1. Do you have public liability insurance?
2. Is your electrical equipment PAT tested?
3. How many weddings do you play per annum?
4. Are you able to provide DJ music in the breaks between your sets?
5. In the case of illness do you have dep players available for any of your musicians?
6. Will the booking be secured by a contract recognised by UK law?
7. Will our deposit be held in a client account until after the engagement and only be touched after the event?
8. Can we have some input into the songs from your set that you play on the night?
9. Will you be able to play our first dance and if so do you charge for learning a first dance (the vast majority of Live Music Management acts do not charge for learning a first dance.)
10. Will you be available for telephone consultation prior to the event (Live Music Management are on hand to guide and help clients from enquiry right through to day of the event.)

Bands set their own fees based on their popularity and , of course , what they think they are worth. A wedding band agency like Live Music Management will advise and help them set a fee which offers value for money for the client.

There are many factors which contribute towards the cost of hiring a wedding band. The bands popularity , the location of the wedding , the arrival and finish time ,how many members are in the band ,even the time of year may all need to be taken into consideration before a definite price is quoted.

Live Music Management have live duos from as little as £350 and bands ranging in price from around £600 to £2000 plus. The majority of our wedding band bookings will be between £800 and £1200. All of these acts offer a free DJ/interval music service and so will save on the cost of hiring a DJ separately.

As soon as the venue is booked for your wedding then you should start looking at wedding entertainment and securing the band or DJ for your wedding. If you book with Live Music Management then we will ask for a small deposit to secure the booking. This is usually around 15% of the cost of the act.

When booking with a legitimate and professional agency like Live Music Management the money will be held in a clients account until after the wedding date (this is actually written into the law governing agencies.) The final settlement will not usually be due until the night of the wedding.

Bands can often get booked up twelve to eighteen months in advance. Many of Live Music Managements regular clients like Walkabout Australian bars and holiday parks will book six months to twelve months in advance. One off clients will often book a wedding band around twelve to eighteen months in advance. Events companies generally operate on a shorter turn around with bookings often just a few months in advance. On occasion a band will get booked two years or more when a client is certain that they do not want to miss out on securing their chosen band.

A reputable agency like Live Music Management will be able to advise you on how far in advance you should book your chosen wedding band as they will know the bands with dates in their diary a year or two hence and will be able to advise if it is likely that a band will split up between the booking date and your wedding day.

Many clients who book a live band for their wedding will wonder if the band will play their first dance live on the big day. If you have a particular first dance request in mind then please let one of the Live Music Management agents know of this at the time of enquiry. They will often be able to get a firm answer from the act before contracting and will be able to put the first dance request in the paperwork for the booking.
In 90% of cases the band will be fine to learn the first dance but on occasion a song may be chosen which doesn’t suit the bands style or which simply doesn’t work when rehearsed. In this case the band will be very pleased to introduce the first dance and play the original recording over their PA system.

The majority of private clients, such a Bride and Groom , will book entertainment once in a lifetime. Event companies and private companies may only book entertainment occasionally. An entertainment agency like Live Music Management will book hundreds of acts every single week . Live Music Management hold detailed records of previous performances , ratings and reviews for hundreds of party bands and DJ’s.

Live Music Management maintain a great many long term clients and our company philosophy is always to exceed expectations. We expect high standards of our acts. They are our ambassadors and we rely on them giving great performances in order for us to prosper and grow.

A wedding entertainment agency like Live Music Management has a great deal of buying power and is able to pass on some of these discounts to our clients.

Live Music Management created the first fully live Bandeoke bands in the UK back in the early 2000′s. The line up for Bandeoke bands tends to be drums, guitar and bass there is always at least one member of the band able to sing lead vocals. Backing vocals are usually provided by all members of the band.

1.They must be great musicians able to play a number of styles.

2. Live karaoke bands need an extensive set list.

3. Bandeoke bands are supportive of their guest singers ensuring that the guest singer really gets a thrill from singing with the band. Often the band will pitch in with backing vocals or help out of the singer loses their way in a song.

4. The band will encourage singers to the stage often approaching people with song lists before show time.

5. Many Live Music Management Bandeoke bands have the lyrics on TV screens to be followed by singers on stage. If not they will be available on song sheets.

