Oh no! My band cancelled! What do I do? Red flags (and green flags) to look out for when hiring a live wedding band.
Here’s a story for you. Gareth and Jo hired a band to perform at their wedding reception at Blackbrook Barns, a great new wedding venue near Lichfield in Staffordshire. A few months before the big day they got the dreaded phone call telling them that the band had split up. Fortunately the band were able to recommend another band who were not only available but in their price range, were possessed of a huge genre busting live band playlist AND could provide a live DJ at no extra charge. Bride and groom took a look at the bands’ website and were suitably impressed with the high energy performance videos, repertoire including rock, indie, pop and much more, as well as their professional approach and sense of fun. It was a no-brainer and the second band were hired to save the day.
“We’ve had a fantastic time, thank you so much, tonight was brilliant!”
Now we’re not here to be disparaging about the first band, as it is the nature of the wedding industry that wedding service providers inevitably hang up their boots, cease trading etc. And while it’s incumbent on whoever is looking at hiring a live band for an event to due what’s called “due diligence” and ensure wherever possible that the band are gigging regularly and are generally trustworthy, situations with some bands may change to the degree whereby commitments may not be able to be fulfilled. So the first band were unable to honour the booking, but the second band most certainly could, and did.
The second band are HARD TO HANDLE. Each year we are trusted by hundreds of brides and grooms, corporate event bookers and other party planners not just to provide top quality live entertainment at functions across the UK, but to have a level of professionalism that ensures that not only does the booking go ahead but that everything that sits around the booking is taken care of. This involves timely and accurate communication from us to yourselves, liaising with your venue manager in order to meet their requirements, making sure that the mechanics and logistical elements such as public liability insurance and electrical testing certificates are up to date, as well as the fun stuff like learning your song requests and having a final run through of details you in advance of your big day.
We are also the go-to band for some of the UKs’ largest entertainment agencies. Why? Because they know we don’t cancel bookings and that over 15 years we have proven ourselves as live entertainment frontrunners in the wedding industry. By the way, if you hire us direct you won’t have to pay an additional commission to the entertainment agency which means that we will be more cost effective than hiring a band through one of those websites.
Will my wedding band entertainment cancel?
…all of which leads us inexorably to the question: will my wedding band entertainment cancel? Or to phrase this more accurately, the question is really: how can I trust the live entertainment wedding band I have hired? The operative word here is “trust”. Yes, they may sound great and have a playlist that is broad enough to suit the musical tastes of all of you guests, but more than this, you need to be able to reassure yourself that the band you are interested in hiring as trustworthy enough to honour the commitment they enter into and not cancel the booking.
How do you do that?
We’re glad you asked. The due diligence we mentioned at the start of this article is key. To establish if a live wedding band is trustworthy and won’t cancel on you, consider these points:
- Make sure the band you are interested in are gigging regularly. Professional wedding bands use their website as a shop window to sell their service. If they update their site with frequent news items about gigs the have performed, they are more likely to be reputable and trustworthy.
- Find off-site reviews. Take a look at what other brides and grooms have said about the band on platforms such as Google reviews. There is more of chance that reviews such as these are genuine and haven’t been paid for. Some bands also upload video reviews featuring wedding couples talking about the bands’ performance.
- Make sure they offer the service you want for a realistic fee. The best way to do this is to obtain a range of quotes from several bands. Though some bands offer discounts, their quote may be substantially cheaper than the bulk of quotes you have received, which can be a warning sign of a band that may not be trustworthy.
- Speak to the band to find out if they communicate professionally, asking you about the date of your wedding, the type of venue you have hired and what type of music you would like to have played. Professional reliable bands will give you timely, accurate answers to your questions and will even give you industry-specific information that you may not thought of as a result of their expertise.
- Ask the band what happens if a member is ill. Professional bands should have a contingency plan in place which will allow them to rotate in comparably talented musicians should illness occur. If they are able to do this, it’s a green flag!
- Insist on receiving all of the service points for your wedding in writing, in the form of a contract. Having a legally-binding contact in place between yourself and the band means that the band are more likely to be experienced and trustworthy wedding industry professionals.
HARD TO HANDLE BAND certainly tick all of these boxes – as you will see from our online content, each year we perform at over 200 wedding and we often post updates (just like this one) showing you where we have performed, who we have played to and crucially what brides and grooms think of our performances by way of video reviews, of which there are over 150 on our reviews page: Reviews – Hard To Handle Band .
You will also find us more cost effective than the majority of other professional functions bands, especially when you consider that we provide a live DJ as standard on every booking.
Whether you know your date, booked your venue and want a quote or are just looking for basic information on the services we provide. HARD TO HANDLE BAND will respond to your enquiry promptly and in a friendly manner and won’t pressure you or try to twist your arm into making a booking, unlike some bands we could mention! We also provide a contract for added peace of mind.
How reliable are we? Well, we have been performing since 2008 have yet to cancel a booking. We understand that you have invested time, money and lots of hopes into your significant life event. We believe that our music, playlist, videos, reviews and posts like this create the trust you need to allow us to share it with you.
OK, serious stuff over. Let’s face it, your big night should be about fun, so like Jo and Gareth, when you hire HARD TO HANDLE BAND you’ll have the night of your lives on the dance floor!
HARD TO HANDLE BAND – 2 hours of killer rock, pop, indie and more + free live DJ!
www.hardtohandleband.co.uk
Tel: 0796 433 5657
E: info@hardtohandleband.co.uk
Staffordshire Wedding Band | Live Wedding Entertainment