It's Not Too Early to Hire Your Musicians

Thinking About Holiday Entertainment?

If you are just getting your party plans together, start shopping
for your holiday entertainment early. Even at the end of
September, musicians begin to get booked for holiday events. If
your party budget needs to go through a committee for approval,
now is the time to start that process.

Thinking About Wedding Music?

Even if you are getting married next year, musicians are booking
for weddings now. You are actually ahead of the game if you hire
your musicians, and all of your wedding services, prior to the
holiday season.

Here is why: Statistically, most people get engaged over the
holidays and then start looking for their wedding services in
January. If you wait until then, you may discover that the
musicians you had your heart set upon are no longer available.

If you are getting married in 2010 or beyond, it's still a good
idea to begin your search for wedding music. Touring bands and
musicians will book concerts at least a year out, and they may
very well be reserving wedding dates far in advance, too.

I hope this information helps you land the perfect musicians for
your event.

My Best to you, Anne Roos Celtic Harp Music by Anne Roos
http://www.celticharpmusic.com Visit my website for booking
information

Are You New to Performing At Weddings? Here Are Some Wedding Favorites to Get You Started

Do what you do best, and you’ll love what you do. The music you
play that resonates within you carries your own fingerprints.
Even if other musicians can play the same songs as you do, what
you bring to these songs is uniquely your own.

To get you started, this is a list of some wedding music
standards that you might want to consider including in your
repertoire:

Wedding Ceremony Music—The Common Requests

The Top Ten Classical Music Requests (in order by composer):

1. “Air in G” from Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D (J.S. Bach)

2. “Ode to Joy” from Symphony No. 9(Beethoven)

3. “Trumpet Voluntary” or “Prince of Denmark’s March” (J.
Clarke)

4. “Clair de Lune” (C. Debussy)

5. “Hornpipe” from Water Music Suite (G.F. Handel)

6. “Wedding March” from A Midsummer Night’s Dream (F.
Mendelssohn)

7. “Canon in D” (J. Pachelbel)

9. “Allegro From Spring”, first movement theme from The Four
Seasons (A. Vivaldi)

10. “Bridal March” from the opera Lohengrin or “Here Comes the
Bride” (R. Wagner)

Wedding Ceremony Music Alternatives (Because Not Every Bride
Wants to Enter to “Here Comes the Bride”):

Favorite choices for Christian weddings:

1. “Amazing Grace” (American Folk Melody)

2. “Ave Maria” (F. Schubert)

3. “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring” (J. S. Bach)

4. “The Lord’s Prayer” (A.H. Malotte)

5. “Simple Gifts” (Elder Joseph)

Favorite choices for Jewish weddings:

1. “Dodi Li” (N. Chen)

2. “Erev Ba” (O. Avissar & A. Levanon)

3. “Siman Tov” (traditional Israeli song)

4. “Sunrise Sunset” from the musical “Fiddler on the Roof”

Favorite choices for Celtic weddings:

1. “Mairi’s Wedding”

2. “Star of the County Down”

3. “When Irish Eyes are Smiling”

4. “Skye Boat Song”

5. “My Wild Irish Rose”

This is a short excerpt from my new book, “The Musician’s Guide to Brides: How to Make Money Playing Weddings" published by Hal Leonard Books. I’m sure you can think of more tunes to add to these lists. Add them in your comments below and help out other musicians to get a good start playing at weddings. Next time in this blog, we’ll tackle timeless reception favorites.

View Anne’s new book--see some individual sample page

The book is available wherever Hal Leonard Books are sold: music and bookstores, and through online retailers (including Barnesandnoble.com, Sheetmusicplus.com , and Amazon.com). I may sound like I'm shamelessly promoting it here, but I really would like to have some constructive feedback about it. I fully intend to write future editions, so your feedback would be of great help to me. Please feel free to respond with your kind constructive comments, and certainly, respond with wedding favorites that you would like to add to the above lists.

