Our Chicago wedding band loves to give you insights to give you the best results
Bridal PARTY!!
Your Bridal party can help keep your wedding roaring. They are your parents, best friends, brothers and sisters. Make sure they understand they are also leaders of your wedding. Your guests will follow their lead. If they see them dancing like crazy, your guests will join them. If they are all socializing around the bar, your guests will do the same. Make sure your bridal party takes the lead to keep everybody on the dance floor all night. YOU are the biggest influence! Make sure they keep the PARTY in Bridal Party!!
The Power of Anticipation
Take a few moments, the night before or morning of your wedding, to envision everything that you have planned for your big day. Think through the sequence of events. By doing this you’ll feel mentally prepared for everything that’s going to happen. You’ll have a wonderful, excited, and positive attitude, that will spread out to all your family, guests, vendors and most of all, each other. Now you’re ready for the most amazing night of your life!!
Preparation is the Key to a Great Wedding!
I recommend having all the details for your wedding finalized about a month ahead of time. This will allow time to make any minor last minute adjustments. Give your vendors all the info they need to do their job. You’ll get their best results and you’ll be able to relax and enjoy your big day. Try to keep last minute changes to a minimum, if possible. Do the work, then leave it up to the pros!
Hire Friendly Experts
To fully judge a vendor, try to set up a face to face meeting. This is by far the best way to judge a vendor’s work. Also, consider how comfortable you feel with this person. This is especially important for your Band, Wedding Planner, Venue and Photographer. These are the people you’ll be dealing with the most. Build your team with the vendors you feel the most comfortable with, not only as expert professionals, but who are also caring, friendly people you like!!
What YOU love!
Fill your wedding with everything that you both LOVE. Pick the colors, flowers, music, dresses, food, venue, and guests that represent everything that says who you are as a couple. Even if Martha Stewart, the Kardashians, or The Knot say it isn’t the hottest trend for 2010 it doesn’t matter. Your wedding has to be YOURS. Your wedding should say, ” This is who WE are, and what we LOVE!”
What Makes a Song Danceable?
The truth is, there is no measurable answer. As you think about what songs you’d like your band to play, try this: Close your eyes and picture yourself at the wedding hearing that song. Would you be inspired to stay on the dance floor? Some songs are great to listen to but not good for dancing. A professional band leader knows the difference. It’s important you do too.
Remember to Say Thanks!
After you’ve returned from your honeymoon and are reflecting back on your wedding there’s one important thing you can do to help all the people that helped you. Write reviews about them. They are incredibly valuable not only for the vendors themselves, but also to other couples that are considering hiring them. When vendors speak about how great they are is one thing, but when a bride from last weekend’s wedding raves, the credibility goes up dramatically. It only takes a few minutes and is GREATLY appreciated!
Hire Who You Trust and Trust Who You Hire!
You’ve spent a lot of time researching and choosing the absolute best vendors for your wedding, right? The next step is to TRUST them. They have likely performed hundreds of weddings in a variety of sizes and venues and dealt with nearly every situation. They know how to handle everything for you. You hired them for their expertise, so rely on them to help you every step of the way. Hire who you trust and trust who you hire!
Whose Wedding is it Anyway?
As you plan your big day, you will get a lot of opinions. Listen to them all, but ultimately it’s YOUR wedding. What if your cheesy Uncle says you HAVE to add the Electric Slide? Or a florist says you HAVE to have $50,000 worth of flowers? Your well meaning parents may base the prices or ideas from 1979. Your little sister may LOVE hot pink OMG, but you might not agree. Let them know how much you appreciate their help. Keep an open mind, but ALWAYS consider the source!
The Best Time to Book Your Vendors
It’s never too early to be booking your wedding vendors. ?OK maybe over two years is a little much, but in general it’s always to your advantage. By booking well in advance you can get much higher quality vendors because more dates will be available. This will also give you time to be guests at your friends’ weddings, read blog articles etc… You can relax knowing you have great vendors already set up for your big day. Then you can make decisions based on preference instead of just availability.
Help Your Vendors Help You
Ask your wedding vendors the following question. “What information do you need from me so you can do your best work?” You want to make sure all your vendors are happy especially those that are with you all day. You will get the best results when you treat them like friendly professionals instead of hired help. Just a few things like providing meals, smiling, etc, will always get the best results.
Budget vs. Value
I’m on a budget.” Of course you are, but don’t let the word BUDGET restrict you from getting what’s important to your wedding. If you shop by price your wedding doesn’t stand a chance. Shop by VALUE. Pay more for what’s crucial. When you set your budget, get a general idea of cost by talking to vendors, not your friends or magazines. Shopping by PRICE is FAR more expensive than shopping by VALUE!
You Called?
When you fill out a form on a website requesting information don’t be shocked when you get a phone call from them following up with you. They are not calling to sell you aluminum siding for your house from a giant list of random numbers. Filling out the form tells the company you are interested and want to hear from them. They truly want to help you find what you are looking for.
Make SURE You Do This!
Make sure you keep your bar or sweet table inside the room where you are having dancing. If they are outside the room or way off in remote corners, your dance floor will be diluted. Keep the focus on the dance floor. You don’t want to have three different areas your guests can wander off to.
Features vs. Benefits
I just bought a new car. During this process I learned a lot about cars and desire. Why did I end up buying the car I did? Before I started looking I had a clear idea of the type of car and features I wanted. I did my homework online for several cars that fit my vision. I test drove each car and became aware of how I felt as I learned more about the car. “How does this car make me feel?” Features were nice, but I wanted benefits. Quality is something that just feels right. You know it when you see it. Think with your heart and feel with your brain.
There Are Two Types of Brides…
Consider hiring a videographer to your wedding. What would you pay to see your Parents’ or Grandparents’ wedding? I’m guessing quite a bit, right? Here’s your chance to make sure you CAN show your wedding to YOUR kids. There are two types of brides, those that hired videographers and those that wish they did. Here’s a great resource for finding some of the best videographers in Chicago! Not only are they incredibly talented professionals, but also SUPER people to work with!!!
What do Wedding Vendors REALLY Cost?
BUDGET. Think of it more as a guideline. Ask a variety of vendors what they charge. DON’T get a cost from a random wedding magazine or website. Even if they tell you a photographer should cost $300, you’ll be VERY disappointed when you can’t find one for that price. Get the best quality you can afford. Trying to just get the cheapest price is a VERY bad idea. You end up with a CHEAP wedding!!
SMILE!!!
You’ve got your Dream Dress, The Best Band, Incredible Food, Beautiful Flowers, All Your Favorite Guests and The Love of Your Life. You’ve prepared every detail for the last year. Now there’s only one thing missing. It’s one of the most important things: A warm, loving, enthusiastic and appreciative attitude. Dance, Laugh, Love and Enjoy every minute of the biggest day of your life. SMILE!!
