Wedding Examples - Sports Club Wedding - Wedding by the river - Large Country House Weddings - Irish Weddings - Asian Weddings - Manor House Weddings - Outdoor Receptions - Trad Jazz at weddings

Picture the scene...the sun setting over the marquee, as the dinner finishes and your guests are getting frisky, it's time to dance!

Payback take the stage and tempt the tapping feet onto the dance floor. Over the course of 2 sets, we'll make your guests boogie, and make your night memorable for all the right reasons.

A 9-piece band to rival the great funk bands of the 1970s, Payback are a youthful, energetic, professional and enthusiastic group of friends who thrive on the energy of the audience. Not for us the journey men of "function band hell".... We do it because we love it. We play the tunes we'd want to hear ourselves on a night on the town.

Sports Club Wedding

With my jazz quartet I played at a post reception drinking session at a well known sports club in West London. Our remit was to play for about 2 hours, with the option of a further hour (for a further fee). We had been asked specifically to play some Frank Sinatra numbers, with vocals; tricky as we had parted company with our lead vocalist a few months previously! Fortunately, the idea was for a sort of karaoke singalong-a-sinatra.

As most the audience were pretty pie-eyed already, more or less as soon as we started playing (at about 7pm) there were people dancing. Unfortunately, this also included a very enthusisatic older relative swinging a much younger relative about a lot - our sax player had her music knocked over several times!

What made this wedding unique was bride's brother and friends providing a very good (if a little boozy) barbershop rendition of some tunes. This was obviously planned (and rehearsed) in advance but suffered from a lack of amplification over the rabble - if you plan to do any speaking or performing, ensure you have adequate amplification. Most bands will have amplification and will be willing to allow it to be used for speechs etc.

There was a good crowd of people (100+) right to the end of night, and we played a number of up-tempo latin and swing numbers which kept everyone happy. Even the elderly couple who requested a tango (which we weren't able to provide) soon found their dancing feet and were dancing with the rest! It was extremely satisfying to see 7 year olds dancing with 75 year olds to our music ... and not a flashing coloured light in sight!

Wedding by the Thames

I played at a reception over-looking the River Thames with my jazz quartet once - it was an extremely sedate affair with only about 40 guests. I felt that a jazz band was an appropriate choice for the small number of people present; an even better choice given that the groom was an accomplished singer and guested on vocals for a number of tunes. This is a very good way of personalising the atmosphere; if you have a talented person among the ranks of the reception who can be persuaded to join in: not karaoke, but better! Just remember it's best to liase with the band beforehand so they are prepared to perform with an interloper...

Large country-house venues

Surprisingly, I would say from an entertainment and atmosphere point of view, receptions held at large venues away from centres of population are the least successful. Generally, unless there is an adjacent hotel, the location means cabs are hard to come by and a high proportion of the people attending are unable to drink because they are driving.

What this means is that people will stay until the bride and groom leave, which is normally sometime before the end of the evening. As soon as they have gone, the crowd at the reception rapidly dwindles. This is very disheartening for peformers (who shouldn't really care as they're getting paid anyway) but it can be difficult to give the performance your all when you're playing to an empty hall! I have played at a cavernous hall at a public school in the heart of the English countryside where we were playing to only about 7 people at least an hour before we were booked to finish playing. Sometimes there is even a DJ booked to play after the band, which is an expensive error. So remember to only book what you need to .. a DJ or a band, not both! Note: most bands can supply recorded music for before and after their performance

Irish wedding

I enjoy Irish weddings - good craic, as they say. We played one once where straight after the speeches the bride's brother sang some traditional Irish tunes with his accordian then went into the the first dance - "Moon River". This was the most romantic first dance I've seen yet. Once again, a good example of the personalisation of the music using the talents of friends and family!

After the first dance, the soul band I was in at the time played for a couple of hours, with the inevitable sing-a-long to Mustang Sally (not the choice of the band - if a band put this on their demo, don't book them.... it's SOOOOO unoriginal!). It was a fine atmosphere, and directly after us the resident DJ came on to spin tunes into the wee small hours for the hard core drinkers and dancers - it was a hotel so they could do this! I think hotels make very good wedding reception venues as you can get really drunk then you only have to stagger a short distance to your room - no dodgy cabs involved.

Manor House Garden

One of the poshest weddings I have played at was in the grounds of a manor house, within a complex of marquees. My jazz band played during the champagne drinking at the beginning of the reception. There was a little breeze, but we're pros: we bought the gaffer tape along to subtly stop our stuff blowing away!

As any good employees at such functions should do, we blended into a corner unobtrusively and as soon as the first guests arrived we played until we were tipped the nod to announce over the microphone for the guests to take their seats for the sumptuous meal. Then we packed up - content at a job well done and we went home.

Asian Weddings

I have also played at a couple of Asian wedding receptions - although the wedding ceremony might be traditionally Asian (it might even be in another country!), it doesn't mean the wedding reception needs to be completely traditional!

The main consideration for us is to check with the bride and groom what the boundaries of taste and decency are: ie. not playing "Sex Machine" is a good start!

Outdoor Receptions

Playing outdoors, particularly in the summer is a wonderful experience for both band and guests. However, it doesn't take a genius to know you need a backup plan in case it rains; as it does oh so frequently in the UK. Unless there is a guaranteed rain free period (or drought!) not many bands who rely heavily on electrical equipment will set-up outdoors.

However, a classical ensemble or small trad jazz band are perfect for outside: mobile and electricity free! And they can easily re-locate before and during the performance should rain suddenly appear. I played at a reception on the patio of a gorgeous little (well quite big really) cottage in Hampshire and it was a fabulous jazz gig. The bridegroom came up and guest soloed with his trombone on one song (transposing from an E flat Real book and after all that champagne too .. genius!). In fact he had organised all the music throughout the day of the wedding, including the service, to be performed by musical colleagues of his (as we are). A very personal touch, and again, it made it much more memorable.

Trad jazz

I played tuba in a trad jazz wedding gig in a large hotel "up north" a few summers ago. Once again it was for a musician's wedding: he knew what he wanted so he got us in to do the job. The non-drivers in the band were attending the wedding and staying in the hotel, and, consequently, very very drunk. Still, that probably improved the atmosphere, as the function room was huge and Victorian and not suited to live music at all - and no one had thought to amplify the hotel's piano so it got drowned out by the drums (even when we told the drummer to play quietly - an impossible task at the best of times!)

If you are booking the music directly for your function, check with the band and venue that all required facilities are available - if you are unsure, get the band to liase directly with the venue as they will both be experienced in what is required.

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