Selecting luxury entertainment for your Jewish/Jew-ish wedding is one of the most important steps in creating a truly unforgettable event. If you get it right, picking the right entertainment will elevate your celebration to dizzying heights, making you feel like a true VIP, blending tradition and modernity, and ensuring that you host the wedding that every guest is talking about for decades to come… and we know how disappointing it is if you feel you got it wrong!
We know that finding the best band or entertainment company for high-end Jewish and Jew-ish weddings in London can be a real challenge – we understand it can feel overwhelming in knowing where to begin, everyone seems to be saying they can do the same thing right? We have written this guide to help assist you in your search, with a particular focus on the industry renowned services provided, of course, by us – The White Keys.
Jewish weddings are rich with tradition, from the chuppah ceremony & the breaking of the glass to the manic, sweaty but totally unforgettable hora. It’s essential to choose a band that not only understands (and loves!) these traditions, but also has a wealth of experience in performing them.
The White Keys have honed their experience in traditional Jewish wedding customs over nearly two decades of performing, and combined with performances from some of the greatest chazzans in the industry (and yes, we can also fly them from Tel Aviv if there is anyone you have your eye on!), plus ensuring all of the other vocalists and musicians are fluent in the Hebrew songs they will perform, the band will deliver an unforgettable performance that is specifically tailored to you. There is nothing we can’t do!
From the venue, to the catering, to the florist to the chuppah, we know there are so many details to consider, but we would argue that the most important element of any wedding day is quite possibly the entertainment – which has the potential to make or break (excuse the pun!) your special day. This guide will provide you with all the information you need to make the best decision when it comes to Luxury Jewish Wedding Entertainment in London. We will discuss the different types of entertainment available, the benefits of hiring each different type of professional, and tips for finding the perfect entertainment for your wedding day. With this guide, we hope we can help clear some of the smoke around the dos and don’ts, and help simplify the process for you – so read on!
The Music: Choosing the Right Suppliers for Your Luxury Jewish Wedding Entertainment in London. What should I be looking for?
Reviews reviews reviews! And if you can get them, as many personal anecdotal references as possible. You can see ours here!
In the day and age of Instagram vs Reality, anything can look glossy and shiny on social media, whereas what you get on the day could be something completely different. Even though it sounds counter intuitive, a wedding band or supplier that has less social media presence and that you have heard more about via word of mouth is a very very VERY good sign. Think about it… if you were really busy and struggling to manage your work load already, would you have time (or feel the need) to be building a presence to sell yourself online? Or would you be out on site at wedding to wedding giving your full focus to each client and then letting the 100s of people at each event do the talking for you? What we have just described is the last 14 years for The White Keys. We have operated a luxury wedding entertainment company, and built from the ground up, solely on word of mouth until now. It’s only recently that our hands have been forced to align with the way the wedding industry is headed, and we have made the decision to outsource building our social media and online presence so our focus doesn’t ever get taken away from our clients.
Selecting the ideal entertainment suppliers for your luxury wedding in London is vital. Consider their experience in providing Jewish wedding music, ensuring they are familiar with traditional Jewish songs and customs. We are sure you are already all over it, but Smashing The Glass is an amazing resource to crosscheck. Karen Cinnamon is very careful as to which weddings and suppliers she will feature, and they must already have a stellar reputation within the Jewish Wedding industry. We are proud to have been featured on Smashing The Glass for nearly 10 years and were invited personally by Karen after she found us featured on a number of her featured Jewish & Jew-ish Weddings.
We know two weddings are never the same, and when you are paying top dollar for your suppliers, it is also vital to find companies that are happy to take the lead and offer suggestions, as well as wedding suppliers that will work with you on a bespoke basis, helping you to achieve your vision. In fact, collaborating with Jewish Brides and bouncing ideas off of one another is what makes it all the more fun for us! We have achieved some amazing things with our couples input in the past – so much so that many of them are elements that we still implement today!
