How To Book Good Entertainment For Your Wedding

How To Book Good Entertainment For Your Wedding

How To Choose A Wedding Magician or entertainer is not as easy as you’d think? Because, there’s so many, right? 

Hopefully you’ve now decided to look at booking a magician or other entertainer for your special day, and understand how much added value one can bring to your day. The easy answer to this is making sure they’re great! But how do you that? Birmingham Magician Owen Strickland gives 10 handy tips to help you out. As a magician, these tips mention looking for a magician, but the principles are the same for any entertainer

 

1.Try and meet them.

Where possible, you should absolutely try and meet ANY suppler that you’re going to have on your Special Day. This way you will get a feel for their personality, and that is so vital. This is especially true with magicians and entertainers Any professional magician should be more than happy to meet you, as well as show you some magic. Websites can make anyone look good, but can they match up to that in real life? I get the majority of my weddings from meeting couples at wedding fayres, where couples can meet me and see what I do for real. No camera tricks!!

 

2.Can’t meet them? Research them!

 

Are there videos/photos of the magician performing at weddings online? Does the magician actually do as many weddings as they say? It’s easy for suppliers to say,  “we do X amount of weddings a year”, but is there evidence of that? If there isn’t, ask yourself why? Every wedding I perform at goes on my social media accounts. It’s therefore very easy to look back at say, 2019, and see all 70 weddings on there. My website has over 1000 photos of me performing at various weddings over the years.

3.Check Their Reviews

A big indicator of the quality of a magician, is reviews. What have previous couples said about the magician? But, how do you tell if it’s a real review? A sentence on a website, saying, “He was amazing. Mr and Mrs W” could easily be made up. How do you know that couple even exist? Verified reviews are what they should have (preferably with dates and locations of weddings on) such as Google reviews, Trust Pilot etc. I have over 130 5 Star Google Reviews and over 340 5 star reviews via my verified “Best Of” page.

4. Are They Recommended by Venues?

Is the Magician recommended at any venues you know? When an established and respected venue recommends a supplier, it’s usually a good sign that they are both good and trustworthy. They will not stake their hard earned reputation on just anyone. I’m very humbled that a number of exclusive venues recommend me. Amongst such venues are Alrewas Hayes, Aston Marina, Hogarths Solihull, Warwick House Southam, Moor Hall, Bordesley Park, Calderfields Golf and Country Club, The Limes Earlswood and Swinfen Hall.

5. How much do they cost?

Cost is very subjective, and every wedding will be working to a “budget” of some sort. You probably already know how quickly the budget can get out of hand! Magicians vary greatly in cost, as does the quality. I’m probably in the mid to higher range of pricing (my packages are £450-£700). But with that comes the assurances that have been mentioned in the other paragraphs. If a price seems too good to be true, ask yourself why, and check the other 9 points in this article. A quick look at any of the “Wedding Scam” pages for suppliers will show that in every instance, it’s been a cheap supplier that’s caused the issue. My best advice would be, do not book a magician on price alone!

6. Are they Actually Entertaining?

As well as performing magic, your Wedding magician needs to be entertaining. He needs to be personable, be able to make your gusts feel relaxed and at ease. There is no use having a technically amazing magician, if he is as dull as dishwater. I know some magicians who are the best technical magicians in the country. However they would be no use at a wedding, as they’re not fun to be around or slightly entertaining. Hopefully my show reels will show you how I am at weddings. Its all about entertaining to keep your guests happy.

7. Are they Insured?

A dirty word in many ways, but an important one!! The Covid Pandemic opened a whole can of worms when it comes to wedding insurance. If ever an event has shown how vital insurance is, it’s that one! It’s vital that any supplier at you wedding has the relevant insurance. For magicians, it’s Public Liability Insurance. The majority of Venues will insist on it, and will not let a supplier on site without it. You don’t want to find out that your magician has been escorted off the premises, as he hasn’t got PLI! I have it with Equity, and covers me for £10 million. Thankfully, I have never had to use it!!

8. Have They Won Any Awards?

Has the Magician won awards? Actually, scratch that! Nearly every Magician has “award winning” on their website!! But what is the Award? It’s very easy to add “Award Winning”, without specifying what that Award was for. DO ask them what the awards they have won are, and when they won them. I’m very fortunate to have won The Wedding Industry Awards for Wedding Magician of The Year in The UK for 2021. I have also won the Regional Award a number of times. TWIA is the leading awards in the Wedding Industry, where only Brides and Grooms whose wedding a supplier has attended, can vote. They all leave feedback and its independently judged

9. Are They A Member of The Magic Circle?

This isn’t in itself vital, because I know some excellent magicians who are NOT Members Of The Magic Circle. I also know some unentertaining magicians that ARE. However, you can certainly take some peace of mind that if a Magician IS a Member. He will have been through a rigorous application procedure of an interview, exam and audition in front of some of the best magicians in the country. Only those deemed good enough are admitted. Thankfully, I passed and I am a Member. In fact, I am the West Midlands Regional Representative for The Magic Circle!

10. Are They Trustworthy?

A MASSIVE one, and good one to finish. For any couple, trustworthiness in suppliers is vital. You are not only investing a significant amount of money with them, but also investing trust that they will make your day amazing. This is a huge responsibility, and one I take very seriously. Ensure you magician gives you a legal contract that covers your money and their terms & conditions. Also ensure they give you a full invoice, detailing what you have paid

With all the postponed weddings from 2020 through Covid 19, I have heard of some horror stories from my couples about some suppliers. Some have refused to move dates or refund, leaving couples short of a lot of money. During this Crisis, I have moved 99 per cent of weddings, where I was available, for no cost. I have kept the original price that was agreed, and where I have been unable to fulfill new dates (through already being booked), I have refunded any deposit paid. My recent feedback from the poor couples who have had to postpone will bear testament to that.

So there we have it. How to choose a Wedding Magician in 10 hand steps!

For more information please see my website at www.owenstrickland.co.uk