On
the other hand, are
you organizing your own
wedding and need wedding music? Since you are
here I'm sure you have
already thought about adding a
special
touch with live music.
I’d be very happy to help you to make your wedding even
more memorable or click the next link if you you wish to have classical
music entertainment for other events.
Here
you can find some ideas
for
musical entertainment: a list of works
suitable for the wedding ceremony and reception, also photos
of some weddings and music to listen
to. You'll see that this
entertainment can fit any wedding, especially if yours is in a small
venue or with a small group of guests or you don't want to spend a lot
with many players.
Propose to your girlfriend
Even
before your wedding, you can have music to propose to your girlfriend,
or for Saint Valentine's
day! Surprise her with her favourite tune, maybe in an
unusual location like
this one in the photo, London's
Trafalgar Square and see her reaction!
"Monica
played for me in the middle of Trafalgar Square when I proposed to my
girlfriend in October. She was very professional and played
beautifully.
I would highly recommend her."
Andrew
Norton
Here
at The Gun
in London, the historical pub with a romantic view of the
river Thames, where Horatio Nelson used to go and meet Lady Emma
Hamilton.
"Monica, Many thanks for yesterday. You
really helped make yesterday a special day for Ria and I." Kind Regards
Many
times, when
a couple
organizes its wedding, they don't know where to find musicians. For religious
weddings,
the church would usually have its organist.
You can
either have him play for you or choose to have somebody else. In either
case, you'd have to ask your church as to what to do. You may have to
pay their organist even if you hire other musicians or a friend of
yours plays for you.
Other
very common options for wedding music (there are many agencies
providing musicians for weddings), both ceremony and reception, can be
a harp (solo
or with another instrument), or a string
quartet, that
is usually composed of four string players (2 violins, viola and
cello, with
some variations).
The down side of these is that a
harp is not
easily transportable, if you want for example to
have music in two different
parts (two floors) of the same building or two different places. As to
a quartet, four players are more expensive than one and if you go with
an agency they will, rightly, charge their share.
So,
having
considered the issues that couples face, if you are looking
for
some wedding music in Oxford or not very far from it, you may want to
consider a
soloist playing an easily movable instrument, maybe you're looking for
a violinist, so what about...
Something
different?
Wedding
music for a civil
ceremony in a
licensed restaurant, in Oxford
So,
you'd like to have something different, unusual? Then a
solo viola
(or with piano/organ) is the answer (most people would say "violin" when they
see it). The
viola has a warm, mellow tone and
once you hear it you’ll love it. At
your ceremony and reception you can have a variety of works, from
classical, to folk, opera arias and I
can play your favourite tune,
if I don't know it, I'll learn it at no extra charge!
Also being the viola a portable
instrument, it can be
easily moved around the venue so, even if it's large, everybody can
have his
or her own personal
music performance (see photo below) and you won't see unsightly music
stand and sheet music flying around (especially outdoor with some
breeze), everything is played from memory.
Wedding
reception in
WadhamCollege
garden, in Oxford
Be yours
either a religious
or civil
wedding,
it's important to create an atmosphere
of something Grand taking place, before the actual ceremony starts. The
following are some works designed to welcome your guests as they arrive
and take their seats, before the ceremony starts, entertain them with
some quite solemn
music, also calm enough to help many people relax their
nerves.
Here is some music which is very often requested
and
played at a wedding ceremony, you can choose your favourite ones.
You can listen to some
wedding music
clips, click each name (more
in the next few days). I warmly
recommend you to use your
headphones
for better results!
Please,
remember that in civil ceremonies you are not
allowed to have religious music of any sort (marked with *).
The music
works listed below are
traditionally the most popular wedding music, commonly
requested, although several times I've been asked for other
music (for example Sally Gardens, The
land of my fathers), by
someone who wanted something more personal, for example the tune that
the groom was playing when they first met.
Just ask for
your special tune, I'll play it for you!
If I don't know it, I'll learn for you at no extra charge!
Civil
wedding and
reception in Woodstock
Town Hall
As
the guests
arrive
These
pieces are to entertain your friends and family as they gather in the
church or ceremony hall, so here's a selection of calm, solemn melodies
These are suggestions, you can
choose to have the same pieces performed at different times during the
ceremony.
