What exactly is a wedding band??

valoren · 26-08-2015 09:58AM

"How much for that cake?"

"€10"

"Thanks, it will be great for our wedding"

"A wedding cake is it? That'll be €30 so please"

LordSutch · 26-08-2015 09:58AM

A wedding band is the name given to the ring you receive from your spouse.
A wedding band is a part time music group/band who play 'old hits' at weddings etc . . .

Wedding Banns (sounds like bands) is announcement in church of your intention to marry and a chance for anyone to put forward a reason why the marriage may not lawfully take place. Banns are an ancient legal tradition and have been read out every week in churches across the land for millions of couples, over many centuries.

fortwilliam · 26-08-2015 10:43AM

kylith wrote: »

Bunch of my mates just put together a pair of playlists on their ipod; one for the meal, one for the dancing. 'Twas great, and exactly what a dj would do anyway.

Oh dear....

diomed · 26-08-2015 10:44AM

A band that plays moderately, but you are so hammered it sounds good.

kylith · 26-08-2015 10:45AM

fortwilliam wrote: »

Oh dear....

Vested interest in wedding bands?

Kerrydude1981 · 26-08-2015 11:30AM

These guys are turning into the main wedding band around these parts

Been to a few weddings where they have played and have to say it was good craic,the drink of course helped

TrustedApple · 26-08-2015 01:06PM

Sister had one of Ireland beat cover bands at hers there a few years ago. J90 no idea what they cost but they played for about 2 hours and then dj for amother 2 hours and was so much fun as it wasn't your basic chessy covers band.

They played what was in the charts and songs that where poplar in the last few years. They mustly played stuff from too fighters, the killers, snow partol, Kings of Leon that kind of stuff for the night.

There is even a video of me singing sex on fire with J90 and doing gangham style the full dance with the lead singer of the band ....

mdwexford · 26-08-2015 01:09PM

Turquoise Hexagon Sun wrote: »

OK, say you have 5 members in the band. They all have to eat, sleep, pay rehearsals, possibly accommodation, travel expenses, upkeep of their equipment. Whatever is left from that 3,000 gets divided.. But people think they just have to show up and play. They also forget about the advertising, the emailing couples back and forth, the people that email for enquiries but never get back. All the time consumed, practicing all the songs, together in rehearsal space.. basically all the time that has to go in to get to who they are, so when they are playing you just get the final product.

Do they get paid 3k when they're playing in a pub/club somewhere at the weekend?

Still have all the "expenses" you mention.

Mink · 26-08-2015 01:29PM

Chucken wrote: »

As the Dubs say: down the country

The point I'm making is that ''wedding bands''charge 3000 euro!

Holy sheet,the reception is costing a fraction of that.

There are definitely a handful that charge that much - they'd be the ones that are around donkey's years, they're out playing 5-6 nights a week, manager & roadies to pay for on top of usual overheads.

I would have thought the majority would be 1500 to 2000.

Try Panic Animal, they'd def by under 2k & will do DJ set as well. Very good reviews on their website

... ok I'll be honest... I know them personally ... but they are actually savage & will make the afters brilliant.

Herb Powell · 26-08-2015 01:43PM

mdwexford wrote: »

Do they get paid 3k when they're playing in a pub/club somewhere at the weekend?

Still have all the "expenses" you mention.

As mentioned, 3k is on the higher end of the scale for these kinds of bands (on average, anyway), but yes. The price for a wedding may be slightly higher, but it only makes sense. They do not have all the typical expenses when playing a club, a massive one being that clubs will all have their own PA. They may have to travel futher. It's also essentially a private show, and almost all that I know of do requests. That's a lot of extra work.

Ms. Pingui · 26-08-2015 06:09PM

Mink wrote: »

There are definitely a handful that charge that much - they'd be the ones that are around donkey's years, they're out playing 5-6 nights a week, manager & roadies to pay for on top of usual overheads.

I would have thought the majority would be 1500 to 2000.

Try Panic Animal, they'd def by under 2k & will do DJ set as well. Very good reviews on their website

... ok I'll be honest... I know them personally ... but they are actually savage & will make the afters brilliant.

My sister has them booked for her wedding!

lawlolawl · 26-08-2015 06:16PM

Get married as cheaply as possible in a registry office. Buy the cheapest ring available.

