As a Scottish-based covers band which is often sought out to play weddings we saw a noticeable dip in activity over the past year. While we’d normally take on 10 – 12 weddings in a year, we have played only six so far in 2013 with little prospect for additional bookings between now and the end of December.
Without wishing to sound pompous, we know from the feedback we get from couples that we are a great wedding band but don’t take my word for it, just check the comments on the weddings section of our website (http://tinyurl.com/p4y3ckn)
So what then has caused the decline in wedding bookings over the past year? Was this drop a result of Scottish couples losing faith in the institution of marriage? Was it just a random blip for us as a band where, for various reasons, we simply didn’t benefit from word of mouth PR from couples who were looking for a wedding band? Or was the decline in weddings this year actually a result of superstition surrounding ‘unlucky’ number 13?
I had a gut feeling that this may have been the case; our guitarist/vocalist Neil also heard this theory when he spoke to an event manager at a recent wedding show and I also noticed this article in that bastion of credible journalism, the Daily Telegraph (http://tinyurl.com/np52v3v) which includes comments from a wedding venue which saw a fall in 2013 bookings with many couples instead opting to go for the following year for their big day.
The question for Big Tuna and other bands which regularly play weddings is: will 2014 be a bumper year for couples tying the knot? It’s probably too early to say at this stage. While we have a few weddings in the book for next year we’ve not yet been inundated with inquiries. We should however have a clearer picture by the end of 2013 if the next 12 months will be filled with Scottish wedding parties. Regardless of what happens, we will certainly continue to put on a great performance wherever and whenever we play for couples on their big day to ensure they are at the centre stage of an amazing, music-filled wedding party.
