You’re planning a wedding, and want to have great entertainment. What are the things you should consider? I think the first thing every bride bride and wedding planner should define is your budget. How much money do I have to spend on entertainment. An easy way to thing about it is to consider the cost per head. Maybe you are paying $100/head for the meal and decide you can afford $10/head for the entertainment. You might consider a classic DJ. The benefits are that they are versitile, can play lots of different styles of music and are among the least expensive options. The minuses are that it’s very common and not as memorable as other options.

Let’s say you have a large budget (apparantly the average bride in NYC pays $8,300 for their wedding entertainment {source: The Knot}). There are some amazing wedding bands out there. I just was at my cousin’s wedding in Philadelphia and saw a 12 piece band, with 4 singers, a ryhthym section and a complete horn section. It was obvious that they had paid a lot of money, but the band was so tight and energetic that it made her wedding quite memorable.

Maybe you don’t want to pay $10,000 for a full band, but you want something unique and memorable. I would suggest considering dueling pianos. Good dueling piano shows are very flexible, able to take requests on the fly, can play many different types of music, as well as having a comedy aspect that you’ll not get with a wedding band or a DJ. In addition to the two piano players, make sure that your dueling team brings a drummer, which will really amp up the dance set. Many teams will offer the ability to add a bass and a gutair to the show if you want to get more like a band but still be it’s own unique entertainment. The biggest benefit to hiring a dueling piano show for your wedding is that it will be among the most memorable weddings your guests will ever attend. And yes, I’m biased, but isn’t it true??

Everyone wants their party to be memorable. One fun idea is to hire celebrity impersonators to mingle with your guests. Nothing loosens up a stuffy corporate crowd quite like sharing a cocktails with Gaga or Elvis.

A couple of months ago I was hired to do a Dueling Piano show at Le Meridian Hotel in Philadelphia for a corporate party. What I didn’t know was that they had hired Neil Diamond, Bette Midler and Elton John impersonators to work the party as well. Before we took the stage, I spoke with all three and asked if they would mind singing with us.We figured out what songs we could all do, and then my dueling piano partner and I began our act. While we were performing up on stage, the impersonators were mingling with the guests. After a few songs we invited up Bette (Donna Maxon) to do her version of Doctor Long John. The crowd went nuts! We continued doing our show and then 30 minutes later we brought up Elton who took over the stage with a medley of his greatest hits while we took a break.

I thought that the choices of Bette Midler and Elton John impersonators were particularly inspired because they are both over-the-top personalities and you can’t help but have a good time and smile in the face of  such flamboyance. I think Lady Gaga, Tina Turner, Prince, Kathy Griffin and other larger-than-life entertainers would all be great choices too.

Of course there are brides have been hip to this for decades. Just think of the many marriages in Vegas that have been officiated by Elvis. But you don’t have to be in Vegas to get married by the likes of Cher or Joan Rivers. There’s a company based out of NYC called Bubby Gram that has impersonators that are registered Wedding Officiants. So now if you live in the greater New York City region, you can have Joe Pesci seal the deal. What could be more romantic?!

The first thing people think when they see two grand pianos and a drum set on a stage is, What is this? What’s going to happen? Two people sit down at the pianos. Then the music starts. It’s a song everyone knows. The second pianist gets up and walks to the center of the stage and begins to lead the crowd clapping. Then the chorus comes along, and right at the point where everyone knows the words, the musics stops, both pianists point to the audience and, Voila! Everyone sings! Thus begins an outrageous party of comedy, music and audience participation as both pianists try to out do each other singing and playing their way through audience requests of the hits from the last 40 years.

Then it’s onto a birthday bit, where a birthday boy is called up to the stage and the pianists make up a song that has something to do with his secret passion for cross-dressing, or something equally absurd. And so it continues through the night. If you want to see a short demonstration of what a typical show is like, visit www.NYNYDuelingPianos.com and a 2 minute video will pop up.

So you’ve found the perfect entertainer and have agreed on a price. The next thing is the contract, and with that, the payment of your deposit. There are as many different contracts as there are artists. Most artists (or agents) have worked out a standard contract that they edit with the specific details of each job.  At minimum a contract will cover the basics of your job including the name of the artist, the name of the client, the date, time, location and length of the performance. It will include payment arrangements such as how and when the deposit is paid and how and when the balance is paid. It should include specific requirements of the performance. For instance, maybe are hiring a magician and you want him to do that fire breathing trick you saw on his promo video. You should make sure that this is delineated in the performance details of the contract. Personally I feel that the most useful aspect of the contract are these specifics.

When I write a contract for my Dueling Piano show I generally start by looking at the email thread where the client and I have hashed out their expectations. So if they want Frank Sinatra music for the cocktail hour, and then an agreed upon playlist for an ipod during dinner followed by an interactive show with 2 pianos and drums for the last 2 hours, I will write all of this out in the contract. Maybe they are having a wedding ceremony prior to the reception in the same room and need me to be finished my setup before their guests arrive. That gets written in. Then anytime I have a question about the job requirements, I simply refer back to the contract.

Another thing I like to put in my contracts are “day  of” contacts for the client, the entertainer and the venue. If there are any insurance requirements, this too goes into the contract. I also like to delineate the number and length of breaks I plan on taking. Sometimes if I think the client may wish to extend our performance (maybe the party is still going strong at 11pm) I will write in this option along with the cost per half-hour.

