So...you've dreamed of that wedding reception all your life, huh? In your mind, it's simple: the band plays your favorite song, as you and your new spouse walk in the hall to a rousing standing ovation! You then proceed to officially open the dance floor with a beautiful, carefully chosen song that means the world to you. All is going well until.......schreeeeeeech!
Wait a minute, your hall is busting with guests! The 100 guests on your invite list seem like 200! Lots of people. Lots of expectations. Suddenly you spot uncle Ed sitting at table 2. You just remembered he hates dancing. Table 16, on the other hand, is already rocking. They're your buddies. They're ready to party, and you get the feeling they can't wait until supper's over. Why does the banquet manager look so stressed?! Could it be because the bridal party arrived an hour later than expected? What about your band? Have they meanwhile been entertaining your guests, or have they just been standing there, waiting for you? You become a tad nervous. That beautiful moment you imagined is not really going exactly as expected at the moment.
That's when you realize that an experienced band suddenly means a whole lot more than just playing music and sounding good! When you hired the band, you also paid for their experience and flexibility (at least that's what whe hope for you!). If you've bargain very hard for a few hundred dollars off, you would probably gladly go back now, realizing that perhaps you really need your band to be very implicated and entertaining right now!
With their experience, a well-rounded band plan their sets around key-moments of the evening. Without you even noticing, they're adjusting their sets around the hall's meal service. They'll work hand in hand with the banquet's manager (whether he's a nice guy or not!) to play soft music when the guests are having their meal, and play more up beat stuff in between courses, so your guests could dance a few songs before the supper service is over.
Your bandleader hopefully knows that the banquet manager is usually is very weary of guests dancing during the meal. Why? Simply because it's very difficult to serve people when they're standing - even more so when they're dancing! Which is why your bandleader's communicating skills are most essential in this case. Depending on the speed of the service, two or three songs should be enough for the guests to get their fix. After playing a couple of dance songs, the band should let the service resume normally - to the satisfaction of the banquet manager!
Wow, look at that! Uncle Ed is dancing to a ballad with his spouse! Your friends at table 16 didn't have to wait until end of supper to go crazy! The banquet manager looks more relaxed! The band knows what they're doing: They're playing a variety of styles of music! Everyone's happy!
You catch yourself whispering: "Wow...Yes! I'm glad I hired this band!"
