CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR ENGAGEMENT, and THANK YOU for your interest in The Buzzcatz!
WEDDING FAQ
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS....
Q: How much space do you need for the standard 9 piece band?
A: 24 x 12 is our standard space for the 9 piece group, 18x12 for the small groups. For the larger band (10+ pieces), we go up to 24 x 16. For some venues a stage is not necessary. All of our electrical & staging needs will be included in our contract rider.
Q: Will you act as Emcee for all of the announcements and introductions?
A: Yes. The bandleader will act as the Emcee for the entire evening and co-ordinate with your photographer, videographer, caterer and wedding coordinator.
Q: Can you provide musicians for our cocktail hour?
A: Yes! Our large group packages include a pianist for your cocktail hour, and we also offer upgrade options in our pricing packages.
Q: Can you provide musicians for our ceremony?
A: We do not offer ceremony musicians, but you can find some of Central Florida's best ceremony musicians on the LINKS page of our website: www.thebuzzcatz.band/links
Q: Do you have a wireless mic so that we can do our toasts from the head table?
A: Yes!
Q: Do you provide music during your breaks?
A: Yes. We do much more than just play music on our break - we will pre-mix a seamless "DJ style" mix of your favorite dance songs to be played between sets. We also offer our LIVE DJ upgrade to take requests and get the crowd pumped (included with our larger packages of 10 & 13 pieces).
Q: Do you carry insurance?
A: Yes. We are insured with a liability policy of $2m, required by most venues, and will have our insurance office email our certificate to your venue if they do not already have us on file.
Q: Do you have backups if your bandmembers are sick or have a life event of their own?
A: Yes. Ricky has been performing in Central Florida since he was a kid, and his talent pool of musicians is very deep. All of our musicians and most of our subs have been a part of The Buzzcatz family for 20+ years, and we have several backups available to us at each position in the band. Meet the band (and our understudies) on our band page: https://www.thebuzzcatz.band/the-band
Q: What is the process for getting a contract and confirming The Buzzcatz for our date?
A: It's very simple! You send us a confirmation email with all of your details (date, time, venue, number of pieces you want in the band, your mailing address & phone number) and we will email you back our contract. It's a very simple two-page document and there's not a lot of legal mumbo jumbo. You sign and email (or mail) the contract back to us along with a 50% deposit. We will send you a signed copy for your file. The balance payment is due 7 days prior to the wedding.
Q: Can you work as a smaller band?
A: Yes. We also offer a four piece group and a six piece group; both fronted by world-class male vocalist Dana K.
Q: Will you learn our first dance song?
A: Yes. Although we would prefer to play something that we know, we are happy to learn your song provided that it is within our musical and vocal capabilities. We also don't mind spinning the mp3 of the original artist version if you'd prefer. If you pick a song not found on our list that requires a horn chart (Sinatra & Swing tunes), there is an additional fee to have the chart written by our horn arranger.
Q: Can we see you play “live”?
A: Most of our gigs are private events, so it may be awhile before you can see us play "live". We do play some public shows every now and then, so check our website for any upcoming dates. We'd love for you to see us in action at a wedding, but we've never felt good about bringing uninvited guests to our client's weddings. For this reason, we offer LIVE videos of our band on our website, Facebook page, and YouTube channel.
Q: How much input can we have on your playlist?
A: We welcome all of your requests from our song list. Any of your special requests not found on our list, we will be sure to include in the mix we play while the band breaks. If there are a couple of songs that you don't want to hear from our list, just let us know. Because our show is made up of medleys and musical segues and we like to have all of our options open while reading the crowd, we don't work from a "do not play" list.
Q: Can one of our guests sit in with the band??
A: Of course! This is always a highlight to have a guest in the band, provided that it is approved by the Bride & Groom.
Q: Will you meet with us prior to the wedding?
A: Due to his daily schedule and the number of events that we perform for, Ricky is unable to meet with you, but is available any time via phone, text, or email to help with any of your needs or questions.
We hope this helps to answer some of your questions. Please let us know if you have any additional questions or need help in any way. We encourage you to ask the other wedding vendors and wedding venues in Central Florida about our band. Your reception is in good hands!
A FEW TIPS FROM RICKY ABOUT HIRING THE BAND......
CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR ENGAGEMENT!
I am Ricky Sylvia, the band leader for The Buzzcatz. I am proud to lead our band in Florida, and since 2001, a west coast version of the band, based in Laguna Beach, CA, during the summer months. I have had the good fortune to have performed at nearly 800 wedding receptions from coast to coast, and it's unlikely that you will find a more experienced "wedding singer" anywhere! I realize that while I have done this many times, you probably have not, and I that know that hiring a 10 piece band complete with a three man crew and a truckload of gear sounds like a logistical nightmare to anyone who is not accustomed to doing this. You needn't fear....we make it really easy!
