Wedding Bands

Congratulations!!! You’ve already completed the absolute hardest part of getting married! You found the person you wanted to spend the rest of your life with and, great news, they want to spend the rest of their life with you, too! We promise, it only gets easier from here – no matter what challenges lie ahead, you have a steadfast partner by your side, ready to get through it all with you. 

Here Comes the Planning

Speaking of the challenges that lie ahead, first up is… wedding planning! Isn’t it funny how the best day of your life is also the one that requires the most planning? There’s a reason it’s called “the wedding industry” – it’s literally an industry all on its own, feeding so many sectors of the economy and requiring so many decisions from you and your fiancé. If you’re already feeling some decision fatigue, or even overwhelmed, it’s ok! While we can’t help you sort out your color scheme or choose which flavor of cake you want (though if you want help with the taste-testing, please let us know); we can make figuring out the entertainment side a whole lot easier! 

Why Entertainment Matters

First and foremost, it’s important for us to acknowledge – no, emphasize that the entertainment you book absolutely has the ability to make or break the evening. A sub-par bite of salmon is quickly forgotten, but an unenthusiastic emcee? Songs that keep people in their seats or crowding the buffet table? (Though if it’s only because the food is divine, well, our compliments to the caterer!) We positively shudder to think of the most terrifying thought of all: an EMPTY DANCEFLOOR. It’s the flow of the evening, the music, the dancing, the mood and vibes that stay with people long after the night is over. 

How to Book Wedding Entertainment That Fits Your Day

So how do you make sure you book the right entertainment for your big day? We should start by saying that you’ve come to the right place and that everything we’re about to explain or suggest are all things that we at Around Town Entertainment are capable of providing for your big day – so don’t be shy about asking! 

Setting the Scene: Ceremony Music

Let’s begin in the very same place your big day will: your ceremony! Objectively the most important part of your day (kind of the whole reason the rest of the day even happens), it’s important to set the right ambience for this moment and the rest of the day. Have you ever been to a wedding where the guests all filter in and find their seats in silence? Uncomfortable, isn’t it? It feels like everyone is listening in on your conversations and no one is quite sure when to be fully quiet because the ceremony itself is about to begin. This is the pre-ceremony, and we believe in filling it with lovely, acoustic interpretations of music appropriate to the event, either from a guitarist, a pianist, strings trio, or, our personal favorite, a strings trio paired with a pianist! 

Keeping the Energy Up: Cocktail Hour

Now, let’s talk cocktail hour. Admittedly, this part of the event is typically a little less for you than it is for your guests since you’ll often be busy finishing up with the photographer and taking a moment for yourselves as the newlywed couple you are. This makes it even more crucial that the energy and atmosphere stay lively for your guests since you aren’t there. That’s where the cocktail trio comes in! A pianist, guitarist, and a bassist make for a flawlessly balanced ensemble to once again play ambient music, perfectly suited to the moment and the environment, facilitating an effortlessly energetic social experience for all your guests. 

The Reception: All Eyes (and Feet) on the Dancefloor

Then, of course, there’s the reception. Some folks will choose to hire a DJ for their reception and all we can say is… their loss. While a DJ can be great at getting people onto the dance floor later in the evening, only a live band can truly provide the perfect level of nuance throughout the evening, ensure that dinner has the perfect level of background music playing softly beneath it, or seamlessly extend your First Dance’s intro just a little bit longer as you make your way to the dancefloor. A live band can read the crowd like no one else; they can make a horn riff really pop, or let a vocalist take a classic and elevate it to a whole new level. And our bandleaders have years of experience, making them the perfect and most trustworthy choice to emcee your event. All that’s left to do is decide which of our award-winning bands you want to play your big day! 

When the Party Keeps Going: The After Party

Of course, the night doesn’t haaaave to end when your reception does – did anyone say “After Party”?! This is where a DJ really shines – they can sync with our live bands so that the final notes of the band transition straight into the first notes the DJ pumps onto the dancefloor. This can be the perfect move for crowds that aren’t ready to call it quits and want to keep the dance party going for another hour or two. 

