The Dangers Of Hiring A Cheap Wedding Entertainer
Have you thought about the entertainment for your wedding? Specifically have you thought about a magician? These days more and more brides are booking magicians for their wedding. In fact Bridal Magazine recently conducted a survey of over 5000 brides from 2016. 78% of brides said looking back at their wedding they wish they had spent more money on the entertainment. CLICK HERE to see what we can offer for your wedding!
This statistic is very interesting and the reason for it is very simple. When a couple are planning their wedding they have certain things that they focus on. The dress, the venue, the catering are all things that are very important. However when it’s all said and done people don’t remember the colour of the chair covers or how fizzy the cola bottles are on the sweet stand. They remember the memories and experiences that are created throughout the day and into the evening. The entertainment is a huge part of this.
Lets accept that more couples are booking entertainment for their wedding than ever before. The next logical question is what type of entertainment should they be booking. There are hundreds of entertainers that advertise themselves as wedding specialists. The price to hire these entertainers ranges from thousands of pounds to less than a hundred pounds. The question then becomes what price point should you go for? Why book an expensive entertainer when there is another act prepared to do the same thing for a fraction of the price?
I have been heavily involved in the wedding industry for almost two decades! I perform as a wedding magician and run a company called Slightly Unusual that supplies wedding entertainment throughout the UK. I have met very expensive entertainers and very cheap entertainers. Whether we are talking about magicians, DJ’s, comedians, bands, singers or something else there are a lot of dangers of hiring a cheap act. This is information that you should be aware of when planning your wedding entertainment. Let’s have a look at some of the biggest dangers. CLICK HERE for our blog on Wedding entertainment- An honest opinion.
1. They might not turn up.
Have you ever heard the horror stories of entertainers not turning up? It happens all the time, we get
phone calls almost monthly from brides and grooms needing emergency entertainment. Normally when this happens it’s because a cheap entertainer has been booked. The strategy a lot of the cheaper entertainers take is to book a date at a cheap price so that the date is covered. Then if a better paying gig is offered they will take that booking and let the previous client down. It happens all the time, more than you would imagine. A warning sign to look out for is if the entertainer doesn’t want to take a deposit upon booking. A deposit protects you as well as the entertainer and if no deposit is taken you need to question why that is.
2. They might not be very good.
The old expression ‘You get what you pay for’ is very apt here. You want the guests at your wedding to shout about how amazing your entertainment was. You don’t want people teasing you years later because your entertainment was so poor. Let’s be honest it’s your big day and you want everything to be perfect. You have to ask yourself a question, if the act you’ve hired is massively cheaper than every other entertainer you looked at why is that? I have met couples who have told me that they were embarrassed of their entertainer at their wedding. This is not a feeling that any bride and groom should have.
3. Their equipment might be substandard.
I have seen Wedding DJ’s who have just taken a table from the venue and thrown a table cloth over it. Then they have put one small speaker and a set of lights from Maplins on the table and called it a Disco. They went on to run the music from Spotify on a phone! When I spoke to the bride and groom they were mortified. They said that the pictures they were shown by the DJ before booking were nothing like the reality of the situation. When an act charges a higher fee they generally take pride in their work. Bands will have the best instruments. DJ’s will have the best equipment. Magicians will have the best tricks. Again this comes down to the old saying ‘you get what you pay for’.
4. Cheaper acts aren’t legally compliant.
There is certain documentation that you need when you are a performer. Firstly you need PLI (Public Liability Insurance). Most venues will insist on an act having PLI and it protects you and your guests against any accidents. I have heard of DJ’s being sent away on the day of the wedding because they aren’t legally compliant. If you taking any equipment that needs plugging in it needs to be PAT Tested. This stands for Portable Appliance Testing and is vitally important. If you book a cheaper act then there is a good chance they won’t have this documentation. This can cause problems for you and your wedding
5.They will have no respect for you or your guests.
One of the big dangers of hiring a cheap entertainer is that they have very little respect. The only way to charge a higher fee for your services is to get a great reputation with previous customers. These acts are very protective of this reputation and will go above and beyond to protect it. So when you book them for your wedding they will be the consummate professional. I have seen cheaper acts get drunk at weddings. I even saw one act start a fight with a guest. Be honest is this the sort of thing you want to happen at your wedding to your guests?
So there you have it. 5 reasons why hiring a cheap wedding entertainer is one of the worst things you can do. To be clear you don’t have to spend a fortune but you do need to make sure that your entertainer is going to do what you hired them to do.
