3 Reminders When Hiring a Wedding Musician
Guest Blogger: Britt-Lynn from BLW Music
Meet our Guest Blogger: Britt-Lynn Winch is an award winning harpist performing across the GTA and beyond. From weddings to teas, anniversaries to birthdays; Britt-Lynn is excited to help create lasting memories through music.
While each wedding is beautiful and unique in its own special way, over the years I have seen and heard of situations occurring that give you an opportunity to learn and grow from them. You never wish for something to go awry on someone’s special day. And as a harpist, I try my utmost to warn couples about specific details that they might have never even considered. So, when I hear of this pattern of occurrences happening, I hope that my top 3 things to consider while hiring a musician will help you as well!
Make Sure They Are Business Minded
While it might not seem important in the short term, hiring a musician that takes the extra paper work steps is extremely important. Not just for them, but for you as a client.
Contracts help confirm the exact terms and agreements you both agreed upon. This helps when upon the arrival of your wedding date, if they did not stipulate that they required something and it is not there, this is not your fault. It can also help you see any hidden / unexpected fees such as an additional cost for the musician to learn a piece for you. In the long-term, it might help you tremendously if something were to occur such as the musician not showing up. While this is the worst-case scenario, and thoughtful musicians would never do such a thing. It is better to be safe than sorry. Paper trails also help you in this area. While it is easy to just pay in cash, it is harder to prove that you actually paid a musician after extending the time period, etc. with no proof of an e-transfer.
Consider Where They Will Be Set Up
It is considerate not just to the musician, but also to the other vendors helping set up on the day of your wedding, to know exactly where you would like your musician to set up. The DJ having to potentially mic them, the wedding venue setting up the chairs and other vendors are impacted if there is a sudden change in the musician’s location. Not to mention the hassle of having to relocate the instrument itself. Stairs really can be a musician’s worst enemy. As a harpist, I need to use a dolly to help me and if I had already removed it from the ceremony area, a rush in getting everything moved in a good time can be pretty stressful to say the least!
A lot of musical instruments are made of wood. Because of this, I would strongly encourage you to consider having them in a shaded area if your wedding is outdoors. It helps to keep the instrument in good shape away from the sun along with not causing any sun blindness on the musician while they play.
Have An Emergency Ceremony Piece
DJs and venues are good at what they do and are often ready for that moment you want a specific song to play instead of the musician. However, I have had it where the song isn’t playing due to technical difficulties. I have to quickly consider what song they would like me to play for that specific ceremony moment. Having an emergency ceremony piece causes no harm and just gives that extra assurance that things will run smoothly for the entirety of your ceremony!
