How many musicians perform with Ariel?
Ariel is available with as many as twelve or more musicians with an eight band member minimum for a Saturday night event. We offer the band with fewer musicians for less popular dates. If you need something smaller, just ask us! We’ll let you know what we may be able to do for you…
Your band’s size is determined by the size of the room where your special event will take place, the kind of music you would like the band to play, the number of guests that will be attending and your budget. We take all these factors into consideration before recommending the optimum number of musicians for your event.
Will the musicians that I hire be the same musicians who perform at my party? Are you an agency or a band?
Ariel is a real band or “set group”, which means that the same musicians appear at all of our performances. This ensures that the band sounds “tight” and well-rehearsed, unlike most agency bands which are assembled from a roster of available musicians. Years of playing together allows a band to have a special chemistry and a lot of depth to their repertoire.
Ariel’s band members are all full-time career musicians with extensive experience, training and credits in the music business. Many of our musicians have performed with some of the world’s biggest stars. They have been carefully chosen for their talent, dedication to their craft, discipline, and reliability plus a mandatory great attitude. They pour their hearts into each and every performance! There are no “do overs” in this business! It has got to be right every time!
A word of caution: If you encounter a company that claims to be a “band” and yet they offer “bands from 3 – 17 musicians”, they are not a true band. Bands don’t have that much flexibility. Only a large roster of musicians (an agency, basically) can allow for that kind of flexibility in the “band’s” size.
The ages of our guests will vary considerably. Can your band play all types of music?
Choosing the right music is essential as you plan your special event. We invite you to choose from a vast array of songs spanning from the swing era through today’s current hits. We want you to let us know what music you prefer by selecting your favorite songs from our song list, thereby creating your party’s unique repertoire. We are totally in favor of creating a “do not play” list! We want you to hear only the songs you love at your celebration!
Our song list is constantly being updated as we regularly add great songs, both old and new.
Also check out Elizabeth’s article, “Choosing Wedding Reception Music: Bridging The Generation Gap“, which includes more tips and advice on selecting wedding music.
A word of caution: Any band that limits the number of songs that you can choose from their song list is probably not a set band. If they suggest only choosing ten songs or so from their list, they are most likely doing that because the band members vary and they can’t commit to a bigger list of requests.
Will the band learn a special song for me?
If you don’t see your special song on our song list, just let us know and we will learn it for you. We ask you to provide us with four weeks notice and a youtube link to your song. This service is included in the fee that you pay for the band.
A word of caution: Any “band” that encourages you to play your special song on MP3 so that it sounds like the “original artist” is looking to save themselves the trouble of learning your special songs. You can always have an MP3 if you would prefer to hear the original track, but if you want a live version of your special song, we will put the time in to deliver a great rendition!
What else is included in our package?
Besides the musicians in your chosen package, our pricing includes:
Travel to your venue
Top tier professional sound system
Sound engineer and assistant
Lighting for the stage area
Personalized playlist
Customized wedding agenda and time line
Learning your special songs (wedding song and parent dances)
$1,000,000 liability insurance
What other services can you provide?
We can provide:
Musicians for your ceremony
Musicians for your cocktail hour
DJ services with the band or for an after hours party
Up-lights, pin spots or monogram for your event space.
Dance floor lighting (laser lights and intelligent lights)
Photo Booth
Planning your wedding
Just to give you food for thought, here are the planning forms that we use to plan your wedding with you and a timeline as well. All of these details are thoroughly discussed in advance of your wedding and tweaked so that everyone literally is on the same page!
Click here for a printable version of this F.A.Q.!