Live Birmingham Wedding Band entertainment hire
Planning your wedding reception? Congratulations! if you have decided that your function needs a Birmingham wedding band, looking online for entertainment makes sense. Once you have spent a little more time searching band and entertainment agency websites for local cover bands, however, things start to become a little more complicated – a bewildering number of bands in Birmingham advertise themselves as suitable for your function, many of them seem to sound exactly the same, and it’s not entirely clear where they are based.
Professional three piece local live band
Perfect for small to midsized functions in and around Birmingham
2 hours of indie, rock, pop, soul and more
Massive 350 song repertoire
Choose your favourite music to create your own personal playlist (including your first dance song)
Live DJ free of charge
Sound system + lights
No entertainment agency fees
Contract for stress-free booking
Entertainment all night
Full dance floor!
Recent performances at wedding venues such as New Hall Hotel, Highbury Hall, Holiday Inns, Birmingham Civic Banqueting Suite, Fazeley Studios, Vox Resorts, Shustoke Farm, Botanical Gardens, The Blue Piano and more
Call us direct on 0796 433 5657 or contact us using our Contact form here.
Small but perfectly formed wedding band Birmingham
If you have been trying to find wedding musicians you have probably searched Google for “Birmingham wedding bands”, “wedding band Birmingham” or similar. We’re guessing that you spend the next half an hour trawling through the plethora of entertainment agency websites trying to find bands for hire that stands out from the crowd, then possibly got slightly disheartened when you discovered that most of the Birmingham function bands on wedding entertainment agencies pretty much all look and sound the same.
Is that funky eight piece soul function band featuring multiple backing vocalists, a brass section and some random guy standing at the back of the stage playing an instrument you don’t even recognise really appropriate for live music entertainment as a Birmingham wedding band? Can you imagine your wedding guests dancing the night away to these kinds of live wedding bands? Well, here’s some good news – Birmingham band HARD TO HANDLE BAND are the refreshing alternative to some of the large, expensive corporate events / wedding musicians advertising themselves as being suitable to provide live musical entertainment in Birmingham and the Midlands.
With 2 hours of killer wedding music anthems including rock, indie, pop and more + free live DJ, the HARD TO HANDLE BAND Birmingham classic live wedding band line up includes male vocals, guitar, bass and drums (and a little bit of keyboards). We’re a three piece band but we all sing, which means that we create a very full sound but can fit into performance areas in wedding venues that large Birmingham wedding bands can’t, leaving plenty of room on the dancefloor for your guests. Having a three piece band also means that we can set up, soundcheck and be ready to play a lot quicker than larger Birmingham bands, which is important for time-critical functions in the Birmingham area where there is a short amount of time between the end of wedding breakfasts and the arrival of your evening guests – especially if the father of the bride takes a little longer with his speech than you anticipated!
Brides and grooms and other clients who contact us usually tell us that they have spent hours and hours trawling through bands for hire – type websites including entertainment agencies and Birmingham wedding bands which all seem to show somewhat boring wedding musicians featuring shrieking X-factor wannabees backed by forgettable players trotting out funky versions of old songs and modern tunes.
And if you’re looking for a large wedding band for your Birmingham wedding, that’s great. But they all seem to do the same thing and want to charge a ridiculous amount for it! All things considered, hiring smaller bands for hire who still pack a punch, featuring professional musicians who make all the music they play sound great AND entertain wedding guests all night totally makes sense.
How much does it cost to hire a band for my wedding day? Are popular wedding bands expensive?
It’s a simple question, but difficult to get an answer. You may have found that professional Birmingham wedding bands don’t tell you how much they charge for live music on their websites – the closest you have probably found uses the word “from” – as in “our fees start from £££”. You may feel that this doesn’t really help, especially when you enquire how to hire wedding bands either by phone or email, the exact quote you receive is never the fee you see on the website but always more expensive; sometimes hundreds of pounds more expensive.
If you have ever heard the old adage “how long is a piece of string”, you’ll know that there is no simple answer to this question. This is because there is no average fee that a party band charges for live wedding entertainment, and the quality and type of service offered varies considerably. This can feel frustrating, but in this respect, wedding musicians are no different to any other live music service – as most talented musicians and bands for hire offer more than one version of their service and not all brides and grooms want the same thing, stating an exact fee on a website would be misleading.
How much does it cost to hire wedding bands in Birmingham?
Having said all of this, there are some basic live music facts: a professional West Midlands wedding band will charge more than an amateur party band. Larger bands will usually charge more than smaller bands. A band may charge less for a midweek booking than a weekend booking. Our advice is to find the very best wedding bands that you are interested in hiring and actually speak to them, either by calling them or sending an email. It can feel daunting but it’s the best way of finding out how much it costs to hire a band, and when you talk to them direct you will also be getting a feel for whether they are the perfect band for you. Savvy brides and groom know this is the bets way to hire wedding bands.
