I’M READY TO BOOK! WHAT DO I NEED TO DO TO SECURE MY DATE?

We are so excited that you are ready to book Taylormade and we can’t wait to play for you all soon. Once you’ve told us you’d like to book, we will put a booking agreement together with all of the details for your wedding or event to give you the ultimate peace of mind! We’ll also send over our bank details for payment of the 20% deposit needed to secure your date.

Once you’ve had a read-through and signed and returned your booking agreement, along with your 20% deposit, then your booking will be confirmed. Please note we are unable to hold your date until both of these items are in place so we’d be grateful if they are sent within 7 days of you receiving them. Thank you.

MY BOOKING IS CONFIRMED SO IS THERE ANYTHING I NEED TO DO URGENTLY?

It is likely you have a good few months to go until your wedding, so you probably don’t need to do anything too urgently! However, the first thing we recommend is to take some time to think about the specific songs you would like for your ceremony including your bridal entrance and your first dance. Carley (vocals) and Matt (guitar) are a married couple themselves so they know from experience this can be one of the hardest decisions to make so may take the most time.

SONG CHOICES:

We recommend sitting down with a glass of something one evening and having a listen to the songs on our setlist, then compiling a list of your favourites. It’s a lovely way to spend an evening and will be very helpful in the lead-up to the big day. If you find that your chosen song is not on our setlist then just let us know. We are very happy to learn a special song free of charge as part of the package. We just ask for a minimum of 4 weeks’ notice.

As we are constantly adding new songs to our set lists, we recommend you wait until around 4 weeks before the big day before you fully finalise all of your song choices as you will then have our most up-to-date lists.

Please note: To avoid confusion, we have 3 separate setlists, which are all different. We have an acoustic DUO setlist, an acoustic TRIO setlist, and a Live Band setlist. Please find links to each below:

SONG RECORDINGS:

We would recommend having your special song recorded professionally by Taylormade before your wedding. It’s so useful to practice your first dance moves or rehearse the timing of the bridal entrance with your bridesmaids, and afterwards, it's a beautiful keepsake of your special day!

Check out our dedicated song recordings page.

LEARNING A SPECIAL SONG FOR YOU:

Please keep in mind we need a minimum of 4 weeks’ notice of your song choices, especially if there is a song you would like us to learn for your ceremony or first dance. Please try to give us as much time as possible, as we want your special song to be absolutely perfect.

WEDDING VENUE CONSIDERATIONS:

During your planning with your venue, we also ask that you please keep in mind the following points:

• PARKING: We will require 1 parking space for the Acoustic Duo, 2 parking spaces for the Acoustic Trio, 3 parking spaces for the 4 Piece Live Band, and 4 parking spaces for the 5 Piece Live Band. Please let your venue know that we will need to park as close to the performance area as possible as we have a lot of heavy equipment to carry and set up.

• DISTANCE TO STAGE: Being able to back our vehicles up to a door right next to the performance area is ideal. However, we know this is not always possible, so please let us know what to expect as we may need to arrive a little earlier if there is a particularly lengthy load-in required. Please note that if you do not tell us beforehand, this may delay our start time. It’s also essential that you let us know if we will need to negotiate any stairs, lifts, or distances longer than about 50ft. This is really helpful and will ensure our part in your day goes as smoothly as possible, thank you.

• SPACE: We are a compact band and are used to quickly adapting our setup to suit the room, whether the stage area is large or small. If you are concerned about how small the stage area is in your venue, please simply get in touch and we can discuss this.

• SOUND LIMITERS: Nowadays it is common for wedding venues to have sound limiters installed, but don’t worry if yours does! These are devices that measure the volume level in the venue, often because there are neighbouring properties to consider.

  As an experienced, professional wedding band, we work with sound limiters regularly and have also invested in equipment that allows us to keep easily within even the most strict venue guidelines, without compromising on the quality of the sound on the dance floor.

  The average restriction is around 90-95 decibels, which is more than loud enough for a great party. However, If you are still unsure about working with the sound limits at your venue, please get in touch.