When working with luxury suppliers, and at luxury wedding venues, professionalism, time-keeping and reliability are also key factors to keep in mind. This is, once again, where word of mouth reputation comes in. Another vital component to the show is what they look like! As Tom Ford famously once said, “Dressing well is a form of good manners”… and what better reason for everyone to be on their best manners but the greatest day of your life? Can you see that the band know the importance of being impeccably turned out both on and off stage? Do they know their wing collar from their oxford collar? What about cufflinks, cummerbunds & pocket squares? What do the girls wear on stage? Are their outfits enough to rival your glamorous ladies? To put it simply, will the band fit in at your luxury wedding? As for us, we haven’t missed a single show in nearly 3000 weddings, we have a wardrobe that has been heavily invested into, and yes….our dry cleaning bill runs into the thousands per year.
On your search for Luxury Jewish Wedding Entertainment, questions you might want to ask yourself and/or the band are:
- Can I hear/see that the band record their videos live?
This is a tricky one, but to be frank, nearly anyone can go into the studio, add a ton of production over a glamorous edited video, sprinkle some sequins on top and produce a show-stopping showreel. All that takes is a healthy budget. Candid and live videos are a whole different ball game however. When you are watching these, it should feel raw, and sometimes imperfect. You should also note that camera phones compress sound and they may be filmed from non ideal parts of the room. Despite this, are you still able to clearly see the quality of the band and essence of each event? Is the dance-floor packed, are the wedding guests having a good time? Do the band still sound good, even when all of that is taken into consideration? Do they film all of their professional promo videos live at real events too? Or is it evident that they go into a studio and stage a performance with opportunity to edit and do multiple takes? Or perhaps they will perform live but overdub it later (this will look live, but sound very over-produced and studio based).
When booking Luxury Wedding Entertainment, you need to be able to see how the band interact with a genuine crowd, what they sound like for real on somebody’s camera phone and what their vibe is on a fully live gig start to finish. Can you sense how important all of this is to us? Unlike many of our competitors, we haven’t overdubbed in the studio once. All of our promotional and candid footage has always been fully live. You can see for yourselves here.
- Do the band have good reviews? Can I speak to some of your previous couples?
Be wary of website written reviews and official platforms like Trustpilot and Google. Just because a supplier seems to have 100s of positive reviews, these reviews can be easily faked. To ensure what you are reading is genuine, screenshots are best and having the opportunity to contact the people who wrote them, even better. Emails and texts are also great because it means the couple have gone out their way to say thank-you, as opposed to being asked and then obliged to do a review. Personally, we never ask – and for good reason! All of our couples come to us organically to write us lovely notes and we have always been keen to keep it that way. Also look for trusted verified reviews on reputable platforms. Smashing The Glass, once again is perfect. You can even try reaching out to Karen and her team who may well be able to help reassure you directly. Your wedding band should be more than happy to put you in touch with any happy couples from their past, and those couples should also be more than happy to speak to you and pass on the good recommendations as their wedding night was such an unforgettable event for them. Once again, all of our most recent (and fully genuine!) reviews are here and we are constantly adding to this.
One question we always get asked with brand new couples who have never seen the band, is whether they can come and see them perform. This is a problem within the wedding industry, as understandably other couples are not keen for their wedding to be used as a showcase and weddings make up nearly 100% of a wedding band’s calendar. Like the social media issue we previously mentioned, a successful band generally won’t have time (and therefore a need) to showcase or gig publicly. Sometimes we are able to make private wedding visits happen, but it’s tricky as often our couples have also been denied themselves. It’s an awkward conversation we try to avoid having out of respect to each of our clients. Speaking to previous couples, reading genuine reviews and watching live video is usually where we find a happy medium but if this is important to you, ask the question and we will do what we can!
- What kind of music will the band play at my wedding?
