What Are Some Boring (But Practical) Things To Consider When Hiring A Saxophonist For My Wedding?

Hiring a saxophonist for your wedding is a fantastic idea and most people who book me have a specific image in their mind of how they want their day to go.

They want a classy-looking sax player to play over their favourite tunes in the sun outside or in the evening with their DJ and just generally create good vibes and elevate the mood of their special day.

However, there are plenty of considerations that are worth bringing up with your sax player and asking them about (or at least your wedding planner or venue manager) that are beyond the music and edge into the area of being more boring logistics. These are not exciting considerations but they are important.

If you’ve hired your saxophone player to play outside in the sun then you need to consider a few things. Whether or not the patio or garden has access to power for their backing tracks. Plenty of sax players have battery-powered PA systems but not all so it’s worth asking.

If they’re outside then it is also worth making sure that they and their gear have shade from the beating sun but also in case of rain. Your wedding planner or venue manager should bring this up but it is always worth having a wet weather plan for your wedding as you cannot trust the UK weather to deliver what is expected. If you’re desperate for sun then I have been told that one can get good results from burying a sausage the night before or hiring a witch off Etsy for some weather-based spell weaving.

If you’ve hired your saxophonist to play with the DJ in the evening then make sure you put them both in contact. Most sax players should be versatile enough to work with whatever the DJ is playing but the DJ might not be thrilled to be surprised by a sax player demanding to plug into their deck on the night. It’s definitely worth giving the DJ a heads up!

Paperwork that your venue will likely ask for from your saxophonist is their PLI (Public Liability Insurance) and the PAT certificate (whether or not their electrics have been tested and are still safe to use).

Once they arrive at the venue then you’ll need to have made sure that they have parking relatively close. This shouldn’t be a problem in most places but I’ve trekked across muddy horse fields and gone up 55 floors with my saxophone and gear (it’s all pretty heavy) and am definitely in a less positive mood after those hikes to work. This will also affect how long their load-in takes which might make things sticky if you’ve got very specific timings.

An odd one to end on but if you are thinking of having the saxophonist as a surprise for your other half then do think through how feasible it is to keep a sax secret. They’ll also need to do a bit of warming up before playing but a lot of this can be done silently (ish). I was once asked to stand in a sweltering cupboard for nearly an hour and a half whilst the speeches overran to do a saxophone reveal. I nearly fainted when I actually started to play so do consider the logistics of a surprise saxophonist!

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Looking for a wedding saxophonist in Hertford, Oxford, Bucks, or across the South East?

Whether you're planning your big day in Guildford, Harlow, Tring, Coulsdon, Berkhamsted, or beyond – including Chichester, Dulwich, Forest Hill, Peckham, Honor Oak, East Dulwich, Croydon, Southend, Chidham, Farbridge, Fleet, Farnborough, Slough, Essex, Surrey, Sussex, Kent or London – Nick brings unforgettable live saxophone music to your celebration. Get in touch to check availability and make your wedding truly special.