Music
for an Indian, Asian wedding
As I said,
you can choose
your favourite tune and I was asked to play popular Indian
tunes at some Indian weddings. So you too can have the following Indian
songs
Mohabbatein
Dil ne yeh
kaha hai dil se (Dhadkan)
Guzarish (Ghajini)
Chura Liya Hai Tum Ne Jo Dil Ko - Yadon Ki
Baraat
I'm adding more tunes and I can learn your
favourite one too at no extra charge!
An Indian
wedding with
popular Indian wedding music
"Monica, Thanks for
making our wedding so special. Regards Ket"
Wedding
reception music ideas
For
your wedding reception the choice of music is much broader and freer.
Have a look and see how this ideas for music entertainment could fit
your special event too, from famous classical music to folk. Warch this
video or click the name to listen to a
sample.
To
add variety, you can mix different genres and
styles of
music. Here is a list of folk music I play: English, Scottish, Irish, American, songs
and dances (waltzes, jigs, etc.), including
some of the most famous ones.
Have you
ever thought about celebrating a big wedding anniversary?
You
could use the above ideas for a party for a 50th wedding anniversary music (or 10th,
25th...?), for example.
How
much?
So you're wondering, how much is my
wedding music going to
cost?
First
of all, maybe it’s necessary to
remind, since some people tend to forget it, that professionals musicians are professionals
exactly like accountants, dentists, solicitors etc. and in order to
maintain a high
quality
standard they need to be paid professional rates.
Therefore,
when you pay for a music
performance, like
any professional
service, you don’t pay just for that one or two hours the musician(s)
perform there, you need to take into account the preparation of that
service,
that is the time spent to practice and learn the pieces of music and
expenses
(if you ever tried to learn to play an instrument you’ll understand
what it
takes, if you’ve never done it I’d encourage you to start learning one
now,
just to see what it means).
Of
course, you can always find someone
willing to do it for nearly no money but ask yourself why? If it’s a
friend of
yours who wants to do it as a present for you, fine, it’s a different
matter,
otherwise the answer is simple: like anything else, they're not doing
it professionally and you
get what you pay for.
Would
you book your wedding
dress, venue,
catering, hairdressing, photographer and everything else for your
wedding from someone who's not a professional in his or her business,
based on
the price
only, choosing the cheapest you can get? Even if
you are on a tight
budget, there has to be a balance between the price and the quality.
Then
the price for a wedding ceremony and
reception music depends on many factors, like the number of
performers
and duration of the event.
Generally
speaking, the more players there are, the less
they get paid individually
(within limits) and vice versa. This
is because within a group the
responsibility on each player is less heavy than the responsibility a
duo or
a soloist have. It’s easy to understand, if you are a solo player and
something
doesn’t go quite right, there is nobody around to blame. The
difficulties of
the music pieces are all on the shoulders of one or two players.
Besides this,
not all musicians feel happy about playing solo, so this reduces the
number of
solo/duo performers available.
As
to duration,
if you
want music for the ceremony
only
the minimum is generally one hour, including the arrival of guests and
some time after the celebration itself, everybody leaving the church or
hall, congratulating the couple etc, when you can have some music
played. However, from my experience, most couples like to have
classical
music for the ceremony
and for a drink reception
after it and all this could last about two or, more often, three hours.
So, to recapitulate, duo or solo
performers are more expensive individually,
but with a group
you have to add up the individual
amounts and so to have a quartet for example, you end up with paying
more than
a duo or a soloist. To give you a rough idea, you could get some
professional music played at your wedding from a minimum of about
£150-200, again
based on the number of players and on how long you want the music for.
Anyway,
whatever your budget and the style you
choose, I’d recommend you to always book professional players,
people
who have experience and will really help you to organise the music for
your wedding
with the
most suitable pieces.
After
all, this is a day you’ll remember
for all your life and the music will really contribute to
make it more memorable.
Thanks
for your
visit, contact me for more
information, to send
a comment or to book
your music entertainment. For a live chat call:(UK)
07985
025129.
Wedding
links
Here
are
some links that may be useful to help organize your wedding