Musical director and founder of Simply Swing Band Sandra Lambert shares her tips on how to make your the live music at your wedding reception amazing
Having performed at literally hundreds of events over the years, I have been lucky enough to attend some fantastic weddings and parties. Time and again, I’ve noticed that it’s the same ingredients that make a party amazing: live music.First of all, the easy bit.
1. Choose a venue with one main party room
Even if the venue has alternative rooms to sit in, there needs to be one space where it’s at, otherwise, your evening will be fragmented.
2. Where’s the bar?
The single most important factor for any successful wedding is that you should have the bar in the same room as the party. End of.
3. Keep your evening compact
There’s always the temptation to keep the party going as long as possible but you really want a tight, compact evening. Book your live music over a 3 hour time slot and your party will have continuity. Stretching out your evening from 6pm-1am for example, will leave you with huge long gaps and exhausted guests.
4. Volume
Some bands (and DJs) are just too loud. The only possible way to deal with this is to adjourn to another room (if there is one), take an aspirin or go home early! This should be a big factor when choosing your music. There will be a lot of guests at your wedding that want to chat and catch up as well as dance. It’s great to be able to give them both options.
5. The lamp is low
Well it should be anyway. There’s nothing that kills an atmosphere quite like bright lights so turn them down or, better still, turn them off and light candles.
6. Getting the right music: Band or DJ?
You can never substitute live music. There’s something about a live act that just stirs the soul. A great live band will be experienced and know exactly what songs to play to get you and your guests on the dance floor.
Find out more about professional live wedding swing bands.