You'll still be just as married as the clowns who spent thousands on their special magical princess day.

There's a fairly good chance the entire thing will end in failure anyway after a few years so don't waste your money on it.

This is reality.

seamus · 26-08-2015 06:26PM

Yes 3k is at the upper end, but it does depend on number of members in the band and what they're doing. In most cases, you're looking at four or five guys doing a 90 - 120 minute set providing professional-quality music, along with a van's worth of professional kit (that's probably worth close to €20k in all).

You're paying for performers. People who can energise a crowd and get people to enjoy themselves. That's not easy.

If all you want is music, you could get your mate Jim to do up an iTunes playlist and plug that into a laptop and not really have any kind of decent buzz going on at all. A DJ is cheaper option, but rarely gets people going like a band can.

26-08-2015 06:29PM

Sometimes a band might throw in a DJ in with the cost of the band.

Mightydrumming · 26-08-2015 07:07PM

As mentioned above, that price range is for the upper end of the scale. 9 times out of 10, the band will have different packages to suit different couples and not just one set price.

1500 -1700 would get you a good 4 piece band and DJ. Get her to shop around and go to different showcases. My own band (with the couples consent of course) sometimes allow a couple or two to come into a wedding that we are playing to allow them to see what the craic is - so that may be an option for her.

Best of luck with it

ToddyDoody · 26-08-2015 07:56PM

Websters dictionary describes a wedding as 'The process of removing any undesirable or troublesome plants, especially ones that grow profusely where they are not wanted.'

mdwexford · 27-08-2015 12:23AM

Herb Powell wrote: »

As mentioned, 3k is on the higher end of the scale for these kinds of bands (on average, anyway), but yes. The price for a wedding may be slightly higher, but it only makes sense. They do not have all the typical expenses when playing a club, a massive one being that clubs will all have their own PA. They may have to travel futher. It's also essentially a private show, and almost all that I know of do requests. That's a lot of extra work.

Some bands seem to play a pub for 400-500 but then charge 2k for weddings. For doing the same thing, seems nonsense to me but each to their own. Won't be paying that for mine though

blindside88 · 27-08-2015 12:31AM

3k would be at the higher end of the scale. We had a brilliant band for our wedding 2 years ago "the great escape" if you google them they have a very professional website with some video and audio. If memory serves they were about €1800 and they travelled from Louth to Carlow for that and also provided DJ. I would highly recommend

Herb Powell · 27-08-2015 12:54AM

mdwexford wrote: »

Some bands seem to play a pub for 400-500 but then charge 2k for weddings. For doing the same thing, seems nonsense to me but each to their own. Won't be paying that for mine though

That's grand, you don't have to, but I'm just saying it's not the same thing at all in most cases.

The bands doing this full time have their regular gig circuit/schedule. A wedding is a once-off, and could be anywhere. That alone would justify a price hike in my mind. The market dictates in that regard. Then along come PA costs, other things I mentioned......

Mightydrumming · 27-08-2015 01:00AM

mdwexford wrote: »

Some bands seem to play a pub for 400-500 but then charge 2k for weddings. For doing the same thing, seems nonsense to me but each to their own. Won't be paying that for mine though

It sounds crazy to a normal Joe Soap but there are a lot more factors involved with weddings compared to a pub or club gig.

As it was touched on before in the thread - Most (or atleast some) pub/club venues around Ireland provide PA's and Lighting rigs. That takes a lot of the pressure and time setting up/lugging in gear etc...

For the weddings :

- In some cases, The band is requested by the Wedding Venue to have Public Liability (Like any business).

- Most Wedding Bands sit down with the couple on a few occasions prior to the big day to organise the setlist etc...

- Again, in a Wedding situation - the band would put in hours behind the scenes learning songs that are requested by the couple.

- The setlist for a wedding is not your normal 10:30 -12:30 it could be a 3 hour set in some cases.

- Getting into the Wedding scene is hard - it requires a lot of advertising, your Promo video, Website and traveling all around Ireland to play at showcases (For free!).

Then you have the maintaining of the gear, transport, accommodation, rehearsals, food, outfits etc...

Even at that, I have probably left out a good few things there. So it all boils down to 'what you get is what you pay for'

What exactly is a wedding band??

Comments