WEDDING ENTERTAINMENT

Wedding Entertainment can be hired for all parts of your wedding day. The day is typically split into four sections: ceremony, afternoon reception, wedding breakfast and evening reception.

• For the ceremony period, we often provide a selection of musicians (such as Harpists, String Quartets, Brass Bands) and vocalists (Classical, Choirs, etc).

• Usually, the afternoon reception is the period in which your guests arrive at the venue or move from the ceremony room to a drinks reception area, whilst the photographer occupies most of the wedding couple and their families’ time. It is during this period that we supply a great deal of entertainment options, such as Jazz Trios, String Quartets to fill the area with easy listening background music. In addition to providing ice-breaker entertainers such as Close-up Magicians that interact and engage your guests in enjoyable light entertainment. Other popular options include: Caricaturists, Silhouette Artist, Atmospheric Circus Performers, and Toastmasters.

• During the wedding breakfast we often provide musicians for background music such as Pianists, Close-up Magicians for operating around the tables and the very popular surprise Singing Waiters.

• Following the wedding breakfast, guests generally filter into the bar area or mill around as the main room is changed over and setup into the evening format. The evening reception is often considered as the main period for wedding entertainment, as an additional amount of guests join the celebration. The entertainment is usually focused on music, such as a disco and live band. Other options that are very popular are fun casinos (for those guests that enjoy milling around instead of dancing).

Wedding Close-up Magicians

Chosen Events manages and represents several professional Close-up Magicians in the UK. Our Close-up Magicians are highly experienced entertainers that will quite literally leave your guests in amazement to add that final wow factor to an unforgettable wedding day. Magicians are a perfect wedding entertainment option for entertaining your guests during the reception period between the ceremony and wedding breakfast; around tables during the wedding breakfast; or for the evening reception celebration as guests are arriving. Close-up Magicians are great for getting guests chatting, creating a fun exciting atmosphere to keep your guests in the mood for a thoroughly enjoyable time.

Wedding Toastmaster and Master of Ceremony

Why have a Toastmaster? You want your wedding day to be perfect. You will employ a professional photographer, professional caterers, and professional musicians because you want to leave nothing to chance! But have you thought about how you will ensure your guests are seated at the right time? Who will announce your guests as they arrive at the venue? Who will make sure the best man and the father of the bride know when it is going to be their turn for their speeches? Who will introduce them, and make them feel comfortable? Who will make sure the band know when you want to start the dancing? Who will tell your caterer that the photographer is running late (and so make sure the meal isn't ruined?) And who will warn your photographer when you are about to cut the cake, so that he can set up that perfect shot? You have prepared so many things to happen on your special day, but for everything to fit together like a dream, you need someone to coordinate for you. The professional Toastmaster is adept at organising all the different elements of your reception, presenting and introducing yourselves and your special guests, and making sure that everyone involved feels special and comfortable. Having a Toastmaster brings a real touch of style to your special day. Just imagine having every guest announced to and received by your bridal party - nothing else can really make both your guests and yourselves feel quite so special! Your wedding is not a day to "make do", or to "hope for the best" - leave nothing to chance and ensure that you get what you really want!

Wedding Musicians - String Quartets, Violinists, Harpists, Guitarists, Brass Bands

We offer a full range of wedding musicians including: String Quartets, Violinists, Harpists, Pipers, Guitarists, Brass bands, etc. Our wedding musicians are hired for most sections of your wedding day; starting from the ceremony, afternoon reception, wedding breakfast & evening reception.

Wedding Bands - Party Bands, Jazz Bands, Motown Bands, Swing Bands, etc...

Our wedding bands range from all round Party bands to Motown, Jazz, Celdhi, etc. Most of our wedding bands cover the whole of the UK.

Singing Waiters

Our Singing Waiters are trained singers cunningly disguised as waiters! They spend a short time blending in as working waiters. One by one they start "humming" and then suddenly burst into harmony and song to the complete surprise of your guests by revealing themselves as highly talented Singing Waiters. Our Singing Waiters have an ability to change a simple dinner into an extravaganza...

