Philadelphia International

Great question. There’s a few factors that we feel can contribute to the decision of which size ensemble to go with:

• Your Vision: We think this is the biggest factor. Essentially, when you envision the band at your wedding, what kind of ensemble are you seeing? Is it bigger, with a bunch of horns and vocalists bouncing around, or is it a little smaller to perhaps align with a tighter venue space, smaller guest list, etc? That should be your first litmus test, and generally can provide some initial benchmarks to compare against.
• Your Budget: We sometimes say that’s it’s not about the money, but it’s not *not* about the money, haha — budget is an unavoidable decision-making factor, and the size of the ensemble is one of the biggest aspects in terms of price. Comparing your budget against our pricing, keeping in mind the potential for travel and ceremony charges and travel, is not a bad idea. Though we can also say, your guests will remember us a lot more than they’ll remember your flowers, lolz
• Your Guest List (?): We actually find that guest list size isn’t, or doesn’t have to be, a huge factor in terms of ensemble size. We’ve carried out performances for some of our smallest guest counts with some of our largest ensemble configurations (a ten piece ensemble for a 40 person wedding — yep, that happened! Haha). Likewise, some of our largest audiences were juxtaposed with our smaller/smallest configurations (college festival with a smaller budget – 2,500 kids in attendance, and a seven-piece ensemble!). So we generally don’t recommend this be your primary decision-making factor. That said, at the extremes we just mentioned, it can feel a little “top-heavy”, haha — feel free to ask us about this if you have any questions!

Some other information for you to consider:

• Our eight-piece ensemble tends to be our most utilized ensemble configuration. We find this tends to be a nice sweet spot in terms of space, ensemble size, and budget. The option for three vocalists also allows sharing of lead singer duties, which translates to the need for shorter break(s) — always a good thing. If you’re not sure where to start in terms of band size, start here, and see how things line up for you.
• We can also book the smaller/smallest ensemble you’re considering right now, and add musicians later. It’s true. If you’re considering the nine or ten piece, for example, we can lock in nine pieces now, let your budget and other decisions take shape, then revisit the idea of adding a musician closer to your date. If you’ve got the bandwidth, great! If not, you know you’ve got a killer ensemble lined up already.
• All our ensembles sizes kick ass. Don’t worry if your budget or preferences is leading you towards a smaller ensemble size. Nothing is lost in terms of dance-ability, fullness of sound, etc. Each configuration is tried and true, and all have been a part of absolutely epic dance parties. You’re in great hands regardless of the number of musicians, so don’t hesitate to be conservative here. We can always revisit the idea of more players later, and either way, you’ve got an incredible ensemble lined up! The other thing to consider, is that your guests won’t be aware that there was an option between 8, 9, or 10 pieces. All they’ll see upon arrival is a kickass band or probably at *least* seven or eight pieces, which will probably be bigger than most of the bands you’d see out and about anyways!

Great question. We have our most common configuration suggestions listed below:

• Seven Piece:
  • Two Vocalists
  • One Horn
  • *Four Piece Rhythm Section
• Eight Piece:
  • Two to Three Vocalists
  • One to Two Horns
  • *Four Piece Rhythm Section
• Nine Piece:
  • Two to Three Vocalists
  • Two to Three Horns
  • *Four Piece Rhythm Section
• Ten Piece:
  • Three Vocalists
  • Three Horns
  • *Four Piece Rhythm Section

The ranges here are designed to show that each ensemble can alter its configuration slightly depending on your personal preference. However, it’s important to note that we do firm this up in our potential contract, so there won’t be any grey area once we hit the potential stage of locking things in.

The reason for this: some folks are particularly excited about horns/brass arrangements, while others are particularly excited for vocal harmony, and the energy that multiple singers can bring. All options represent powerhouse configurations that will deliver an epic performance!

*Follow up question: “What is a rhythm section?” In East Coast Soul, we refer to the rhythm section as bass, drums, keys and guitar. In general, we strongly recommend all four of these pieces be in place for any given performance. Bass and drums together represent the foundation of the sound, with keys and guitar working together to fill up the sonic space, play signature parts, support horn lines, etc. Removing one of these is an option in the most extreme situations of limited space, budgets, etc. but is something we recommend against if at all possible.

This is a very common question/concern. However, we’ve found that East Coast Soul is more comfortable squishing larger numbers of musicians into a smaller area that you might think possible. Generally we find the following (rectangular) stage areas are a good place to start the stage plot process, but we are flexible on this:

• 18 ft² to 24 ft² per band member
• 140 ft² to 240 ft² for the whole band

That leaves you with anywhere from 10 ft. by 14 ft.  to 12 ft by 20 ft. area, depending on the ensemble. This is more of a rough guideline, but nonetheless, here’s a rundown of each ensemble’s recommended sizes:

• 10 Pieces:
  • Minimum: 10 ft. 𝗫 18 ft.
  • Preferred: 12 ft. 𝗫 20 ft.
• 9 Pieces:
  • Minimum: 10 ft. 𝗫 16 ft.
  • Preferred: 12 ft. 𝗫 18 ft.
• 7/8 Pieces:
  • Minimum: 10 ft. 𝗫 14 ft.
  • Preferred: 12 ft. 𝗫 16 ft.

Note: the seven and eight piece stage areas are roughly the same, since the presence or lack of an additional horn player or singer won’t change the footprint significantly