How to Choose Live Entertainment for Your Wedding
Couples usually arrive at wedding entertainment ideas late, once the venue and the date are locked in. By then the decision has been narrowed for you, because the room and the hours you have been given already rule certain things in and out. It is worth thinking about the music earlier than most people do, and worth knowing what actually separates one option from another.
We play weddings throughout Vancouver, the rest of British Columbia and further afield, and the couples who end up happiest are the ones who asked a handful of specific questions early.
Start with the shape of the night
A wedding is three or four different events wearing one name. A ceremony that needs restraint. A cocktail hour where music sits underneath conversation. A dinner with the same requirement. Then a reception that needs the opposite of all of it.
Work out which of those parts you want covered before you start looking. Some couples want live music across the whole day. Others want the reception only and something simpler earlier. Both are reasonable, and knowing which you want makes every conversation afterwards shorter.
What to listen for when you watch a band
Video is where most couples start, and it tells you less than you would hope. Any group can be edited to sound good. What is worth looking for is footage of a full song from one camera, and whether you can see the floor. A band that is genuinely working a room will show you a room that is working.
Listen to the vocals specifically. In a live wedding band, the singers carry the night. Instruments can be covered for, a thin vocal cannot. If a band has more than one lead singer, that usually means a wider repertoire and a set that does not tire.
Questions worth asking before you book
- Who exactly is performing on our date, and are they the musicians in the videos?
- How do you handle the ceremony and dinner, and is that the same musicians or a smaller group?
- How many sets do you play, how long are they, and what happens between them?
- Can you learn a song that is not in your repertoire, and by when do you need to know?
- What do you need from the venue in terms of space, power and load in access?
The last one catches people out. Several beautiful Vancouver venues have difficult access or tight power, and a band that asks about it in advance is a band that has done this before.
How the size of the group changes the room
More musicians is not automatically better, but it is different. A small group suits an intimate room and a shorter guest list, and leaves space for conversation. A full band with horns and multiple singers fills a large space in a way a smaller group cannot, and it changes what is possible in the repertoire. Match the group to the room rather than to a number in your head.
Why a band reads a room and a playlist cannot
This is the part that is hard to convey until you have seen it. A set list is a plan, not a script. When a floor is full and a song is landing, a band stretches it. When the room is drifting, the next song is not the one that was written down. That constant reading and adjusting is what separates live entertainment from a very good playlist, and it is the reason the reception is usually the part of the day guests describe afterwards.
If you are planning a wedding in Vancouver or elsewhere in Western Canada, you can read more about how we work here.
