As wedding entertainment options continue to grow far beyond the traditional pianist, string quartet and DJ, knowing which live act to hire for your big day can be a somewhat overwhelming task. But fear not, as an abundance of inspiration, advice and choice can be found at the click of a button via trusted online entertainment agencies, such as fabulous Brides Up North Sponsor, Warble Entertainment.
Keen to offer couples the very best talent in the industry whilst guaranteeing complete piece of mind, the team at Warble will ensure your wedding entertainment makes your big day truly memorable and unique.
Better still, Warble are offering Brides Up North readers an amazing 10% discount on their booking deposit, just quote ‘Brides Up North discount’ at the time of enquiry.
So to get you off on the right foot, we’re today quizzing Tracey of Warble Entertainment on how to hit the right note with your band or act selection…
Tell us a little about Warble Entertainment…
tracey says:
Warble Entertainment is an agency designed to make booking entertainment for your wedding fun, friendly and efficient.It was set up nearly ten years ago by husband and wife Matt and Tracey (that’s me!) who had a passion for live music, weddings, events and entertainment. They believed there was a lack of honesty and good customer service within the entertainment agency sector at that time and wanted to produce an agency that understood the importance of a wedding and took time to care about the both the customers and the acts requirements.
Now Warble consists of a strong team of 16 who are just as passionate about the company and its core beliefs of honesty, reliability and great customer service, whilst providing the UK’s most exciting entertainment…which is exactly what wedding couples receive when they book via Warble.
What different types of entertainment do you offer?
The most exciting thing about Warble is that we can literally offer any kind of entertainment to suit any style of wedding. So whether you are looking for a traditional and romantic theme and are looking to book a harpist for your ceremony, a jazz band for your drinks reception, a magician during your wedding breakfast and a DJ for your evening reception, or, you require something a little more alternative with a vintage twist, so maybe a barbershop quartet for your ceremony, a mime artist for your drinks reception, a 1920’s jazz singer for your wedding breakfast and a full live funky swing band for your evening reception – we can bring your ideas and theme to life!
How can live entertainment help to enhance a wedding day?
Live entertainment is so important to have at weddings for so many different reasons! Here are just a few of these:
It helps bring your theme to life – as mentioned above, entertainment can augment your theme, for example if you’re having a festival theme it’s a no brainer than you’d have a fantastic headlining live band!
It helps break the ice – it’s well known that at weddings there is usually lots of different groups of people that don’t know each other and well placed and timed entertainment will help bring them all together. For example, a magician during the wedding breakfast can provide a great talking point for the table.
It fills the gaps – the best example here is the drinks reception, where the bride and groom are often busy having their professional photographs and so if you leave the guests with a caricaturist and perhaps some live music to lift the atmosphere, they’ll never know you were gone!
It makes your big day stand out from the crowd – Although your big days is obviously extremely special to you and your nearest and dearest, it is inevitable that it won’t be the only wedding many of your guests will have been to that year and so why not make sure it’s the one to remember for all the right reasons!
What are the benefits of couples arranging their wedding entertainment through Warble Entertainment?
Apart from guaranteeing our customers a fun, simple and easy booking process with our friendly, personable and efficient entertainment coordinators, brides and grooms will also receive piece of mind that they will receive an extremely professional act of the highest calibre and they will receive all the back-up they require. This will include providing their venue with relevant documentation, including PLI and PAT certificates through to us having a 24/7 emergency helpline to cater for all eventualities, including providing an alternative act should the one they have not be able to make it for some reason.
What sets you apart from other wedding entertainment companies?
Our honesty, efficiency and the fact that we are passionate about weddings are the qualities that really set us apart. We are also not afraid to show our personality as a company – we have a great team who all absolutely love what they do and we really appreciate brides and grooms trusting us with such an important occasion!
How do Warble Entertainment select the bands and acts that they represent?
Warble has a full artist liaison team who work to strict vetting procedures for all of our acts. We look for great quality and professionalism as well as acts who have the same qualities as we do and understand the importance of performing for a wedding. We have a great relationship with our acts as we absolutely understand all the hard work and dedication they put into every single performance.
