A Wedding Band

[pepj]

Its just my friends who rely on weddings for baulk of income can't rely on them anymore.
4 yrs ago, they were complaining that they were massively down on wedding bookings.
They might have expected 20..based on past years, and they had two in the first 5 months...plus the actual fees they were charging were also reduced by possibly 30%..so double double whammy.
And this was a band that was plugged into a decent stream of weddings that they travelled far and wide to.

So, for me, weddings are ok, if the money is better than say, party fees, but they'd be bonus territory.
YMMV.

 

[TexasHeat]

I did the wedding band gig for a couple of years. We were a little different in that we were part of the venue. The lead singer owned the venue so you book the venue, you got us. We did Texas pole barn weddings. Basically for those whose budgets were less than average and not so glamorous. Our setlist was about 50 songs and we covered classic rock and classic country.

Who would your setlist cater to? The one paying the bill. That's usually the brides' parents, so play what they like. The bride will request a song. We've added quite a few good songs to our list from those requests. But we got some weird ones.... like Beyonce. Um, we are all a bunch of old gits and of course, we can't sing Beyonce. lol. Attendees would range from 50-100 people, so we were on the smaller side.

We always had a sound guy.

I always had fun playing weddings. Gotta be flexible with requests for songs, or to let aunt Judy get up and sing, or to stop in the middle of a song so drunk grandpa can slur his way through an announcement. I had no problem letting one of the bride's maids come up and sing harmonies with me.

Eh, those were my experiences anyway. Real wedding bands are probably completely different.

 

[friskinator]

I did the wedding band gig for a couple of years. We were a little different in that we were part of the venue. The lead singer owned the venue so you book the venue, you got us. We did Texas pole barn weddings. Basically for those whose budgets were less than average and not so glamorous. Our setlist was about 50 songs and we covered classic rock and classic country.

Who would your setlist cater to? The one paying the bill. That's usually the brides' parents, so play what they like. The bride will request a song. We've added quite a few good songs to our list from those requests. But we got some weird ones.... like Beyonce. Um, we are all a bunch of old gits and of course, we can't sing Beyonce. lol. Attendees would range from 50-100 people, so we were on the smaller side.

We always had a sound guy.

I always had fun playing weddings. Gotta be flexible with requests for songs, or to let aunt Judy get up and sing, or to stop in the middle of a song so drunk grandpa can slur his way through an announcement. I had no problem letting one of the bride's maids come up and sing harmonies with me.

Eh, those were my experiences anyway. Real wedding bands are probably completely different.

My favorite gigs were the ones where the reception speeches went too long. More talking = less work for me. I recall a couple where our set was basically cut in half because of this.

 

[Bullitt5135]

1) what age groups are hiring you to play at their wedding?
Predominantly late-20's, finished with college & grad school and embarking on lucrative careers. Many seem to be the type who are not quite over their fraternity/sorority party days. Affluent families that want to throw a classy party and don't seem too concerned with the bill.

2) what era(s) and genre(s) are the songs your band is playing?
Wedding ceremony music (guitar & piano); cocktail hour jazz combo; emcee dinner & reception; party starts with Motown and R&B hits, then morphs into top-40 pop and dance. High energy, with the dance floor rocking all night.

3) how many people are in your band and what are their tasks?
9-piece plus sound engineer. 3 band members + soundman are on the load-in & setup crew. Others show up at call time for soundcheck. Bandleader handles all communication with clients – it's hard work and very detail-oriented. All members are pro musicians to varying degrees – full-time performers in multiple bands/solo/duo, etc., teachers, music therapist.

4) do you have a sound guy?
I am the sound guy. It's hard work, and there can be a lot of pressure for everything to be perfect. A lot of my earnings go back into gear upgrades, and I spend a considerable amount of time between gigs prepping and researching how to do things better. This is a hobby for me, but it's a good gig.

5) what songs from your set list are essential for every almost every wedding reception?
See #2. The song list is very deep. Client tailors the list to a degree, and requests are entertained within reason.

6) Can a band that plays 60s, 70s, 80s, and some 90s rock/top 40 songs still get wedding gigs?
I think there is a market for people who are planning a less-formal event like a backyard BBQ or VFW hall. Are there a lot of people planning a low-budget reception who still have the money to hire a band for a couple grand? Maybe not so much. Keep in mind that weddings take a lot of planning, and gig days can be long because you may need to be set up and sound-checked hours before you start playing.

 

[friskinator]

I attended a bat mitzvah last night with a DJ, and his playlist was great. He had people of all ages up and dancing. It made me think that if I was starting a wedding band, a party DJ's playlist would be a great place to start with building a setlist.

One more component that's crucial: good frontpeople to work the crowd. You'll need both a male/female singer at the least. Singers that don't play instruments are a must. If you think the frontpeople can just stand there and play guitar and sing all night, you are mistaken.

 

[bass12]

My favorite gigs were the ones where the reception speeches went too long. More talking = less work for me. I recall a couple where our set was basically cut in half because of this.

Not so fun if you have to stand on stage while the speeches are being given (probably the thing I dislike most about playing weddings).

 

[friskinator]

Not so fun if you have to stand on stage while the speeches are being given (probably the thing I dislike most about playing weddings).

I used to leave the stage and stand or sit off to the side.

 

[bass12]

I used to leave the stage and stand or sit off to the side.

I wish that was an option in my band. During speeches we're either nowhere near the stage or standing on it like statues trying not to look bored out of our minds.

 

[Bullitt5135]

Not so fun if you have to stand on stage while the speeches are being given (probably the thing I dislike most about playing weddings).

The only thing worse is running sound for the speeches. Nine people out of 10 have a serious aversion to microphones and stand several feet away and off-axis from the mic. Or Aunt Clara who insists on holding the mic like an ice cream cone at belly-button level. You crank up the gain and try to get a little volume to the back of the room, teetering perilously close to epic feedback. People shoot you dirty looks because they can't hear the father of the bride's speech, which invariably starts with Pops mumbling "well, you know me, I'm not one who likes to give speeches...".

 

[bass12]

The only thing worse is running sound for the speeches. Nine people out of 10 have a serious aversion to microphones and stand several feet away and off-axis from the mic. Or Aunt Clara who insists on holding the mic like an ice cream cone at belly-button level. You crank up the gain and try to get a little volume to the back of the room, teetering perilously close to epic feedback. People shoot you dirty looks because they can't hear the father of the bride's speech, which invariably starts with Pops mumbling "well, you know me, I'm not one who likes to give speeches...".

It amazes me every time. With the weddings I play you typically have these people who graduated in law or medicine - or some other field which requires at least half a brain - and yet they haven't figured out the basics of speaking into a microphone.

 

[friskinator]

It amazes me every time. With the weddings I play you typically have these people who graduated in law or medicine - or some other field which requires at least half a brain - and yet they haven't figured out the basics of speaking into a microphone.

The worst was when the client’s friends and family took up most of our contracted set time with speeches, then complained because we didn’t play our full set.