Getting gigs at weddings is all about giving the customer exactly what they want. That sounds really obvious but that is the general theme of this post. What are the obvious things that every band or solo musician should be doing to maximise their chances of getting work this summer?

Firstly, make sure you have all of your contact details plainly visible on your website. A phone number really is a must! When someone is planning a wedding they usually feel more confident if they have spoken to someone directly. The wedding day is such an important (and expensive!) event in people`s live that they don`t want to leave anything to chance and the reassurance of speaking to a band member directly will make them more likely to book you. A telephone conversation also gives you a chance to chat about a first dance song and arrange anything that you may need (dressing room, refreshments) with the client.

A full and in-depth repertoire list is also a must. Customers will usually want quite a wide range of songs at their wedding. It’s just one of those events where you are almost definitely going to have a massive range of ages, tastes and backgrounds when it comes to the guests. You need some slow songs for the first dance alongside more up-tempo songs to dance to. If you can play a wide range of styles then make sure you tell your customers! It’s also a good idea to let your client know that you are flexible and perhaps don`t mind learning a couple of songs that they particularly want that aren’t in your repertoire list at the moment.

Another key feature for your bands website or directory profile is a video clip of your band performing live. There is nothing more accurate to show how your band actually looks and sounds during their performances. People are now used to watching videos with low quality audio so don`t be put off if there is some background or audience noise on your video. As long as it shows your band off to their best abilities then it will help you get more gigs. Have a look at these wedding bands – they are all pretty successful and most have a you-tube video clip.

Get yourself registered with some sites that can connect you with customers who are planning weddings. We would recommend signing up for a listing with Last Minute Musicians. They get over 23,000 unique customers visiting their site every month and they are mostly people planning events like weddings. You can register here for a free or enhanced listing. The more enquiries your band recieves, the more likely you are to get some quality wedding gigs this summer.

If you have played gigs for impressive sounding clients in the past then definitely advertise this on your website! A good example for this would be a big corporate event that you may have played. If Marks and Spencer have booked you for an event in the past then customers will feel much more comfortable booking you. The same goes for celebrity weddings. Basically, anything that you can do to make customers trust you should be done.

The same is true for testimonials. Find some previous clients and ask them for a quick quote. Customers really do want to see that you are experienced and you have done a good job at similar events in the past. There is simply no better way to do this that to feature testimonial quotes from previous clients. It is a good to idea to asks customers in the future to give you a quote as well. The more testimonials the better!

Finally, make sure that you have good quality photos and audio clips which accurately represent your band. At the end of the day the first thing that your customers will do is look at the pictures and press play on your audio player. Then they will start reading the rest of your site and make their decision. If your pictures and audio are not up to scratch then most visitors will just bounce away. We hope that you have found this post interesting and you will come back to visit us here at How to Get Gigs.