• When do we need to "line up" our band? •
As soon as you know what you want - We've had instances where we were unable to accommodate requests for given wedding dates almost 2 years away! Though very generally speaking, most arrange their bands for their wedding between 10-14 months out, with the "one year" mark seemingly significant in terms of increasing Bride's & Groom's & their families focus on lining up wedding related venues & vendors. BUT... sometimes certain dates remain open, or people need to try to change dates, postpone, or have other circumstances that cause "closer in" dates to again become open... SO you never know!! ...THE BEST THING IS TO ASK!! - Still, as soon as you are ready is best to ensure you get what you want! :)
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• Who do we speak to & work with? •
When you work with us, you are speaking to people who have themselves personally performed for a LOT of weddings - You have direct access to John Parker and to the bandleader performing for your event. You are NOT "assigned" to a salesperson. While a salesperson may be very good at talking you out of using us, they might not be so swift when it comes to helping you with YOUR wedding - which we pride ourselves on!
Having that kind of direct & knowledgeable communication means peace of mind, and an assurance that the information you are getting is not only timely - but also completely unbiased, accurate and relevant.
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• Do you work with Party or Wedding Planners ? •
ABSOLUTELY! - In our opinion, the best thing for you is to hire a Party Planner that works on a FLAT OR HOURLY RATE, and as such then gets the very best vendors for their clients, giving their clients a LOT of choices among several entertainment agencies, and direct vendors (like us) be it for bands, photographers, cakes, caterers, etc... A great Wedding Planner is not inexpensive (and shouldn't be!) but worth every penny in terms of their expertise. There are several wonderful planners in the area.
Increasingly, though, of late, many planners will tell you they work for "free" or for a (too good to be true) low rate, or get you a "discount" but then only recommend certain vendors - (certain entertainment agencies, caterers, videographers, etc..) When this is the case, you can almost be assured they are receiving consideration (a.k.a. $) from the vendors for their recommendation. This means they aren't often recommending what is best for YOU, and not providing you with several otherwise worthy choices, and in our opinion this is making them more like agents than providing the kind of unbiased advice you're hiring them for.
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• Do you work with Entertainment Agencies? •
In general we do not, we only offer our band services directly to our clients. This is the only way we feel we can maintain our level of direct communication & service to our brides, grooms & their families. There are a few well known entertainment agencies for wedding band entertainment in the area. We are not such an agency, but are happy to tell you who the agencies are so you can investigate what they have to offer. Some offer several dozens or even hundreds of band choices including national acts and even clowns and jugglers - many of them offering the very same choices as their competing agencies... In our opinion, by offering hundreds of "acts" which they do not in any way oversee or take any responsibility for, they are hard pressed to offer the same personalized level of service as we do... Nor do we feel, that the services of someone who is not personally running weddings for clients (as we are) could possibly be as relevant or on top of all the various aspects of successful receptions. But we encourage you to compare.
ON THAT SUBJECT: If another agency tells you one of our bands is "Already booked for your date, sorry" - or - "You don't want that band, they all have 2 green heads and are unreliable" - OK, we're being facetious here, but you get the idea... they probably have another band whom they would like you to consider. We would like you to consider ALL of your options, including bands from other agencies - THEN ASK OUR PAST WEDDING CLIENTS - about our bands, and our level of service that we provided to them.
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• Our Venue is "pushing"or has a "book" of vendors •
In our fantasyland, our hope would be that Venues offered you recommendations for all reputable vendors - in every category (caterer, entertainment, flowers, photo/video, etc...) AND that their recommendations were because they thought those vendors would be good choices for their clients!
Sometimes there are certain practical considerations as to why they can't do this, such as the caterer owns the Venue, or the kitchen is Kosher, etc... BUT for entertainment, photography, & similar outside services, if the Venue is ONLY telling you to go to ONE vendor, (or saying "we use the X agency") OR has a colorful book of vendor advertisements from the vendors they "recommend", you might consider it might not be because those vendors are the only "good" choice around!
