Jupiter Ray

Soulful, Funky, Fun, Upbeat, Professional

When it comes to getting the most out of live music in the evening, it's important to check whether your venue has a noise limiter or any restrictions around what time the live music has to finish. You don't want to be planning your dream wedding, have your venue booked and then suddenly find out that all live music has to be finished by 9pm (yep, that does happen). If the venue has a sound limiter, the band may be quieter than you would like it to be. Many venues will try and sell it to you by saying, "we have live bands here all the time" - that may be true, but they might not be loud enough to really bring the party atmosphere that you're hoping for. Another thing to look out for is venues that have a sound ceiling, that's speakers in the ceiling above the dancefloor instead of a typical PA system. It's designed to keep the sound all in one place so as not to disturb the neighbours. Although on rare occasions these work well, more often than not, there are phasing issues between the individual speakers so it sounds a bit weird on the dancefloor from one spot to another. Anyone not on the dancefloor will only be able to hear the drums if everything else is plugged in. If your ideal venue has a noise limiter or sound ceiling and you still really want to go for it, your best bet is to book a band with experience in these kinds of venues who will be able to make the best of it. In Jupiter Ray, we have lots of experience working in these situations, and our drummer plays on a hybrid drumkit which means that you get the look and sound of a traditional drumkit, but the volume is completely controllable. On the flip side of quiet venues are the venues that put the band and the dancefloor in what is essentially a stone box, the floors and walls are flat and uncarpeted, and the sound bounces around everywhere. If you walk into the room and your footsteps and voices are echoing, that's the kind of place I'm talking about. Again, an experienced band with a fully controllable sound will be your best bet here, anything too loud will just blur into a chaotic mess. So, opt for a band that has an electronic/hybrid drumkit, and a band that uses recorded horn parts on a track instead of live horns. After all, you can't really turn down a live trumpet.

I recently played acoustic music at a wedding where the guests each brought a small potted plant as their gift so that the couple could plant a wedding garden - how lovely is that?!

The first step is to have a phone call to find out all about your day and how you would like things to run. Nobody likes filling in lengthy forms, so we just have a chat with you over the phone and gather all the info we need. We then email you to confirm everything that we've spoken about and to give you a quote, or a couple of quotes if you're toying with a few different options. Once you have settled on a package that suits you, we put together a booking agreement for you and send you an invoice for the deposit (25%). Once the booking agreement is signed and returned to us (by email is fine) and the deposit is received, then we can officially book you into our calendar! You're then welcome to stay in touch leading up to the big day with any questions you may have, and we typically have a final email exchange or phone call a couple of weeks before the big day to finalise timings, the first dance song, and DJ requests. We also send over your final invoice, which is due 60 days before the wedding.

Something that has a personal meaning or significance for you is always lovely. Or something where the words just seem to capture exactly the way you feel about each other. If you need some inspiration, feel free to get in touch, and I can send you some ideas.

It might not be what you expect... but Lionel Ritchie's All Night Long always seems to fill the floor!