GENERAL QUESTIONS
IMAGE / ATTIRES
What kind of attires will the live band be wearing?
The band will be in formal suit & tie (or bowtie) except for the female performer(s) because they will be in gown and proper facial make-up.
Do let us know if you would like us to wear according to a certain theme.
These are some of the examples of the band's standard outfit:
Checkout more on our Instagram account
OWN EMCEE / NO NEED EMCEE
Who's your emcee and what does your emcee do? I only require 'light' or a little announcements for my event/wedding. Can you give any discount?
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 is a junior emcee.
Even for 'light' 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. Hence, there's no discount.
Unless you have hired an emcee separately, then only a small fraction of rebate is given i.e. RM200 only.
View what is to expect of an event/wedding emcee here.
SOUND SYSTEM
The venue/hotel for the gig already have their sound system. Can WiC's live band use theirs instead?
More often than not hotel venues' sound system are only setup for speeches & mild music. They may not be adequate to meet WiC's live band requirements in terms of the power supplied for the instrument(s), proper balancing of the sound frequencies, having full range speakers (sometimes with sub-woofers), and the other equipment such as music stands, etc.
And that is the reason why all of our packages include PA system. They are managed (soundcheck & background music provision) by our own band performers. Each of our live band will have at least one trained (or experienced) sound personnel.
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.
Regarding the different band setups, we have a reference layout and sizes required, all in this file – HERE. 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.
SURPRISE AGENDA / MARCH-IN ESCORT
My husband and I are thinking of doing a surprise performance with music assisted live by the 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). Other examples are like having a saxophonist or violinist to escort the bride & groom during their march-ins, all with no additional charges if you had hired the individual for the event.
GUEST(S) PERFORMER
Does your band allow any guest singer(s) on stage? 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 permission from the bride & groom (or the organiser) prior to the start of the event, we still can consider working 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.
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.
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.
View the other rates of reimbursement here.
PRICING SURCHARGES
OVERTIME (OT)
What if the event started late because the guest arrivals is delayed?
If the delay 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 only allow 10 minutes of overtime performance done outside of the official event duration (surcharge not incurred).
If the delay is more than 15 minutes, it is very likely that 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.
OT rate is RM60 per 30 minutes per performer
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.
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.
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 'Planner Ticklist', where we are able to gauge the event's duration accurately and help you avoid unnecessary OT if possible.
OUTSTATION EXPENSES & COSTINGS
How much do you charge to travel out of Georgetown, Penang? Our event is not going to be in Penang but outstation. Any accomodation fees?
We have a chart where you can refer the travelling costs & expenses. But it may be slightly complicated for you to calculate, so just enquire from us and we will quote you accordingly.
Usually, performers' accomodation is to be provided by your side (all covered by you).
SONG REQUEST(S)
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, FOC. 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).
OUTDOOR SETUP (UNSHADED)
Ok, my wedding ceremony is going to be short and I may take the risk of having bad weather (raining) due to it being outdoor and not shaded. How do you go about it if it rains? Sound system?
Yes, the sound system is the main concern here if the equipment are not being covered. Hence, it is compulsory to hire a separate personnel to stand-by just in case it rains, that would cost you RM100 per hour. And if it really does rain, then another RM100 is further charged for the shiftment & resetting the system at another contingency planned location.
PUBLIC HOLIDAYS
So it happens that my event is going to be on a Christmas Eve, why is the surcharge different from the other public holidays?
Yes, there is a difference in this public holidays & PH eves surcharges due to the popularity of the celebration. You see most people celebrates on the eves of a holiday which brings to a very high demand for performers to be booked for that day. Only with a proper amount agreed by both parties (employer & employee) shall this booking may take place. Hence, the rates are as such:
Christmas / New Year's Eve (a fixed rate for setup crews at RM150 + RM500/performer)
Christmas / New Year's Day (a fixed rate for setup crews at RM150 + RM300/performer)
Any other public holidays & PH eves (a fixed rate for setup crews at RM150 + RM75/performer)
As we are a company comprises majority in Chinese ethnicity, we do not operate on Chinese New Year's Day-1-2-and-3 and CNY's Eve.
TOTAL GUEST LIMIT (PAX LIMITATION)
What is the 'Total Guest Limit' written in Main Packages?
The written number is the maximum limit of guests you shall have for your wedding. Our packages are sold according to its pax limitation. Sorry for the inconvenience, but the answer is no, unless you pay for the over-pax fee i.e.
RM10 per pax (first 50 over-pax)
RM5 per pax (subsequent 50 over-pax)
The reason behind our pax limitation is to avoid having the live band 'overdoing' their performance in terms of 'image' and 'vibe' of its setup. Hence, all of our 4P setup is implemented to fulfil larger crowd i.e. up to a 400-pax-audience.
So, if you have lesser guests, you ought to spend more per pax. If you have more guests, make sure it does not exceed the limit.
EARLY SETUP
Case 1 question: I want everything to be done before my guests arrive. What time do the live band arrive and what time do they finish their setup?
Case 1 answer: The live band generally reaches 2 hours before the start of event. They will be able to finish their setup an hour before the start of event if not being interupted. BGM will be played by the sound personnel once setup is done.
Case 2 question: We will be having our vow-and-ring-exchange before the food is served. So, the live band performance shall only start later. Can the event duration be counted from that point onwards?
Case 2 answer: If you have the vow-and-ring-exchange during the wedding reception (just right after The Grand March), you would require a longer total duration. However, instead of being charged by the OT rate, this will be considered as early setup with the rate of RM30 per 30 minutes per performer. Hence, the point of start will be when the food is served.
CORPORATE FUNCTION
Case 1: I plan to hire a live band for my company's corporate event. But I have not finalised the agendas yet. How many sets does the live band usually do?
First and foremost, the emcee is the most important person to run a corporate event, and s/he will need a confirmed itinerary to work with. However, large & small firms or companies may have varying agendas, from a short and simple 2.5-hour gig to having many items that may take up at least 3 hours or more for the whole gig.
If you have sort of decided on an emcee, s/he is suppose to finalize the itinerary with you, and thus, let us know our live band's timing/slot(s) to perform. And base on that, we will work out the quotation for you.
If not, please download this Corporate Function Checklist to check on the agendas you plan to have:
From this checklist above you provide us with, we will also know how long each set of the live band performance should be allocated.
Typically but not always, 17 songs are performed in total. They can be in 2 or 3 sets. But if there are a lot of agendas, minimally 11 songs are performed.
Please view the duration and our T&C here.
Case 2: What does the RM500 per in-house emcee surcharge mean?
For corporate functions, we pay our emcee(s) an additional RM500 each for the different role and responsibilities that come with the job. Our main packages are already having the wedding emcee included, but for him/her to perform the emcee role for a corporate function, it is required to pay the emcee an additional RM500.
