wedding singers or bands anyone?

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singergrl

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Are you a wedding singer or a band that gets gigs for weddings?
How do you promote your name? I have heard that word of mouth is best. Can anyone tell me your experiences?
THANKS
 
If you want steady wedding work, it's best to associate with a local agent. Look in your yellow pages and contact entertainment agents in your area. They will want pics, a bio, the usual. "Word of mouth" only works if you have a track record.
Good luck!

Bob
 
I've done quite a bit of those (until I just couldn't stand it any more) and Bob's right. An agent is the best way to go. Once you earn your bones with them you'll get better paying, higher profile jobs (not just weddings but banquets and large private parties and such). When I was doing these kinds of gigs, we'd do everything from weddings with 3000 guests to NHRA awards banquets paying between $600 to $3000 a shot.
 
"until I just couldn't stand it any more..."

LMAO!

Shhhhh- let her find out for herself!:D

Bob
 
If you're in a small town without any agents around---
play some gigs at your local legion (yechhh!!!) or simply put an ad in your local area newspaper--haven't been in this scene for
a long time but I see bands putting ads in our local rag and have
been told it keeps the players busy....

Graham.
 
Thanks guys! I have done the scene before bob. You try singing in churches to make money, now thats a joke! I have advertised in my local town's newsletter and plan to advertise in newspaper.
I am hestitant, however to go through the agent plan, as it seems they end up taking a large cut, and you get shafted!
I guess my best bet is to get in with some wedding coordinators.
I've got a few people out there, getting the word out to them.
 
where are you located? I've done a few wedding gigs... none of which I advertised for.. I was approached. The first one was an acquaintence who had heard me play before. The rest were word of mouth. Mostly through church groups and stuff. I've also done a lot of wedding video shooting/editing, which is probably similar to landing music gig... get to know the wedding "scene".. photographers, bridal set studios, jewelers, caterers, reception centers, etc.
 
I agree that an agent is the best way to get into the weddinng/private party/corporate gigs. Yes the agent does take a large cut (15-20%) but unless you're a known act with a track record it is hard to get an in.

One of the bands I work with uses an agent (but does not have an exclusive agreement). The agent gets us the corporate stuff - and about 50% of the weddings - but we do get some weddings on our own. We give out cards and flyers to banquet halls, bridal shops, photographers, etc. We offer a 10% commission on any work that is referred through these contacts (it's still better than the 15-20% an agent takes).

If you go to an agent, in addition to a bio and a demo tape - there is a good chance they may require you to do a video. More and more agents sit a client down in front of a VCR and have them look at videos (maybe 5 or 6 one minute songs from each band). Videos are a pain since you have to work out new song arrangement (to get the songs down to a minute) and normally record the songs and then lip sync to the video. A good video can cost $3000 - $5000 (including both audio recording and video recording) but, it can mean the difference between getting $300 gigs and $2000 gigs.

Even after the agent takes $400 out of a $2000 gig - it still leaves $320 per man (or lady) for a 5 piece group).
 
mikeh's obviously been there and done that too.:cool:
 
The last wedding we did, the groom stood up at the head of the reception table, bent over and mooned the entire wedding party. The one before that was for some Danish sailors - boy can those Danes hold their liquor! One drunk old Dane chased my wife around all night.
 
Aaah wedding gigs - ya gotta love em.

I was at one where the grooms family and brides family got into a major brawl. Bridesmaid's dresses were torn off, tables were broken and blood, beer and glass were everywhere.

But we did get paid!!!!
 
A bit off the topic, but this reminds me of some really strange gigs.
We were playing behind the bar at the Chug-A-Lug (no lie!) in Garden Grove, when a biker gang showed up and took over the place. They weren't Angels, they were the other big gang in LA, I can't remember the name. Their leader was a guy named "Fonzie" (also no lie!), and he was about 6'6/240 and quite mean looking. After a set, he and one of the gang approached me and said -
"Out back...now!"
I told my wife to stay put, and if I wasn't back in 5 minutes to drop a dime. They led me through the bar to the back alley. Things didn't look very good for our hero. As the back door slammed shut I turned to face this gnome-looking fellow with a big grin and a joint in his outstretched hand.
They said they really liked the music, blah, blah...
Once again, I was astounded by the power of prayer.
 
Same off topic, topic but I was at one our regualar high zoot country clubs that we did around every six weeks. It was quiting time when these old geezers literally passed a hat and offered us $300 to play 30 more minutes. The kicker was when this old drunk country club dude stuffs a $100 in my pocket and just says "Road House Blues". "By the Doors?" I say to this guy. I felt like I was doing acid. We obviously didn't do Road House Blues much at country club gigs (and not at all with this tuxedo wearing band). I turned to the guys and said "in E on 4. Follow me". Like I said, it was like doing acid.
 
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