Budgeting for Entertainment

As with any part of your wedding, there is, of course, cost to consider. When you’re weighing these decisions, we feel it’s important to remember to not only consider what you get with us, but take the time to compare it to what you’ll get from others. We think you’ll find that the quality we provide is outstanding, and our rates are unbeatable in our tier of service. Most importantly, while some parts of your wedding might be right for the “less is more” mindset (who doesn’t love a tastefully minimalist centerpiece that lets your guests see one another around the table), we know that when it comes to entertainment, more is just right.

Wedding bands typically perform for six hours which is usually split into 2×1 hour sets and 1×4 hour sets. However, there are quite a few variations and some of them may suit your wedding more than others. The choices and options are endless enabling you to fit a live band around your wedding schedule perfectly.

Because most bands are used to playing for two hours over three or four hours, you are unlikely to get a discount if you want them for less time. Factor in their setting up and travel times and you can see why they may refuse to play for less. Most bands and musicians will book an entire day for one wedding.

Day of the Wedding

Factor in a few hours before the music needs to start for the production crew and band to arrive. For us, even though setup takes an hour, the sound crew will arrive around two hours before to ensure everything is running smoothly. The band will arrive about one hour before showtime to prepare and perform a sound check. Digital consoles save the band’s settings so only slight adjustments need to be made, saving a significant amount of setup time. Please note, if the ceremony and reception are in the same location, plan for the production crew and band to arrive earlier to ensure everything is in order before the festivities begin.

We have been part of the wedding entertainment world for over 20 years now so we are a well-oiled machine when it comes to performing at weddings. Below is the typical schedule for our (and most other) wedding bands come wedding day. When we say typical, we mean roughly 90% of weddings follow these timings year after year. With our bands, the background music always follows the end of any live set and continues until the beginning of the next live set so the music never has to stop and that party keeps rockin’! 

3 pm: The band arrives at your wedding venue and unloads their equipment.

4 pm: All the equipment is set up and sound checked. Pre-ceremony music begins at the beginning of the ceremony.

5 pm: The jazz trio performs at the cocktail hour, 1-hour live set.

6 pm: The reception begins and the full band performs for the final 4-hour live set.

10 pm: The band finishes their live set and begins to pack up equipment.

Popular booking options with most wedding bands are early arrivals, late finishes, and extra live sets. In the past, we’ve arrived at weddings as early as 10 a.m. and finished performing at 1 a.m. or 3 a.m. These options often cost extra but they could be just what your wedding needs! We’ve had couples knowing they have dance-hungry guests and so the 6×1 hour live sets we performed for them went down an absolute treat! Just ask us for more information on all these great options!

In our experience, at least 90% of weddings run late and it usually becomes impossible to fit sets into revised or packed schedules. We never like to see the venue managers or wedding planners frantically running around trying to cram everything in! Also surprisingly, if your wedding band starts early, you want them to finish around 11:30 pm/12 am the gaps between the sets can end up being huge – sometimes well over an hour which can kill the party vibe a bit.

Of course, it doesn’t necessarily matter how long wedding bands play for because you can usually ask for a unique live set timing and many wedding bands will accommodate. Our bands will always try their best to fit around your ideas and wedding timings. You can see an example of some of the booking options we offer here and because of the unique way we work, we can design 100% custom live wedding bands just for you.

When everyone knows that the wedding band is only going to perform once, they get up on that dance floor and as soon as you are up there, your guests will be so supersets can be some of the most fun had at a wedding! Some couples ask for them as standard and many, many wide-eyed, smiling couples have come up to us after a hectic, delayed wedding day so happy with a superset that got everyone dancing and having boundless fun. Supersets can be the perfect stress reliever and sometimes the ideal way to end a beautiful wedding. 

