SOMERSET WEDDING BANDS
HARD TO HANDLE BAND – over 700 brides and grooms can’t be wrong! Yes, we have literally performed at over 700 Somerset and South West weddings, parties and other functions and further afield, because as one of the most popular, talented, cost-effective and entertaining live bands you could ever wish to hire, we are constantly in demand. With a massive 350+ song playlist featuring rock, pop, indie and more, our three wedding musicians are ridiculously experienced and massively entertaining. We’re especially good at working the room, which means that the dance floor will be full all night!
Here’s what HARD TO HANDLE BAND offer:
- 2 hours of live band music
- Professional talented musicians in a three-piece line- More cost-effective than most wedding bands in Somerset and the South West
- Extensive repertoire including rock, pop, indie and much more
- Choose songs from our extensive playlist or ask us to learn your favourite songs (including your first dance)
- Live DJ playing sets before, in between and after the band
- Sound system and lighting
- No agency commission or hidden fees
- Public liability insurance (as required by Somerset wedding venues)
- Additional drinks reception acoustic sets
- Perfect for small to midsized Somerset weddings
- Full dance floor!
Being able to hire a band and DJ in one is a great idea – it means you don’t have to go searching for a separate DJ, and it’s more cost effective, too. You really don’t need to hire a large expensive function bands to entertain your guests, and you definitely don’t need to hire a band through an entertainment agency. HARD TO HANDLE BAND are trusted by over 100 brides, grooms and party planners each year. When you hire us, we’ll bring our superb, high-energy entertainment and give your guests the night of their lives! By the way, that’s no empty boast – take look at our video reviews from brides and grooms here: Reviews
Totally live non-cheesy wedding band entertainment for discerning Somerset brides and grooms. 2 hours of live band music + free live DJ for Somerset weddings. Tel 0796 433 5657 or use the contact form.
WHERE DO WE PLAY?
The short answer is that if you have hired a Somerset wedding venue, we have probably already performed there! Venues we have played at include (but are not limited to):
Orchardleigh House
St. Audries Park
Pennard House
Chew valley
Batch Country House
Quantock Lakes
Coombe Lodge
Elmhay Park
Wick Farm
Priston Mill
Hamswell House
Prior Park
Limpley Stoke
Bath Guildhall
HOW DO I BOOK A SOMERSET WEDDING BAND?
Bride and grooms who have already hired HARD TO HANDLE BAND as their Somerset wedding band tell us of the relief they felt when they found us – they say that our website is informative and easy to follow, with answers to a lot of the questions they needed to help the make an informed decision about the most suitable wedding band to entertain their guests, compared to some websites which seem to be deliberately vague. In truth, the vagueness you may have found on other websites is often deliberate: it encourages brides and grooms to pick up the phone and call the number listed on the function bands’ site, because the person at the other end of the phone often works for an entertainment agency and will immediately launch into a sales spiel about how you much you will need to spend in order to hire the “perfect Somerset wedding band”. And guess what? The fee they quote is always more than you had in mind and more than your wedding budget will allow.
Let’s take a step back. There are essentially three ways in which to hire Somerset wedding bands:
1.) Go on the recommendation of friends who have seen party bands or live wedding bands in Somerset perform.
2.) Google “wedding bands Somerset”, “ideal wedding band” or similar variation and hire a band through an entertainment agency to play party music.
3.) Find a function band direct.
WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO HIRE A BAND?
While all of these methods have advantages, it’s clear that hiring a band on a friends’ recommendation means that you will need to trust the musical judgement of your friend and that some if not all of your guests may well have already seen the band in question perform at said friends’ wedding – if you’re OK with this then that’s fine, but you might feel you want to do things differently and that hiring a band everyone has already seen is riding on your friends’ coat tails…hiring a band through an entertainment agency is fine in principal, but there will definitely be some things you will need to consider if you go down this route (see below).
The third and by far best way of securing the services of Somerset bands is to hire them direct, and the only effective way to do that is to do an in-depth Google search, find the bands’ website, take a look at their videos and call or email them for a quote.