A wise performer or agent will also include a clause which limits their liability for not showing up to the amount of deposit monies already paid. This means you probably won’t win a lawsuit for emotional damage because Bozo the Clown got in an accident on the way to your child’s birthday party in NYC, but you’re entitled to get your deposit back.

One final thought: If you are the one writing the contract and you’re not a lawyer, it’s best if it’s written in plain language. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that the use of legalese looks and sounds more professional. If you have chosen your entertainment wisely, you should never have to use the contract in a court of law. The contract will simply serve as a reference for both the client (you) and the entertainer (me) of everything that has been discussed and agreed upon.

While we’re on the subject of legalities, I’m not a lawyer, I’m a dueling piano player. You should not consider any of the ideas in this blog post as legal advice. Happy contract writing!

NYC may not have beautiful beaches or tiki girls serving drinks in grass skirts at sunset but there are many reasons to choose New York City for your destination event. The most compelling reason is that most everyone wants to come here at least once in their life. A New York trip is a pretty common bucket list item. Love it or hate it, you have to experience it.

When you plan your event in NYC the options are endless. Starting with the most obvious, side trips to the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Rockefeller Center  or the Empire State Building can be done easily and quickly. You could plan an afternoon picnic in Central Park with a softball game, followed by a couple of hours strolling the Metropolitan Museum of Art or the American Museum of Natural History, both of which are directly adjacent to this great city park. A group outing to a broadway show is a must. Who doesn’t want to get the opportunity to see a show on Broadway?

One of my favorite places to take my NYC visitors is the Broadway Lounge on the 8th floor of the Marriot Marquis Hotel. It directly overlooks the hustle and bustle of Times Square for one of the best views in NY. Why not have your party meet here for snacks and cocktails before or after your broadway show?

Transportation for your guests is simple in NYC. If your guests want to explore on their own they have access to subways, courtesy cars and plentiful taxis 24 hours/day. Ok well, taxis are plentiful except when it’s raining. But the point is, no one has to rent a car or worry about driving directions. And you can get around much of New York by just walking.

Another reason to choose NYC? The food. NYC host’s some of the worlds greatest restaurants, many of which you can rent private rooms, or have them cater to your own private location. If you’re going to pay for food, why not get it from a world-class chef? But this is an entertainment blog, which brings me to me next and arguably best reason to have your wedding or annual sales conference in New York City.

New York is home to the very best entertainers in the world. Even if you can’t afford to hire Tony Bennet or Michael Feinstein, you have access to performers that wouldn’t choose to live anywhere else. And virtually any type of performance art that you can think of is available for hire. So whether you want Chinese Circus performers to contort over your Bananas Foster, or (((shameless plug alert))) a world-class Dueling Piano Show from New York, NY Dueling Pianos (still with me?), you can find it in New York City.

Ok, I lied. The available entertainment is not the very best reason. The tippy-top, very best, Grand Pubba of reasons for choosing New York City is that your guests will never forget your event for rest of their lives. That’s worth something, right?

Having worked hundreds of receptions, fundraisers, private parties and the like, I have seen every type of song request you could imagine. For the record, I am a dueling piano entertainer, not a DJ, and I market our performance as a “Request-based show.” I believe there is a way to field requests appropriately. I also believe that anyone who makes their living at providing music for parties, events and weddings has a good idea of what songs will keep the party going and what songs will not.

Here’s a trade secret: the professionals (think wedding bands, dj’s and dueling piano players) know what 60-70% of the requests will be before they even arrive to your wedding. I know I will be asked for Brown Eyed Girl, Don’t Stop Believing, Margaritaville, Sweet Caroline, Bob Seger, American Pie, Bohemian Rhapsody, and as of this writing, Call Me Maybe and We Are Young. And yes, I will probably include those songs in my show whether you ask for them or not. As for the other 30-40% of the requests that may or may not come as a surprise, about half of those are useable as party music. The ones that I can use, I do, and everyone is happy, and the guests feel like they have had a part in making the party special with their request. The ones I can’t use, or don’t know how to play, I won’t.

If I get a request for Tom Sawyer by Rush, or The River by Springsteen, for example, that would clearly bring down the vibe of the reception, I would not being doing my job properly by including them in the show. I handle every request with a smile and a “Thank you!” If the requestor returns and wants to know why I haven’t played their song yet, I will usually say that I have a bunch of requests to play before theirs, but that I will try to get to it. If someone comes to me at the end of the event demanding to know why their song didn’t get played, I compliment their choice of request and apologize for not having the time to fit it in.

If you hire professional entertainers or DJ to provide music for your reception, you are hiring them not only for the music they provide, but for their judgment as to what songs to provide and when to provide them. My job as a professional is not to play everyone’s requests; it’s to create an energy that has an overreaching arc that I develop and nurture throughout the course of the night.

This is why I label my dueling piano show as “request driven” and not “all request”. Another tool I’ll use (and a DJ can do something similar) is to play a chorus of the “bad” request in the middle of a mash up of other songs. I may even add a funky baseline to it if it’s a slow ballad, just to keep the energy up. My bottom line is that I will be able to field the vast majority of requests in a way that will make sense in the context of the night. The ones I don’t get to, I don’t get to. It’s not a big deal. If someone tries to make it a big deal, I apologize. But if I’ve kept the party going and people on the dance floor, I have done my job.