Remember to factor in food for the band. While they don’t have to join you for your three-course banquet, they will need sustenance if they’re going to be rocking the night away. If you hire them for longer, they’ll need more food. This is important to factor in when you are looking at how much a wedding band will cost.

What time should they finish?

Work out if your chosen venue has any noise restrictions. These could be all day, or only start at a certain time. Some places even have a sound limiter, which means power is cut if the noise goes over a certain volume. It would be awful to book a big rock band, only to discover that you can’t play loud music.

90% of wedding venues only allow live music up until midnight latest so despite what many a drunk and excited guest has said to us over the years, no, we can’t just keep performing and ignoring the rules of the venue! The venue could lose its music license and we could be banned from the venue or given an awful review! Don’t miss out on the wedding band and get up on that dancefloor early!

Work out what time you have your venue and work backward. You can’t arrange for the band to play their last song at five minutes to midnight if you are expected to all be gone by the hour; the band will need time to pack up and leave. However, the band announcing the last dance is a great way to subtly tell your guests it’s time to go.

If you have a strict finishing time by your venue, pass this information on to the band. They will be able to tell you how long they will need to pack up so that you can be safely out in time.

It was on this night November 2, 2019 that this lovely couple got married and began their happily ever after!

The Sagamore Resort in Bolton Landing was the perfect setting fit for a king and queen to have their enchanted fairy tale wedding.   The stunning views of the mountain and the beautiful lake creates the backdrop for the most exquisite outdoor ceremony at this exclusive wedding venue.

Julia and Joseph became Mr. and Mrs. Perri at this lovely ceremony.  The stunning bride walked down the aisle to the song “Morning Has Broken” played by a classic pianist from Around Town Entertainment The couple’s family and guests were moved to tears as the vows were exchanged.  But the tears turned to cheers of congratulations upon the conclusion of the ceremony.  Etta James’ classic love song “At Last” could be heard echoing throughout the spacious property as the guests moved to the next portion of the evening to enjoy a cocktail hour.    There the jazz trio serenaded the guests with a good mix of jazz standards and swing selections to create the energy and excitement of what was to come.

Everyone knew the Around Town Band from Around Town Entertainment was the featured act to open the reception and to ignite a night of dancing under the stars.  The nine-piece band consisted of three powerhouse lead vocalists along with piano, bass, drums and guitar and the added two horns saxophone and trumpet for that big band sound.

The bride and groom’s closest friends and parents surrounded the dance floor as the couple had their official first dance of the evening.  The unique song that was chosen to be performed by the band was Ellie Goulding’s “How Long Will I Love You.”  It was very clear that the answer to the question in this song title was “forever.”  This couple was so in love.

The bride then joined her father for a heartwarming dance to “Lullaby” by Billy Joel.  The groom escorted his mom to the dance floor for the next special dance.  They chose the song “What Would I Do Without You” by Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors.

The band prepared the couples favorite songs to dance to.  The really popular song “Simple” by Georgia Florida Line was one of the songs the band learned for this event.  Then they played the couple’s favorite Abba songs as well.   The ladies were elated and sang along to “Dancing Queen.”  The gentlemen had their favorite rock classic anthem songs to rock out to, so they were definitely pumped and ready.

The rest was up, up and up from there in the way of energy and excitement.  The dancing began and it never stopped until the lights came up and the guests enjoyed the after party.  We were absolutely thrilled to be part of this amazing celebration with such a great couple.

Around Town Entertainment is an entertainment company from New York City that provides wedding music and entertainment in the New York, Connecticut and New Jersey area.   With five featured bands to choose from each client can choose their favorite NY wedding band, CT wedding band and NJ wedding band.

SMILE!!! That is the one word that stands out the most when I think of Devin & Josh’s wedding on September 5, 2020. The entire day, their faces were just lit up with the most infectious smiles, and it truly made for one of our happiest weddings of all time!

