“Disclaimer: these are my words. No silly AI function was used.
The short version for the tick tock generation . . .
Communication before the wedding 5/5
Timely arrival at venue: 5/5
Friendly band members: 5/5
Ceremony music/officient mic: 5/5
Dinner jazz set: 5/5
Party dancing sets: 5/5
Okay, now the real version of the review, which I'm writing about 24 hours after the party:
I am a musician myself, so naturally it made sense for me to handle booking the band. And being right around Nashville, there were many to choose from. Some had better websites, better recordings, more options for arrangements, but I just had this feeling about 1st Generation Band that they would be the most genuine. People who are booking bands for events often underestimate the value of musicians being genuine. There were a few bands that looked better on the internet, sounded better through my iPhone speaker, but that gave me this feeling of being relatively sterile. Live music is an emotional endeavor, so it was important to me to find something that appealed to me emotionally. Authenticity and appealing to emotion became my criterea for a selection, and through that lens, 1st Generation Band became the obvious choice.
Morris Drane, band leader and drummer, was in contact with me from the very first moment. Not the obnoxious, over-the-top, calling-all-the-time kind of contact, but instead focused, periodic phone calls and emails and texts that let me know he was invested in making my wedding amazing without making me feel smothered. We corresponded over the last 8 months just the right amount, the right frequency that made me feel secure. And every correspondence was characterized by this genuine enthusiasm on his part.
This trend continued from our first contact until the band arrived at the venue. They arrived exactly when they said they would, with all the gear they said they would, and set up shop without needing hardly any help from me or my day-of wedding coordinator. I was extremely late getting him my ceremony playlist, and even then, he texted me just the right amount that got it done without putting any more pressure on me. Not to mention that he gave me a ton of emotional support as I was running around like a headless chicken in the hours leading up to the ceremony.
As hectic as my day was, every band member I spoke to was extremely friendly, supportive, and just downright awesome. There was nothing but positivity from them. I felt so comforted knowing that they were so professional. Like I could scratch one major thing off my seemingly endless list of things to worry about.
The ceremony went flawlessly, despite me only getting the playlist to him an hour beforehand. He nailed all the cues. Volume was perfect both for music and the officiant's microphone. I also kind of woofed it on getting my cocktail hour playlist to him, but the music they chose was just so spot on. At this point, I couldn't have been more comfortable, and I hadn't even heard the band play yet!
Next was dinner, where the band played us in, announced us, and did a quick first dance song before the meal. They absolutely crushed it. Then came the dinner set, where they played a beautiful jazz-focused set at just the right volume. I need to add quickly here that I reached my maximum review length, so I'll wrap it up quickly. The party sets after dinner were perfect. They got everyone dancing, and it was high energy, emotional, authentic, and just the absolute best.”
