Hiring A Wedding Coordinator? Ask A Bandleader

Band in a box?
Boxing your band in?
Coordinator keeps grabbing the microphone to make announcements?
DJ takes over and everyone runs out the door?
Tsk.

“The field of ‘wedding coordination’ is a relatively new one,” says Judy Chamberlain, a bandleader who is also an experienced event producer.

“Coordinators probably don’t know a whole lot about live music, since most weddings these days have DJ’s rather than bands.”

“And anyone who pulls a band out of a bar to play music for their once-in-a-lifetime event may not get the results they’d like to have.”

“The musicians may be young and cute, but if they don’t know what a BEO or a power-drop is — or how to establish staging and floor plan details and create a timeline — you may wish you’d known better questions to ask than the ones touted by today’s flock of event website “experts,” says Chamberlain.

“A timeline shouldn’t ‘stick out’ and be obvious — nor should it be used to replace actual communication between vendors,” Chamberlain advises.

“Who needs to have a coordinator tell the bandleader to announce the first dance while the photographer is in the rest room because the timeline says it’s time to do the first dance?”

Yikes!

“Always have a “point man,” be sure the bride and groom — AND the photographers — are actually ready before you announce the first dance.”

“And when someone comes rushing up demanding to have the microphone so they can make a ‘surprise’ announcement, just say NO.”