Caricaturists and Silhouette Artists

Caricaturists will excite your guests with enchanting caricature drawings. Show your guests appreciation with personalised entertainment. Reap the benefit of using a Caricaturist at your wedding. What better memory for your guests than an individual piece of artwork that will be treasured for years? Booking a Silhouette Artist to entertain your guests will add a unique, artistic touch to your special day. Weddings do, in fact, offer a great challenge for our artists. With a wonderful array of hats, and family profiles to compare, there is never a dull moment!  Cutting full length silhouettes of the bride and groom has become something of a tradition when artists attend a wedding. This classic and unmistakable outline makes a wonderful alternative to wedding photos.

Fun Casino and Gaming

Gambling without any risk whatsoever is always fun and can be enjoyed by people of all ages. Gamble the night away in style, playing at professional casino tables including blackjack and roulette.  Guaranteed to keep your pulse racing with the excitement of winning or blowing a fortune in fun money!  Our professional, friendly and experienced team will transform your wedding venue into Las Vegas. Your guests will participate in the enthralling atmosphere of a top class casino.  Croupiers attend every event and are professionally trained and dressed in matching evening wear to compliment any occasion.

Wedding Disco

The classic wedding disco is an all important ingredient for British Wedding Entertainment but something which can vary greatly in standard and should be chosen with care. The disco at a wedding should be considered under many factors. Will the lighting effect guests? Is the equipment high quality? Is the DJ flexible enough and have enough material for you to submit the Wedding playlist? We will take care of all of this.

We will ensure your DJ is fully aware of your requirements at the Wedding Party and arrange private calls between you and them to ensure you have the right DJ for your wedding entertainment! We also arrange many DJ's to work with Wedding Function Bands at events to play during their breaks and then in to the small hours as the wedding party stretches on. This combination is extremely popular and something well worth consideration for the perfect wedding entertainment.

Getting the Best Out Of Your Wedding Entertainment, Top Tips

After the wedding dress, your wedding entertainment is the next thing your guests will remember about your wedding, so make sure their memories are good ones!

1: Don’t go cheap! Professional entertainment is like any other service… you get what you pay for. Remember if you pay peanuts you will get monkeys.

Booking a band or DJ just because they give you the cheapest quote, very rarely has a happy ending. We receive calls regularly from brides who have been let down by their entertainment supplier, often this is less than a week before the big day. You don’t want that worry for the sake of sometimes only a couple of hundred pounds.

2: Make sure you have a CONTRACT, which clearly states what their price includes. This contract should clearly state: arrival, start, performance and finish times and if you are booking a musical act, make sure you know if they will be supplying the speakers and lights and any other necessary equipment for the performance.

3: Insurance! Anyone you book (even a non musical act) should have public liability insurance. If they don’t, you run the risk of the venue not allowing them to perform. Check with your venue how much cover they will need, most venues will ask for cover between 2 & 5 million pounds, some larger more prestigious venues will ask for cover up to 10 million pounds. IMPORTANT! IMPORTANT! IMPORTANT! IMPORTANT! IMPORTANT!

4: Find out what system they have in place if a member of the act is unable to perform. We all get ill from time-to-time and are unable to do our job. Most professional acts have ‘dep’ performers in place (similar to understudies in the theatre) who can step in at short notice to replace the missing performer.

5: If you are booking a band, choose one that will try and suit everybody’s musical tastes. You may be the biggest fan of heavy metal and plan to mosh on the dance floor all night long, but the chances of older guests wanting to listen to this is slim! By just choosing a band according to your own tastes, you may end up with a very quiet dance floor. Instead you may want to consider choosing an act who can play some of the music you love but also a mixture of classic floor fillers. We like to call these bands ‘Versatile Function Bands’.

6: Do look after your act to enable them to put on a better show.
For an evening performance a band will typically arrive at around 5.30pm to set up and are not usually on the road again until after 1.00am. That’s a minimum of 7 and a half hours at your venue, not to mention the time it took them to get there and the time it will take them to get home. A basic hot meal, soft drinks and a room to get changed in and chill-out in when they are not performing can make the world of difference to any hard working performer. No one can work to their full potential on an empty stomach or look their best by getting changed in their car.

If you want to get the best out of your entertainers, treat them (almost) like they are a guest.

7: Check the minimum stage size that the act needs to perform. Stage areas that are the wrong size can cause problems for many acts and can sometime mean they cannot perform to their full potential.