Ask The Experts – Wedding Entertainment: What Does Your Money Buy You in 2014? From Alive Network

Choosing the entertainment for your wedding can sometimes be a real head scratcher. There are so many options out there for you to choose from and so many different price ranges. But what can you get for the budget you have? and what do you need for your dream wedding entertainment option? Today I  have enlisted the help of wedding entertainment agency Alive Network to shed some light on this rather daunting of topics to help guide you along the entertainment budget highway!

‘Planning your wedding budget can seem like an endless waiting game for quotes to come in, and then juggling the figures to see what you can allocate to your wedding entertainment. Wouldn’t it be so much easier if suppliers could give you set prices, plus an idea of how much a given budget will actually buy you on the day!’

‘That’s the inspiration behind Alive Network’s wedding entertainment price guide, giving you up to date and competitive prices for all types of wedding entertainment, from bands and DJs to magicians and musicians. You can get an instant quote for any of our 4000+ artists on our website at any time, plus an availability check, as many of our acts are booked up to 18 months in advance!’

Wedding entertainment budget: up to £250 

Best buys: kids entertainment, ceremony and drinks reception music

• Create a special atmosphere at your wedding ceremony, whether greeting guests on arrival with a traditional bagpiper or signing the register accompanied by romantic harp music. Your wedding ceremony musician will probably be happy to then move to entertain at your drinks reception (for a little extra), so consider a solo classical guitarist or a cocktail pianist.
• Any children you’ve invited will love you both forever (and so will their parents) if you provide something special just for them, whether a children’s entertainer, balloon modeler or juggler.

Wedding entertainment budget: up to £500

Best buys: small format wedding entertainment, and surprise extras

• If you’re planning a small, intimate wedding, or your venue doesn’t have much spare space, £500 buys a surprising selection of musical entertainment, including some exceptionally talented duos and trios performing jazz, swing, pop, and easy listening.
• It also buys you some superb interactive entertainment, such as lightening-fast caricaturists, formal toastmasters, amazing street magicians and circus performers. In fact, over 35% of our performers at Alive Network are available for hire for less than £500, a genuine bargain in this day and age.
• Best of all, 95% of all Alive Network’s wedding DJs fall into this budget range, so you can afford to enjoy a live DJ keeping everyone up and dancing all night long (all night).

Wedding entertainment budget: up to £750

Best buys: String quartets, fun dance bands and celebrity guests

• Nothing adds an air of sophistication and elegance to a wedding better than a string quartet. For this budget, four highly trained classical players will delight everyone at your wedding ceremony and then entertain during your drinks reception of wedding breakfast too.
• For something a little different, bring a ray of Caribbean sunshine to your special day with a steel band, or get everyone up and jigging about with an energetic Irish dance band.
• And why not stun your guests with celebrity lookalikes who mix and mingle for chat, photos and a touch of red carpet glamour!
• 55% of all artists on our books fall into this budget range, so you’ll have plenty to choose from, including small choirs, jazz and blues ensembles, electric violinists, opera singers and more.

Wedding entertainment budget: up to £1000

Best buys: Dancing, singing, and more dancing

• With a wedding entertainment budget of £1k, your can really give your guests a day to remember. Bring out their seductive side with a sultry salsa band that will teach them the right moves too, or bring the generations together with a superb ceilidh band and caller.
• Love those crisp adverts with the mariachi band? Recreate them on your special day, to make you guests laugh as they dance along to pop classic with a Mexican twist. Or step back in time for a vintage or retro wedding with a swing and jive band, bring the music of the 1940s and 50s to skirt swirling, hair slicking life.
• This budget also buys you some excellent rock and pop wedding and function bands, (sometimes called cover bands), especially if you book an up and coming band that haven’t quite hit the big league – yet.
• For dramatic impact, book an amazing gospel choir to serenade you, or surprise guests over dinner with comedy singing waiters, who stop serving and start singing at the drop of a napkin!

And… pause.

Before we venture into acts over a grand, a couple of money-saving tips from our experienced events team at Alive Network.

1. You don’t have to have wall to wall music or entertainment.
Many of your guests won’t have seen each other for a while and so will want to chat, catch up, and have a drink together. By planning your entertainment carefully for those times when the natural energy of an event might dip, such as while you’re having photos taken, or in between courses of a meal, you can ensure your guests have something to watch or do. You don’t need live music while people eat, for example; eating is a nosy business and people will simply talk louder to compensate.

2. You don’t need to spend all your budget on one act.
With Alive Network, you can book as many acts as you require. So, for £1000, for example, you can afford a kid’s entertainer, a bagpiper AND a wedding DJ. Bargain!

Wedding entertainment budget: up to £1500

Best buys: live wedding party bands

• This is the budget that really gets your party started. Choose from a wide range of live party bands, including rock and pop function bands, swing bands, and soul bands.
• By far the most popular band type for a wedding is the rock and pop function band, playing hits from the entire history of pop music from the early days of rock and roll to today’s contemporary classics. Energetic, entertaining and highly professional, all Alive Network function bands have been carefully vetted for maximum enjoyment and minimal hassle factors!
• Tribute bands are also extremely popular for weddings, recreating the sounds and stage antics of groups from Abba to Queen and singers from Robbie Williams to Frank Sinatra. For a wider choice of music, choose a ‘decade tribute act’, performing hits from the 1960s, 70s or 80s.

Wedding entertainment budget: up to £2000

Best buys: big bands, jazz orchestras and the UK’s best wedding bands

Big budget, big sounds, as 93% of all Alive Network artists are available for hire at this budget level. Enjoy the superb sounds and style of a big band, bringing the music of Glenn Miller and those famous Hollywood orchestras to fill your venue and pack the dancefloor. Or how about a Rat Pack Live show with international tribute artists for the famous trio of Frank, Dino and Sammy! For this budget, you can enjoy superb entertainment and have a little change left over for those added touches, such as living tables or a comedy lookalike.

Wedding entertainment budget: £2000+

Best buys: you name it!

• With a budget of £2000+, you really can have the best of the best! Enjoy the top function bands, staged tribute shows, and superb large bands or jazz orchestras. Or, pack your wedding with lots of smaller acts to surprise and delight all day long.
• Expand upwards a little and you can commission a bespoke ballet or dance show, or a bespoke opera performance featuring your favourite arias and ensembles. From £5000 upward, you can book a celebrity comedian, tv magician or world-class tribute acts to stun your guests and give your wedding celebrations that A-list touch.

Still not sure what to book within your budget?
Alive Network’s team have created many bespoke wedding entertainment packages for brides, so give them a call to discuss your ideas and they’ll have suggestions galore. 0845 108 5500.

For more information on Alive Network go to

www.alivenetwork.com
FACEBOOK
@alivenetworkltd

• This is a sponsored post