Arriving at your wedding ceremony in style is every girls dream. However, unless your Father is a Third World dictator or an Estate Agent, your choice of transport to the church or wedding venue will be determined by many important factors such as:

cost what you have always dreamed of having cost practicability cost distances to travel cost the theme of the wedding cost the colour scheme of the wedding and last, but no means least…cost!

However, let’s be serious. Although cost is obviously a factor for anyone, when it comes to weddings, it may not be “the” most important factor. For example, a bride may be willing to stretch her budget to pay more for a Pink Cadillac simply because it matches the colour scheme for the wedding. So, because aspirations and emotions are also involved in the decision-making process, it may be fair to say that many brides pick their mode of transport based on the three most important questions:

Does it look good? Will it look good in the wedding photographs? Will it fit in with the colour scheme of my wedding?

With these questions in mind, here are some traditional and not so traditional ideas of how to arrive at your wedding looking good and colour matching!

Classic or Vintage Cars

These usually offer style, luxury, comfort, and more than ample room for most wedding dresses. Whether you choose a Bentley, Rolls, Daimler, or Cadillac, you are guaranteed to have a wonderful journey. However, if you are considering an open top car, then please remember it could cause havoc with your hairstyle. The simple solution to this is hire a car with a top that can be taken down just as you are arriving at the ceremony venue. This will ensure you arrive in style - and you will not look like Kate Bush performing Wuthering Heights.

Limousines

As you are the star of the show, you might as well act like one and arrive in your own Limo! For town weddings, the Limo also offers a bit of privacy. You have the option of not feeling like a goldfish in a bowl. Also, as most Limos usually have a bar, then you and your new husband can have a quick glass of champagne on the way to the wedding reception. Very nice…

Horse and Carriage

Very romantic and great for photographs. However, you would have to calculate whether it would be feasible if there was a long distance between the ceremony venue and the reception venue. Also, does the carriage have sufficient cover if the weather is wet or windy.

By Boat

If you are having your wedding at a venue by a Loch, Lake, or river, then you could explore the possibilties of arriving by a little, romantic boat or a flashy speedboat!

By Hot Air Balloon

Not for everyone - but it has been done. The bride arrives at the venue by hot air balloon and makes a stunning entrance. However, just make sure the wind is blowing in the right direction!

Otherwise, there could be quite a delay before your big entrance….

/>Choosing the right style of music



When selecting a band for your wedding reception you should think about atmosphere. Do you want a party atmosphere for dancing or would you prefer more background music to allow more conversation?



For the party atmosphere, most people like the band to play “a bit of everything” from the 50s to present day to suit the wide age ranges of wedding guests. Professional wedding bands tend to have a wide repertoire of music and can normally adapt well to suit any wedding reception.



Jazz bands are very popular for providing music at a wedding reception. They can add an extra touch of class to your wedding.



To select the right band for your event consider the taste of your guests, their age range and whether they would like to dance, listen to the music or a mixture of the two.



Your first dance



Most couples like to choose a well known song for their first dance. Get any specific requests to the band well in advance so the musicians have a chance to prepare them before the wedding reception.



Popular first dance requests:



‘Angels’ - Robbie Williams



‘Lets Stay Together’ - Al Green



‘It Had To Be You’ - Harry Connick Jr



‘Stand By Me’ - Ben E King



‘We Have All The Time In The World’ - Louis Armstrong



‘Wonderful Tonight’ - Eric Clapton



‘Let There Be Love’ - Nat King Cole



‘Everything I Do (I do it for you)’ - Bryan Adams



Finding a wedding band to suit your budget



The cost of a wedding band varies depending on their style of music, how many musicians are the band require, how popular they are, how long you want music for, what time the musicians need to arrive and the travel distance involved to get your wedding reception venue.



The following table shows guide prices to give you an idea of how the cost varies depending on the number of musicians and length of performance: Solo Musician 2 Hours £150-250 4 Hours £250-350 Duo 2 Hours £250-400 4 Hours £400-550 Trio 2 Hours £400-600 4 Hours £600-700 Quartet 2 Hours £500-700 4 Hours £700-900 Quintet 2 Hours £600-800 4 Hours £800-1000 Sextet 2 Hours £700-900 4 Hours £900-1300 Septet 2 Hours £750-1000 4 Hours £950-1500



If musicians will have to travel more than 75 miles for your wedding reception, modest travel expenses should be added to the above prices.



Set-up time



The Musicians Union state that reasonable set-up time should be included when booking a live band i.e. the band start charging from the time at which they are booked to arrive. Therefore, the above 2 hour guide price would consist of roughly thirty minutes set-up time for the band and an hour and a half of performance.



Cost vs Quality



LastMinuteMusicians.com believes that quality should be your main concern when booking a band for your wedding reception. Pub bands, although cheap, often lack the experience and reliability of professional wedding bands. Don’t risk the success of your wedding reception by booking a cheap pub band.



Worst case scenario



Should the unexpected happen and your musicians let you down at the last minute, most pub bands would struggle to find an appropriate replacement band. However, most professional wedding bands (such as Wedding Bands at www.La stMinuteMusicians.com have a back-up network of quality customer services and endless music industry contacts to call on in times of crisis.



Your wedding reception venue



Check that live music is permitted at your wedding reception venue. It is now UK law that venues must have a license if more than two musicians will be performing live. If your venue doesn’t have such a license, consider booking a duo - piano & singer or sax & piano are popular choices.



