Right now I’m sitting in a pew at a wedding rehearsal listening to a young man absolutely PLOD his way through Pachelbel’s Canon. I winced less at The Human Centipede. Weddings are already ludicrously expensive and rife with fees, but for fuck’s sake, pay for a pro. Your friend who volunteers is just being nice and often severely overestimating their ability. It’s akin to having your buddy volunteer to stand in for a professional tattoo artist for that full back piece you want - except now everyone you know is watching and the video cameras are running.
That’s what she said!
An accomplished organist will also suffice.
Absolutely. I’ve just come from a wedding where the bride’s cousin sang a solo - very badly. Any of the sopranos in the choir could have done it much better. The only saving grace was that it was raining very hard (and the church has a metal roof) so I suspect many of the congregation would not have been able to hear her.
I’ve been to weddings where I could have sung better than someone’s relative who was murdering “Ave Maria” or whatever, and I sing like a broken chainsaw.
As luck has it, I’m off to a wedding rehearsal in a bit. No idea what acoustic terrors await…
Ya know those bumper stickers that say “Yes I have a pick up truck/no I won’t help you move” I’m going to get one that says “Yes, I have a ‘big camera’/No I won’t shoot your wedding.” Trust me, you don’t want me to do it. I have a DSLR, I’ve taken some decent shots but for every ‘good’ picture you see of mine, you don’t see the 200 that are sitting on my hard drive taking up space. Also, pictures of trees and dogs don’t involve me having to understand how people should be arranged blah blah blah. I’m sorry, you can be mad at me if you want, I’m not going to do it.
The only time I did it is when I got roped into it with another friend who’s just a bit better then myself and between me and him we’re probably about 50% as good as a pro…and we were free and the bride and groom are very good friends and fully understood what they were getting into. It actually turned out pretty well. But in general no, I won’t shoot your wedding, please don’t ask.
Also, I’ve learned that anyone who says ‘big camera’ instead of DSLR doesn’t understand or care and just keeps saying “Oh c’mon, you’ll be fine” “I’m sure it’ll look great” no matter how many times I say it won’t work. They just don’t understand all the technicalities that go into it (and the post processing, that’s a few more hours worth of work to sort through the thousands of pictures that get taken during the wedding and reception. And, if that’s not enough, I’m not a sociable people person. I’m really not comfortable spending the night putting people into forced positions and rearranging them to my liking…
And the people who do know to call it a DSLR instead of a ‘big camera’…they don’t ask to begin with.
It’s my fault though. I brought my camera to a wedding one day and after the real photog left I pulled it out and took a few hundred pics and posted about 60 or so on facebook that turned out really well and people started asking me.
TL;DR hiring a photog, don’t ask a friend. It puts him/her in an awkward position and if the pictures don’t turn out it’s going to make everyone mad at each other.
Personally, I’m opposed to live music at weddings, period. Find a DJ who shuts up and does what he’s told, and you’ll be just fine.
But do you really want him spinning “My Humps” for the bridal procession?
I think the subject at hand is the wedding proper.
That said, we had a trio of three really old guys at our reception - yeah, a DJ would have been a better choice. They were talented, but not what we needed. They said they did modern music (this was 25 years ago). My brother asked them to play a Beach Boys song IIRC, and they said they’d already done it and no had danced.
Apparently, no one had recognized it, either.
Just get a good piper, and you’re golden!
I sang at a wedding last year where we had a full cohort of pipers and drummers - about 12 in all. Very impressive!
I don’t think it is that important for the wedding ceremony unless you are an aristocrat but certainly a requirement for a successful honeymoon.
Mine did “Say a Little Prayer”, so…
(I forgot that Americans separate the wedding from the party. Here, it all happens together, with the ceremony usually taking place between the hors d’oeuvres and the main course).
Bagpipes playing “Love Stinks”
Thirteen posts in and no one has yet said “pianist ensues”? I gotta do all the heavy lifting around here.
Sometimes you get what you can afford though…
The correct intermediate step is a pre-recorded CD, MP3, or cassette. There’s no need to go live.
The very best and most enjoyable weddings I have been to were amateur hour confabs of one kind or another, full of life and spirt. The cost of “professionally” constructed and executed weddings is so insanely obscene it beggars the imagination.
Honestly, except for Bridezillas who really cares the singer was off key, or the flowers didn’t all match perfectly, or the cake wasn’t professionally baked? Is it going to make the wedding stronger or last longer? Except as an exercise in the most grotesque sort of conspicuous consumption the notion that “pros” have to manage the average modern wedding, or they won’t be yummy and special enough is a disgusting affectation.
Sure, but come on. Anybody can hear sour notes when it’s just one piano.
Maybe not, but in my own case, I also wanted to honor the people who wished to participate. Fortunately for us, these folks were free. Definitely within our budget and, despite their performances being on the cheesy side, everyone enjoyed them for what they contributed. Love for us as a couple. We all had fun!
Actually many churches and even some nonreligious ceremony venues do not allow recorded music. Ours didn’t, we were married at a nondenominational university chapel and our choices were to hire the university organist, bring our own musicians, or not have music. And it was a Catholic ceremony, it was strongly encouraged [by the priest we brought in] that we have a cantor.