Devin and Josh had a vision in mind when it came to their Fall wedding at the incredible Lace Factory. While they knew the general direction they wanted things to go in, we took Devin and Josh’s vision and helped bring it to life. With the help of some crafty & creative ideas and song requests from their family members and friends, we crafted a very special wedding playlist while adding some of our personal touches into the mix as well!

Speaking with Devin and Josh before the planning process also gave Around Town Entertainment a really great idea of how incredible their wedding was going to be. Once the band was around all of their family and friends, the wedding band truly understood why they were always so happy! They certainly had us smiling (and laughing) all day long!

The wedding day was a combination of modern elegance meets vintage. Devin and Josh had had a stunning, timeless look and the day began with an intimate ceremony officiated by one of Devin and Josh’s best friends. Standing in front of a backdrop of beautifully draped chiffon panels, Devin and Josh committed to spending the rest of their lives together with the pianist from Around Town Entertainment’s pianist playing a cover of “Wonderwall” by Oasis with their friends and family in attendance.

The couple wanted to keep it super intimate, so they wrote their own vows and exchanged roses as a symbol that whenever words can’t be found or a common ground cannot be met, the rose is to be placed somewhere in the house as a sign of our promise and vow to choose and love each other every single day through the good and bad. How sweet!

After that, guests boarded the Essex Steam Train to enjoy the views on their way to the reception at the Lace Factory while the bride and groom took a car service to enjoy their first moments of newlywed bliss. 

Inside the expansive room at The Lace Factory, a blend of rustic and industrial elements created a romantic aesthetic with the help of string lights, which were strung around the exposed beams on the ceiling. The natural beauty of the space didn’t require much added decor, so to bring the room to life, Devin and Josh put small floral arrangements in used wine bottles on tables atop a round slice of wood, which featured simple greens and flowers with white petals. To find their seats, each guest had a shot glass with their name on it that was filled with sangria. “Once you found your seat, you took the shot and saved the glass,” says Devin.

After a seated dinner and cocktails, Devin and Josh had their first dance to Brad Paisley’s “Then” performed by  Around Town Entertainment’s Authority Band. And then, the wedding party had a shocking surprise in store for the newlyweds. With top hats in hand, the entire group choreographed a dance to a compilation of songs from James Taylor. 

For the rest of the evening, The Authority Band played all of their favorite songs from Brian McKnight to All American Rejects, which kept guests on the dance floor all night long. “Naturally, we couldn’t keep our hands off of each other, and we didn’t part the entire night,” said Josh. “It was arguably the best day of our lives.”

Around Town Entertainment was honored to have been chosen as the best NY wedding band, NJ wedding band, and CT wedding band.

Congratulations Devin and Josh!

From The Bride… A few years ago I took some recreational flower arranging classes at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, and took note of the Palm House, a beautiful glass greenhouse nestled in the garden. A few years later, after Brendan and I got engaged, we visited the Palm House and I fell in love with it again—as a wedding venue! The garden’s romantic, elegant aesthetic and proximity to our home in Brooklyn made it the perfect location for us.

The venue really served as the inspiration for our wedding, and we decided to play up the natural beauty of the setting with a garden theme focused on shades of purple, silver accents, and succulents. I choose a beautiful Mikaella gown that had flower lace details on the bodice and a sheer organza overlay that I thought complemented the organic feel of the venue. Serving as my own wedding planner, I was heavily involved in the design of the wedding, and really enjoyed infusing little personal touches along the way. I did the calligraphy on the invitations and escort cards, assembled all the wedding favors (personalized M&Ms in mini glass jars with leaf tags), and made table numbers (painted wooden numbers on a moss ball) and wedding signage. I enlisted my dad to paint all the props for the photobooth and he totally surprised me with his hidden artistic talent! Designs by Ahn not only made beautiful bouquets and gorgeous arrangements, but also fulfilled my dream of having succulents in silver buckets serve as escort card holders.

