So, it's not top ten. Or top five. It's just what you need to know, and that's enough said....
In reverse order, please:
6. Take lighting into consideration
If your wedding will be outdoors or in an unconventional location then your should take a moment to consider the lighting. If your ceremony will be outdoors at 7:30 pm, you may need to locate your musicians near a light source, or simply provide book lights that can clip onto the top of their stands.
5. Make sure you have stands, chairs, or microphones if needed.
Check ahead with your church or venue to ensure that you will have the number of chairs and stands needed for your musicians. String quartets and trios will play seated, as will any cellist you hire. Most soloists will play standing. Make sure that chairs you provide do not have arms on them. The coordinator or pastor should be able to tell you whether your musicians will need a microphone or not. Your musicians can probably also help you to assess your sound needs.
4. Utilize rehearsal time
One of your musicians should attend your rehearsal for many reasons. Ask the attending musician to bring an instrument and to play while the wedding party walks down the aisle. This enables your wedding party to get a feel for what speed to walk and what they will hear, and enables your musician to plan for when to stop playing. Most processionals do not get played the entire way through. Other things to answer at the rehearsal are where to set up musician stands/chairs and who will cue and pay the musicians. If you have hired someone to play with a friend or family member, - say an accompanist for someone to sing a special song - both of those people should be in attendance to rehearse together. Check with your musician to see if you need to pay a fee for extra rehearsal time.
3. Give your musicians a “call time”
Tell your musicians what time you expect them to be at your venue. Especially if you are using a less-experienced musician, they may not know what an acceptable time frame looks like. On the other hand, be reasonable in your expectations. Arrival twenty to thirty minutes before the time that music should start playing is a perfectly acceptable expectation, but not much more.
2. Make sure your musicians/dj. know where they’re getting their cues from
Your musicians should not just start when they think it’s right, they will need a cue. Usually this comes from the officiant. Remember, your musicians are likely playing many weddings and may not remember what your particular grandmother looks like, and may not even be able to see the beginning of the aisle.
1. Put someone else in charge of music on the wedding day.
Many couples’ biggest wedding-day mistake is thinking that they can do it all. You have strived to coordinate perfection for so long, but your wedding day is the time to relax and enjoy the fruits of your labor. Delegate responsibilities for the wedding day. If you don’t have a wedding planner, the ushers make especially great people to ask to pitch in, as do the best man and maid of honor. Make it one person’s job to have the musicians’ phone numbers, know what chairs etc. they need set up and where, and to have their check ready. If you are using an ipod for ceremony or reception, have some one else run it and go through a test run a week or two prior.
