Manchester Wedding Band
Three piece rock, indie, pop Manchester wedding band music + free live DJ for Manchester and north west wedding receptions. HARD TO HANDLE BAND are available to hire direct here.
Interested in finding out a little more about our wedding, party and function band entertainment?
- Professional wedding band with over 1000 gigs’ experience
- Three piece line up – male vocals, guitar, bass, drums
- High energy with lots of on-stage personality
- 100% live – great full sound
- 2 hours of live music split into indie anthems, rock and pop hits, soul and more
- No cheese, just instantly recognisable dance floor-friendly music
- 350 song playlist – requests happily taken (including your first dance)
- Choose your favourite songs for us to play
- Free live DJ when you hire us direct from this website
- Sound system and lights included
- Non-stop music all night
- No hidden costs or agency fees, just one inclusive quote
- Contract for stress-free booking
- Speak to the band direct
- Advice on timings and sets
- A full dance floor!
No agency fees, just an amazingly entertaining, affordable and versatile live function band! Seriously, when it comes to hiring wedding bands Manchester entertainment agencies seem to have everything you would want – hundreds of live Manchester wedding bands playing all types of music, as befitting a city with such a rich musical heritage.
But as other brides and grooms have discovered, all it not as it seems. Spend a little time browsing these entertainment agency websites and it becomes apparent that many of the party bands for hire for weddings aren’t actually based in Manchester.
Sure, they will be happy to travel to perform for you, but they will be charging you extra travel fees for the privilege. Some may even ask you to arrange and pay for accommodation.
So before things start to get too complicated, HARD TO HANDLE are here. We try to keep things as simple as possible: we don’t have a sliding scale of fees or a bewildering range of line ups featuring extra brass players, backing vocalists and some guy playing an instrument you’ve never seen before.
When you contact us, we will just quote you one fee with no hidden entertainment agency commission, no travel or accommodation costs, no VAT or added extras. Call us direct on 0796 433 5657 or use the Contact page and we’ll get right back to you!
As a wedding band in Manchester, venues we have performed at include The Midland Hotel, Trafford Hall Hotel, Macdonald Manchester, University of Manchester, Mercure Norton Grange, Worsley Park, Holiday Inn Leigh, The Castlefield Rooms, Marriott Hotel, Malmaison, and more around the north west.
Live band + free DJ sets
Don’t get us wrong – if you’d prefer to hire one of the best bands manchester has to offer through an entertainment agency, that’s fine.
In fact, we are one of the go-to bands for some of the largest and most reputable UK entertainment agencies. They love our broad playlist of rock pop indie and more and the fact that we let brides and grooms choose the music they want us to play.
They also think it’s a really good idea that HARD TO HANDLE BAND provide a real live DJ who play sets before, inbetween and after the live band sets all for the same fee, as opposed to some Manchester wedding bands who either just use a Spotify playlist or charge clients extra for hiring a DJ.
But as your “best wedding band”, “best bands” or “wedding bands Manchester” search continues, you will find that bands for hire in Manchester for weddings through an agency, the quote you receive is likely to be between 15% and 25% more expensive than if you hire a wedding or function band direct.
Cost aside, there are some other benefits to hiring a Manchester function band direct – as you will see when you start to browse our website, we have much more information on our wedding, function and party band music than any agency.
A wedding or function band profile on an entertainment agency website will feature a few songs, a sample playlist and maybe a video, but will then encourage you to request a quote – hardly enough information to make an informed decision about whether the party band is going to get your guests dancing all night long. In contrast, our website featured information on the band, lots of MP3s, videos, a massive playlist, as well as a blog page with features on real weddings we have performed at, answers to frequently asked questions, and reviews from brides and grooms we have played to.
Large band or small band?
Another benefit of hiring HARD TO HANDLE BAND is one that may not be apparent when you first start your search for Manchester wedding bands. As you may have noticed, wedding bands in Manchester come in all shapes and sizes – some feature wedding musicians playing various types of instruments, some have backing singers, some are large and some are small.
Now when it comes to wedding receptions, hiring a large covers band can come with quite a few complications. Aside from the cost – the more musicians you add, the more expensive the band – from a logistical side, hiring a large wedding, party or function band means that you have to be sure that there will be enough space and time for them to set up their equipment on the day.
