, it was the best gig I have ever played.

Dogbertday · #6 09-28-2008, 10:28 PM

ceremonies are pretty sweet too... usually some pretty simple music and the pay is way more than the talent required is... My special lady friend recently made about a hundred bucks for playing canon on cello with a string trio. Food and ride there was included

**cheezewiz** · #7 09-29-2008, 01:39 AM

I friggin HATE wedding gigs. I do A LOT of them, and have come to hate them, all except for the pay, which is darned good.

You have a TON of wasted timeon weddings. A normal wedding gig, they tell us we need to be set up by 530pm when guests start to arrive. That means we get there at 4pm. From 530pm until the wedding party arrives, usually 630-7pm, we sit with our thumbs in our butts. After that, the singer has to do a bit of "dejaying" while the other 4 of us sit, again, twidling our thumbs. Dinner is then served around 7. We eat, then sit wasting more time. By the time dinner is done, it's around 8 or 830, and we start playing. We have to play the cheesiest crap on our list. Someone invariably complains it's too loud, not loud enough, not enough fast songs, not enough slow songs, etc. We finish up at 11, tear down, and usually roll home about 1230. That's an 8 1/2 hour workday on a "day off" from our real jobs.

I must say, I think we do a darned good job keeping people at wedding gigs as happy as possible, which is evidenced by the fact we keep getting hired for more and more of them, but personally, other than the pay, they are BY FAR, my LEAST favorite gigs.

Phalex · #8 09-29-2008, 06:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dave R

5. CELEBRATION! People love to dance. The band feeds off the energy. We always play well, and have a great time.

Kool and the Gang?? That is definitely one of the things I hate about wedding receptions!

varunkapahi · #9 09-29-2008, 07:04 AM

good food for free? am IN!

Dave R · #10 09-29-2008, 10:48 AM

Quote:

Kool and the Gang?? That is definitely one of the things I hate about wedding receptions!

Yeah, if you hate "Celebration", and you hate love songs, you're not gonna like weddings.

Quote:

good food for free? am IN!

Best part of the evening! Cheezewhiz, that's what you should be doing during the dead time. EATING!

CapnSev · #11 09-29-2008, 10:56 AM

In general, waaaaaaaaaaay better than bars.