We LOVE to get a recommendation from a Venue - but we will NEVER pay for one! Either through a "kickback",
OR by paying exorbitant fees to "advertise" in a venue's "preferred vendor publication" :)
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• We went to see a band - they were playing some songs that we do not like ! •
It's tough to go to see bands at private functions, often the venues are exclusive private clubs, or the event rooms are hard to get into or watch from without being obtrusive. Most importantly, the event is NOT that of the people going to "see" the band! It's the Event of the people who's party they are "crashing" ! - and the band will be doing what THOSE people want - not necessarily what the people crashing want :)
Nonetheless, we've had people come into the venues and proceed to come up and ask our bands to play songs for them! Even if we DO think the movie "Wedding Crashers" was funny, we think invading someone else's wedding or other event is rude! When we are at YOUR event, we will play the kinds of songs and specific songs that YOU request. BUT, conversely, if you see a band performing at another event they likely are playing the songs another bride or groom (or their parents or grandparents) have requested the band to perform..
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• On the subject of band's song lists •
Many times brides and grooms look at a list of songs that has literally many HUNDREDS of choices, and proclaim - "we're not sure about this band - they play a lot of XXXX music (substitute "Country" or "Big Band" or "Oldies" or "70's" or "Jazz" for XXXX) Point being, even if there are 300 songs on a band's list, 100 songs the couple likes, because they see dozens they don't like, they won't consider the band... that seems crazy to us...
2 THOUGHTS: A band playing 4 minute songs can, at most, play 15 songs in an hour- and that's only if music is NON STOP! Also, there are usually people of ALL ages and musical tastes - and almost ALWAYS our brides and grooms are at least a little surprised by what kind of music their guests like and/or request or ultimately wind up dancing to. (and are happy that our bands can usually play it!)
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• Why don't you offer photographers (or videographers) ? •
We can tell you about a LOT of photographers or videographers which you can check out. FREE. We don't "book" them because we specialize in music for your wedding - Moreover, in general the best photographers don't need an agency to book them... why would they want to forfeit as much as 40% of their fee to an agency who has no bearing on how good your pictures will be...? Wouldn't you prefer your money going towards a better photographer, rather than a salesperson's commission?
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• We want to pick ALL the songs the band plays at our wedding! •
We respectfully think that's crazy! :) - Seriously, the best thing is to give us some songs you want played, some you don't - and perhaps some general direction (like, "we really like 80's" or "we hate rap"... etc..) Trying to pick all of the songs almost always bombs. it usually turns out to be the wrong proportion of slow/fast songs or mix of genres of music at best, and really restrains the band from putting together a mix that 's perfect for your wedding. Conversely, if you pick just a dozen or two, that allows the band to mix in your requests AND to work in what songs your guests are requesting too!
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• If our parents really like you guys, how could we? •
A: you have very cool parents.
B: you have very young parents
C: your parents weren't listening when we played music from 80's to the 00's
D: your parents aren't as crazy as you thought, and they realize that most of our bands play a HUGE variety of music - meaning that quite likely EVERYONE at your wedding is going to have FUN!!!
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• How can we help make our reception great that day? •
Want your guests to dance? - come out and dance yourself!
Having a bar? Have it in the same room as the band if at all possible to avoid "polarizing" your guests !
In general, RELAX - once you get to this point, you might as well sit back and enjoy it!
TRUST - if you've hired experienced and knowledgeable professionals, chances are pretty good they are going to simply "make it happen for you", without you having to do or worry about a thing!!
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• How could we really mess up our reception? •
That question is just wrong! - in truth you probably can't do anything to change the joy people will have in sharing in the celebration of your marriage. But we do have a somewhat facetiously titled page "how to kill the party" which you might find helpful - click here to see it!
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• We don't really know why we're on your website, what we really want for our wedding is a DJ!
•
A LOT of people who thought only a DJ could play the variety & authenticity of music we have to offer are very pleasantly surprised to learn that not only do we play the music they like, but bring to it a personality and sophistication you can only get with a band! Not to mention if you really must have that obscure song from the "Burnt Zucchini Orchestra" or "Squished Lizard", we can certainly play it on our sound system for you!
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