Image / Attires
"What kind of attire will the live band be wearing? I have a theme for my event. Can you guys wear accordingly?"
We always look after how we put on our attires as a team when performing. From top to toe, we make sure we are aligned and dressed up appropriately.
Most of the time, the men in the band will be in suit & bowtie (as pictured) except for the female performer(s) where they will be in gown or dress.
Do let us know if you would like us to wear according to a certain theme. You can also share with us a color palette for the theme. We even have some clients who provide us with a budget to purchase our new sets of attire!
Emcee
"Who's your emcee and what does your emcee do? I only require a little bit of announcements for my event/wedding. Any discount for that?"
All of our packages include the emcee service and they are carried out by our band performers. Jingle & Damien are both experienced performers who have provided wedding hosting services for many years in most of their wedding gigs. Angeline does emcee too but only familiar in wedding events.
Even for a little announcements, we, as emcees, will be charging the same as stated in the package menus. There is a demand for emcees and they are priced not by how many announcements there are to be made. An emcee is valued based on his/her figure & experience, more like a stature representing the host (families) or organization. Sorry, there's no discount.
Unless you have hired an emcee separately, then only a small fraction of rebate is given i.e. RM200.
Read more here – The Expectations of An Event/Wedding Emcee.
Sound System
"The venue/hotel already have their own sound system. Can we use their sound system instead?"
For we cannot take the responsibility of confirming their usability & adequacy, we cannot say we can. Generally, hotel venues do have their own sound system. But those are mainly equipped for speech purposes and/or background (BGM) music only. They may not be adequate to meet a live band's requirement in terms of the power supplied and the capacity to accomodate the many signals from their musical instruments. Some hotels do not provide full range speakers or with the sub-woofers. Even if they do, the band would also require a proper balancing (mixing) of the sound frequencies and whether or not their mixer can perform this task, it is another important factor to make sure. Then, there's also the mic stands and book stands, etc that is needed by the musicians/performers.
And these are the reasons why all of our packages include our own vendor for sound (PA) system. We want to be sure of the system being adequate and that the soundcheck can be done by our own trained sound personnel.
March-in Music
Escort
"I love the sounds of violins/saxophones. It would be great if I could have a musician to perform my favourite instrument during the opening. Can your musician escort us during our march down the aisle?"
Yes! Once in a while, there are clients who hire a saxophonist or a violinist to escort them during their march-ins. This is with no additional charges if you had already hired the musician as 'Add-on' to the live band package.
In our KL Menu / PG Menu pages, scroll down to the middle to view the add-on musician pricings.
Song Requests
"We have some of our favourite songs we would like you to perform for our guests. How many songs can we request for? Is there any charges?"
After going through the band's repertoire (make sure you do it first), you may request for however many songs you would like to (that is not in their list). If the song is within the band's capability and style, they would gladly prepare them for you, free of charge (F.O.C.). Unless the song requested is completely new to them, and it would take up longer time than usual for them to prepare, then only the request is charged a fee of around RM100–RM200 per song. At most, the band can only take in 2 new songs to fulfill (subjected to the band's ability & availability).
Surprise
Agenda / Guest
Performer(s)
"My husband and I are thinking of doing a surprise live performance backed by the live band. Is that possible for your team to deliver?"
Yes. In fact we have done it quite a number of times before. However, you will have to keep those planned details short and clear for the band can only have 10–15 minutes of rehearsal time with you (and/or everyone else that is involved) on the event day itself (i.e. exactly an hour before the official begin time).
"Do you allow any guest singer(s) to perform with the live band? If we have a different act hired to perform, can your band back the singer?"
By default, we do not encourage any guest singers. However, if s/he has gotten the permission from the bride & groom (or the organiser) before the start of the event, we still can consider to work it out. However, know that we perform music live, not every song can be done spontaneously and we reserve the right to decline if deemed not fit. Hence, make such decision earlier during the planning stages (put "YES" in the Agenda List) so that we can come to a mutual agreement.
Cancellation /
Refund
"During a pandemic like Covid, postponements & cancellations may be inevitable. If we happened to cancel our event, will there be any refund?"
If the event had to be postponed or cancelled due to government restriction order, then 60% of the paid deposit for your booking shall be refunded. You may ask why not a 100% refund? This is due to the processing fee in securing the booking, a partial amount has already been incurred on our end. In other words, each date being booked is an opportunity cost taken. Furthermore, this policy is only to protect the ever-vulnerable musical talents from being tied up to a never-ending postponement without receiving a security fee.
There may also be other reasons such as health complications/issues in general that the event cannot be carried out on that specific date. Again, the same applies, the opportunity cost is made when the performers are booked for your specific date, blocking away other requests to allow themselves to be free on that date. However, an implementation on reimbursement is made to reduce the loss if client had an earlier news to this postponement.
View the file here – Rates of Reimbursement.
Performer
Absence
"We know that sometimes people may fall sick or unforseen circumstances may happen. What if one of your talents could not show up for my event? How do you approach such situation?"
With all reasonable efforts, WiC will source for a talent replacement that is of a similar calibre. If a replacement option offerred by WiC and approved by you (the purchaser) attracts a lower rate than what was previously booked for, a partial refund will be made for the cost difference incurred.
Stage Size
"The venue/restaurant's stage size for live band is quite small. It is not even a stage. I'm afraid that a 3P live band cannot fit in. –So, how?"
Regarding the different band setups, we have a reference layout and sizes required, all in this file – Band Setups & Stage Size Requirement. You can learn about the minimal space required for setting up the live band and the mixer.
Secondly, every event layout planning is different base on the tables and room layout. We may arrange our setup accordingly (live band positionings may vary).
Finally, unless the area given is smaller than 2 square meters then only we have an issue in stage size.
In conclusion, we actually take up lesser space than you may expect. Let us worry about that, you need not worry about it too much unless you need to put up a stage specially for the band, etc.
Late
"What if the event started late because the guest arrivals is delayed?"
To avoid overtime from late guest arrivals, one of the commonly used method is by stating the wedding time to be 30 minutes earlier than what is planned in the itinerary. If you are having more than 250 pax guests, please state it 45 minutes earlier instead.
That being said, if the delay still happens, and that it is within 15 minutes, we still are able to catch the agendas up on time by rushing a little bit (since there is usually a buffer duration of 5 to 10 minutes allocated in the planning). We allow 10 minutes of overtime performance done outside of the official event duration (surcharge not incurred).
If the delay is more than 15 minutes, then the overtime surcharge will incur unless any of the planned agenda(s) is removed (or the last set of the live band performance is shortened by probably 4 to 5 songs – provided the last dish is also served/done by then).
If and only if there were no delays to the start of the event but an overtime is desired and that the live band has enough songs (ready or prepared) to perform, then only the extension (overtime) can happen. Our OT rate is RM60 per 30 minutes per performer.
Delayed
"What if my gown-change takes too long and everything else is delayed?"
If the overtime is caused from wardrobe malfunction or any other minor mishaps, then it is unfortunate but you still have to bare the surcharge that is incurred from such situation. This is why decide early on whether you require 20 mins or 30 mins and above for your gown-change duration.
Lastly, if there is poor planning of the sequence of agendas, it may also result in unnecessary waiting-time which leads to having OT. Rarely but sometimes there may also be additional agendas that is chipped in last minute which was not planned for. Hence, these types of OT which happens will be reminded on the spot of whether having the live band to continue on with the OT surcharge or to end on time despite agendas not yet completed.
Here at WiC, we provide our clients with the 'Agenda List & Itinerary' where we are able to gauge the event's duration accurately and help you avoid unnecessary OT if possible.