From the category archives:

Working With Musicians

Don’t Let Your Musicians Choose Your Wedding Music Without Reading This!If you just can’t find the right ceremony music for your wedding or you’re incredibly busy, you may be tempted to just ask your musician to pick something for you.

Don’t worry. All hope for having memorable ceremony music that reflects you is not completely lost (see Music That Reflects You) if you decide to do this!

But there are a few things to think about before you ask to make sure you actually get results you’re looking for (and not simply offloading a task to someone else).

[Read the full article…]

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Wedding Disasters 2: Lessons From Stories of Wedding Music Gone WrongWho doesn’t love a good disaster story?

When it comes to wedding disaster stories, I like them because there’s often a lesson that can be learned. And when there’s a lesson, some good can come from what may have been an awful experience for those involved.

In that spirit, here’s another wedding music disaster story. From the lesson come three specific tips you can use in your wedding planning.

The Story

At the wedding ceremony, no one provided the musicians with a copy of the wedding program.

By itself, this wasn’t a big deal. But if the musicians had seen the program, one of them could have noticed that the bride had switched the location in the ceremony where the vocal solo was to be sung. [Read the full article…]

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Help Out Your Nervous Amateur MusiciansYou’d like your wedding ceremony to be filled with joy and drama-free, right?

Here’s a wedding music tip for you that could help prevent an awkward or even possibly disastrous ceremony. If you’re using an amateur musician in your ceremony, think about this.

Anyone can be nervous

Almost everyone can get nervous before a big event. Athletes, performers, speakers can all suffer from being nervous. Even you, before your wedding ceremony will probably be nervous! It takes determination to get through it.

Professional musicians can also be affected, so amateur musicians can be affected even more so. And since amateurs usually don’t have the training or experience that professionals do to help overcome it, nervousness can lead to big problems.

A friend or family-member musician may be extra nervous because of their relationship to you and may put extra pressure on themselves.

You want to do whatever possible to put your amateur musicians at ease.

A tip to help put nervous musicians at ease

If you think this could be a concern (and you can usually figure it out from their situation), you want to make sure that you don’t have a ceremony marred by a musician struggling to get through a piece of music.

So here’s my tip: Invite the amateur musician to your wedding rehearsal and have them play or sing there.

This will help them get comfortable with the surroundings. It gives them an audience, helping them feel more at ease and boosting their confidence.

Even if their part of the ceremony isn’t a significant part of the rehearsal, you can still have them play or sing while another part is rehearsed.

For example, have a vocal soloist sing while you’re rehearsing something else, such as the processional (if your processional musician isn’t there or doesn’t specifically need to rehearse their part). You might need to make sure the accompanist is present (who might already be present). But this is a small detail compared to the pain or awkwardness of a difficult performance during the ceremony.

Trust me, your heart will go out to your friend or relative if they start struggling.

Not using amateur musicians isn’t the answer

[Read the full article…]

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How to Survive Being Hopelessly Behind in Your Ceremony Music PlanningHow far along are you with your wedding ceremony music planning?

Are you like most people I’ve talked with and feel hopelessly behind because your wedding date is getting so close?

If your church wedding is less than 2 months away and you don’t have musicians and music finalized yet, you’re not alone.

But you are in the danger zone. I don’t mean to scare you (I know you’ve got plenty on your plate as it is). You’re at the point where it may become difficult to find a musician, to work out the ceremony music selections or even for the musician to get copies of and practice (or learn, if necessary) the music in the time remaining.

Survival tips

[Read the full article…]

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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. [Read the full article…]

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16 Questions to Ask Your Wedding Musician to Get the Ceremony You Want

Since you’ve never planned a wedding before, here are some questions to ask your wedding musician(s) to your ceremony ends up being all that you’ve dreamed it would be!

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Information to Have Ready For Your Church Wedding Musician

If you’re getting married this Spring or Summer and haven’t yet met with your church’s musician to start planning your ceremony music, you’re running out of time. Schedule the meeting now. And use this list of information as a guide to help you be prepared for the discussion.

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Church Wedding Musicians Aren’t Free

Many don’t realize this, but the salary that your church pays its musicians does not cover weddings, if they even get a salary! Make sure your wedding budget reflects the time your church ceremony musician spends working on your wedding.

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Discover How to Include Friends and Family as Ceremony Musicians For a Worry-Free Wedding (Part 2)

Including family and friends in your wedding ceremony can be enjoyable and make it much more personal. Here are some tips for avoiding the risks that come along with using non-professional musicians.

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Discover How to Include Friends and Family as Ceremony Musicians For a Worry-Free Wedding

Including family and friends in your wedding ceremony can be enjoyable and make it much more personal. Here are some tips for avoiding the risks that come along with using non-professional musicians.

2 comments Read the full article →