Generally speaking, we find nearly all bands have the same of what we like to call a ‘neutral’ core set list. The neutral set list is the set of songs you here at every club, party, or event that never fail to get almost everyone up on the dance-floor. These are non-offensive, non-cheesy tracks that have stood the test of time as good classic music over and over again. We’re talking things like Never Too Much – Luther Van Dross, Superstition – Stevie Wonder, Rock With You – Michael Jackson, You Should Be Dancing – The Bee Gees, I’m Every Woman – Whitney Houston etc etc. Then, especially when it comes to luxury and high-end wedding entertainment, you will generally find that wedding bands will add their own musical flair which sets them apart from their competitors. This is where you will need to make a decision based on your own musical tastes.
At the top end of the industry, the bands are usually made up of professional session musicians and vocalists for chart topping artists, so although their prices do reflect this, this usually brings a whole extra layer of musical knowledge and direction to the table. Are you keen to include a lot of wedding style singalongs and floor fillers that are more ‘fun’? Or are you a keen music fanatic that wants things a little bit more high-brow? Although most wedding bands will do anything on request, some specialize more in your Britney, S Club, Robbie Williams, Spice Girls etc. whereas others will focus more on classic RnB, Hip-Hop, UK Garage for example. Make sure you check out the band’s set list and featured videos online as this is usually where each will fall into their own niche and area of expertise.
- We have a very specific vision for our event, are you willing to work with us in achieving it?
The answer, in our opinion, should always be a huge YES to this. At best, suppliers insisting on cookie cutter weddings is lacking in imagination in our opinion. At worst, it becomes boring, same old and restricts growth. We are passionate about constantly developing our craft so please, send us your ideas (as long as they are in plenty of time!) and we will work with you as closely as possible to create your dream event.
- What will the band wear at my wedding?
You should be able to dictate this! First and foremost it is good to check the band have a variety of looks on their social media, but we understand that your laid back wedding in Ibiza may have a totally different look than your festive wedding at Claridge’s. Here at The White Keys, we understand that presentation is so much of what we do and we have a very extensive wardrobe. If you’d like the band in black tie at your wedding, then you have the right to say so! If you think that’s going to be too formal, that’s all good too. We are as keen to match your guests as you are.
- Does my wedding venue have a sound limiter?
If music is important to you, this should be one of the first questions you ask your venue, ideally before signing on the dotted line. If they say no, make sure you get that in writing. Sound limiters aren’t the end of the world, and they are becoming more and more common, but they definitely do impact the sound levels and energy of the night. If music is important to you at your wedding and you can avoid having a sound limiter altogether, we recommend it. Otherwise, try and find a venue with the highest decibel reading possible. Luxury wedding venues we LOVE, for their overall live music set up in London are; Claridge’s, Grosvenor House, The Savoy, The Dorchester, The Londoner, The Landmark, Hilton Park Lane, Nobu Portman Square.
- Can you help us with other elements of our wedding day? Like staging, dance-floors, lighting, afternoon music, ceremony music?
One of the big mistakes we often see when couples are booking suppliers for their wedding day is not realising one supplier has the connections and contacts to book most things under one umbrella, and it’s usually cheaper to do it that way. Sometimes musicians can double up afternoon and evening sets, and often production suppliers in the evening also have access to most other elements including lighting, dance-floors, staging, chuppah design, backdrops etc. It’s always best to ask the question so you can quote compare, as very often you will end up paying twice for someone to do the same job!
The White Keys: Hiring the Best Band for Your Luxury Jewish Wedding in London. Why us?
So you are looking for the perfect band to provide the perfect soundtrack for your luxury Jewish wedding in London? You may well just have met your match with The White Keys! But what is it that sets us apart from the rest?
First and foremost, we are a grassroots company that has their place firmly staked in the London luxury wedding entertainment industry through reputation alone. Unlike many of our luxury wedding competitors, we never received a big cash injection or investment. We are where we are today through hard solid graft and working hard each year to improve, develop and grow. The relationship with each and every one of our clients has always been absolutely vital to nurture and we are proud to have been booked over and over again by the families and friends of our couples over the years.
