There are several issues that can come up once the party is started, and you should give these some thought in case they come up at yours.
Sound Volume – Sometimes the bride’s mother approaches us at the stage and tells us we’re too loud. When we turn down, we are then approached by the bride who tells us to disregard her mom and turn back up again. Then some goth punk comes in off the street and tells us to disregard both bride and Mom and just blow the windows out, man! We don’t want to get caught in the middle of differing expectations concerning sound volume, so our rule is very simple: Whoever booked us is the boss. If anyone else approaches us about turning up or down, we will always ask them to talk to our client and have them tell us what they want.
Coordination – Sometimes we are asked to be part of a special activity, such as a Dollar Dance. We are told what to do (e.g., announce Dollar Dance) and when to do it (e.g., at the end of the first break). Not infrequently, however, we go to do what we’re asked to do at the appointed time and discover that a key person (e.g., the bride) is missing. If you have activities planned for for our breaks or during our performance, please make sure that everyone who needs to be there gets the word. We will not leave long periods of “dead” time, so in the event that something can’t start on schedule, we’ll return to playing our usual material again until we get the word that it’s time for another try at the activity.