Qualities of a Great Wedding Entertainer

If you have spent even 10 minutes crawling the web recently you’ll know that there are tons of wedding entertainers out there promising to ‘make your day’ and ‘wow your guests’ . The question is which are genuine class acts and which are, shall we say, faking it!? If you are fortunate enough to be able to preview a Singer, Band, DJ etc at another wedding here a few things you might want to look out for in order to judge their worth as a wedding entertainer.

EXCELLENT SOUND QUALITY

If you are looking for wedding entertainment in the form of a Solo Vocalist (Wedding Singer) then obviously their voice is key. Do you like it? Will your guests like it? Will it be a pleasurable experience? If a band is what you’re looking for then you also might want to consider the other musicians and the overall sound. Some Wedding Bands (and Wedding DJs for that matter) can get a bit of a bad reputation for blasting out their music and deafening the audience, so pay attention to volume control.

STRONG STAGE PRESENCE

A great wedding entertainer will bring with them to the stage a certain energy and this will be obvious after only a few minutes of their performance. Ask yourself, Do they captivate the audience? Do they grab people’s attention (without demanding it verbally of course)? A great wedding entertainer will certainly feel very comfortable up in front of your wedding guests and this is paramount – they need to lead the way and create a comfortable environment for your wedding guests to be able to relax and enjoy themselves.

PROFESSIONALISM

If you are paying for an entertainment service then you deserve nothing less than a wedding entertainer who is polite and courteous at all times. A great wedding entertainer will arrive on time and set up their sound equipment quickly and tidily. They should be appropriately dressed and clean shaven (If male!). When performing they will address your guests with respect (Even if attempting to joke around and lift the mood) and always maintain control. By this I mean that If they decide to have a drink, they don’t get blind drunk and become one of your wedding guests!!

FLEXIBILITY

Let’s face it, things don’t always go to plan. With weddings the schedule can run behind, particularly when you get to the speeches! It’s always nice to know that your wedding vendors will be flexible and allow for adjustment on the day, so that if things DO run behind or need changing (Such as an entertainer’s performance times) there aren’t any major disturbances. 

GOOD JUDGEMENT

A great wedding entertainer will know his/ her audience – they will know what is appropriate and when. For example:

• Which songs to sing and not sing (Unless previously requested of course)
• When to interact with the audience, if at all
• If interacting what to say to some people and not say to others
• If required, when to change the schedule. A great wedding entertainer will always have an intuitive feel for the best time to start a performance, regardless of pre-arranged times. Sometimes it is necessary to delay a performance if the audience isn’t quite ready.

FRIENDLYNESS AND APPROACHABILITY

All wedding entertainers should be friendly and approachable, both to their clients (Bride and Groom) and to the wedding guests. This all adds up and makes for a pleasant experience on your wedding day – Nobody likes a miserable Wedding Singer/ Wedding DJ. Great wedding entertainers are ‘Great’ because they love what they do for a living and this will shine through. Try to choose an entertainer who clearly enjoys their job and who is polite, friendly and approachable to all who they come into contact with.

IN CONCLUSION

The list could go on for other subtle qualities of great wedding entertainers but these are the most important ones that come to mind from my experience. I always advise that you have a good chat with the wedding entertainer before making a commitment to book, so that you can get a good feel for who they are where they are coming from.

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Wedding Entertainment Ideas for Children

CHILDREN AT WEDDINGS

Some couples choose to have a child-free wedding, yet as we all tend to be getting married a little older now, to many the thought of not having children at their wedding is unthinkable.

Opinions will vary greatly to whether children should play a part in the wedding day. Some will see children as an essential ingredient, key to making a happy occasion even happier, where as others may just panic at the mere thought of them being present and not knowing how to keep them entertained.

Either way if you choose to include children in your big day you will have to think about entertainment.

Try these on for size. They will hopefully keep the kids happy and the parents stress free!

10 WAYS TO KEEP CHILDREN ENTERTAINED AT YOUR WEDDING

Here are 10 quick suggestions for keeping the children entertained during the course of your wedding day. You can click on the suggestions/ links to follow through to the relevant websites, though you should remember (as with other wedding entertainment) to do a bit of research before deciding who to book through:

1. Children’s Magician
2. Balloon Artist
3. Child Minder/ Nanny
4. Bouncy Castle Hire
5. Trampoline Hire
6. Hire some Giant Garden Games
7. A Mini Children’s Disco
8. A small fun fair
9. Face painting
10. Caricaturist

I am sure that the older wedding guests may enjoy some of these too.

So, if your budget allows after you’ve organised things like wedding music etc, you may want to put serious thought into hiring some separate entertainment for the kids. Also check with your wedding entertainment venue as some do hire out the Giant Games and Bouncy Castles.