Some venues have sound level limiters, which cuts off power to the band if they exceed a certain volume. If this is the case, don’t forget to tell the band. Also, remember to check that there is a power socket available near the area in which you would like the band to perform.



Musicians will have to bring heavy equipment to your venue so it is always a good to idea to check with your venue to ensure that there is somewhere for the band to park. The more details about the venue that you can tell the band, the better!



What next?



If you live in London or the South East try browsing Wedding Bands for hire in London and the South East. If you live further a field click here to search for a wedding band near you.



Note: This article is copyright www.La stMinuteMusicians.com and may only be used to add content to your web site with our permission. Please email webmaster@LastMin uteMusicians.com to let us know if you intend to use it. Remember to include your full URL.

limdin asked:


I have a choice between OR for our upcoming wedding in winter. It will be a small wedding of about 50 people. I like them both. It is for both ceremony and reception on the same evening. Can you help me decide which jazz trio to go for?

Thanks.

Create a video blog…instantly.

When the party’s over, the guests have all gone home, and all the thank you cards have been sent out… what do you think your guests will remember most?

 

The food? The flowers? The cake? None of the above.

They’ll remember if they had a fantastic time at the wedding, which is directly related to how much time they spend on the dance floor!

This is one of the most important benefits of having a great band for your South Florida wedding music. Not only must the music be great, but you must have a bandleader that knows how to get people on the dance floor and keep them there!

You could have the greatest musicians on the planet at your wedding, but if they’re not playing the right music at the right time, the dance floor will be empty. That’s a concert, not a party!

You see, the bandleader is similar to the quarterback on a football team, and the rest of the band is like the team. The bandleader needs to call the right “plays,” getting more and more people up to dance, and working the crowd for maximum fun!

This can also be observerd in DJs. The music is the original recordings, so musicians’ talent is not a factor. Two DJs can have the same stack of CDs, however one party will rock, and the other will be a bore. It’s WHAT music is played WHEN, that keeps the crowd dancing.

A DJ also blends one song into another, so there’s no break in the action on the dance floor. A professional South Florida wedding band will perform medleys, to accomplish the same thing.

Manhattan Music, Inc., based in Pompano Beach, Florida, uses this concept at all their performances.

Many couples make the mistake of basing their choice of band based solely on the band’s talent, rather than their ability to skillfully work the dance floor. This can result in what I call “the concert effect.”

How do you know if the band understands this concept?

If the band sends you an audio CD of their music, (recorded in a home studio, and polished to “perfection”) you can bet they don’t get it. They’re featuring their talent, not their ability to create a hot party. Considering most weddings are professionally videotaped, it raises questions as to why they aren’t presenting any live footage.

If they send you a “staged” video, (lip-synced in an empty room; typically with edits to a crowd dancing at some other event), they don’t get it. In fact, they’re hoping YOU don’t get it!

If the band shows up with a “set list,” they more than likely will just play the songs in the play list order, and whatever happens on the dance floor is left to chance.

Live video footage demonstrating the talents, musical styles, as well as how the band works the crowd is the best way to determine if the group can make the party sizzle, second only to being a guest for four hours at someone else’s affair.

Most couples want an amazing dance party for their wedding, not a concert. It’s the difference between an unforgettable event and a “nice time.”

For every wedding to be enjoyed, dancing must be included in it. Remember that every guest is anticipating the very initial dance by the newly wedded couple, plus that which the bride is going to carry out with her father. And of course, most of the guests will want to have some amusement through dancing.

To make every aspect about the dance look very out of the ordinary, it is good that you add to it something that should be exciting. This must not necessarily be some modern activity. It can be anything creative that will add up to the amusing part of the dancing. There are so many conventional feature that you can incorporate into the dancing. You can decide trying out the following:

You can opt for “chicken dance”. This is something that will ultimately be very strange to most of your guest. Remember that some of the guests will not be bold enough to go to the dance floor. However, some will be moved by the boldness of the few individuals who have opted to start the dance.

This game will be designed in a manner that will create surprises. Remember that if you leave the option of coming to the dance floor to the guests, most of them will be hesitant. The truth about this is that they will want to dance but will lack the courage to do so. Use whatever you can to affix numbers under the seats. Let the guests be aware that you will call certain numbers to go to the dance floor. You should allocate the same numbers to the number of dancers needed at the dance floor. For example, if you will need ten dancers at a time, there should be ten of each number. Call out the number and each guest will see if this corresponds to the number under his or her seat. If this corresponds to the number, he or she will take position at the dance floor.

In some wedding parties, it is customary to bring in a dance instructor. His task will be to drill the guests on a particular type of dance that is needed. Every interested guest will come up for the lessons in front of the entire guest. This will be done ahead of starting the dancing proper.

If you get someone to drill the future dancers, remember that it is not only something interesting, but the teaching process itself is something that will go a long way to entertain the entire guest.

You can also decide to include every guest, even those who are very reserved, to join in the dancing. Remember that this is a way to remove the shyness from those who are very reserved.

You may want to know how to begin and end this. At the start, you should include only the newly wedded couple into dancing. Once this is through, bring in the feminine guests will rush back and bring in one male each. The males can do the same. In less than no time, you will realize that the entire guest has been thrown into the dance floor.