The White Keys are a professional, experienced and highly talented band that also take pride in their ability to be extremely versatile. On any given day we could be rehearsing our solo pianists and violinists with our chazzans for a beautiful chuppah ceremony, or we could be curating a high energy DJ Live experience to crowds of 40,000 for the 2022 FIFA World Cup no less! We can provide anything from a full 14 Piece Show Band to a smaller 6 piece compact band line up to DJ Live or even just a DJ! The band specialize in providing the perfect musical accompaniment for Jewish weddings, with a huge repertoire of traditional Jewish music, as well as an extensive library of Pop, Funk, Soul, Disco, Hip-Hop, RnB and Ibiza/House classics. The band are renowned for always having something to suit every taste.
Jewish Wedding Traditions: How to choose (& trust!) the perfect entertainment for your Luxury Jewish Wedding in London.
When it comes to planning luxury Jewish wedding entertainment in London, it is important to consider the type of wedding you are having. Are you having a traditional Orthodox Jewish Wedding or a more modern Jewish or Jew-ish celebration? Perhaps only one of you is Jewish or maybe many or your friends aren’t and need help with direction on the night. We help with this often! All it takes is a bit of simple explaining over the microphone and you will be shocked at how many of your non-secular wedding guests get so caught up in the chutzpah of the simcha that they will go out of their way to be invited to another Jewish wedding as soon as possible!
Depending on the type of wedding you are having, you will want to choose entertainment that reflects the culture and traditions of your own Jewish faith. For example, if you are having a very traditional Jewish wedding, you may want to even consider adding on a live Klezmer band to provide music for your ceremony and reception. We have contacts across the industry in London and beyond that can help with this and are always happy to help recommend other Jewish wedding suppliers we love to work with. As mentioned previously, the real wow factor can be flying over guest chazzans from Tel Aviv. Anything is possible – all you need to do is ask!
Trusting your band to know what they are doing comes down to recommendations once again. You need to know that they have performed at countless Jewish Weddings in the past and they know what to do when the glass is smashed, and the correct moment to kick off with ‘Siman Tov, Mazel Tov!’. You should also be reassured by the questions they are asking you. ‘Will you be doing benching after the meal?’ for example. ‘Will the Rabbi be present?’. ‘Would you like the girls to perform at the simcha or would you prefer this to be male only?’. All of these questions are important to ask and highlight the band’s wealth of experience in this very specific field.
In addition to the traditional Jewish music, you may also want to consider hiring an additional Wedding DJ, Jazz Quartet, String Quartet or Harpist to provide music before and after the band. This will ensure that your guests have a seamless flow and wide variety of music to enjoy throughout the day and night. When selecting a DJ or band, it is important to consider the type of music they specialize in. For example, if you are having a modern Jewish or Jew-ish wedding, you will want to choose a DJ or band that specializes in contemporary music alongside traditional Jewish Music. On the other hand, if you are having a traditional Jewish wedding, you will want to choose a band or DJ that specializes in traditional Jewish music first and foremost.
Conclusion
Choosing luxury Jewish wedding entertainment in the UK can be a daunting task, but with the right research and guidance, the time spent making your decision will pay off ten fold! Choosing the right entertainment will ensure you create a memorable and unique experience for your guests that will be remembered for years to come. From traditional Jewish music to Show Bands to DJs, there are a plethora of options available to make your wedding day truly special. With the right entertainment, you can create a unique and unforgettable experience for your guests that will be remembered for years to come.
If you’re looking for the perfect luxury Jewish wedding entertainment in the UK, then look no further! This Ultimate Guide has all the information you need to help make your special day even more memorable. Don’t wait any longer – book your entertainment today and make yours the wedding to remember! Click here to get in touch with The White Keys and start planning your dream wedding!