Have fun!

Sally
Wedding DJ
www.VocalShow.co.uk

Saving on Wedding Entertainment During the Credit Crunch

The wedding industry like most others at this time will likely be suffering as a result of the credit crunch. The demand for certain wedding services I’m sure will decline where as others naturally will grow and flourish where there is a need for the cheaper alternative during recession time. Although the savvy wedding planner should always look for new ways to save money, now is the time to really dig deep for those credit crunch wedding offers and make the savings wherever possible.

The cost of quality wedding entertainment can often take up a significant portion of the average wedding budget and so it is in this area that it’s most important to make the right sorts of savings through the right methods.

Here are 5 simple ways in which you can save money on wedding entertainment during the credit crunch without compromising on quality:

HIRE A WEDDING SINGER

After just a few short visits to the top UK wedding forums it was quite obvious to me that when it comes to planning their wedding music couples simply aren’t aware of Wedding Singers and what a good Wedding Singer can bring to their big day. The sorts of forum post titles that I regularly come across when it comes to live wedding entertainment are things like “Can anyone recommend a good Band in …?”, “Does anyone know of a good Wedding Band?”, “Any recommendations for a good Wedding DJ in …?” etc. What people don’t realise Is that there is a much cheaper alternative to hiring a 4 or 5 piece Wedding Function Band!

Most Professional Wedding Singers work as Solo Vocalists providing a self contained entertainment service. Self contained means No Live Wedding Band. The backing music/ instrumentals are played from a laptop or other media device, so your wedding guests hear the same Big Band sound, just without the Big Wedding Band. A Wedding Singer is quite simply a One Man Band, therefore it is often cheaper paying for one talent, as opposed to paying four or five. The difference in credit crunch savings here, between a top Wedding Singer and a top Wedding Band can be, in some cases, thousands of pounds!

There are also a few other non-monetary benefits to hiring a Wedding Singer as opposed to a Wedding Band such as:

• A smaller amount of space taken up with music equipment.
• More control over music volume, which keeps the wedding venues happy.
• The possibility of appropriate audience interaction from your Wedding Singer.

BOOK YOUR WEDDING ENTERTAINMENT DIRECT

This one can also often make quite a significant difference to cost, quite often of a few hundred pounds. With live wedding entertainment you can either book through an entertainment agency or book direct with the Wedding Singer, Band or DJ. A wedding entertainment agency will either charge the artist a percentage fee or they will charge you what they call a booking fee for their entertainment booking services. Either way you’ll generally end up paying more for your live entertainment package. If you DO decide to book direct however It is very important to make sure that the Wedding Singer, Band or DJ is used to working as Self Managed and will provide you with invoices, receipts, contracts and anything else that you would expect in order to make your wedding entertainment booking secure.

OPT FOR A 12.00 AM FINISH

Finishing your evening wedding reception at 12.00 am instead of 1.00 am is a great way to save money during credit crunch time. Not only can you save money on your wedding entertainment venue, but this can also reduce the cost of your live wedding entertainment. DJs, Bands and Wedding Singers will often charge an extra fee for this additional hour of entertainment. The other added benefit of this is that your wedding tends to finish on more of a high note, as more of your wedding guests are still present and still relatively sturdy on their feet and so can join you for your last dance.

NEGOTIATE ENTERTAINMENT FEES AND TIMES

Again during the credit crunch many wedding entertainment businesses, large and small, will be feeling the pinch and so may be willing to negotiate their cost and/ or wedding music services in some way. As it tends to go with other very good quality products, a popular Wedding Singer, Band or DJ won’t feel the need to negotiate their prices, however what they may be able to do is tailor a more specific entertainment package, for example – Performing for less time, for a lesser fee. Some wedding entertainment providers, (though not all) may also provide their services for less during off peak months. At the end of the day it doesn’t harm to ask.

A FAVOUR FROM A FRIEND

If you have a family member or a close friend who is a Wedding Singer, Wedding DJ or who performs in a Wedding function Band then now may be a good time to call in that Credit Crunch Favour! Obviously this isn’t something that I’d recommend you consider lightly. You should always book someone who is a professional and well experienced in performing for Weddings, but if you’re fortunate enough to know someone who fits the bill and who you know will do a top job then you may want to propose your cheeky wedding gift idea. A full time wedding musician couldn’t really be expected to give up a booking date (and therefore a portion of their full time income) for free, but you may save a little money on their existing wedding entertainment fees.

So there you have it – Five great way to save on wedding entertainment during the recession. Watch this space for more useful wedding entertainment and music tips.

Luca
Wedding Singer
www.VocalShow.co.uk