By choosing the Water’s Edge as the venue for our wedding, we already had our biggest decision made, so we figured we would focus on the next key element, the music. Besides a nice ambiance, food and drinks, music definitely makes a party. Tracey and I both agreed that we wanted a band versus a DJ. Since we have recently attended so many of our friend’s weddings, we have heard some amazing bands.
We started off by visiting a company in Manhattan that represented several bands. The company was in an office suite and after going over some basic music questions, they brought us into a small room to watch videos of each one of their roughly eight bands. Some we sat through the entire video, while others we knew by the first song they weren’t for us.
Tracey is an amazing dancer, loves music and has great rhythm. I at least love music, but don’t have many skills on the dance floor. As we were watching and listening to the bands perform, I looked over at Tracey smiling and could tell she was getting very excited about the planning. Although many parts of planning a wedding are stressful, this was fun.
Tracey and I clearly agreed that we really liked just one of the bands. Not surprisingly, it was the band that played at our friend’s wedding. But after discussing price, I (not Tracey) realized that it was well above our price range. It was the kind of band that you could replace with a really nice car. I thought the band was excellent, but not worth the amount they were asking.
I eased into letting Tracey know it was too expensive by telling her how much fun I had and that we should go meet with some other companies to hear their bands. Luckily, she agreed.
My friend Mark Mazor had one of the nicest weddings I have been to. The one thing I clearly remember was the music, which had everyone up on the dance floor the entire night. So I gave him a call to get the details. He told me that the band was from Hank Lane Music.
Hank Lane has an office in Manhattan and one on Long Island. I set up an appointment to meet Tracey in the city after work. We entered their suite and were greeted by a receptionist who asked us to have a seat in the waiting area. I don’t think I sat down because the walls were lined with pictures of celebrities and music icons as well as autographed instruments, sheet music, lyrics and more. We both got a really good vibe from the beginning.
We were greeted by a woman named Kim who took us into one of their conference rooms. We talked for quite awhile about ourselves and what we liked. Kim was easy to talk to and quickly got into what we liked, matched our personalities and the atmosphere we wanted on our wedding day. Kim knew her stuff. She was a music expert and clearly very passionate about music and her job. After getting a feel for us and our musical tastes Kim confidently said, “I have the band for you.” Keep in mind that I purposely asked her about the exact band that my friend Mark had. First, I knew it was one of their most expensive, plus I did have a feeling that it was on the conservative side. She quickly responded that wasn’t the band for us, and based on our tastes in music and the mood we wanted to set, her choice was the one.
From there Kim played the songs of Soho Rhythm. I quickly thought “This band is amazing and if I thought the other band was expensive, this one could buy a Ferrari.” After hearing them out, Tracey and I clearly agreed we loved them and my confidence in Kim grew. When we got to the money part of the conversation the band surprisingly ended up being in our budget. I didn’t convey that to Kim and asked her if we should hear any of the other bands. She said no and this was the one for us.
Our minds were made up, but we were headed on vacation and decided to finalize all the details when we returned. Having a few days to talk with friends and family, we found that Hank Lane Music had a stellar reputation. They played at my brother-in-law’s Bar Mitzvah over 20 years ago and at several other family members’ weddings. We signed the contract when we got back and had quickly made the decisions on our two biggest choices for the wedding day. Maybe planning weddings is a piece of cake…
For more information on Hank Lane Music, visit their web site at hanklane.com or call 212-767-0600. Do yourself a favor and ask for Kim.
