I wanted to tell my story and help all the people who are planning their wedding now, won't make the mistakes I made then.

So you decided to hire a wedding magician for your big day. You even found a few and now comes the hard part, you need to ask each magician a few questions which will help you decide which one to hire. Here are a few questions that will help you choose the best magician for your wedding and make sure you will have no surprises when THE day has come.

How long is the show?

You must know for how long the show will take place, when and is the show suitable for children as well. Why? You will need to plan the meal, the dancing and the entertainment, to fit to your needs (not too long or short). You want to make sure people don't get bored. A wedding that starts at 18:00 needs to last till at least 22:00.
In example: if you plan the ceremony at 19:00, you must have a reception buffet from about 18:00 until all the guests arrive. What will people do from the end of the ceremony till dinner or the entertainment part begins?

The bottom line is: you must see the wedding as a show on TV and act accordingly. What you should do is see the end of the evening and view it backwards to the beginning. No show is perfect but you want your guests to say wow and remember your wedding as the best 10 weddings they have been to.

Will we be able to see the magician act before our own wedding?

What actually happens if you hire a magician or any kind of wedding service supplier and you only look at the Testimonials on his site or see their web-page on a wedding planning website, but never seen him act? How will I know he's good with the audience? Just like with the catering you choose – You must taste!

We were invited to one of the events our magician had been booked for, dressed up and went to the event as guests. It is something the magician needs to tell the couple the event belongs to and make sure it's ok. Usually there is no problem. You can stand on the side unseen and enjoy the show. Your magician will not be able to communicate with you during the show and you can leave when you have seen enough and speak on the phone the next day.

Payment. How do we pay? How much? Deposit

Each magician charges different fees. Just like any other service. You can and should bargain for a better price. How to pay? Most businesses take cash, cheque or credit card. The deposit: you will need to pay a deposit for 2 reasons; to secure the day you chose by the magician, and show you are serious about hiring this magician.
You will have to do this with every service you hire for your wedding. Always make sure to get a receipt for what you pay for.

How do we know what we are getting for the money we pay?

This is where we 'thought' the magician knew what we wanted and he thought he 'knew' what we wanted. To make a long story short, it is mostly important that you agree on the service required and put it on paper for both sides.
You must make sure the length of the show, the beginning time of the show and how/when the magician will get the balance of the payment (usually 72 hours after the event). Also very important is to what the show should contain. Don't tell the magician to do specific tricks. He knows what to do and also reads the audience as he goes. You need to know what sort of show you will get: table magic, close up magic etc.

I hope this information will be useful for you and will save you money and a big headache.

Ben