wedding couple having their first dance

Wedding and Party Blog

How Far In Advance Should I Book a Wedding Band?

Weddings take a lot of careful planning.  If you’re planning one now, we don’t have to tell you.  All the same, if we had a dollar for every time we’ve heard the question, “How far in advance should I book a wedding band?”, we’d be relaxing on a beach somewhere with the proceeds.

It’s a good thing we love what we do, right?

There are some important factors to consider when answering this question, so following is our two cents’ worth.

Avoid disappointment.

With weddings, timing is everything.  Book too soon and you may miss out on something better, when it comes to venues and caterers.  Book too late and you’ll be stuck in an Elk’s Hall which smells of stale beer and war stories, eating rubber chicken and regret.

It’s all about balance.  But for wedding bands, if you have a favorite ensemble in mind, it always pays to think ahead.  That’s especially true for the warmer months of the year, when most people get married.  Our bands’ schedules can fill up quickly.

Some people are long range planners who want to lock in their band as far in advance as 18 months.  Others procrastinate and wind up not getting the quality of entertainment they want.

General rules of thumb.

At CTO Artists, we like you to have a firm date before you contact us to book a band.  It’s crucial to our planning process that we have that information before we take even a single step.

If you’re planning a wedding in the spring or summer, you should be aware that most bands tend to get booked in January, so give yourself the gift of time.  The planning process for most weddings begins a year before the big day.  Once you’ve got the ceremony, reception and catering venues sorted out, that’s the time to call.

Make sure you don’t leave it longer than 8 months, if you have a band in mind, or even if you just want high quality entertainment.  You don’t want to get stuck with your uncle’s old garage band from high school.  And you don’t want to end up settling for a DJ when you had planned for a live band.

Write booking your wedding band into your planning for no more than 8 months ahead of time and you’ll have access to the best wedding bands around.  You can then go on your merry way, knowing that your wedding is going to be one for the history books!

CTO Artists.

CTO has been in the business of booking top flight talent since 1987.  From the northeastern USA to California, to Florida and beyond, we create dream weddings with the finest talent available.  These bands are cohesive, high energy and exceptionally polished, because we hire only the best artists.

Once you’ve set the date for your wedding, and your venue ducks are all in a row, it’s time to contact CTO.  With over 10,000 events under our belts, we’re professionals who bring you world-class live entertainment.