What to expect when you hire a band:

Behavior:  You should, first of all, expect all the musicians to be professionals, and members of the Musicians' Association in your city.  The Association represents your interests as well as those of musicians.  Without a good relationship with employers, musicians will not be working long.  The musicians and the Association will make their prime focus the success of your event.

It is reasonable to expect musicians will not drink on the job.  It is your party, not theirs.  It is appropriate to ask the leader of the band you are considering hiring if the players will have a drink while working.  A few decades ago some musicians earned for all of us a reputation which most of us are now working hard to change.  

Assistance:  You might look for input from the leader of the band, tapping her or his experience on a number of issues such as the best time to start and finish; ideas on good places to set up for reasons of acoustics, to minimize disruption if they arrive or leave during a longer event, or to minimize impact on food service or guest traffic.  You should also be able to get recommendations for special music you may require.  

Volume:  A band leader should ensure your guests can converse comfortably, and not turn a social event into something else by performing too loud.  Be sure to let the leader know your expectations before the event begins.  Lots of energy does not necessarily mean too much volume.

Payment:  A Leader will collect payment and is responsible for hiring and paying musicians.  You should expect to pay a deposit when you sign the agreement.  Some bands ask for 1/3 in advance, some 1/2.  1/3 is usually adequate.  Estelle asks for two cheques at the time of signing; the second is for the balance, post-dated to the event date, and included the GST.  
Providing a post-dated cheque leaves one less thing for you to attend to on what will be a hectic day, and because we pay all musicians on the day of performance, it ensures that if the cheque is forgotten we don't have to activate our line of credit.  

Additional needs:  The fees charged by most bands do not cover extra costs such as parking.  When parking costs are incurred, they will likely be added to the fee in the agreement. Other things like travel, accommodation, and meals, when necessary on some out-of-town engagements, will be addressed in the agreement. 

Some bands like ours offer a full range of musical services, and some musicians are often on the job for more than 4 hours.  If this is the case, it is a good idea to offer a meal to the musicians working long hours.  Remember, with travel, setup and striking time, a leader working 4 hours is often away from home for seven hours, and other musicians six hours.  As the time of engagement increases, so does the time between meals.

You should expect a band leader to provide something not in the band's repertoire if it is easily obtainable.  If it is not, it is a good idea for you to offer to assist in the cost of obtaining it.  You should not expect two or more new arrangements to be written without paying a reasonable arranging fee. 

Realistic Expectations are more likely to be met or exceeded:

Band leaders are often asked to perform special requests, and are always happy to do so.  Sometimes the requests require far more time to prepare than is covered by the agreement.  For example, our wedding ceremony duo or trio, which usually performs light classics, is frequently asked to perform a top 40's piece for the processional.  It's often a stretch, but we usually pull it off.  Sometimes we're asked for three processionals (groomsmen and mothers, bridesmaids and then the bridal procession) another for the signing of the registry, and a barn-burner rock song for the recessional.  

The reality is that the band leader, hired to play for an hour and fifteen minutes, is being asked to spend up to three hours per song in additional non-billable time to transcribe and arrange parts for the players so that it will meet the bride's expectations. If these pieces are all outside our normal repertoire (its extensive; Estelle has been building our wedding library for twelve years) then the extra work required can take up to two extra days.  Musicians, like many others, are not good at saying no, and become stressed with a work load that infringes on their time to practice, market, schedule, and all of the other things necessary to be a successful working musician.  Like most musicians, we work very hard to ensure the success of your event, and will do everything necessary to make it special for you.  Your favorite song for your processional or first dance is an automatic "yes!"  More than one needs discussion.  Ask and you will likely be pleasantly surprised at the modest cost to cover time and talent.  Please help us with that by making requests that can be reasonably met.

Six points to consider before you hire a DJ for your wedding celebration:

• Is this a very special occasion for you, your family and friends?
• Will music make a special contribution to your ceremony, cocktail hour, dinner and dance?
• Will the Disk Jockey you hire dress appropriately for your special day? (most musicians wear tuxedos)
• Will you pay a Wedding DJ between five and eight times what each musician would make?
• Do you want to hear .mp3 (lo-fi) files of music you can hear every day on the radio?
• Would you prefer your guests be able to visit and speak comfortably while the music plays?

Your wedding is an expensive, once in a lifetime event. You will want to make sure every aspect of such a special event is unique, distinctive and reflects your taste. Its possible a DJ will effectively reproduce Saturday night at the bar. You may want more than that for your wedding celebration.

Consider the contribution live music can make to the atmosphere of your very special day..

For often about 1/3 the price of dinner and wine you can have the elegance of live music from ½ hour prior to the ceremony until your last guest leaves. Full music service is usually less than cost of a photographer.  Both make valuable contributions. Considering the value added in creating an ideal atmosphere and capturing it, both are quite a bargain!

Now for our Wedding Commercial!

Estelle - Elegance in Music offers:

• a violin/bass duo playing light recognizable classics for your ceremony
• smooth background jazz for cocktails and dinner
• fanfare trumpets to announce your arrival at the reception, or seating of the head table
• your choice of our quintet, sextet or nine-piece Estelle's Choice swing orchestra for dancing

Estelle is comprised of Calgary's top musicians, performing the best songs of the big band swing era. We suggest you book early so you won't be disappointed. Although we often book a year or more in advance, we usually have some short-term available dates. If you are planning an event in the Calgary area or in Banff or Kananaskis in the Canadian Rocky Mountains, click here for contact information and availability, or dial

      Calgary area: 403 239 7607

      Toll Free North America:  1 877 239 3777