One question which is regularly asked of the Live Music Management team is “what is the best time for the wedding band to arrive and set up at my wedding?” The arrangements for every wedding are slightly different but as a general rule we advise that the band arrive as close to the playing time as possible.

There will be a time after the dinner (after the speeches), when there is a natural lull in proceedings, when everyone starts milling around, talking to people that were at different tables, going to the loo, going to freshen up, going for walk to stretch their legs. This is also the time when the tables are often cleared. It is the typical time for the band to set up.

Corporate events are events or conferences arranged by companies usually outside of the work place.

Corporate events can be for team building or brand awareness , product launches or to impart a message to the work force. They can also be simply parties to celebrate an anniversary or special occasion. Many companies will hold Summer barbeques or Christmas parties in order to reward their staff and build team spirit.

Check out our corporate event page for inspiration!

A sound limiter or decibel metre is a noise measuring instrument fitted into a venue in order to control the sound created by a band or DJ. Some venues will fit them by choice but more often than not they are imposed by local councils or environmental health officers due to complaints about noise from neighbours.

Although there are many guides online to what DB levels various noises make when it comes to live music there are many variables. A swing or jazz band is usually much quieter than a party band.

It is worth calling Live Music Management as we may have had bands playing in your venue before and can advise on any problems we encountered. If in doubt Live Music Management can advise you on bands that have better volume control then others and we can supply some bands with electronic drum kits which are much easier to turn down than a standard kit.

Most weddings will include some form of entertainment but many Brides and Grooms struggle to decide between a DJ or a band. Here at Live Music Management we have both on our roster and this page is impartial guide as to which is best.

The first point to make about DJs is that they are generally lower cost than a band.

DJs can supply continuous music for a longer period.

DJs will carry several thousand songs whereas even the most experienced band will rarely know more than one hundred and fifty songs so DJs are, generally , more able to respond to requests.

DJs will , very often , carry more dance floor lighting than a band.

DJs will , usually , take up less space than a three , four or five piece band.

DJs will , generally , be more suited to playing house music style dance music than a guitar band (there are some exceptions to this with a few bands that specialise in playing exactly this kind of music.)

DJs will be more able to control the volume of their performance than a band. This is key point if there are strict rules about the volume at a wedding venue.

A band is something to watch as well as dance to.

A band can provide DJ music over their PA in their breaks so although they may only play 2 x 60 min live sets (or 3 x 40 mins) they will provide continuous music for the whole evening.

A good band will be experts at involving an audience and getting people dancing , singing along and joining in. At Live Music Management we have hundreds of testimonials from clients who have said that the band literally made the party and was the key element in creating a good atmosphere at the reception.

In our opinion whether choosing a band or a DJ please make sure you thoroughly vet them and book the best act that you can afford. There is nothing that will kill your party quicker than a bad band or a terrible DJ.

One question which is regularly asked of the Live Music Management team is “what is the best time for the wedding band to arrive and set up at my wedding?” The arrangements for every wedding are slightly different but as a general rule we advise that the band arrive as close to the playing time as possible.

Bands usually need around 60 minutes to load in and set up. Most acts take around ten to fifteen minutes to sound check during which time they will probably need to make some noise. Some acts need longer and it is worth checking upon booking if this is the case with the act that you are interested in.

Of course not all weddings are the same and early arrival can be arranged if needed. There are also acts that offer the use of their PA earlier in the day or can even play a laid back acoustic or jazz set during a drinks reception or over dinner. If this is required please let us know upon enquiry and we will quote for the full day.

When booking a band or DJ to play at a wedding there is a temptation for some clients to try and micro manage all aspects of the acts performance down to choosing the play list for the evening. It’s a natural thing to do as the clients wants everything to be perfect and , after all , is paying the act to play.

In our experience , in order to get the best performance from the act, it is best to earmark songs that you definitely want to hear and any that you particularly don’t want to hear and then leave the act to put together a play list.

A quality band will know which songs work best and which songs flow naturally into each other. The band will be experts at putting sets together. They may also require some flexibility to swap and change things on the night if there are requests or if they feel an audience isn’t responding well to a section of the set.