Space is at a premium at some of Manchesters’ city centre venues, meaning that a large band may simply not have enough room to set up without the venue manager having to change your table plan.
Similarly, physical access to the performance rooms at city centre venues can be limited, so it might take a large wedding band even longer to bring all of their equipment into the room and set up, meaning that they may not be ready to perform for you and your guests until a lot later than you were expecting, which isn’t good if all of your friends, family and loved ones are present and ready to party.
Also, larger cover bands with more musicians will be louder than smaller cover bands, which will cause problems as many wedding venues have to adhere to volume restrictions.
In this situation even the best bands with lots of band members may have to stop playing several times while they reset their equipment to play at a lower volume.
But as a three piece band, HARD TO HANDLE can set up our equipment in more compact spaces than larger bands can, so there will be plenty of room for your guests to dance, and we also set up very quickly to allow the party to start on time.
We always perform at a volume suitable for all of your guests, and professional musicians we are highly experienced in creating a very full sound – our strong vocals and musicianship blend with onstage energy and non-stop songs to create perfect live wedding music all night long.
How much does a wedding band cost?
As with most wedding services, you can pay as little or as much as you want to pay in order to hire a covers band for your wedding reception. And while logic dictates that the more you pay, the better service you get, when it comes to wedding bands in Manchester, that’s not necessarily the case. Why? Because many bands are only available through entertainment agencies, and if you do hire a band through an agency, you will always pay more than if you hire a band direct as you will be paying not just the band but an agency commission too.
Also, some bands offer a sliding scale of charges dependent on how long you would like them to perform for, and sometimes the basic package won’t give you much band playing time, whereas the other packages they offer may be too expensive. So what’s the best way to decide on which wedding band in Manchester is offering their services at right price? Doing your research is important – asking bands for quotes and comparing the services they offer is key, but it’s also important to find out whether there are any hidden charges that might not be apparent until you have already hired the band. Typically these might be charging you for DJ music or to learn songs. HARD TO HANDLE just have one fee which includes 2 hours of band music (split into sets), our DJ, sound system, lights, learning song requests and travel costs. We don’t have any extra fees and once we have quoted you for our full service we won’t charge you extra. You will also find that we are more affordable than most other professional bands. It’s as simple as that!
How long will a wedding band play for?
Putting together a schedule for your wedding reception evening can seem daunting at first, but finding our exactly how long you can expect a wedding band to perform for will help you get an idea of how the night will run. If you can hire cover bands who also provide DJ music then your job is a lot simpler – you won’t have to liaise with two separate entertainers. Even so, it’s useful to find out how long your band is actually going to play for so you can plan your night.
HARD TO HANDLE perform up to 120 minutes of live band music, during which time we can perform up to 34 songs (including your first dance). That’s a lot of live music! Also, our DJ performs sets before, in-between and afterwards to keep that party atmosphere going and creating a full dance floor, all night.
Rock and pop and indie and lots more!
Due to a certain famous indie band from Burnage, wedding bands in Manchester and the north west are probably always going to be expected to add Oasis and other indie rock songs to their set list. If indie rock music is your thing, we’ve got you covered, but before you start thinking that we are a typical wedding band in Manchester, only performing indie music, just take a look at our set list. As one of the most in-demand live wedding bands who perform regularly in greater Manchester, we know that variety is the key to getting your guests rocking – hence you will find indie rock, pop, folk, rock n roll, soul and more – all instantly recognisable wedding music performed by an energetic and entertaining three piece function band.
And though we certainly have an edgy modern sound, we don’t have a rock n roll approach to brides, grooms and wedding guests. When you hire HARD TO HANDLE you can expect nothing but the most professional wedding bands in Manchester. Why? Because we understand while you have hired us to perform for you, that this is your big day; you are the centre of attention and we are service providers and not the main attraction! This means being polite courteous to you and your guests at all times throughout the night, as well as working within the requirements venue management and staff to ensure a smoothly run evening for everyone.
And while this kind of code of conduct is not always apparent from the information provided by some wedding bands in Manchester, we pride ourselves on supplying the best live wedding experience in the north west.
Will the band play song requests?
