Live music, played by the best musicians in the world, is a thing of great beauty.
What we do doesn’t really exist anymore — except that we do it.
The best musicians in the world play in my bands.
However — and this is important for anyone considering hiring a live band to play music for their wedding — we are not just there to play some music!
We’re there to provie a pink cloud for the bride and groom, their family and friends to float on.
It’s magical, live music. And very real. Charming, dramatic, exciting, passionate, stirring, romantic and joyful. But most of all, engaging. My brides and grooms are getting hip to that word: engaging. They’re calling and telling me that’s what they want.
You bet they do!
It’s a whole new world, this invoking of timeless values.
When I started performing swing, jazz, standards and R&B for weddings, there were no synthesizers. The piano players played piano!
There were no wedding coordinators. The upper classes had social secretaries; everyone else got help from their family, the caterer, or the banquet department at the hotel.
Centerpiece games, who’s been married longest and is left standing on the dance floor games, insult the groom and then kneecap him with a paddle games — those had yet to be discovered.
The bridal industry was a gracious tour de force made up of fine florists, caterers, photographers, hotel staffers and bandleaders who knew what it takes to put on a thoroughly enjoyable wedding. On mearly any bugdet, I nmight add.
DJ’s had yet to appear on the scene.
Can you imagine, no DJ’s?
The bandleader was the M/C, musical director, family confidante and sometimes wedding director.
Today, there are also some FABULOUS wedding ocoordinators out there.
Somewhere along the way, we became an industry.
And we learned the art of doing weddings.
Of working together as a team, understanding how important it is to know what we can’t do as well as what we can do.
Helping our clients set up a pace that works, rather than getting caught up in the crammed-to-the-brim timeline of of extraneous activities today’s bridal websites and magazines are suggesting — they of the meaningless song lists — in an effort to capitalize on advertising dollars.
Along the way, we have watched simplicity, elegance and the love and support of family and friends take a back seat to one-upsmanship.
Not at our weddings of course.
I think that is changing. I know it is changing.
More and more, brides and grooms are coming to me and asking for vintage music, for tradition and glamour.
And that’s a good thing.
They want to acknowledge friends and relatives who will be with them on their special day, and also those who cannot be.
They want to have fun, and they want glamour and elegance.
They understand the phrase “engage the guests.”
I am hearing those exact words from many of my brides and grooms.
We want to hire a band that will engage our guests.
Yes!
That’s exactly what we do. And no amount of recorded music — or a template of unimaginative tunes pulled off a list on some wedding website — can take the place of a fabulous, experienced, intuitive and versatile live band.
We love flowers. Cake is great. Event designers, wow — another very cool trend. A Hollywoiod set for our Old Hollywood music. Weddings are supposed to be glamorous!
The evolution of the wedding industry has made so much of the “good stuff” rise to the top. Glamour is in, cheese is out.
What a concept!
Los Angeles bandleader/singer Judy Chamberlain specializes in vintage live wedding music. She can be reached at 714 774-1696.
Member Association of Bridal Consultants