Booking a band for your wedding or for your party can seem like an enormous job, especially if you haven’t booked a band before. There are so many options, and so many questions. Hopefully these questions will give you a helping hand . . .
Thankfully , this is a situation we have only encountered a couple of times in over a decade of bookings. However, of course, sometimes people do get unwell. That is why, when it comes to booking entertainment, it is a safer option to book an act through an agency like ELM Agency, because should anything like this happen, we have a whole host of acts that we can call upon. We have numerous singers, musicians and bands at our finger tips and if there is any reason why an artist can’t make it to your event, we would be straight on the phone to all of our acts making sure someone could step in for your event. (We would of course check this with you first). And, here’s a secret of our trade – musicians are made of steel. It takes a lot to bring down our team, we’re very hard workers and we don’t give up without a fight!
All of our bands and musical acts will bring everything they need for their performance. In some cases, we may need to use an AV team to supply a bigger or different set up (if you have a particularly large event) and if this is the case, we will discuss that with you and give you some options. Similarly, for our corporate clients, you may have booked a venue which has an AV team as part of the package, and in those instances our bands will be happy to liaise with those teams making sure everything runs as smoothly as possible.
When we receive your enquiry, Emily will contact you to find out a little more about your event. Once we have all of the event details, we will contact the acts who fit your brief, to find out who is available. We will then send you a selection of options and from there, hopefully, we can work out who might be the best fit for you! Once we have ironed out the finer event details, we shall send you a digital contract which protects both you as the client and the artist, and an invoice for a deposit. Generally, if your event is a little while away, then we ask for 50% to secure the booking and the balance to be paid one month before your event. Once it’s all booked in, you can sit back, relax and get planning the other parts of your event. We will then contact you about one month before to discuss the final details, recap everything we need to know and collect the balance payment. We will usually also be in touch with your venue to make sure we have got all of the info we need there too and to give them important documents like PLI and PAT certificates.
All of our acts differ slightly but in general, most of our musical acts tend to be booked for 2 x 45 minute sets for daytime events and up to 2 hours of live music for evenings. These sets can of course be split however you wish. We can also help to guide you on what may work best. A few of our bands such as The Martinis play a bit more than this. The Martinis play 2 x 70 minute sets as standard and for most of the bands, you can pay a bit extra if you would like a longer performance. In between their sets, almost all of our bands will be happy to pop on a party playlist, meaning there is no need for you to hire a DJ, although if you would like a DJ – we can help you with that too! If you want to create your own party playlist, then you can give the band your playlist in advance.
Fabulous question! Booking a band can be really overwhelming if you’re not sure where to look. Luckily for you, this is something we can help with, as we have for hundreds of previous clients.
First of all, you should decide which genre of music you would like the band to play OR perhaps you would prefer a band who perform a mixture of music, suitable for all ages. For example, if you love soul music, we would strongly suggest checking out House of Soul. If you’re looking for a band who cover a very wide range of music, spanning the 50’s to the 00’s then you may like to take a look at The Good Time Guys.
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I had the pleasure of working with ELM Agency when I photographed a wedding at Syon Park. ELM provided incredible entertainment with both The Pickin’ Mix Acoustic Duo and Halo Strings Ltd. Their music was perfect and Pickin' Mix roamed with guests to guide them from one area to another and created a real party atmosphere. Fabulous!
Josie came to my 40th and performed two brilliant sets as well as sorting and arranging the playlist for the rest of the evening. She is extremely talented - both guitar and singing- she has a stunning voice and a great understanding of how a good party should be. As well as that she is a genuine and very warm person - I felt an instant connection with her as she is just so lovely. She absolutely made the party as she had everyone up and dancing and it was exactly what I had wanted. She took into account my song requests and somehow everything went down a storm with all the guests. I cannot recommend Josie (and Emily at Elm) highly enough. These girls are dynamite.
We booked Jazz & the Tonics for our 1920s themed Dinner Dance. They really were the icing on the cake for our event. The music they provided was classy, fun, and varied to allow time for chatting and dancing equally. They were lovely too - and very professional too. We would certainly use them again for a future event.
A last minute request for a singer for an anniversary surprise performance and like magic it was achieved! Mitch was superb and made the evening. Emily made the process from enquiry to performance easy, she was reassuringly responsive, I would highly recommend ELM Agency.
I used Elm for my 60th party at the Mitre Hotel near Hampton Court. They found me the perfect band, Miller & Co who weee a great success. Thank you for a great service
Fantastic experience! We used this agency to book our wedding band. Emily did a stellar job- smooth process, no issues and most importantly, she got us the band we wanted. Boogie on Down were epic! I danced the whole night and not once was disappointed in their song choices. A truly talented band.
We had a fantastic experience with Elm Agency. Emily went to extra lengths to find us a musician at an extremely busy time of year. She regularly kept in touch, giving me people's profiles and price options. She helped me curate the night around the music and Ryan our saxophonist did not disappoint. He lifted the whole party and we played our music through his sound system which was a bonus. Would definitely use both again- five stars!