What could be more fun than thinking about thinking about the kind of songs you would like to have played at your wedding reception? Well OK, there are a few things that are more fun, but probity forbids us talking about them here, so let’s concentrate on songs. At some point in your whole wedding organisation process – either before you have hired your entertainment or afterwards – it makes sense to think about the kind of music you can imagine you and your friends dancing to on your big day and the best wedding band for you.
Of course, the next question will inevitably be “will the band I am interested in hiring be able to play my song requests?” Our advice is to speak to the band about song choices before you hire them. It doesn’t have to be an in depth discussion about specific songs, just a general question about whether the band will be happy to take a look at learning song requests.
There will of course be a variety of answers, depending on the band you have asked, but this will be a useful yardstick as to how accommodating and professional the band will be when it comes to other aspects of your wedding evening. If so-called “amazing Manchester wedding bands” flatly refuses to countenance the idea of learning song requests, feel free to flatly rule them out of contention of your shortlist for live wedding entertainment. Honestly, if a band isn’t open to personalising their playlist with even a few of your favourite songs, you know they’re going to be trouble!
Then there are the breadheads; the bands who reluctantly agree to learn your favourite songs but want to charge you extra for the privilege. £20 per song? £30 per song? Sounds a little childish, doesn’t it. It may be that their initial quote was way under what other bands are charging in the hope that you will ask this question as it will help them to bump up their fee (most Manchester wedding bands and entertainment agencies do the same kind of thing with DJ music, except that they’ll be looking to charge you substantially more than £30 to hire their DJ!).
And then there is HARD TO HANDLE BAND – we love learning new songs and we never charge! Why do you think our playlist is over 350 songs and covers such a wide variety of music? It’s because we love learning new songs! We’re repeating ourselves but we understand that freshening up the playlist by learning new songs is the lifeblood of what makes a band successful. So when you hire HARD TO HANDLE BAND, fire off your song requests (including your first dance song) and we will get to work personalising your big day by learning as many as possible.
How long do most wedding bands need to take between breaks?
Relax – HARD TO HANDLE BAND will take care of all timings on the night to ensure continuous entertainment.
Often when planning their evening wedding reception, brides and grooms will look at the six or so hours available and start the process of scheduling timings. The time that most Manchester wedding bands perform will usually be approximately 2 hours of live music split into various sets. This will of course necessitate contact with the band and DJ to find out how long they play and how long they need for their breaks. If this is something you are doing, you could be waiting for a reply from the band; you may have received a reply, something like “well it’s up to you”…in other words, they want you to be in charge of the evening, which really means that they don’t want the responsibility of having to think about timings, which really means that they will start and finish when they feel like it, irrespective of your planning.
It doesn’t have to be like this. The mark of a professional band is that they will be proactive in creating a schedule. They will provide the structure for the evening so you won’t have to worry about timings. HARD TO HANDLE will liaise with both you and your venue manager in advance to ensure that we provide a structure for the evening that takes into account things like caterers, fireworks and any other special events you may be planning. We can also react to any last minute changes on the night, and of course as we provide our live DJ as standard, you won’t need to worry about band and DJ clashing. We’ll take care of everything and provide non-stop entertainment so you can relax and get on with the important business of getting on the dance floor!
Will my band have enough space to set up?
HARD TO HANDLE BAND can expand or contact to almost any available space.
As if song choice and timings isn’t enough to worry about, you also have to contend with the question of how much space wedding bands need to set up and whether the venue have hired will have room for your band and guests. This is important – on paper, though that eight piece band featuring brass section, multiple backing singers and that guy playing an instrument you don’t quite recognise might sound great, but how good are they going to sound (and look) if they are squashed into a small performance area the size of a postage stamp?
Inevitably, the larger the band, the more space they will need. It’s not just about where the musicians are going to stand to perform, it’s also about their equipment – a drummer requires a space of approximately 8ft x 6ft, then there’s the guitar and bass amp, mic stands for all of the vocalists, 1ft square per musician for each stage monitor, space for their lighting and enough room out front for their sound system, which is likely to incorporate big bulky floor standing speakers. And that’s even before you factor in the space required by your DJ! Result? A tangled mess of musicians, equipment and cabling which in all likelihood will spill onto the dance floor, leaving your guests very little room to enjoy themselves.
