One of the most important decisions you can make for your wedding is choosing the right band. When researching Chicago wedding bands, it’s important to take other factors into consideration beyond just the music. The role of the band is to not only provide incredible live music, but be the life of the party, and keep everything organized.
Many wedding bands focus so much on music they lose track of the big picture of the wedding. The truly professional Chicago wedding bands are those that can provide a template of your schedule, which includes additional information other than the song requests, First Dance, Father/Daughter and Mother/Son dances.
The best Chicago wedding bands will provide you with a schedule that includes all of the names of the bridal party, including phonetic spellings, the names of people giving toasts, timing for cake cutting, blessing over the meal, garter and/or bouquet toss, as well as any additional details.
The true, professional Chicago wedding bands will have this information organized and ready to go at least two weeks prior to your wedding. This way you will not be worried about anything as the big day approaches. At the actual wedding, the schedule will be distributed to your other vendors, such as the photographer, caterer and venue. It’s important the schedule you have established with the bandleader is the same as that of the venue.
When reviewing various Chicago wedding bands, make sure you’re dealing with a band that is much more than musicians. They need to have a certain degree of interest and infrastructure, such as, an office assistant, sound engineers, a ceremony music director, and additional professionals on their staff that can help them get you the answers you need quickly and accurately.
The lower quality Chicago wedding bands are just that. They will show up and only play music for five or six hours. The truly special Chicago wedding bands are those that can look at the big picture of your wedding and provide personal touches and an organized schedule. They will be a tremendous resource for making sure things are taken care of. This will give you complete peace of mind knowing you will have a packed dance floor, an organized schedule and lots of personal touches to make your wedding fun.
Another consideration when reviewing various Chicago wedding bands is to look for consistency. Ask these questions:
- How long have they been in business?
- How many reviews do they have?
- How recent are the reviews?
Try to see photos of the band in action, not just photos of the band, but also photos of the dance floor. Make sure the photos are recent. The same thing applies for videos. Many Chicago wedding bands use videos that were done in a controlled environment, such as a recording studio or set up on a stage without an audience. Look for videos that are recent, raw, and show a variety of styles. They should have a blend of both the musicians, as well as a packed dance floor.
The best Chicago wedding bands will be able to show you recent photos and videos. If people are showing you videos or photos that were done more than a year ago, be skeptical and request to see more recent work.
Another thing to look for when considering Chicago wedding bands is how recent are their awards. If they won a top award in 2009, when it’s now 2016, you have to wonder what happened in the last seven years. Just like any other product or service, quality is measured not by the occasional great product or event, but by performing at a high level over a long time.
In summary, when reviewing Chicago wedding bands, make sure you choose one that sees the big picture of your wedding and has been consistently great for many years. That’s your best odds of choosing the perfect one for your big day.
