wedding requests

[sweetk2678]

Recently I have been getting lots of weddings where they book our act and then send me a list of 20 songs asking if I will learn them for their wedding. Now, I don't mind trying to learn a song or two for someone's special day, but to read our list of songs book us and then ask me to learn half a night's worth of new material seems a bit rude. Has anyone else encountered unreasonable requests?

[guilty]

We have had situations like this and yes it is unreasonable. I offer to play any song we don't do on CD but as for learning songs for one function - our answer is no.

[larryc]

That seems a bit excessive, One or two is OK but twenty is way ott,
Why not charge an extra €50 for each new song you need to rehearse, Then watch the list shorten,

Larry,

[gibbo]

Good idea Larry!
I have to agree, 20 songs is VERY over-the-top. They must think you're a juke-box!
One or two is probably OK, especially if there's some great significance to the Bride or family or some such, we've done that a couple of times. We usually decide the repertoire ourselves once we see the guests, age-groups etc. (after all, we're the professionals here, not the Bride or Groom) but, if they really want to dictate the music, we just send them OUR song-list and say "pick which of these songs you'd like us to play". Works every time.
PS: Once you start learning 20 songs for a one-off function, others may expect the same thing!

[freeway]

We had a wedding band a few years back where we would send our song Set List to the the would be married couple.. and specified on the bottom of the List that we would consider .. if so requested.. learning a new song for the wedding couple if they had a favourite song that we didnt know.....................and 9 out of 10 times they would request a Special Song.....but learning 20 Songs is a bit outrageous I think so anyway.............maybe Larry is right charge extra for every new song they want for the time and effort it takes..........Cheerz

[shyamwestwind]

One or two special requests can be accomodated, but twenty ? Absurd.
Yes sweetk we have received such absurd requests quite a few times and now we just tell them to hire our DJ who'll play whatever they want.
My daughter and her friend are DJs and whenever needed they come with us at an extra price tag and actually I quite like the combination. Between us, we have a vast variety of music to play , all genres to satisfy nearly all tastes and age groups.
In India, we sometimes have to cater to Ethnic requests and Punjabi music is pretty popular .
Our Duo strict;y play ENGLISH Retro ....pop rock, commercial . We leave the Punjabi stuff to the DJs.

[thingyy]

Best request I had was "can you pack up and go home ".
Just chuck the requests on a CD and play them while you have a break and get stuck into the free grog.

[Emerald Midi]

I don't do many weddings. Too much hassle, too long hours and too many wanna be singers so not too much fun

[mark]

I once had a request For "Please release me" at a wedding. I was a bit concerned as it was the grooms request.

[Steptoe]

admin said:

I don't do many weddings. Too much hassle, too long hours and too many wanna be singers so not too much fun

+1 Pat,

I won't do weddings anymore, They're better off hiring a DJ!

[gibbo]

We're much the same, John, it's usually a lot of messing around compared to a "normal" gig.
For the most part we only do 'em for friends and family and it's usually our wedding present to the Happy Couple. If someone rings trying to book us for a wedding Jen always quotes a price that either eliminates the booking or makes it worth all the drama!

[Stephanie]

Hey Mark! That request showed up at MY wedding! (I restrained myself admirably, I thought....)

And don't forget "Runaround Sue" and"Hit the Road Jack"...

[shyamwestwind]

Pat and John - I really think its the wisest thing to do - just dont do weddings - too much hassles. I got one on the 16th, but luckily its with the DJs. I guess I'll make that the last wedding I'll play for. I dont enjoy playing for them any more and it doesn't pay well too.

[guilty]

I'm surprised so many of you don't like playing weddings. We do about 15 > 20 per year and find them refreshing after doing full-on pub gigs early week. Everyone is there to have a good time and there is less trouble. The hours are long but the money is good.

[thingyy]

How many weddings are on time? Do you still finish at the time you are booked till eg 7-1am
hosts not ready till 8-30 do you still charge the same or finish later.
My meter starts running at the time we were meant to have started .

[steveb]

Hi Thingyy

Have you moved to Aussie, can you send me your email address??

[thingyy]

As soon as I start up an account I will stick it on my profile. Been here a couple of weeks now, should have done it years ago.

[steveb]

Welcome to Aussie mate

BTW looking for WILD ONE by Bobby Rydell if you have it

[mickyb]

We did a wedding last year the bride asked us for Al Greens Lets stay together ,I said we knew the song but we did the Tina Turner version along with Heaven 17. this was'nt good enough for her so we went through our considerable repetoire of Romantic sons none of which suited Her.this is the first Wed I ever played that the Bride did'nt foot the floor and yes they are 2much hassle which is why we should all charge accordingly

[rosetchfie]

Hi all
Just thought I would throw in my two bob's worth after playing for weddings for nearly 40 years now
1. I agreee that they are always late - can only remember a handful that were on time in all that time - I find it very frustrating just sitting around waiting to play - nothing worse
2. They are always hard to please crowds due to the wide age group that is always there - from kids to grandparents - can never please everyone so have learned now not to try
3. I f you can perservere for the first couple of hours or so most of the young ones and the old ones go home and you are left with the ones who want to party so it usually gets better then
4. Most couples these days don't have a clue how to do the waltz and so the bridal waltz becomes some sort of shuffle around the floor to some 4/4 pop song - I personally think that is a shame and another old tradition that has almost died out
5. Most wedding jobs here are quoted in advance - X dollars for the first four hours and then x$ per hour after that - in my experience it is hard to charge for the waiting time but you at least get your four hours as a minimum plus hopefully a bit more if they go longer - relatively rare in weddings in my experience
6. Other side benefit is that you usually get a good feed and some free booze although in recent years I have played at some BYO ( bring your own grog) weddings - another sign of the times?
7. I don't refuse to do weddings but I do like to know a bit about the couple and the set up before accepting the job
8 re special requests - if we do a wedding as a band we generally get very few requests - usually re the bridal waltz or "bridal shuffle" - however I also do gigs and weddings as a disco act and usually get a lot more requests then - much easier to cope with of course and I agree with previous contributors that for a band only 2 or 3 special songs to learn for a wedding at the most is reasonable and anything more is too much to expect - joe public has no idea how time and effort can go into learning just one new song in a band situation
9. Final point is I guess that if you can put up with all of the above the money is usually a bit better than the pubs/clubs scene which has got worse and worse over the years here with drink driving reducing the crowds and the club/pub entertainment budgets
regards
Roy Setchfield
Waiuku, New Zealand