Wedding Entertainment

Types of Wedding Entertainment

The types of music that are typically used at weddings are bands, a musician, or a DJ. A band is the most expensive, because a band consists of several members who are making a living in entertainment. If you want to hire a band, make sure that they play the genres of songs that you want. A solo musician or a DJ is easier to hire and more cost effective for you, but you also need to make sure that a solo musician will play the types of music that you want played.

Expertise

An important thing to ask any DJ or wedding musician is how many weddings they have done and how many they do per year. You want the musician, band or DJ performing at your wedding to be at the top of their game, hopefully having performed at a wedding recently, and have the experience necessary. A good wedding musician will be able to play any special songs and know all about what parts of a ceremony usually require music, and what types of music. They will also know what people want to hear and dance to at the reception, and will ask you what you want played at the first dance, father-daughter dance, and any other parts.
When hiring a DJ, you may also want to see if they had formal training at a school or DJ company

Contracts and Agreements

The first thing you do when hiring a band or DJ is to see how long they will hold the date for you while you are still deciding before it is confirmed. Once you decide to confirm that band, musician or DJ for your wedding, they will have you sign a contract. This is for your protection as well as theirs, as it ensures not only that you both agree on the price, but that they will be there no matter what, and if they get offered a better gig for that day, they can’t take it and still have to do yours instead, unless you agree to their cancellation. If a musician, band or DJ does not have a contract, they are probably not the experienced professionals that you want performing at your wedding.

Other things to know

Find out if the DJ or musician is comfortable making announcements and being the emcee, and that their style of doing so is fitting to your event. For example, if a DJ is more of a “party motivator,” you probably don’t want them to be the DJ at a wedding that is more elegant.
Another good thing to know is how familiar a musician or DJ is with your wedding venue. If they have played there before, they will know what all of the loading and setting up challenges are at that venue.