Having a wedding band v. getting the dj to play twice as long

Dostoevsky

I've just been informed tonight that a wedding band will cost c. €2000 and the band will play for c. 2 hours. I'm still in shock.

I suggested that we ask the dj to play for twice as long. Is this common? For the life of me I genuinely can't see how a band can be worth two grand for two hours work.

What are the pros and cons of not having a band and instead just having a dj for twice as long? Do people at weddings think it's bad to do this?

Thanks.

sweetie

Dostoevsky wrote: »

I've just been informed tonight that a wedding band will cost c. €2000 and the band will play for c. 2 hours. I'm still in shock.

I suggested that we ask the dj to play for twice as long. Is this common? For the life of me I genuinely can't see how a band can be worth two grand for two hours work.

What are the pros and cons of not having a band and instead just having a dj for twice as long? Do people at weddings think it's bad to do this?

Thanks.

you will get various opinions from people but I would say that the ratio is 1:3 for dj only to dj and band for me. It all depends on the guests really and also the bridal party play a big part in getting the dancing going in the early part of the night. I often find I don't get to play half the songs I want or the couple want when I play after a band and a full night set can be tailored to include a wider variety of the couple favourite music. the top bands may be expensive but they are that price for a reason and are often booked years in advance. Make sure to try and view any prospective bands or djs in advance of booking also.

snlynch

I completely agree - the prices the bands charge are totally unjustifyable
The minute the word "wedding" is mentioned - prices soar!
Thats a good idea, asking DJ to play longer - u can get him to play "band style" music for the first couple of hours & regular disco for the remainder of the night
Best of luck with it

matluka

It really depends on the band you want, when we got married 4 years ago, the band we got were only 450 euro and payed for 2.5hrs, the floor was full for the night:D.

My advice is go and gate crash a few weddings:cool:, we did this and we listened to about 5 or 6 different bands, got prices from all of them, one group was looking for 2grand:eek:, but there was no way we were going to cough that up......its up to you and you alone and dont feel under pressure to "KEEP UP WITH THE JONES":rolleyes:

kc66

I have priced a good few bands recently. They are ranging from around €1200-€2000, the higher prices include some extras. No band has quoted €2k for the main gig alone.

Toots

We had DJ only at our wedding a couple of weeks ago. My main reasons were that the prices for any half decent wedding bands were very high, now I understand why the prices are that way, there's a group of them, and they all need to make a living, but if we'd hired one it would have sent us even more over budget than we already were. However, the few we did contact just to get a feel for how much they cost weren't charging €2000 for 2 hours work!!!

Our DJ played from 9pm until 2am and he was brilliant, I honestly don't think I heard one song I didn't like for the whole evening, and the dance floor was rammed all night. We went with www.mobiledjs.ie and paid €500 for the night. It's usually €600 but we got a discount because we booked at a wedding fair in the hotel where he's the resident DJ.

smelltheglove

So first things first, I can be biased as I am married to a musician:D

Price wise you say 2k, yes if you are going for a full wedding band, if you go for a 4/5 piece band you can half that. Most bands you see play in pubs will also do weddings, you dont need to look solely at 'wedding' bands. Some 8 piece wedding bands half 4/5 piece spin offs that play pubs. Having said that 1k is a reasonable price for a professional and experienced band, at 1k each member will go home with around 200 and have to take travel and equipment expenses from that.

As for dj versus band, it does depend on your crowd but again, in my experience, a good wedding band will get the crowd involved, crowd interaction is the key and whilst some weddings without bands can go ok I find other weddings without bands and only dj can be a bit harder to get the party started so to speak. Like any supplier you need to find the right one for you, if you are looking for an up beat band you will be looking for one that has a great frontman with the ability to get off stage and interact with the crowd. If you are looking for only a dj be sure to look around and ask for playlists etc.

magneticimpulse

Never like wedding bands and by the time the DJ comes on at about midnight people are only starting to get up and dance or the older lot have sat down with cups of tea.

Then at 1am the DJ has finally stopped playing 60s music and tunes you know...that brings you to 1.30am in which the DJ is playing mad hip hop girls aloud or whatever stuff and 2am finished...by which stage most people have only had a chance to dance to 4 songs.

DJ the whole night all the way. That way they can play a greater selection for longer and can get a feel for the type of music people like. Ive never met anybody at a wedding who actually liked the wedding band. My family, parents, aunties, uncles are 70s people and prefer dancing to Abba etc and all the disco tunes anyway.