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Wedding Woes (long-ish)
Hi everyone! This is my first "real" post (I did the introduction one a while back), but I've been lurking around here for a while.
bg/ I'm a wedding singer--the kind that sings opera while the bridesmaids walk in, not the Adam Sandler variety, though that would be fun--with a really fancy church. /bg
This is from years ago. A bride's father contacted me about singing for his little girl's wedding. It wasn't at my normal church, but would be a freelance gig. He'd heard me sing somewhere else, and thought I'd be perfect. Aw, thanks! That's really sweet. It would be important to note that he'd heard me singing pieces from an operetta, so he knew I was a classical singer, and that I was a trained professional.
Anyway, the bride calls a few days later to go over her choices for the wedding, and they're all off my list of suggested repertoire, with the exception of one piece. She wanted a Country/Pop song for the lighting of the unity candle. It's a very appropriate piece for a wedding, but not necessarily appropriate for an operatic voice and organ accompaniment. I could sing the notes, but there was a very good chance it would turn out sounding a lot like the old SNL sketch with Will Ferrell and Ana Gasteyer as music teachers. I felt I would be remiss not to, at least, give her fair warning that the song would not sound like the original recording, so I--very nicely--explained how different voices and instruments can really change how a song sounds. She giggled, said that was fine, but she wanted it anyway. I said that was cool, and totally understood wanting a special song at your wedding, I just wanted her to understand what she was getting. We discussed a price; I said I was looking forward to the wedding, and asked for the organist's phone number so we could arrange a meeting time before the ceremony. She said her mom would call with that. All in all, a lovely girl and very productive conversation...but if that were all, I wouldn't be writing this.
Mom calls to give me the organist's number, and before I can say anything other than, "hello", demands to know what the "deal" is with the country song. I told her there was no "deal", and that it's fine. I had simply told her daughter that it wouldn't sound like the original artist and orchestral/guitar accompaniment. She wants to know why the heck not, and I explain to her the same thing I told her daughter. Then I added that I had already started working on the song with my vocal coach, and that it would be lovely, just different from the country superstar in the recording. That seemed to placate her, thankfully.
That's when she hits me with, "so when do rehearsals start?" I reminded her that I was already working on the song, and that I had not spoken with the organist yet, but that we would probably meet somewhere between an hour and an hour and half before the ceremony to go over tempos and make sure everyone was on the same page. In my experience, that's been the general practice.
This INFURIATED the mother. How dare I act so cavalier! This is her daughter's wedding! It's special! Well, yes, I understand that, so I ask her how long she thinks I should rehearse...THREE THREE-HOUR LONG REHEARSALS! That's nine hours! I've been in entire productions that spent less time on strict music rehearsal! Not only that, but she wasn't paying me for nine hours of rehearsal, and I was pretty sure she wasn't paying the organist for that kind of time. Plus, I had other weddings and performances to rehearse for. I took a deep breath and calmly explained that, while I understood the importance of her daughter's big day, nine hours really wasn't necessary, since we were both already working on the music separately. I told her I could talk with the organist and we could probably arrange one additional rehearsal (I was being way too nice), but that was up to the organist, and after that time I would have to charge her extra.
"Well, I'll just have to get one of the bridesmaids to do it, then! Nevermind!"
Alrighty! Good luck with that! I wonder if they practiced for nine hours?
(BTW: 15 years of wedding singing, and that's the only time I've been fired. At least I got a fun story out of it.)
bg/ I'm a wedding singer--the kind that sings opera while the bridesmaids walk in, not the Adam Sandler variety, though that would be fun--with a really fancy church. /bg
This is from years ago. A bride's father contacted me about singing for his little girl's wedding. It wasn't at my normal church, but would be a freelance gig. He'd heard me sing somewhere else, and thought I'd be perfect. Aw, thanks! That's really sweet. It would be important to note that he'd heard me singing pieces from an operetta, so he knew I was a classical singer, and that I was a trained professional.
Anyway, the bride calls a few days later to go over her choices for the wedding, and they're all off my list of suggested repertoire, with the exception of one piece. She wanted a Country/Pop song for the lighting of the unity candle. It's a very appropriate piece for a wedding, but not necessarily appropriate for an operatic voice and organ accompaniment. I could sing the notes, but there was a very good chance it would turn out sounding a lot like the old SNL sketch with Will Ferrell and Ana Gasteyer as music teachers. I felt I would be remiss not to, at least, give her fair warning that the song would not sound like the original recording, so I--very nicely--explained how different voices and instruments can really change how a song sounds. She giggled, said that was fine, but she wanted it anyway. I said that was cool, and totally understood wanting a special song at your wedding, I just wanted her to understand what she was getting. We discussed a price; I said I was looking forward to the wedding, and asked for the organist's phone number so we could arrange a meeting time before the ceremony. She said her mom would call with that. All in all, a lovely girl and very productive conversation...but if that were all, I wouldn't be writing this.
Mom calls to give me the organist's number, and before I can say anything other than, "hello", demands to know what the "deal" is with the country song. I told her there was no "deal", and that it's fine. I had simply told her daughter that it wouldn't sound like the original artist and orchestral/guitar accompaniment. She wants to know why the heck not, and I explain to her the same thing I told her daughter. Then I added that I had already started working on the song with my vocal coach, and that it would be lovely, just different from the country superstar in the recording. That seemed to placate her, thankfully.
That's when she hits me with, "so when do rehearsals start?" I reminded her that I was already working on the song, and that I had not spoken with the organist yet, but that we would probably meet somewhere between an hour and an hour and half before the ceremony to go over tempos and make sure everyone was on the same page. In my experience, that's been the general practice.
This INFURIATED the mother. How dare I act so cavalier! This is her daughter's wedding! It's special! Well, yes, I understand that, so I ask her how long she thinks I should rehearse...THREE THREE-HOUR LONG REHEARSALS! That's nine hours! I've been in entire productions that spent less time on strict music rehearsal! Not only that, but she wasn't paying me for nine hours of rehearsal, and I was pretty sure she wasn't paying the organist for that kind of time. Plus, I had other weddings and performances to rehearse for. I took a deep breath and calmly explained that, while I understood the importance of her daughter's big day, nine hours really wasn't necessary, since we were both already working on the music separately. I told her I could talk with the organist and we could probably arrange one additional rehearsal (I was being way too nice), but that was up to the organist, and after that time I would have to charge her extra.
"Well, I'll just have to get one of the bridesmaids to do it, then! Nevermind!"
Alrighty! Good luck with that! I wonder if they practiced for nine hours?
(BTW: 15 years of wedding singing, and that's the only time I've been fired. At least I got a fun story out of it.)
He is my Black Dragon (and yes, a good one) strong, protective, the guardian. I am his Silver Dragon, always by his side, shining for him, cherishing him.
But I understand that not everyone is chorister-trained.
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