The solution is clear – hire a smaller band with a big sound. As a three piece Manchester wedding band with a massive playlist + free live DJ, HARD TO HANDLE are perfect for small to midsized venues in Manchester and the north west where space is a consideration. We can comfortably fit into smaller spaces than other Manchester wedding bands perform in. All of our equipment has been specifically designed to occupy a small footprint. Our technologically-savvy talented musicians know how to dispense with bulky guitar amps yet create an amazingly full sound and out sound system is compact yet punchy enough for audiences of up to 500 guests.
Our DJ equipment is also perfect as it occupies a space smaller than most DJs can accommodate but still features the classic booth and impressive lighting rig, so your guests will easily see the DJ and will be able to approach him to ask for sound requests. Perfect!
Should I hire a wedding band through an entertainment agency?
You can hire HARD TO HANDLE BAND direct – no need to hire us through an entertainment agency!
Before we even tackle the thorny subject of whether Manchester wedding band hire through an entertainment agency is better than hiring direct, we should first explain what an entertainment agency is and what it does (and what it does not do). So it’s almost certain that in your search for a live wedding band you have either come across or have interacted with an entertainment agency. Using Google or any other search engine to find a band, it’s inevitable that the first page of results will feature advertisements from entertainment agencies offering “amazing Manchester wedding bands”.
At a casual glance, it might look as though entertainment agencies are price comparison websites for the best bands, aggregator portals where one can view multiple bands and then contact the ones you are interested in receiving a quote from. Even though some entertainment agency websites try to portray themselves as such, in reality they are money making ventures; businesses set up often (though not always) by someone who works in the entertainment agency, has set up a website to advertise a conglomeration of bands.
The main feature of this for brides and grooms is that you are likely to be charged more for hiring a wedding party band through an entertainment agency than hiring the band direct. Why is this? Because entertainment agencies charge commissions for hiring wedding bands. The fee you will be paying to secure the services of the band is a commission that goes to the agency, not the band. And while there’s nothing wrong in theory with this way of hiring live entertainment for your wedding reception, there are a couple of things to be aware of:
– Entertainment agencies often charge a commission of between 20% and 30% for Manchester wedding band hire. So if the band normally charges £1800 for their services, that’s an extra fee of over £500 that you would be paying in advance to secure the band.
– In order to remain competitive, some entertainment agencies stipulate that bands lower their fee when they are taken on by the agency, meaning that the band will be earning less than if they were booked direct. This could potentially result in a cranky band turning up, who are having to perform for you for less money than they normally would! They may also charge you an exorbitant extra fee for any other services you are thinking of such as background music.
– Hiring wedding music bands through an entertainment agency adds another link in the chain of communication: to ask a question of the band you have to direct it through an agency, which inevitably means it will take longer to get an answer.
Though HARD TO HANDLE are one of the go-to bands for reputable Manchester entertainment agencies, you can hire us here direct with no entertainment agency. That means you will have saved money and you will be able to talk to us direct!
What type of band should I hire for my Manchester wedding?
HARD TO HANDLE BAND are the perfect mix of compact live band with a huge sound.
There are lots of options for live wedding music bands in Manchester, and when it comes to the type of wedding band Manchester has to offer, there is a whole range, from solo guitarists and singers using backing tracks through to large corporate events bands featuring multiple wedding musicians. There are roaming musicians, jazz bands and folk-style outfits. Which type of band will be suitable for your wedding reception?
This of course is an open ended question. The answer is likely to be a combination of many factors including but not restricted to the style of Manchester wedding music you can imagine you and your guests dancing to, which particular wedding party band is available on the date you have chosen for your wedding reception and the budget you have set for live entertainment. The importance of all of these factors will change as you take a look at the type of bands who are performing a Manchester weddings.
While a large Manchester wedding function band may sound great, they are not necessarily going to be practical, especially if your venue doesn’t have the available space to host the entire band without them spilling out onto the dance floor. Plus of course such band are going to be very expensive. Why? Because most of the bookings they will play will be large corporate events where the budget allows for expensive bands. At the other end of the spectrum, solo artistes will be more affordable but will struggle to connect with audiences for the 2 or more hours required, and after a while folk-style bands will start to sound “samey”.