When finding your perfect wedding band, you may find it difficult to figure out what you’re paying for. When breaking down the cost of hiring a wedding band you should also be thinking about your wedding budget. When it comes to wedding entertainment, you are investing in talent and service first, but also insurance policies, professionalism, reputation, and overall experience in the industry. Professional wedding musicians are going to cost more than musicians who do not regularly play at weddings. 

Typically hiring wedding entertainment like a wedding band is about 5-8% of the wedding budget. Working backward from your budget to find out how much you’re able to allocate to your music is usually a better first step than spending hours searching for prices.

By having a draft budgeted amount set aside for a wedding band, you can use this value when calling potential wedding bands. It is highly advised to use this value and ask the wedding band if they can provide a service package that is within your budget. 

Now is the best time to get your wedding entertainment budget in order! Typically, there is a high demand for the summer wedding season and it’s best to book your wedding at least a year in advance of your big day! Otherwise, you run the risk of your dream wedding band already being booked for another event! Let’s take a closer look at what affects the price of a wedding band so you know what kind of bang you’re getting with your buck!

Average Cost Of A Wedding Band

In 2023, the average price of a wedding band in the United States was around $10,000-$14,000, but this can vary depending on different aspects, such as the time of year, location, travel costs, and the number of musicians in the band. 

A reputable wedding band in the NJ/NYC area, for example, should cost $1,200-$1,800 per musician, including the non-musicians who travel. If the band provides the lighting and speakers, it will attract additional fees. Bands who are billed to travel to your wedding will charge you extra to cover gas, accommodation, mileage, etc.

Just like with anything else, the more demand there is for a band, the higher the value and cost. The number of band members also plays a crucial role in wedding band pricing. The more professional musicians in the band, the more people there are to pay. From acoustic singers/guitarists/pianists/MCs to professional vocalists with backing tracks, there are numerous options to consider.

By increasing your budget, you’ll have the option to add a sax player or full horn section to your band. With seven or more members, you can expect a vibrant performance that will be sure to make a strong impression. Just remember to check space and sound limitations with your wedding venue before making a booking. 

The average cost for a wedding band will largely depend on the time they play for. The number of hours, and where they play. Apart from the reception, do you want them to play for the cocktail hour? Maybe an after-party? All these things should be taken into consideration.

Many wedding musicians offer packages to cover different parts of your day, including the ceremony, cocktails, and wedding reception. A band with more experience and pedigree will charge you more than an upstart will. Before you commit to payment, check out their sound clips by looking up their social media and website. Head over to our wedding video page to watch our roster of talented acts.

The other additional cost that most wedding couples do not consider is that with a full band and their larger base fees, they then have larger postponement and cancellation fees. This is because they are usually a percentage of the total fee.  

An extra cost that can also be forgotten is if the wedding band will be needing food on the big day. It is important to know as you will need to factor that cost into your budget and advise the wedding caterer. Having a wedding buffet can normally keep the catering cost down and help provide an easy option to supply vendor meals.

It is customary to show appreciation to the wedding band by offering gratuity at the end of the night. Additionally, taking the time to write a review on their social media handles and providing a reference would be greatly appreciated by the band. These acts of support can go a long way in recognizing their talent and hard work.

When looking for a wedding band, knowing their cancellation and postponement policy is equally as important as it can add a lot of extra cost to your budget without realizing it. If your wedding is postponed, a lot of bands charge a fee as part of their contract. 

Others may charge a postponement fee as a percentage of their base fee, and this usually falls around 10-30%. Like postponement fees, wedding band cancellation fees usually follow similar policies. However, a cancellation fee is usually set as a higher percentage of the base fee than a postponement fee and can usually be around 40-50%.

In the end, you do get what you pay for. Top-tier talent requires top-tier compensation- it’s as simple as that! There are no hard and fast rules, and many factors affect the price of a live wedding band. Hopefully, our guide has given you a good starting point! 

Are you looking for a top wedding band to work with?  

Contact us directly to learn how we can create the most cost-efficient package for you!