Cocktail-hour music

Live music while your guests mingle — a jazz trio, mariachi band, steel drums, or a harpist.

Also called: mariachi, steel drum band, jazz trio, string quartet, acoustic guitarist, bagpiper, harpist, ukulele, saxophonist, cocktail music.

When couples book this

Usually booked about 9 months out. It moves with your date.

Your wishlist, before you talk to anyone

Questions you can answer early — they become the yardstick you compare candidates against.

What kind of act are you dreaming of?
Wishlist mirror of the act_type candidate fact.
What mood do you want during cocktails?
Acoustic, or do you want it amplified?

What to ask each candidate

Facts that differ from one vendor to the next — worth writing down while you shop.

What kind of act?
The act-type long tail lives here as values — mariachi to harpist — not as separate templates. 'other' plus the notes field covers anything unlisted.
Acoustic or amplified?

What settles once booked

The working details you and your vendor pin down together.

When does the set start?
Where does the act set up?
Roaming acts (a mariachi band working the crowd) need no stage — placement is still worth settling with the venue.
Who takes over when cocktails end?
What time do they arrive?
The time you agreed together, not an estimate worked back from the ceremony.
What times are set on the day?
One row per moment — a serving round, a pickup leg, a person's slot, a set. Each row becomes its own block on your run of show, labeled with whatever you type, so name it for whoever will be reading it.
What time do they finish?
Who do you call on the day?
The name and cell number of whoever is on site — not the office line.
Where do they come in, and where do they park?
The load-in door or dock, where the vehicles go, and who opens up.
Do they need a meal?
Counts toward your caterer's vendor-meal number.
What balance is due on the day?
Your own figure, from your contract — what is still owed when they arrive.
What gratuity are you planning?
Your own figure. It rides beside the balance on the day-of money sheet.
Songs you want played
Title and artist for each. Say which recording if a particular one matters.
Songs to keep off the list
Its own field on purpose — a do-not-play buried in a paragraph is the one that gets played.
The song for each moment
One line per moment: the moment, the song and artist, which recording or version, and what cues it to start. The version is the detail that most often goes missing between the plan and the day.

How it lands on your day

Cocktail musicians setup
Cocktail-hour set
Cocktail musicians pack-out
Set time
One block per row of the cell's dayof_service_times answer; the row's own label names it, and its `until` makes it a window.

How it’s usually priced

Usually priced as one flat amount.

Lines that sometimes ride along: Extended set, Overtime (per hour).

What your vendor reads from your plan

Book on or off Beetrothed — either way the plan assembles a brief your vendor can work from: the event, the act, music, logistics, contacts.

Plan your cocktail-hour music — and everything around it

These questions live as one cell of a connected plan: your budget, guest list, checklist and timeline all read from the same answers. See the whole board work, or join the waitlist and we’ll write when it’s your turn.

We will write when there is something worth telling you.