Emily helped arrange my entire wedding from start to finish, and it honestly wouldn’t have been nearly as amazing as it was without her help! She managed to get things across the line that weren’t necessarily available to us at our chosen venue, and went above and beyond when it came to organising the entire day. We started with a string quartet for the ceremony, who played before, during and after the ceremony with a mix of classical and modern songs. It was truly beautiful and set the tone and atmosphere for the rest of the day. We then had a saxophonist to play during our drinks reception, which was absolutely brilliant. He then stayed on to play our entrance to our wedding breakfast as well as our first dance which made those occasions during the day so uplifting and joyous! She then arranged for us to have a band play throughout the wedding breakfast and for a second drinks reception outside during the room turnaround which was truly epic. Everyone was up and dancing before the starters arrived, and every single person said their favorite part of the day was dancing with the band and getting the party started so early on. And lastly she arranged for an electric violinist to play during the reception and this blew everyone away! It got everyone out of their seats and onto the dance floor for the entire night and I couldn’t have wished for anything more. Emily put me completely at ease during the entire planning process, liaising directly with the venue and other suppliers to alleviate any stress I was facing with planning such a big day. She answered emails immediately and knew exactly what was needed for the day. I 100000% recommend Emily and everything she brings to the table! Our wedding was MADE because of her help and without her wouldn’t have been nearly as special. Thank you so much Emily, you are a star!!!
We have used Elm Agency a number of times and have also got several acts booked for future events! Emily couldn't be more helpful throughout the whole booking process and has lots of wonderfully talented musicians. Would highly recommend!!
Emily was a pleasure to deal with. The band were PHENOMENAL and without them our party wouldn’t have been the same. Having live music including a live saxophonist made the evening very special. Thank you ELM xxx
We used ELM Agency to supply a band for our wedding day, and we were not disappointed! We firstly had a conversation with ELM to discuss what sort of things we wanted on the day with regards to the music, the advice back was very helpful and wasn't trying to push more than we needed. ELM listened to what we wanted, worked with us and we found The Good Time Guys who were brilliant. The music was fit perfectly to our taste, and got our guests up and dancing which was amazing to see. Thanks again to all at ELM Agency and the Good Time Guys for an amazing evening!
Emily was fantastic! She energised the whole room with her choice of songs (great eclectic mix of era and vibe) and fabulous voice. This inspired us to do an impromptu first dance. Would highly recommend x
Emily was so helpful in finding an amazing singer with less than 24 hours' notice after our previous performer was taken ill. She organised everything at 9pm on a Friday night and was really responsive and communicative. The singer (Mitch) was outstanding and made our 'Musicals' themed party one to remember for years to come. I would highly recommend this agency to friends and will use again for the next family party! Thank you
Emily and her team are always such a joy to work with and always provide the perfect musical acts for our events. Everyone who ELM represents is friendly and professional, and ensure that the music is spot on for whatever type of party we are planning!
Emily and ELM Agency were incredible for our wedding reception, with only a weeks notice she arranged a brilliant string duo to perform for us who everyone loved. Could not recommend Emily or the duo highly enough!
Jazz & The Tonics played for my 60th birthday party. They were a joy to deal with throughout the whole experience, from booking to performance. The blend of instruments and Emily’s voice is just wonderful and their music got everyone dancing and tapping along. Comments from my friends included “brilliant band”, “loved the excellent band”, “great band”. I can’t recommend them enough!
I approached ELM for our wedding band as I wasn't sure what I wanted and knew they had a good selection and variety of musicians. Emily looked after us and was extremely knowledgeable and helpful- she listened to what we wanted and then sent over a few different bands for us to listen to and watch clips of. It made the search for a band really fun and easy! We decided to book The Martinis and they were incredible. Emily also assisted us in finding a sound engineer to support on the day as the venue had a slightly strange set up. This was definitely worth the extra investment. We got married in 2016 and people still talk about our wedding band!! They got everyone up and dancing all night long, they took requests and were just awesome. I danced my socks off. I would highly recommend working with ELM agency and if we have any anniversary parties we will definitely be coming back to Emily!
Emily was amazing, she entertained at my friends party and I hired her for my own. She pitched her performance just right and had everyone up dancing. A total professional, she made my party :-)
ELM Agency were so so helpful when we were trying to find a band for our wedding - we literally couldn’t have done it without them! We weren’t sure what was out there, or how to find the perfect band, but Emily really listened to what we wanted and provided all her experience and recommendations until we found the right one! Her technical knowledge is second to none (being in the industry herself) and she even liaised with our venue without needing to get us involved! Would highly recommend ELM to anyone!! Thank you ELM!
We chose ELM to provide the entertainment for our wedding and we were both delighted with the band that we chose. They were fantastic, had our guests up dancing and played all our favourite songs. We wanted to add some female vocals to the group and Nothing was to much for Emily to sort out and she listened to exactly what we wanted. She liaised with the venue to remove the stress of something else for us to worry about and it went without a hitch . A lot of our guests commented on the quality of the band . I can not recommend ELM enough . Emily really did go the extra mile and made the whole process of using ELM a dream .
We used ELM agency to book our wedding singer - Emily-Jane and both the singer and the service were excellent! We had great and attentive communication from the very beginning and we were SO impressed with our wedding singer on the day. She looked stunning, sounded INCREDIBLE and we only wish we could have seen more of her performance because she was so fantastic! All of the guests commented on her beautiful singing and she was so perfect in the setting of Warwick Caste. We would 100% recommend ELM Agency to anybody and wouldn't hesitate to use this agency again! Thank you so much to Emily-Jane and Emily-Louise!!! Emily & Jamie
We used the Detroit Steppers as our wedding band. ELM made everything incredibly easy and very well organised, which was great as it was one less thing to worry about. I would highly recommend the band but also ELM in helping you find the right artist for you. Thanks again.
