Recommendations Needed - Band For Wedding Reception

Smudger78

Hi All,

We're really struggling to find a good band for our wedding in West Yorkshire next July. We'd like a band who play some modern indie stuff as well as older stuff and who can also do the music inbetween. We've contacted a few but most are either booked up or beyond our budget (£600-£700).

If any of you guys could recommend anyone we'd really appreciate it.

Thanks

talulahbeige_2

Hi Smudger78

I'm having the exact same problem, I'm looking for a band who will play in North yorkshire in 2010 but the cheapest I can find is £1200! SO in all honesty I dont think a band in your price range is possible, especially a full band.
If you break it down into people in a band, once you have taken off their travel expenses etc they want to make a bit of money for themselves and for the amount of time involved £100 each isnt enough for them.

I came to the conclusion that I would have to increase my band budget and save elsewhere.

weenireeni

Have you tried asking around your local pubs that do live music?

Good luck with your hunt!

Horace

You could try looking on this website as they provide bands for weddings etc.

https://www.functionjunction.co.uk

They advertise bands etc that are reasonable and they are reputable.

richdan

Hi

We used these guys who were brilliant:
http://www.hulagroove.co.uk

liza83_2

hi i work in wigan and there is a local band called moomin and they are amazing!!!
they do a variety of songs from kings of leon through to time warp lol they played at our battle of the bands and won and played again at the venue on saturday and everone loved them the atmosphere was amazing!"
http://www.myspace.com/boominband

Raksha

I work for a Promotions company, and what Andre says it correct, a 4 piece band will cost around £1000, plus travel (and possibly accomodation).

Quote

Bands at weddings? That is soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo 1999. What's the point in wasting money on what's likely to be an average band? There would be a limited amount of time they could play for and a limited amount of songs they could play.

You're better off creating your own playlist and getting a DJ to play the songs you want. Treat it like your own personal jukebox.

Yorkshire_Yank

It depends upon what type of music you are looking for?
If you want a lively party band that you can dance to all night, etc then we hired a band called London Soul, they do the Middlesbrough FC big bash every year (which is where we saw them) and they were absolutely first class. They are based in London but travel all the UK it seems.

www.london-soul.com

Alternatively if you are looking for a lower key jazz or swing band then apparently they also run another act called London Swing, I've never seen them play but the tracks on the website sound promising.

www.london-swing.com

I've seen a few other acts who were very good but can't remember the names, I'll check with the other half and post some more links if we can remember them.
Being a serial wedding guest I have also seen a LOT of cheap bands who quite frankly show why the saying goes 'you get what you pay for'... be warned, quite often the reason that TV costs half the price of the one sat next to it is very easy to see once you spend your hard earned money only to regret it the very next day!!

There are also lots of really excellent agencies who can advise you of which bands are worth forking out for, try to look for an agency who have dozens of bands on their books rather than just a handful though otherwise they are unlikely to have much experience of more than a few acts and will want you to give your commission to them! Yes of course they are biased, they earn 20% for any band they provide you!!
Which is anothe point, remember you can save hundreds of pounds going to the band direct rather than through an agency so if you know what band you want, contact them direct and ask for a discount - you will likely save huge amounts by negotiating directly with them!!!

Good luck!!

poet123

liza83 wrote: »

hi i work in wigan and there is a local band called moomin and they are amazing!!!
they do a variety of songs from kings of leon through to time warp lol they played at our battle of the bands and won and played again at the venue on saturday and everone loved them the atmosphere was amazing!"
http://www.myspace.com/boominband

I have seen this band and they are great,but they are quite loud and some of the oldies(50+) at a recent 40th we attended were miffed because they were so loud they couldnt talk!!! This may be an important factor at a weddding with a cross section of ages.

They are called BOOMIN(not moomin!). They were nowhere near the price you quoted according to my friend who hired them,and they did 2 sets.

Worth a look,better than some on the X factor was the comment of lots of people at the party(aside from the oldies!!)

DKLS

Quote wrote: »

You're better off creating your own playlist and getting a DJ to play the songs you want. Treat it like your own personal jukebox.

You can skip the DJ bit, My mate spent weeks creating a playlist 5 hours long on his ipod for his wedding. A £5 lead connected it to the hotels PA system.
Very MSE.

I plan to do the same, apart from the Piper, which comes with the package anyway.