Posted 16-06-11 by Acoostic Moose

For any brides who have made enquiries, don’t forget you can come and see Acoostic Moose play live at the Commonwealth Hotel in Union St Newcastle every second Thursday from 7.30pm. These are specific showcase gigs so come and ask all the questions you need to and hear us play. There’s also the $12.50 steaks which are awesome!! Call the hotel on 49293463 to book a table – it gets busy so that’s recommended. Cheers, Mick.

Don’t forget our fortnightly gigs at the Commonwealth Hotel in Newcastle. It’s a perfect opportunity to have a chat with us and ask as many questions as you like with regard to your wedding music.

The end of 2011 is shaping up to be very busy indeed so take the rare opportunity to see us play at a public venue. The fun starts at 7.00pm and finishes at around 10.00pm. See you there!!

Acoostic Moose will be performing live at City Hall on the 11th of September for the Hunter Wedding Grapevine spring bridal fair. We usually set up on the stairs and play some tunes plus talk to brides and grooms about their wedding. It’s a great opportunity to ask heaps of questions and request your favourite song.

Acoostic Moose play at a lot of weddings where this is often an issue on a number of different levels. Usually after speeches and the cutting of the cake the bride and groom will do their ‘first dance’ or bridal waltz together. This is a really special part of the night and it’s usually danced to a song which is meaningful to the couple. It can literally be any song you like; upbeat and silly or an elegant ballad or anything in between. In 90% of cases we would perform it live but sometimes it’s played from the iPod.

What happens next is where the problem lies. We’ve noticed of late that dessert is served during or after the dance and we reckon that’s not the best scenario. By the time the bridal waltz comes around your guests are ready to party; the meal is over and they are ready to dance! On too many occassions we’ve seen the dessert sit on the tables, and ultimately thrown out, while the guests spend the next hour on the dance floor! Kevin and I reckon that’s just a waste of your money and a waste of good food especially considering there are ways around it.

If your speeches occur after the mains, as soon as speeches are finished, cut the cake and then serve dessert. People will only take about ten minutes to finish their dessert so doing it this way isn’t cutting in to too much party time. You can even get the bridal waltz under way while the stragglers are finishing dessert then they can get up on the dance floor as soon as they’re done.

Don’t let the photographer pressure you in to getting the dance out of the way so they can go home and be sure to tell your venue coordinator that this is how you want it done.

Please remember that this makes absolutely no difference to us as your band; it’s just an observation we’ve made after hundreds of weddings we’ve performed at. We will fit in with how you guys want the evening to run; this is just a suggestion to make the party segment of the night flow a bit better. After all, we’re just jealous we’re not getting any of that yummy dessert!!!

Regards, MF.

Yet another successful day at City Hall on Sunday. We spoke to lots of brides and so many were interested in coming to one of our showcase evenings. For those of you who left an email address with us, you’ll be recieving a personal invite to one of several dates where you get to eat some nibblies, have a drink, ask questions and listen to Acoostic Moose play. It’s very informal and you get to ask as many questions as you like with regard to what we can offer your wedding day.

If you didn’t see us at the expo but would like an opportunity to come to one of these “private viewings” please send us an email and request some more info. We’ll definitely keep you in the loop.

Hi guys, I just wanted to have a little rant about some issues that are important when booking the musicians for your wedding through an entertainment agency. There are a few things you need to be aware of and we reckon there’s a few boxes that need to be ticked when dealing with entertainment agencies who have lots of artists on their books.  Below are some questions that need to be answered when dealing with an agent, and that includes HVWE!!

*Is the person on the other end of the phone/email an experienced musician and do they really understand what is expected at a wedding? Does the consultant you speak to at the bridal fair really know what each artist can offer and how many weddings has the consultant performed at? A wedding performance is much different to a pub or a club gig.

*Does the agency rep communicate with you quickly and efficiently? There’s nothing worse than waiting for a call back or an email question to be answered.

*Does the agency allow you to establish a good relationship with your musician  after you’ve booked leading up to the wedding? I’ve heard some horror stories where an artist is booked through an agency but all correspondence with the artist has to go through the agent!! What’s the go there? are there agent/artist trust issues? These are the musicians who are going to be a major part of one of the biggest days of your life; you need to get to know them and they need to get to know you, the songs you like and dislike plus all the little things that they can do to make the music component special.

*Can you get to see your artist perform prior to booking them? This is a fairly obvious one but believe it or not, some couples book an artist without properly understanding what they can deliver. If where you live prohibits getting to a live performance, make sure you view some good clips, have a good talk with the artist and be confident that what you see is what you’re going to get on the big day.

These are just a few important points to ponder; I’ll add to them later if I think of any more. We like to think that at HVWE we tick all the above boxes; feel free to send us an email and ask any questions you need so you’re confident with who you book to play such a big part in your day.

Cheers, MF.