ARE LOCAL BANDS SUITABLE FOR SOMERSET WEDDING VENUES?
In the mad scramble to advertise themselves as being the “perfect wedding band” or to list the “best Somerset wedding bands”, live wedding bands and entertainment agencies have forgotten to mention one quite important thing – how suitable are they to perform at the Somerset wedding venue you have hired? While it may seem like a strange, self-answering question, it’s actually quite pertinent to the success or otherwise of your wedding reception evening.
Simply put, not all wedding bands in Somerset are built the same, and some bands will simply not be suitable to perform at the venue. To clarify, we’re not saying that some bands won’t be suitable to cater to your tastes (though that’s also true) – we are saying that some venues will either have a problem with the band you have hired during the course of their performance, or worse, they will refuse to allow them onto their premises before the band even arrive.
Suitability for the venue may not be something you have thought about, but it does actually impact many brides and grooms when searching for the best wedding bands Somerset has to offer and without conducting thorough research beforehand you may find that the money you have already paid to secure the bands’ services for your wedding reception is lost when you discover that the venue management refuse to host the band (not to mention the lost time and effort you will have already put into finding the band).
How and why does this happen? Most often it’s because the Somerset band you have hired does not hold Public Liability Insurance. Most private wedding venues hosting Somerset wedding bands are legally obliged to ask for proof of the bands’ insurance. If the band doesn’t have this, it means that not only will somebody (probably you) will have to take out and pay for insurance, but it also means that the party band you have hired does not have the necessary performing experience to know that PLI is an important prerequisite for suitability for weddings.
WILL THE BAND PLAY TOO LOUD?
Even if the party band does hold the relevant insurance, they venue still may refuse to allow them to perform, due to another abbreviation: DB, or decibels. While nobody wants to wake up the morning after the night they spent dancing to your wedding band finding they have hearing damage, a growing number of wedding venues now legislate proactively to prevent this by ensuring that the band don’t play too loud. This they achieve by installing a sound limitation device which cuts the power to the room if the band perform over a certain volume.
This will always create an absolutely miserable and disappointing night for everyone – no music, guests leave the dance floor, your evening falls flat, people complain, they remember your wedding as the one where everyone left early because there was something wrong with the wedding entertainment you hired. Every weekend, somewhere in Somerset, wedding musicians will be creating bad memories because the bride and groom didn’t do their homework.
The solution of course is to ask your venue in advance what if any limitations they have on live entertainment wedding music. If they say “it’s a condition of hire that any cover bands need to show proof of their public liability insurance and perform within our volume restrictions” then this is something you will have to abide by. The good news is that as a professional party band featuring highly experienced musicians, Somerset wedding venue managers love HARD TO HANDLE BAND! We hold the relevant insurance AND we are highly experienced in being able to adhere to required sound levels.
HOW TO HIRE A BAND DIRECT
…or more specifically, how to avoid paying too much for your wedding band. When it comes to wedding bands Somerset boasts many different entertainment options, from soloists, duos, jazz bands through to huge events bands playing modern pop covers, but whichever iteration of wedding music you choose, the 100% surefire way of avoiding the dreaded budget blowout is to hire professional musicians direct. If you hire wedding bands in Somerset through an entertainment agency you are almost guaranteed to pay more than if you hire wedding bands in Somerset through their own websites. This is because entertainment agencies charge a commission for the privilege of offering the services of Somerset wedding bands. Don’t be fooled into think that entertainment agencies are like price comparison sites. They’re not. You won’t secure a wedding band for any discount; you’ll be paying more to get your guests dancing.
Moreover, you won’t get to speak to the party band until after you have paid the agency commission, and as many brides and grooms tell us, after speaking to a few of these agencies they felt like the whole process was robotic and “salesy”. Instead, just like you, they wisely chose to look for Somerset wedding bands direct and decided to hire HARD TO HANDLE BAND + DJ service direct – which you can do by calling us on 0796 433 5657 or filling out our Contact form. We look forward to hearing from you!
Hire Hard to Handle band in Somerset
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.