Wedding Band (music!)

[Pennglock]

This forumite is getting married in the spring, and my job at the moment is to line up the entertainment. I am almost completely sold on the idea of a band, but my problem lies in evaluating the prospects. Is there anyone here who has been through this process, or at least been to a lot of weddings?

Ive been to so very few weddings, that I don't even know what kind of music goes over well. I'd like to keep it fairly traditional as older folks will probably outnumber the younger folks, but I don't want our younger friends to be bored. I know the older people enjoy the jazz stuff, dancing foxtrots and all that old-timey stuff, but half of my friends probably don't even know the steps.

Yeah, so what mix of music should I look for?

What else should I look for in evaluating a bad?

 

[forsbergacct2000]

Fox trots??? How old are the elders?

If you can find someone who can recommend a band that they have hired before, that would be really big.

One really important consideration (especially if there are a lot of older people) - - Is your band willing to work with you about the volume?? (Will they player softer without being offended if you ask them too?) At your reception, if they are too loud, nothing else really matters. (I'm a professional musician that used to play in bands; a lot of players can really be jerks about this issue.)

You would also want to avoid the assumption that a popular bar band would be a good wedding band. Depending on your crowd, you might want to make sure that you have someone who is willing not to make bawdy comments, etc. from the stage.

Once these folks are hired, they control the atmosphere, not you. You want to choose carefully.

 

[cougarlicious]

Gosh, I've been to a ton of weddings, but I've never been to one where jazz and old-timey music was part of the song rotation. I think if you really want to play that music, maybe have them do that during the cocktail hour? Then during the dance portion, play the typical wedding dance songs (Celebration, We are Family, etc) that are kinda annoying but at same time kinda expected. Those types of songs usually are good at getting both young and old out on the dance floor.

Just attended a wedding this weekend where they played the typical wedding dance songs from 9-10; by then the older folks were tired and started heading home. At 10, they started playing more younger, Top 40 stuff that kept the younger folks dancing into the night.