NYC Wedding Band FAQ
Q. How far in advance should I book my wedding band?
A. The best time to book your wedding band can vary on the time of year you’re getting married, the location and the popularity of the band you are looking to book. Most of our clients book somewhere between 6 months and 18 months in advance. Popular dates such as June, September and October Saturdays tend to go earliest.
Q. Do you travel outside of the New York area for events?
A. Yes we travel for events and performances frequently. The D.L.C.B. has traveled throughout the US, Canada, South America, and Europe for events. Here is an interview we did for Martha Stewart Magazine for a piece on destination weddings: https://www.marthastewartweddings.com/326242/real-weddings-caitlin-and-aaron-charleston-south-carolina
Q. How many people are in the band? Do you ever play in smaller and larger configurations?
A. We are a seven-piece band: male lead vocal 1/saxophone, male lead vocal 2/guitar, female lead vocals, lead guitar, keyboards, bass, and drums. We can also add additional horns to have a full horn section, bringing us up to 9-10 players.
However, we are a band, not an agency. Meaning we actually play together all the time, and the musicians you see at our showcase will be the musicians at your event. Bands that can “customize” 4-15 pieces aren’t really bands at all. There are agency that assemble a cast of freelancers to play together, often for the very first time ever at your event! Click below to learn more about the band.
Q. Will you learn requests and songs not on your list?
A. Yes, we do this for almost every event we play. We will learn up to five songs not on our current list included with our quote for your event. Our clients are music lovers and often have specific requests whether it’s a first dance, parent dance or just a favorite song or band. This is one reason our song list is always expanding.
Q.My fiancé plays guitar can they sit in with the band?
A. Yes they can. We tend to attract music lovers, people for whom music is an important part of their life. Our clients tend to attend live shows, have specific musical tastes, and often play music themselves or have musician friends. So if you’d like to play a tune with us that is totally cool. We can also be the bad guy if you have that uncle who shows up with his own harmonica and wants to play a few songs for the bride and groom. You let us know what you want and we’ll take care of the rest.
Q. Can I pick my own set list? How do you go about choosing songs?
A. Choosing songs is a very interactive process for us and for our clients. Our clients tend to be music people. They are self-described music obsessives who attend shows, have specific musical taste, and care about the music at their events. So this question comes up a lot. One strategy that we suggest is for clients to go through our song list and mark their favorites as well as any “do-not-plays” (don’t worry we didn’t write the songs). That info gives us a great starting place to read the crowd and keep the party going. Essentially you can be super specific if you’d like, or leave the set list primarily to us. Either way you’re covered.
Q. What about cocktail hour and ceremony music?
A. Yep, we got you. At most weddings and events we play we provide the cocktail hour and ceremony music. For cocktails we most often do instrumental jazz: 1-3 players sax, piano, guitar or bass. We can also do bluegrass, country, or an unplugged guitar set as well. For ceremony we most often do acoustic guitars, and we can play most songs from our list that way as well as staples like Here Comes the Bride, Pachabel’s Cannon, etc
In general we cover cocktails and ceremony with the 7 standard members of the band, but we can also bring in just about any kind of specialty music you can think of: classical string quartet, harp, New Orleans trio, blue grass, and more.
Q. Do I need to bring in special lighting or staging?
A. No. Most venues have lighting and staging that work for us. We don’t require anything specific, other than enough space to set up. Working in NYC all the time you’d be surprised some of the spaces we’ve squeezed ourselves into. If you’re event is at home, or in a tent, or a non-traditional venue then you may want or need to bring in staging or lighting. We’ve got you covered, our sound company can handle any staging, lighting, or other AV needs.
Q. Will you handle announcements and MC the event?
A. Yes, and there is no extra charge for this service (its always shocking how many bands and entertainments companies slip in an up-charge to do announcements). When it comes to announcements, we ere on the side of keeping things subtle, chill, and classy. We promise, no cheesy MC or artificial hype man. But yes, we will ask everyone to take their seats when the appetizer is out and make that announcement about the last shuttle leaving.