Here’s a tip for you that if you do nothing else to plan your wedding music, your music will be much better off!
Last time, I provided a list of questions to ask your wedding musician.
That reminded me of this tip for you.
Goal 1 for musician: Handle your music
Some of those questions were geared toward making sure your can musician handle the music you want played. This is important for several reasons because any musician can be challenged my music sometimes. Maybe there’s not enough time to learn it, or maybe it challenges their skill level.
These both can be true for professionals and amateurs alike.
If your asking for something beyond the standard wedding repertoire (and please do!), you want to make sure your musician can deliver what you’re expecting for. And even if you’re not drifting too far from wedding “standards”, there’s a lot of music out there.
Not every musician already knows every piece.
All that is just one reason why this next tip is important. There is still another reason I’ll get to next.
Tip
Ask to hear your musician play the music you’ve selected for your ceremony.
Goal 2 for musician: Deliver what you want to hear
The second reason to do this is more than just making sure that you won’t have a major problem when your wedding day arrives. It’s also to make sure you’ll be satisfied with the results.
Every musician has a different style.
Some musicians tend to play things fast, some slow. Some have a more lively, expressive style than others. They each have their own perfectly valid interpretations of the music (there is no “right” way to play a piece).
If you are envisioning a certain sound for your wedding music, make sure you’ll be getting the sound you’re looking for by hearing them play it.
The instrument a musician plays also makes a difference in how piece will sound. A perfectly good organist or pianist will work hard to make the best of the organ or piano in your church, but the results could still not be what you’re looking for (not every organ sounds the same and some are in better shape than others).
It’s better to recognize the issue ahead of time and see what the musician can do. There might be things that can be done or there might not. When there isn’t much that can be done, it’s better to know early on. You can decide what your backup plan will be.
For example, you might want to use the church’s piano, but it might be out of tune or placed in an inconvenient location. If tuning it or moving will not be possible or practical (and that may very well be the case), then wouldn’t you rather decide early on your “plan B”?
Or you might be able to ask the musicians to play a piece faster (or slower). Within reason, such requests should not be a problem and most musicians will be accommodating to help you achieve the ceremony you’re dreaming of (and planning for).
For more
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For even more, and a lot more helpful tips plus tons of music ideas and our wedding music planning checklist, consider our church wedding music planning guide. It’s full of 75+ pages of information. Over 20 of those pages are just music ideas!
If you have any thoughts, please leave a comment. They’re always appreciated!
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Great tips. Love the site! I wish more people would follow this advice.
Thanks! I appreciate the thought.