My favorite wedding information book, “Bridal Bargains,” doesn’t get it about wedding musicians.
Since my daughter is getting married, and I’m a NC wedding musician, I thought I’d start boning up on the current state of wedding planning and publications. I’ve looked at quite a few books and so far the best is “Bridal Bargains” by Denise and Alan Fields. (I am not connected to them in any way.) They have an excellent no-nonsense approach to the bridal industry and lots of good ideas presented in a way that is not too frou-frou for even a groom to read! And lots of ideas about economical weddings and staying on budget using unusual approaches.
There’s one passage that made me groan, though:
Every major metropolitan area has a plethora of good wedding entertainers. The only problem is finding them. Ceremony musicians, reception bands and DJs typically keep a very low profile, choosing to work by word-of-mouth referral. Many of the most successful bands don’t advertise their services. So how can you find these people?
Sound of teeth loudly gnashing. They think we don’t want to be found? Not the case at all.
- Advertising is expensive, and most musicians don’t have the money to spare.
- Advertising takes time and expertise, and many wonderful musicians are very busy – and not so good at writing copy or finding economical places to place ads. Those who offer to build websites for musicians can be predatory, taking advantage of people who are pretty inexperienced online, and the costs are often too high.
- The online world, as found in web searches, is over-run by “directory sites” which claim to offer local services but which, at least in an area like the Triangle (that’s where I live, it’s Durham, Chapel Hill, Carrboro, Hillsborough, and Raleigh in NC), are often very empty and unhelpful. “Real” musicians can’t get the rankings to compete with the big paid sites like “The Knot.”
OK, I’m off my soap-box now. I am trying to find out if Google can be moved to try harder to watch out for the little guy, because that’s who you want for your wedding – not offers from some big slick cover band from New York or New Jersey to come down and do your wedding as long as you pay thousands in travel costs. You want somebody nearby, who would love to make music for you.
