You’ve started playing recession, and the whole bridal party gives you a frenzied “not yet!” Sight. You wonder, “Could I have prevented this?” …
Those concert disasters have happened to everyone. Well, except for YOU, since he’s only been playing weddings since last Tuesday. I’ve been playing string quartets at weddings for over two decades, and I’ve learned, sometimes the hard way, how NOT to have that terrible moment where the focus shifts from the happy couple to the instantly mortified violinist. Let’s get into it!
The God’s anger
I was playing an outdoor wedding and the weather was perfect. 70 degrees, sunny and blue sky, exactly what the bride expected. We had finished the prelude and the entrance to the wedding party, and began the wedding march. It was a new one for us; Love actually it had just been released in theaters and this was the first time it played All you need is Love. The bride started walking down the aisle, and a HUGE gust of wind, the first on a previously quiet day, blew all of our music from the bleachers. We’d rehearsed it before, thank goodness, but the guests could still see our violist madly chasing eight pages of sheet music while the rest of us furiously improvised. We did it, but it was close.
The weather can pass eerily fast. Pages should always be in binders when playing outside, and pages should be securely attached to supports. Music stores sell long spring clips just for this; I use clothespins from the dollar store. (They are cheaper, and I don’t care if they get lost or broken.) Either way, USE SOMETHING! It may seem like an eternity between the bridal party and the bride’s entrance as you secure the clips, but unless you’re the cellist on Pachelbel’s Canon, it’s better than having your book closed or off the holder in the middle. . Also, make sure you’re sitting somewhere where, if it starts to rain, you don’t have to make an undignified run towards it. It’s right in my ceremony contract, “… the quartet requires a sheltered place to play in bad weather.” (You have a contract, right?)
Are we playing WHAT?
At one of my first wedding concerts, back in college, we had a ton of borrowed music and things we got from the college library, including two Handel’s Water Music albums. During the prelude, the best man came over and told us that the bride needed five more minutes for which the brides needed five more minutes, and could we play one more song? I said, “Okay, Handel’s Hornpipe!” We hastily pulled it out, found the Hornpipe, started playing … and quickly realized there was a Hornpipe in BOTH books! For about two bars it was quite raucous as we figured out what was going on, and got some funny looks from the guests in the front row.
Having good wedding books takes time and effort, not to mention money. First, you need a list of the essentials of wedding music. There are hundreds of them online; I will not waste time on this essay. Once you figure out what you need and where you are going to get it, you need to organize it. The best string quartets I’ve ever played with have numbered, categorized, and single-volume books. Mine are divided into broad sections; Classical, Weddings, Cafemusik, Tango, Rock / Pop, Ragtime, Jazz and Pop Culture. Each section has a color tab and the pieces are numbered. Yes I want it Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, that’s “blue tab, number 1.5”. By a head it is “orange 6”. It makes finding music quick and easy, and it keeps everyone on the same page. I probably have a dozen Minuets or Menuetos in the books; This ensures that we are all on the same page!
NOT YET!
So what about that premature wedding march I talked about earlier? Well, there was no good way to hide it. I cut the foursome, gave the bride an embarrassed “I’m REALLY sorry” shrug, and gave her a big comical signal when the priest gave us an equally comical “OK, NOW!” wink.
The best defense against this kind of thing is to get to the concert early. Very early. I usually arrive at weddings at least 30 minutes and sometimes up to an hour before the prelude music starts. If it’s a long trip, I give it more time. If it’s outdoors or I’ve never been in the place, extra time. This ensures that I have time to do several things:
* Review the physical setup and make sure we have chairs, adequate space and, if outdoors, adequate shade and / or protection from the rain.
* Look up the wedding planner and ask for the number at the wedding party, will we play for something we haven’t discovered yet? (I can’t tell you how many times I heard “Oh, we’re doing a sand ceremony, can you play something for that?”) And most importantly, who will give us the signal to start the entrance music. It’s usually the wedding planner, but if there isn’t one, it could be Aunt Mathilda, who may need some gentle training on how to point a string quartet throughout a cathedral church.
* Lastly, find the officiant or celebrant (whoever is celebrating the wedding) and find out what the last thing they are going to say before the new couple comes back down the aisle at the end. Usually, BUT NOT ALWAYS, it is the introduction. (“Now I have the honor to introduce to you, for the FIRST TIME, John and Mary Whatchamacallum!)
Impressive! I’m ready to play weddings!
Well maybe. There are always things that come up. In fact, a bride decided, on the day of, with a packed church, that today was not going to be the day. How do you handle that? (I’ll tell you. You play Mozart until the guests have left, and then tactfully ask their father for the balance of your fare.) Preparation only goes so far. At some point, the experience will kick in, and then you’ll discover that playing weddings is a pretty good way to make a living …
… unless you’re the cellist and it’s Pachelbel time.