You’ve found the love of your life, you’ve proposed, you’ve set the date, and now you want to plan a reception to remember, so you hired a band for the wedding.

Now what?

Your goal is to make sure you and your guests have an absolute blast and to end the night having so much fun you haven’t noticed you’re only wearing one shoe and your grandma has found herself a table to dance on. If you’ve booked the right band, there’s a good chance these things could happen.  So here’s a few quick tips that will help make this evening a success.

Timing Is Everything

Ideally the music would start not shortly after dinner and cake to make sure everyone is limbered up and ready to start throwing down some sweet dance moves. This also gives the guests time to visit with the newly weds and get a few drinks down.  There’s nothing wrong with a little liquid courage to prepare you for the dance floor.

Dancing In The Dark

Think about your Uncle Rick.  He loves to get down, but like many of us is a little shy and may need a nudge to make sure he’s feeling confident enough to get up and dance.

Now imagine if you put a big spotlight on him.  Rick would retreat to his chair and stick with tapping his foot to the beat.  The point is that being on display under bright lights can be intimidating and doesn’t lend itself to a party atmosphere.  Dim down the lights and anywhere can be a dance floor.  Plus, most bands (especially this one!) bring dance floor lighting that really makes the area pop and feel inviting.  Please, who will think of Uncle Rick?

Trust The Band

The members of Fun DMC have seen the same scenario happen over and over again.  The bride and groom don’t want to have the standard songs that are played at every wedding.  Instead of electric slide and Mony Mony, they want to hear Mumford & Sons and Arcade Fire.  We love these groups, but know that they won’t appeal to a mass audience.  It takes no more than three songs in a row before someone from the wedding party runs up and asks for Love Shack.

Managing what the band plays means they won’t want to upset you by going against your wishes, but they also want to make sure you have the best possible time.  A good band has played at dozens of weddings to hundreds of friends, family, and everyone else.  They’ve know what songs clear a dance floor and they’ve tuned their set for maximum entertainment.  Putting together a set of songs that appeals to a variety of musical tastes is an art form and this will be one of the main reasons why you will have such an awesome reception.

Less is More

Admittedly, a wedding band can get costly, especially when you’re already paying for flowers, dinner, a venue, a photographer, and so on.  So how do you get the most bang for your buck?  Most bands will offer roughly 3 hours of live performance with 1-2 short breaks, if necessary.  We always try to stick with 1 break somewhere in the middle.  Starting and stopping between 3 sets of music can end up shifting the energy a live brand brings and the last thing you want to do is slam on the breaks once the party gets going.  However, leave that decision up to the band – they’re the ones reading the room and will know when a good opportunity for prerecorded DJ-style music will work better than live music.

Take Care Of Your Band

Wedding bands aren’t divas.  They aren’t asking for a lot; just to be included in the festivities prior to their performance.  More often than not, they’re one of the first ones at the venue setting up sound and lighting so as not to be sound checking during the announcements.  They’re also acting as the MC for the night, so the last thing you want is to find out that they ran up the road for McDonalds when it’s time to cut the cake.  We understand that space in the banquet hall might be limited, but most bands won’t mind eating in another area or out of the way – just so long as they’re provided a meal.  This will also help keep their juices flowing and their energy up.  As far as the bar situation goes, most good wedding bands should be treating this like a job – you can rest assured that no one will (or at least shouldn’t) take advantage of an open bar policy.

Ultimately, the best thing about booking a wedding band is being able to leave your reception in their very capable hands while you make memories with your loved ones.  Be confident in knowing that they want you to have a night to remember.