Do you offer bands and acts throughout the UK and are travel fees included in the booking price?
We provide bands throughout the whole of UK and Europe and have booked them for many weddings abroad. The fee that we quote for a band is full inclusive of all travel costs and there are no hidden extras.
In terms of musical entertainment what types of bands would you say prove popular with wedding couples and why?
Because weddings are becoming more diverse with brides and grooms wanting to show more of their personalities, the range of band they are booking is bigger than it’s ever been. Indie/rock/pop is the most popular because it’s what the majority of people listen to in the charts and many of our bands in this genre are current and are constantly evolving to meet what customers want. That said, we also book lots of soul & motown, jazz, swing, retro, vintage, 20’s, 40’s, 60’s, 70’s, 80’s, 90’s, acoustic, tribute, latin & salsa, reggae, ska…the list is endless!
Will the bands you represent learn particular songs for a couple or do they tend to have set play lists?
Many bands will happily learn the first dance if they feel they can do it justice. They understand the importance of getting things right and would hate to ruin the moment, so if they don’t feel they can get it absolutely perfect for the couple they will advise playing it via a DJ option.
The question regarding the band’s playlist is a popular one and the advice we give on this is very important. The bands we represent are professional and perform at two to three weddings a week and so they really know what works in terms of getting your guests on the dance floor and keeping them there. They dedicate a lot of time thinking about their playlist, and whilst they are more than happy for brides and grooms to have some input on a couple of songs you definitely do and definitely don’t want them to perform, we would always advise leaving the majority of the playlist to them as they are the professionals. Similarly with a florist you would chose a colour scheme and any particular flowers you like but as they are the professionals you leave them to the arrangements – this is no different with a band. You should choose your band based on style, sound and over all ambience – not particular songs they can and can’t do. The majority of bands will provide a DJ service for when they are not performing and will be happy to include any of your requests that aren’t including in their playlist within this.
What advice would you give to wedding couples when deciding on what entertainment to have for their big day?
Book early! There is only one of each act. Yes, there may be lots of rock/pop bands but if you find one that you particular like the sound and look of, once they are booked they are booked so confirm early to avoid disappointment. To give you an idea, the majority of bands are booked at least 12 to 18 months in advance for the key summer dates.
What type of entertainment would you suggest for couples wanting something a little different?
Ooh this is always a fun question and we’re getting it asked more and more from our brides and grooms. We love surprise entertainment that the guests won’t expect and this is moving away from your typical surprise opera singers. We have an amazing ‘Del Boy’ lookalike who crashes the speeches and causes havoc right through to living trees that look like topiary but will then move as your guests walk past them. These types of acts not only create a great atmosphere and a fun talking point for the day, they can also provide fantastic photo opportunities too! Here is a brilliant video of our Del Boy gate-crashing the speeches at a wedding!
What is the feedback like from brides and grooms that use your services? What do they love about Warble Entertainment?
Brides and grooms absolutely love the Warble website and we’ve worked extremely hard to make it as fun and user friendly as possible. Our aim is to make the whole experience as easy as possible and that’s the feedback we often receive. Our favourite and most regular feedback though is that the act or band they booked made the whole day – this is huge praise indeed and we absolutely love it! We have nearly 9,000 reference from customers and we can honestly say receiving it is the best part of our jobs. You can read some of our testimonials here.
Can you do a discount for Brides Up North readers?
We love Brides Up North – it’s a fantastic resource for brides and grooms and so we would be happy to provide a 10% discount on the booking deposit for all Brides Up North readers. They just need to quote ‘Brides Up North discount’ at the time of enquiry.
How can Brides Up North readers get in touch with Warble Entertainment/ see more from the bands/acts?
There’s lots of ways to keep in touch with Warble! Call us on 01270 501164, drop an email to enquiries@warble-entertainment.com or visit www.warble-entertainment.com
You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Instagram and Pinterest.