Local is good. Local is great. Unfortunately, local isn’t always best from a cost perspective. Many live wedding musicians and wedding bands advertising themselves as being one of the best Birmingham wedding bands are actually based outside the area; wedding bands who though they may well travel to Birmingham and the Midlands to provide music for your wedding reception or party, they will almost certainly charge you for the privilege. On paper, this sounds fine – many bands for hire often travel distances to do their job, and as opposed to hiring local Birmingham bands you may be happy to pay extra for the band you hire to travel, but what happens if they don’t take into account traffic issues and fall foul of motorway traffic or break down?
You may have to wait for your wedding band to arrive, meaning your guests might start to leave before your wedding entertainment arrives. However, HARD TO HANDLE BAND are a 100% local wedding band – we provide top quality live entertainment at Birmingham wedding venues, birthday parties, business functions and other events throughout Birmingham, the Black Country and West Midlands. You can hire a professional, entertaining and reliable wedding band to create that “wow” factor without breaking the bank. Based in the Birmingham area, we’re local, meaning that you don’t have to look at wedding bands for hire from London, Manchester or further afield.
How do I book local bands?
Having said all of this, there are some basic facts: a professional band will charge more than an amateur band. Larger bands will usually charge more for a Birmingham wedding than smaller bands. A band may charge less for midweek live wedding entertainment than a weekend booking. Our advice is to find the very best live bands that you are interested in hiring and actually speak to them, either by calling them or sending an email. It can feel daunting but it’s the best way of finding out how much it costs to hire a band, and when you talk to them direct you will also be getting a feel for whether they are the perfect wedding band for you.
Indie rock, classic rock, pop, classic soul and more – you choose
Fortunately, you have found West Midlands band HARD TO HANDLE! As you can see, we’re a little different to many Birmingham wedding bands. We’re a hugely talented and entertaining three piece Birmingham wedding band featuring male vocal band performing a mix of non-cheesy wedding entertainment music from the 1960s to modern charts in a high energy style. We have lots of onstage personality and all the music we play will keep you and your guests on the dance floor all night. Best of all – you get to choose your favourite songs from our massive playlist. There are over 350 songs in our repertoire which we’re constantly adding to, and we’re happy to take requests which means we will just play the music that you and your guests want to hear. Here’s an idea – why not ask each of your wedding reception guests to request a song? It’s a great way of getting them involved, plus it personalises your wedding and there’s no better way of getting them on the dancefloor.
Here’s where things get even more interesting. Unlike some other Birmingham bands for hire, we won’t try to “upsell” you. We don’t have additional line ups featuring brass sections and extra backing singers. Why? Because as professional wedding musicians we don’t need to add extra band members in order to create a full sound! We also won’t try to sell you a DJ service. Why? Because we provide a live DJ free of charge as standard on every booking! Our DJ plays before, in between and after the live band sets to continue the party vibe and ensure a packed dance floor. Our wedding DJ also personalises the sets to ensure your favourite songs are played.
Function bands - a few words for Birmingham and Midlands non-wedding party planners
You’ve made it this far and you’re not planning your wedding reception? We’re impressed. With all this talk of hiring Midlands or Birmingham wedding bands, it might seem like that bands for hire only wants to play at weddings. It’s not true of course, but we’ll be the first to admit that as the wedding industry is a huge business, it makes senses for us to advertise ourselves to brides and grooms. The flip side of this is that there have been live Birmingham bands that have been set up cynically by wedding entertainment agencies just to cater to what is assumed will be appealing to wedding couples and their guests – often large corporate events bands in Birmingham wearing glitzy clothes, playing extended funky mixes of modern hits and charging exorbitant fees.
So what exactly is the difference between wedding bands and function bands? The short answer is “money”. It’s not that a wedding band plays different instruments than other bands. It’s not even that Midlands or Birmingham function bands even play music that’s markedly different to Birmingham wedding musicians – it’s simply that with the world being the way it is, Birmingham bands for hire know that wedding receptions, corporate functions and some private parties are more lucrative than birthday parties or playing as a pub band where the average price they can ask for is lower.
Wedding band or party band?
This is the single main reason why bands appear to be “wedding bands” rather than “party bands”, and realistically, a successful business looking for a Birmingham Christmas party band, a bride and groom searching for best wedding bands or someone looking to hire Birmingham cover bands for a life event will usually be able to command a greater than someone looking to hire a band for their party. By the way, this is also why it’s difficult to see wedding bands in Birmingham playing live in advance – the live pub circuit pays less than any of the above, so realistically the only type of band you are going to be able to see performing live are pub bands playing indie rock or classic rock, not professional live wedding bands.
If that’s what you’re looking for, good luck to you, but these types of bands in Birmingham and the West Midlands aren’t always appropriate for many functions. If you’re planning a birthday party or small function, you may not want to break the bank hiring a party band featuring musical divas that has had all the fun polished out. Similarly, if you have been tasked with organising your workplace Christmas party in Birmingham or the West Midlands, you might want to put your own personal stamp on proceedings this year by hiring a high energy, versatile and entertaining live band featuring talented musicians, as opposed to the last few years of bland musical offerings. Are we right? Of course we are. So now’s your chance to impress your friends and colleagues by hiring HARD TO HANDLE!
Hire Hard to Handle band in Birmingham
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.