Hiring a cost effective live party band for your Manchester wedding who perform lots of different style of music including pop hits, indie anthems and more who are also able to engage your guests all night seems like the best of all worlds, and that’s what HARD TO HANDLE BAND do, every week!
Do live bands provide a DJ service?
HARD TO HANDLE BAND provide a live DJ as standard on all bookings.
Given that even the best wedding band is unlikely to perform for the whole duration of the evening, it makes sense to hire some other form of entertainment for your Manchester wedding. To keep your party going, the most appropriate option is going to be DJ music. But there is of course a difference between a DJ and DJ music – a DJ will arrive with all the necessary equipment, including a booth (we’ll get to that shortly), lights and either decks or a laptop with professional-standard DJ software; in short everything he or she needs to mix music live and take requests on the night.
Alternatively DJ music is just that – music played by someone other than a DJ, most likely one of the members of the band. If you choose to hire a Manchester wedding band which provides DJ-style music, there’s a good chance that it will be little more than a Spotify playlist which one of the band members activates after their set (and then walks away from). This means that guests won’t be able to request popular songs.
Instead of hiring Manchester wedding musicians who cut corners or having the added expense of hiring a separate DJ service, hire HARD TO HANDLE BAND – we provide a DJ service with music mixed live and requests taken on the night. This means that the band and DJ won’t be competing for space, the music will run smoothly and you won’t have to pay extra because we provide the service free of charge! Oh, and we can also provide background music for your wedding breakfast.
When should I hire my Manchester wedding band?
HARD TO HANDLE are one of the most popular and in-demand bands performing in Manchester and the north west. Book early to avoid disappointment!
How long is a piece of string? It’s one of those questions. Whereas some brides and grooms hire their wedding bands two years or more in advance, others wait until approximately six months beforehand. Of course, it makes sense to look at hiring your live band sooner rather than later – the later you leave it, the less chance that your favourite band (or any other professional function band for that matter) will be available on your chosen date, especially if that date falls into the most popular months.
But which are the most popular months? Around ten years ago the “peak” wedding months were May to December, and in order to secure the services a of a great professional band members during this time you would have to look at booking around a year in advance.
But wedding trends change, and in our experience, there is no longer such a thing as a “peak wedding time” and we find that brides and grooms hire us around the year – we have wedding bookings in the first week of January right the way through to after Christmas (and new years’ eve). While this may reflect a general change in wedding trends, it’s also a key indicator of how popular wedding bands get booked up very quickly. In the case of HARD TO HANDLE BAND, our mix of cost effective fee, 2 hours of killer live music, live DJ and boundless energy means that we are one of the most in-demand bands performing at Manchester weddings!
How much do you usually spend on wedding bands?
Hire a cost effective live band + free live DJ – hire HARD TO HANDLE BAND for no budget blowouts!
We have left the most difficult question ‘til last. It’s a question for which there is no single answer. It depends on a whole host of variants. Of course, the real question is – how do I know if the band I am interested in hiring represent value for money? And the answer to this is a little easier to frame. Ask yourself these questions:
- Can I find wedding bands who fall within my general wedding entertainment budget? If not, am I prepared to pay extra for their services?
- Do the band I’m interested in provide the full range of services that other bands offer (eg. a sound and lighting system, total play time, wide ranging playlist)
- Are there any additional charges such as travel, accommodation, learning your first dance song and entertainment agency fees?
- What do brides and grooms who have already hired the band have to say about their experience?
- Is my entertainment budget based on research and quotes I have received from live wedding bands?
The best wedding band for you depends on this. Once you have been able to answer these questions, you will be in a better position to decide whether you are spending wisely by hiring one of Manchesters’ finest wedding bands or are about to commit the dreaded budget blowout by hiring a large corporate events band featuring far too many band members!
What we CAN say however is that HARD TO HANDLE BAND are more cost effective than the majority of other professional Manchester wedding bands. So feel free to get in touch and we can build a quote for you that you will be pleasantly surprised with. Contact us direct on 0796 433 5657 or use the contact form. We’re looking forward to hearing from you!
Hire Hard to Handle band in Manchester
Get in touch! For enquiries or just to find out more about Hard to Handle band, fill in the form below. We aim to respond within 24 hours. If you haven’t heard from us by then, we may not have received your enquiry so please call us direct on 0796 433 5657.