My best to you,
Anne Roos
Celtic Harp Music by Anne Roos

Valuable Tips on How to Select a Musician

Whether hiring a musician for a wedding ceremony, reception, business or social event, it is wise to start your search as soon as your date is set. Professional musicians, orchestras, bands and soloists may be booked a year in advance. Here are some guidelines to use when making a decision about the type of music you want:

1. Choose the type of musicians & instruments
   Take into consideration the size of the venue and the acoustics. The music should be a compliment to the event, not too overpowering
   
   
2. Get references
   Chances are that if other people have been pleased with the musician you will be too. Don't be afraid to ask for and check references of the performer you are considering.

3. Audition whenever possible
   This will give you an overall feel for the musicians’ style of music and "stage" presence. Auditions can be in person, over the phone, by tape or video. Audio CDs let you sample the style and expertise of the musician. Video and DVDs additionally allows you to see the appearance of the performer. Make sure you like the quality of the music and that it is appropriate for the event.
   
   I hope you enjoyed these few tips so far as there are more to come. For more information come see me at http://www.celticharpmusic.com/UserPages/Home.aspx
   

How You Can Afford Live Music for Your Wedding!

There is nothing more special than having musicians present to
perform for your wedding and reception. Hiring musicians is not
just about having wonderful music to accompany your wedding
activities-it's also about having a performance to watch. Your
guests will certainly enjoy watching a musician performing rather
than watching someone pushing the play button on an iPod stereo.

Conventional thought is that musicians will charge more than DJs.
This is not necessarily the case. Here are some ways to get your
musical talent for less:

• Invite musicians to play for several wedding elements
  When you hire musicians to play for multiple hours, they may give you a price break for performing additional hours. Invite them to play for the ceremony AND the photo session afterwards. Or invite them to continue through cocktail hour. Or have your reception band play through dinner and then kick it up for dancing.
  

• Shave off some time
  Your reception hall may want you to be finished by a certain time so that the staff can get in and clean up. Therefore, don't instruct your reception band play until the very last guest leaves-Instead, tell them to end a half hour before everyone needs to vacate the site. Bringing the music to an early close will give guests the signal that the party is at a close and it is time to throw the rice.
  

• Go with a smaller group
  Obviously, if you hire a trio instead of a six-piece band, you'll be saving some money.
  

• Hire musicians who can fit into your budget
  Professional wedding musicians have large repertoires and know the elements of a wedding. They may also be familiar with the staff of your service providers that you have hired (such as your celebrant and your wedding coordinator).
  
  If you don't have the budget for a professional, turn to student musicians. You won't have as many musical choices to choose from, but you'll save money. Find student musicians at local colleges and universities, or simply ask music teachers at your local full-service music store for recommendations.

• Be careful inviting friends and family members to perform for you
  It's absolutely wonderful when your professional musician friend volunteers to perform at your wedding as a gift to you. You won't have to pay for the musician's services, and the musician will welcome being a part of your special party.
  
  It is an entirely different story if you ask an amateur musician friend or a close family member to perform at your wedding. You are putting that loved one on the spot-If they don't want to perform, then they may feel they'll risk hurting your feelings by turning you down. The solution: Invite amateur musician friends and loved ones to play a special song during the reception, while you give your reception band a break. At the reception, people are partying and your friends will feel more relaxed performing. Save performances during the formal wedding ceremony for professionals or experienced musician friends who volunteer to perform for you.
  

• Provide amplification or nix it altogether
  Some musicians and bands may offer you a discount if you provide the amplification, or house sound, for them. To make this happen, you will need to have on hand an experienced sound tech to take care of the musicians' amplification needs. Here's an advantage to hiring a sound tech: they can also mike your celebrant during the wedding service.
  
  Or, trim your guest list so that amplification is not necessary. Some musicians will charge less if they don't need to haul sound equipment to your wedding.
  

• Hire musicians in your geographical area
  Travel is expensive, and importing musicians from many miles away is, too. They will pass along the price of their gas, lodging, and meals to you. When you hire local musicians, you won't be paying that surcharge, and they are more likely to be familiar with your wedding venue.
  

• Change your date
  Saturday evenings are prime time for weddings, and in many regions, June is the prime wedding month. To receive possible discounts on all your wedding services, including live music, plan a wedding that is off-season (during November or January, for instance) or select a weekday wedding date.

Having live music at your wedding can be affordable! If you have further ideas, be sure to let me know, so that I can pass them along to my wedding clients.