What music can I select?
For a church wedding, you will need to liaise with the priest, vicar or minister in charge of the church as well as with whoever is taking the service itself. Different churches have different rules. In particular, some churches do not allow music which does not have a religious character; other churches may not allow playing CDs during the ceremony.
Beyond that, however, it is up to you. I am happy to guide you, and if there is a piece I can’t yet play you would like me to get to grips with, I’m more than happy to learn it for you!
Who do I have to tell that I have hired you?
If you are getting married in a Catholic church, you just need to let the parish priest know, and the priest or deacon who will marry you if that is someone else.
Most Anglican churches have a resident organist who is entitled to be paid a fee no matter who actually plays the organ for the wedding. It is worth discussing this with the vicar at the earliest opportunity, and with me, too: depending on location, I may be able to give a discount to acknowledge this.
What happens if the bride is late?
I will start playing 15 minutes before the wedding is due to start, and stop at the time the wedding is due to begin. If the bride is fashionably late, this allows for a couple of minutes’ silent anticipation before the entrance music begins.
If the bride is more than about 5 to 6 minutes late, my experience of many weddings over 20 years is that the groom will start looking increasingly worried and the guests will get restless!
Whilst I wouldn’t want to dampen the happy day by leaving early to make a point, if the bride is very late (my all-time record is 1 hour 34 minutes) I cannot guarantee to be able to stay.
What kinds of weddings can you play for?
Church music is my home turf as a musician, and so I have experience of a broad variety of styles of music and liturgy. Most church weddings stick to traditional and familiar patterns, so that the guests can fully participate without feeling uncomfortable or left out, but I am also able to play in other genres, from leading worship songs to cantoring Mass in Latin.
Another organist quoted me a lower price: why should I pay your fee?
You get what you pay for! Every wedding gets my full attention and I will give you the absolute best renditions of the pieces you select. I am passionate about details of music selection, timing, and matching the overall mood of the day.