Entertainment for a wedding is one of the most important items
to factor in for your wedding budget, and the options available to you generally depend
on the particular time that you want to book this entertainment.
Typically you may want to consider music for any of the following times
- During the wedding ceremony
- When the bridal pair leave the church/registration office
- At the reception venue during the champagne reception
- While the wedding party is eating
- When the wedding party starts to dance
Since weddings are often creative affairs, this need not be the end of it, but these are the occasions
when music is most needed.
Lets take a look at each of these options in more detail.
1. During the wedding ceremony
Options
for providing music during the wedding ceremony are of course
restricted regarding time. Depending on where the ceremony is being
held, you might also have to have some consideration for what might be
appropriate for the venue (especially if it is a church), and the
minister conducting the ceremony may have his own stipulations as to
what might be allowed. If the ceremony is held within a church or
similar building, the natural heavy echo within the building means that
it makes little sense hiring a larger music group. Also, purely acoustic
renditions are often loud enough under such circumstances, and for
parties of up to 200 it is not necessary for a musician to bring any
large scale amplification. Weddings are solemn and respectful occasions,
so a musician has no problem being heard when it it is his turn to play
(the odd small child's cry notwithstanding). Often a keyboard or piano
may also be available for any musicians you might hire (inquire first!),
and if you hire a musician restricted to public transport for whatever
reason (as I have been at times), this can be a good leverage point in
your negotiations with them, since they wont have to bring any heavy
equipment with them.
Typically
during a ceremony your musician will not have to play more than three
tunes that will last a maximum of four minutes each. Any longer that in
my experience, and all concerned may start to get itchy, irrespective of
how well the music is performed. You may want to hear a special song,
but bear in mind that the musician might have to practice that
specifically for you, and he may charge you for the time to prepare
that.
Any
self respecting wedding pianist/musician should be prepared to play the
standard tunes for a wedding ceremony, and the three that we all know are
Don't
get them mixed up ! (I've seen it done, with people referring to
Wagner's Bridal Chorus as his Wedding March, but this can and does cause
confusion).
Sometimes,
however it suffices for the musician to provide his entertainment on
one or two occasions during the ceremony (e.g. after the ring has been
placed). But remember, a musician is likely only to charge for the time
of the ceremony, and not for the number of tunes he plays (my normal
approach is to charge for one hour if I am booked as part of a larger
package at the wedding).
The
truth about wedding ceremonies, however, is that they can be held
almost anywhere, also out in the open. If a ceremony is held out in the
open, one needs to be mindful of the weather, and it won't do just to
hope that the weather stays fine (and when a wedding is planned, nobody
can say exactly what the weather will be like on the day). For the
guests and wedding party any heavenly outbreaks are certainly a nuisance
and can spoil the moment, but for a musician with his equipment it can
into more of a disaster if his equipment gets rained out. The best
advice is to hire someone who can move his equipment quickly and safely,
or to at least hire a small marquee offering four sided protection
(cover, back and side walls).
2. When the bridal pair leave the church/registration office
Another popular location is to provide music outside the location where the wedding ceremony is held. Here again, the weather has to be considered as mentioned in the section before. the best option here is to have a mobile option without any amplification, a kind of serenade if you will, maybe with a guitar-vocalist or a small group of gypsy musicians.
----> To be continued
The
author is an experienced wedding pianist, singer and guitar player, who
has accumulated most of his experience playing weddings at top
locations in northern Germany
Dr. Jules
172 Burnt Ash Hill
London SE12 0HU
07503 719137
