OMG, how was your Christmas?
My Christmas was amazing….I got some practical gifts that were just what I wanted but was never going to buy for myself!! This Christmas I learned people listen and my "oh by the way” conversations are not in vain. Thanks #TeamJay #winning
If you’ve never planned a wedding, been around a person planning a wedding, read books, completed research or watched every show known to woMAN on WE and TLC…then you probably don’t know a lot! #noshade that is pretty safe to say! Lol that’s okay…it’s understandable. Most people stress out about this sort of stuff! I don’t profess to know everything there is to know about events/weddings but because I’m interested and creative I do what I can to research, learn and regurgitate well lol. Clients usually have a vision they want me to re-envision and add that “umph”….especially when it comes to a church wedding ceremony. There are certain things you have to ask your musicians to be sure you get the ceremony you’ve been dreaming about since you were 5. It’s not magic…it’s actually a lot of work….communicating via meetings, phone, email….exchanging ideas and making those hard decisions that indecisive people just can’t do. Lol
Some musicians will work closely with you…guiding your through the entire process and keeping planners and couple well informed. An organized musician can be hard to come by….especially in the church sometimes because they have sooooo many other duties-they attend all 5 choir rehearsals, travel with all 5 choirs, open the church for the youth, play for every artsy thing at church on top of collect the tithes as the trustee and pass out communion as the head deacon. LOL Okay maybe not that many duties and responsibilities but they do have a lot on their plate….and here we go adding weddings AND wedding rehearsals! Lord help us all! I don’t like musicians, heck vendors in general, who have the “don’t ask don’t tell policy”…assuming everything is OK because the couple didn’t know which questions to ask is grounds for termination. I try to tell everyone I work with that we must remain in control for the best results....
Questions that should be asked include: Do you have set music you play for weddings or can I give you music I would like? Do you think you can play this music? (I connected to the church’s wifi and played YouTube videos for the pianist). How much will this service cost? When is the first payment due? Are you available for a ceremony rehearsal? (This was tricky on the March wedding, he was available but also asked for an additional rehearsal in February…after many emails, it was planned for a Saturday around 9am!) How comfortable are you with playing for a wedding, have you done this before? Do you need sheet music, mp3 files or anything else? (He preferred YouTube although I have them on mp3 for the soloist preference).
There are so many ways to trim a budget and sometimes a compromise with musicians is the best way. The March wedding musicians have agreed to attend the rehearsal and stay all night, have a conference call, and possibly record music for sharing purposes. They will also have a rehearsal the day of the wedding. This allowed me to cut the mileage and payment of the additional February rehearsal. Great musicians are the key to a beautiful ceremony…
~Peace
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