It got me thinking, card sharp what exactly is that?  Apparently, it is someone who has an excellent memory and is fast with their hands, which then got me thinking about Bernie Pedley, of Magic at your Fingertips.  No, Bernie is not a card sharp but an absolutely brilliant magician who wows guests at wedding receptions with his unbelievable tricks and gets your guests screaming with laughter.  He is the ideal ice breaker and gets everyone joining in from young to old. 

He calls himself The Wedding Magician and I think he may be right.  So if you are looking for something a little different in the way of wedding entertainment, why not get in touch, Bernie would love to hear from you, but be warned, you will laugh so much you may lose your valuables!

Click here to contact Bernie direct

Funk’N’Soul want your wedding day to stand out as a truly magical occasion, with this amazing dream comes attention to detail and a great deal of planning.
We are dedicated to assist you in the making of those important decisions.

Your wedding ceremony, whether church or civil, is the public exchange of promises between two people witnessed by their family and friends.
The ceremony is the heart and soul of your very special day. Live music can greatly increase the sense of occasion and true emotion of your love as the ceremony unfolds.

The musicians can play softly in the background as the guests gather together before the service starts, during the signing of the register and as you leave the service as newly weds, this will continue to enhance the ambience and set a wonderful feel for the whole day.

Do check prior to booking as there may be a lack of space or various other venue restrictions. Often a pre prepared CD of your choice is used.

Funk’N’Soul are able to assist you with this. (For that extra personal touch.)

We insist on meeting you prior to your special day to discuss the music of your choice, to finalise details and to know exactly how you want your day to flow.

Upon your arrival as Husband and Wife at your wedding breakfast the subtle musical performance in the background can continue while you’re receiving your congratulations from your family and friends.

Amaze your family and friends by having a fanfare played for your entrance to the wedding breakfast.

Once the speeches and the toasts have come to an end it’s time to get those dancing shoes on!

Kick start the evening with the fabulous Funk’N’Soul live band that have helped create your special day and smooch on down to the dance floor for your chosen first dance

Most bands will have a standard list of around fifty to sixty songs that they will play at most weddings. Funk’N’Soul provide a fully tailored set list of most, or indeed, all of your favourite songs.

We have over FIVE THOUSAND songs so all you need worry about is what you want to hear on the night. Of course there is nothing more memorable and enchanting than having your first song played by some top class professional musicians.

Typically you can expect your musicians to play either two 45 minute sets, two 1 hour sets or a long 1 and a half hour set. But to get great value for money why not have two one hour sets?

If your wedding package does not include a disc jockey, don’t worry! Funk’N’Soul has the facility to play recorded music during breaks and throughout the night.

Often a Bride & Grooms’ worst nightmare is, during the bands first few songs, that there may not be a lot of people dancing. Don’t worry about that, they have just eaten (in need of a few more drinks!!), so it may be a good idea to think about starting times for your musicians.

We expect to be working until anywhere between midnight and one a.m.

Your musicians will understand that speeches often run over time so will be completely flexible with how your day is flowing.

Finally. Something else worth bearing in mind is that your musicians will be at your wedding venue for quite some time as they have to set up and sound check prior to your reception.

Most bands expect to set up anywhere between four and six o’clock. If they are there until midnight/one a.m. then they are going to get hungry and thirsty. Nothing pleases musicians more than being invited to use an evening buffet and having a couple of soft drinks throughout the evening.

Reliability and quality of performance are the two attributes that are essential for headache-free, successful music at a wedding. If you go for cheap, you are likely to sacrifice either or both of the above!

A professional musician will expect to take home £120 – 150 for an engagement. On top of that there are equipment and travel costs, along with publicity, advertising and agency costs should you not choose to book direct.

Right, down to business… As a rule of thumb, you can expect to pay £200 – 250 for a solo performance, £300 – 500 for a duo, £450 – 625 for a trio. A four to six-piece band starts at approximately £800. Depending on the versatility and professionalism of the musicians, the price increases to £1000 – £2000. Larger bands cost proportionately more.

Funk’N’Soul will be happy to reduce the price depending on mileage.

Please expect to pay a deposit of anywhere between 20 – 25% as this will guarantee the booking and the date.

Please be wary of amateur or semi professional bands, you will NOT get the quality or standard of musicians as those who live and breathe music professionally.

We hope we have been able to assist you in making your Wedding Day entertainment decision an informed one and wishing you both an amazingly successful day.

Love, Funk’N’Soul! x

If you're at a loose end on Wednesday night, the wonderful Funk'N'Soul are showcasing their musical talents at 'The Jam House' in Birmingham on Nov 3rd. They will be playing two 45 minute sets of a wide variety of songs from Motown right up until today, and the show runs from 9:30pm to 11:30pm.

To find out more about Funk'N'Soul check out their website (you can even listen to them on there) and to find The Jam House, Birmingham, (Jools Holland's place) go to www.thejamhouse.com.  Have fun!

Kids entertainment = happy parents as well as happy kids

There are a number of options, but the most important thing is keeping the children occupied, not only to make sure they don't get up to any mischief, but also to give the parents a chance to relax too. At the moment my favourite ideas are: a bouncy castle (but only if it's big enough for me to go on too!), a magician or a general entertainer that can make balloon animals. There was one at a wedding I went to a couple of years ago and the children loved it, and the adults liked seeing strange balloon creatures appear everywhere! There are even nannies and specialist creches that come to venues to look after the kiddies. When we have final numbers and ages I'll see if we need that. Then we might be able to invite the kids after all.

Wedding DJs and live bands

As for the adult wedding entertainment, music is crucial. I need to check with the venue, as some places insist on a particular DJ for discos. They've come a long way, and a lot of discos now use digital formats so that they can have a greater range of music. It also means that we can check in advance what they have more easily. We'll need to get a wedding DJ who is happy to look at our playlist as we're quite picky about what we dance to. Of course, we need to make sure that they can play songs that everyone else will enjoy too – and not everyone there will be thirty somethings!

There's also the option of having a live band, there are some really fabulous ones out there and it does add an incredible atmosphere. I'm going to get in touch with the ones advertised in the Wedding Organizer book to see if I can watch them perform first – very important! Not only to find out how they sound but also how they look; a very retro band might look a bit odd, whilst being perfect for someone else's themed wedding.

Wedding entertainment for the non-dancers

Not everyone likes to dance though, and something that Joe is excited about is having a casino, not for real money of course. He's had a nice idea to give each guest a few chips to get them started as part of their wedding favour and then everyone will know it's there too. There are companies that specialise in these kind of events and provide trained staff to run the games. Very James Bond!

A magician for grown-ups might be fun wedding entertainment too, there are ones that can perform at the table, I'm sure I saw a feature on it in my Organizer.

Wedding entertainment to break the ice

We could always have a barn-dance with caller, those are lots of fun, and we're also compiling a quiz where all of the questions are about the guests. That should help to break the ice! Hmmm, maybe we should offer a prize for the most correct answers… I'd better add that to my miscellaneous list.