Los Angeles Wedding Bands: The Art of Wedding Entertainment

Live music, played by the best musicians in the world, is a thing of great beauty.

What we do doesn’t really exist anymore.

The best musicians in the world play in our bands.

However — and this is important for anyone considering hiring a live band to play music for their wedding — we are not just there to play some music!

We’re there to provide a pink cloud for the bride and groom, their family and friends to float on.

It’s magical, live music. And very real. Charming, dramatic, exciting, passionate, stirring, romantic and joyful. But most of all, engaging. Brides and grooms are getting hip to that word: engaging. They’re calling and telling us that’s what they want.

You bet they do!

When I started singing for events years ago on the East Coast, there were no synthesizers. The piano players played piano!

There were also no wedding coordinators. The upper classes had social secretaries; everyone else got help from their family, the caterer, or the banquet department at the hotel.

Centerpiece games, who’s been married longest and is left standing on the dance floor games, insult the groom and then kneecap him with a paddle games — these had yet to be discovered.

The bridal industry was a gracious tour de force made up of fine florists, caterers, photographers, hotel staffers and bandleaders who knew what it takes to put on a thoroughly enjoyable wedding. On nearly any budget, I might add.

DJ’s had yet to appear on the scene.

Can you imagine, no DJ’s?

The bandleader was the M/C, musical director, family confidante and sometimes wedding director.

And we learned the art of doing weddings.

We learned that it’s as important it is to know what we can’t do as well as what we can do.

Helping our clients set up a pace that works, rather than getting caught up in the crammed-to-the-brim timeline of of extraneous activities today’s bridal websites and magazines are suggesting — they of the meaningless song lists — in an effort to capitalize on advertising dollars.

Along the way, we have watched simplicity, elegance and the love and support of family and friends take a back seat to one-upsmanship.

Hopefully, that is changing for the better.

More and more, brides and grooms are looking for the engaging simplicity vintage music, for tradition and glamour.

And that’s a good thing.

They want to acknowledge friends and relatives who will be with them on their special day, and also those who cannot be.

They want to have fun, and they want glamour and elegance — and to hire a band that will engage and entertain their guests.

Yes!

No amount of recorded music — or a template of unimaginative tunes pulled off a list on some wedding website — can take the place of a fabulous, experienced, intuitive and versatile live band.

We love flowers. Cake is great. Event designers, wow — another very cool trend. A Hollywood set for our Old Hollywood music. Weddings are supposed to be glamorous!

The evolution of the wedding industry has made so much of the “good stuff” rise to the top. Glamour is in, cheese is out.

What a concept!