Wedding Favor

Important Tips When Hiring A Wedding Magician

Hiring a magician for your wedding can be a daunting task since this is, after all, one of the biggest days of your life and getting everything right can be a bit overwhelming. Also, with yourselves being the centre of attention, your minds will not always be on the general welfare of your guests, especially during the photos where you will likely be occupied for a couple of hours.

This is where a magical entertainer can add that extra dimension to your guests experience of your day and give you peace of mind knowing that they are safe hands.

But how do find the right magician for your wedding day? Let’s face it, the last thing you want is an amateur with no personality showing a few silly tricks your grandad taught you when you were a child!

I’ve come up with five things you should seriously consider when booking a magician for your special day. Follow these points and rest assured of getting the magician your guests deserve!

1) Different types of magician

You need to decide the style of magician you wish to have and when you want him/her to actually perform. The following is a list of things to bare in mind.

Kids/Adults

Decide if you want just the kids entertained or adults or perhaps a mix of both kids and adults. A lot of wedding magicians will work only on entertaining your adult guests but most would also be happy to show the children a little something too.

Mind control trickery or visual magic

Decide if you want just visual magic tricks (cards/coins/ropes) or mindreading. Most magicians do a bit of both though a mindreader is a very specialist area which is becoming very popular. So think, do you want Derren Brown (mindreader) or David Blaine (magician)?

Close up/mingling style

A style of magic performed while people are standing. The magician mingles with the crowd performing to small groups of people at a time. This can work very well for the drinks reception and/or evening entertainment.

Table hopping

A form of intimate magic performed whilst people are sitting at tables. The magician entertains a table at a time, between courses. Ideal for the wedding breakfast.

Stand up act

A magician who performs on stage to an audience. This can work well during the evening reception as a bit of light relief for everyone.

2) Cost

It’s likely you have a strict budget for your wedding day so the cost for booking a magician is very important. It would be foolish to simply go with the cheapest one you can find as anyone can learn a few tricks and call themselves a magician. If you want quality, you should be prepared to pay in the region of 350 – 600 for a couple of hours of magic. A 20% deposit with the balance on the day is usually required.

3) Quality of entertainer

You cannot judge a magician’s quality of performance simply by the cost he sets. Likewise NEVER judge a magician by how good his/her website is. Anyone can pay a website designer enough cash to make a great looking site, but that doesn’t mean the magician is a actually a good entertainer. Also, never be drawn in by lines such as “Britain’s greatest magician”, as this is likely to have been written by the magician themselves. The following should be taken into consideration when looking over an entertainers website.

Quotes

Testimonials are vital when deciding who to book. Make sure you have a thorough read of what past clients have said. It’s useful to remember that no magician is going to put anything but great comments on his/her reviews page so pay close attention to the way in which a testimonial has been written, ie “He was wonderful”, or “Surperb magic” simply do not tell you enough about the magicians personailty, so be wary. What you are looking for is detailed testimonials which really show that the wedding couple were totally in awe of the performance. Also, do not be scared to ask for a any phone numbers from previous clients if you want to be 100% they are genuine. A magician should be able to provide this.

Media

There is no substitute for actually seeing or hearing the magician in action entertaining. Promotional video or radio clips are a great way to do this. If a magician has none of these on his/her website you should doubt how long they have actually been performing as this should be one of the highest priorities for a magician when owning a website. Good quality pictures are also an invaluable tool for a magician to advertise their service. Make sure all photos clearly show the people having fun, also that the magician looks smartly dressed, you certainly don’t want them turning up in David Blaine style dress wear of jeans and a t-shirt – believe me, it happens.

4) Seeing the magician before booking

There is no reason at all why you cannot request the magician to give a live demonstration. This is not always necessary but if you really feel you want to see the magic happen in front of your own eyes and make a judgment then ask! If the magician lives within thirty miles he should be perfectly willing to come to you. Further distances may require you meet halfway in a public house. You can also ask about any wedding fayres they are exhibiting at and pop along to those instead.

5) Phone/Email

Many people shy away from phoning nowadays with the ease of email. Emailing your initial request is fine to get a quote, but it’s really important you call before booking. We all have initial impressions when talking to someone for the first time. Does he sound likable? You will instinctively know if he is the right man for the job, all other things considered.

Go for it!