Fifth Avenue Orchestras and Entertainment

We had the 10 piece Studio Band and were blown away by how great they were. We had specific rules on no silly interactive dances and didn't hear one all night. They kept the crowd dancing until the end, even the older folks loved them. Our band leader/mc Billy was awesome, he was very professional and not cheesy at all. We were so happy with our choice.

We were referred to them from by the Ritz Carlton and they were FANTASTIC. We had the 10 piece Studio and worth the fee! We couldn't imagine having a DJ since we both love live music.

We had a 7-piece band for our reception, and they were fantastic! I can't count the number of guests who commented on what a great band we had. Everything was really well planned out ahead of time, which made for a smooth party. The band leader was great, and they had all of our guests (both young-ish and old) up and dancing the whole night. Highly recommend.

We had the 8 piece studio band and they were phenomenal! We asked them to play jazz during dinner, and then dance music when dinner was over. As soon as our guests finished their dinner, the dance floor was PACKED. I kept looking out at the tables to see that no one was there. The band did such a great job of playing music that appealed to everyone, from our grandparents to our parents, to our young cousins. The female singer was all over the dance floor, letting people sing into the mic with her and dancing with our guests - it was so much fun!

Beyond that, when we asked 5th Avenue to provide the music for our ceremony, Jack was completely honest and told us that we would be better off using CDs given our music choices (Alison Krauss, U2, and the Allman Brothers) because no one could do those songs justice without having to pay a full band. We really appreciated his honesty, as his recommendation saved us quite a bit of money (that would have otherwise gone to his company).

If you're willing to splurge on a live band, I highly recommend that you contact Fifth Avenue.

Thanks for the heads up! Basedon this post and another glowing one on the Los Angeles theknot.com board, I went to the 5th Street offices.

Their website does NOT do them justice! Of course, I haven't actually used them yet, but so far I've interviewd three or four bands and they have definitely impressed me the most. I realize that might be a function of their having better recording equipment, or better editing, but I really think it's more than that.

Jack Bielan, the man in charge, gave me a lot of information in terms of:
-more technical, musical stuff. Basically, this guy knows his music inside and out, and I mean all the nitty gritty theory and instrumentalization, etc.
-he's very willing to share a lot of ideas about music and event planning, even though it was a first meeting and some other managers play things more close to the chest like they're afraid you'll steal some ideas and not come back. Jack's approach puts me more at ease because it shows he knows what he's doing and is confident.
-the horn section on his bands are incredible. When the sax solos came on my sister and I just turned to each other and nodded. It was clear the man knew his way around a sax.
-the singers vary, but I think there's something for everyone. Some people might want a softer, more delicate voice. Others might want someone gruffer with more body. I didn't love them all, but there's someone for everyone.
-the bands come in different sizes from 6-12, so whatever size you want they can do.
-very professional looking group, and they can do anything from suits or tuxes to white jackets.

This is the only band I've looked at that I feel the need to compliment on the Internet. I really want to stress that a lot of band websites are kind of bad compared to going to the studio and listening to CDs and watching DVDs, so give them a chance.

If you are OK with your band possibly not knowing the songs, or even the style of music you want at your wedding, then you may be OK with Fifth Avenue Orchestras under its new ownership. Otherwise, do not use this service.

I notice that there are a lot of great reviews below and with the exception of the last, I do not doubt them. However, what is not said here is that this past spring the Fifth Avenue Orchestras changed ownership and management and with that the quality of service dropped dramatically. (The review on the knot.com is also based on the old ownership btw.) Fifth Avenue as it once existed was the work of the owner, Jack Bielan. He managed the service himself and apparently put care into the events as evidenced by the reviews, however that is NOT the case now.

The new owner is not interested in running a wedding band service himself and yet, has not hired someone to provide the management and oversight provided by the old owner leaving a huge void in the quality they provide. The coordination and care that one would expect from a wedding band service (and was promised to me in hiring FAO) is left to chance. The in depth planning session that Jack had promised was cut to a 3 page basic information survey that we were unable to get the owner on the phone to discuss. At my wedding, the band had no information at all on the type of music they were to play and were not given the song list where we had checked off the songs we liked at the request of the owner (you are not allowed to contact the band prior to the event, but the office guarantees that they will be well prepared based on the information you give the office). This fact only became obvious to me when they started playing current pop songs at my soul/funk/motown wedding.

The new owner’s answer to this is that you choose the band based on the website videos and that's all the assurance customer's have. That was not what I was repeatedly told by the old owner when I choose the service, or the new owner when I talked to him pre-wedding. (The samples of music on the website are so varied that the owner's assertion doesn't even make any sense). I have had a few conversations with the owner following the wedding and they have apologized for the "accident" and admits that was a terrible oversight, he has done nothing to right this wrong. If the new owner’s assertions are true, then I would like future customers to know that they can only expect to have some type of the music played on the website (not their choice of music) at their event. I would not want this type of "accident" to happen to anyone else on their wedding day but I fear with the new owner’s poor customer service and lack of empathy to the importance of an event, it will.

I would like to mention that the band itself was very good (which is why I bumped this review from the 1 star I would have given to the management to 2 stars). However, the fact that the band was very talented just makes me more upset, because I know, had the event not been so mismanaged, the music could have been what I had envisioned for my wedding.

Fifth Avenue Orchestras did an amazing job at our wedding and I would heartily disagree with the review below. In fact, not a single thing the 12/08/08 reviewer wrote was an accurate description of our experience with Fifth Avenue.

I was in contact with both George and Mary at Fifth Avenue, and both of them were cordial and pleasant to speak to. They answered all of my questions, and on top of that were very manageable and accommodating, which is not something I can say for other quartets I spoke with. We provided Fifth Avenue with a highly specific setlist for both our ceremony and cocktail reception, and they were happy to work with it; in cases where they did not know/have arrangements for a certain song, they were willing to arrange it themselves for a small fee.

The contracts were simple, payment was easy. As pleasant an experience as you could ask for leading into a wedding.

During the event itself, the quartet was professional and talented. They played everything we asked for, looked impeccable, and generally added quite a bit to the wedding. A wonderful experience.