We realize that you have a lot on your plate, and that you are juggling lots of vendors and details at this time. In an effort to make the whole experience as seamless and as painless as possible, we offer a few key tips that are sometimes overlooked by our wedding clients....
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Hire a PRO wedding planner.
Pro vendors are used to working with pro wedding planners. Your Mom and MOH might have some party planning chops, but give them the night off and let them enjoy themselves. Hire pros for this night. A pro wedding planner will pay for herself in the time and money she will save you. You get what you pay for, and that goes double for the band and the planner. Your venue may offer a day-of coordinator service, and that works too
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Send your signed contract back to us right away to secure your date!
I will never hound a client for a decision on hiring our group, nor do I believe in any "salesman" tactics. Our clients know what they are looking for, and typically don't need any coaxing from me. The are all very happy in knowing that they've secured The Buzzcatz for their wedding date. Once I have your email or verbal confirmation that we are ON for your date, I then draw up the contract and I immediately notify the band of the booking. From that point on, we are (all 13 of us - band and crew), turning down other potential clients for your date at a rate of 4-5 inquires a week. If you hold our contract for a few weeks and then change your mind about our booking for whatever reason, that could cost us a night's work elsewhere and potentially thousands of dollars lost. It's happened to us before. Please sign and send our contract and deposit to me immediately, so that we can lock in your date asap. If there is going to be a delay for whatever reason, please notify me.
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Talk to the venue in advance to arrange for power, staging, green room, and meals for the band.
It is important to the flow of our setup that everything be pre-arranged and set for our crew's arrival. All of our rider requirements for power, stage, and green room will be listed in our (short) rider attached to our contract, and none of our requirements are out of the ordinary for any of the resorts or clubs. Expect a fee from the venue for the power drop - that is common practice, and unfortunately there's no way around it for us or for any band. -
We kindly ask you to pay your balance the weekend prior to the wedding.
In order to let you enjoy your evening and so as to not have to tug on the Father Of The Bride's sleeve for our final payment while he's saying goodnight to his guests, we kindly ask that you pay your final balance the week prior to the wedding. -
Unless you're already both smooth dancers, skip the choreographed 1st dance
It's a very romantic thing to see a couple gliding across the floor together, but it's equally as painful to watch a groom who has never been a dancer suddenly have the pressure of being a good one on the biggest night of his life. If your groom has two left feet, now is not the time to teach him to dance. Pick a nice slow tune, hold on to each other, and enjoy the moment instead!
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Let go, and let your vendors do their magic!
If you've hired The Buzzcatz, then chances are good that you've also assembled an A-Team of the best vendors in the area. Now enjoy your day, trust in your pro vendors, and have FUN!
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Book EARLY!
The best wedding vendors in this area will book nearly every weekend, so don't delay in confirming the date with them once you've made your choice. A contract and a deposit is the only way vendors can hold a date for you. Our prime Saturday nights book a year or more in advance in some cases, with October-June being the prime season.
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Don't forget the sound system for the ceremony!
If no one can hear your officiant, your ceremony will be lost on your guests. Many times a bride will contact us in the days leading up to the wedding to ask if we have a microphone they can use for the ceremony. Yes we do, but you'll need more than just a microphone - our sound system for ceremonies includes two speakers on stands, a mixing board with inputs for musicians, a lapel lavalier mic for your officiant, and two handheld mics for anyone speaking. Our sound man sets, runs, and strikes the system for you. See our package upgrades for details.
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Have a backup plan for an outdoor wedding in FL.
An outdoor wedding in FL is always a roll of the dice, any time of the year. Floridians already know this, but many of our clients are from out of state. Florida weather is very unpredictable, and even during our normally dry Winter months it can go from 85 to 45 degrees overnight. This isn't California, so bring your umbrella! Be sure that your venue has a "Plan B" if you are booking an outdoor reception, and trust your Wedding Planner if she makes the call to move indoors.
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BEWARE OF "CARPETBAGGER" BANDS from out of state who claim to be "Florida" wedding bands.
A Google search will turn up lots of different "Florida" wedding bands who take out ads saying "Orlando's TOP wedding band" or "Florida's #1 wedding band". Many of these bands are located out of state, and will contract your date based on the promotional videos and demos that they offer. Then, in order to save travel costs, they contract local musicians, many of whom they've never met nor worked with before, and show up with an unrehearsed, "loose" sounding band at your wedding, hoping that you won't know the difference. The Buzzcatz are a Florida-grown business and our reputation precedes us in the Central Florida wedding industry. Our band members (and even our subs) have been playing together for 20+ years, and it shows in our tight, polished presentation. Ask around town about The Buzzcatz - if they don't know us, they haven't been around here for very long! The Buzzcatz are a FLORIDA WEDDING BAND. FLO GROWN, and based in ORLANDO!
Celebrating 20 years of "Classy Occasions That ROCK!"