• CATERING: Please don't forget to add your wedding suppliers to the list for the caterers. For photographers, videographers, wedding planners, and musicians it can be a very long day, so we certainly appreciate some food and refreshments to keep our energy levels up.

  • If the Acoustic Duo is present during the day and night, then we request a hot meal in the afternoon and a supply of soft drinks, please. If you’ve booked the Acoustic Duo for just the ceremony and drinks reception there is no need for food or refreshments.

  • If you’ve booked the Live Band, then access to the evening food for all band members and a supply of soft drinks would be very much appreciated. The soft drinks can be in the form of a tab at the bar, or we are very happy to be supplied with some bottles of water and fruit juices bought from the supermarket and passed on to us when we arrive. This should save you any significant additional spending compared to the bar, keeping costs to a minimum for you.

• CHANGING ROOM/’BACKSTAGE’ AREA: We would prefer a private area to get changed, complete our warm-up exercises, and relax during our breaks. This can be an empty conference room, hotel bedroom, or any other private area within the venue. It’s probably best to let your venue know as soon as possible so they can make arrangements in advance. Don’t worry, it’s certainly not a deal breaker, but having to get changed into our best clothes in a toilet cubicle isn’t easy (or pleasant!), so this is very much appreciated where possible. Thank you.

CLOSER TO YOUR WEDDING DAY:

• Approximately 3 months before the wedding, you should receive your timeline of the day from your venue.  Please send us a copy as soon as you receive this as we can take a look and make any recommendations needed in respect of the band and setting up. These recommendations will be based on our set-up times, logistics, and our experience from the 14 years we have played at weddings with Taylormade. All of this will help things run as smoothly as possible on the day and help to make your day absolutely perfect.

PLANNING YOUR TIMINGS:

• SET-UP TIME:

  • Our acoustic duo requires 45 minutes from the time of our arrival to being ready to go. This time is used to set up all of our equipment and conduct a full sound check to get the absolute best quality for your venue. We will then get changed, warm up vocals and bodies, and get ‘in the zone’ for our performance.

  • Our acoustic trio requires 60 minutes from the time of our arrival to being ready to go. This time is used to set up all of our equipment and conduct a full sound check to get the absolute best quality for your venue. We will then get changed, warm up vocals and bodies, and get ‘in the zone’ for our performance.

  • Our 4-piece live band requires 1 hour 30 minutes from the time we are able to access the space we will be using, to being ready to go. This time is used to set up all of our equipment and lighting and to conduct a full sound check to get the absolute best quality for your venue. Once the soundcheck is completed we will leave some background music on to build the atmosphere and will leave the stage area to get changed, warm up vocals and bodies, and get ‘in the zone’ for our performance. Please understand that the above timings cannot be reduced and are absolutely essential so we can give you our very best performances.

• If you would like us to arrive earlier than the above times for a Taylormade performance, then we can offer an 'Early Set-Up Service', charged hourly to cover our time. This is not necessary for 99% of the weddings or events we perform at, however, please contact us for full details if you feel this may be required.

• We recommend planning just a short break between the Live Band sets, approximately 45-60 minutes, to keep the evening flowing and everyone on the dance floor. We also recommend having the evening food/buffet between the Live Band sets otherwise, guests may leave the dance floor to queue for food, or much more likely they will stay on the dance floor and your lovely food may go to waste!

• It's also worth mentioning that Taylormade Live Band needs at least 45 minutes to set down. Therefore the latest the last set should finish is 11.15pm and we will continue the night with the DJ set until 12.00am. However, we can extend the timings of both the Live Band and DJ by request, so please let us know at the time of booking and we can give you an exact quote.

IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE TO CONSIDER?

That's all! 

We hope the above is really helpful and explains what we need so we can be as efficient and seamless as we possibly can. As always, if you have any questions at all please do not hesitate to ask. We can't wait to be a part of your special day.

Carley, Matt, and the boys!