As my ’18 live playing wedding season is winding down, I am reflecting on the great ceremonies, and cocktail hours that I have played for some absolutely amazing couples this year. I have one more wedding ceremony and cocktail hour to play this wedding year, and a couple of new songs to add to my repertoire. Currently working on “Hey There Delilah” by the Plain White T’s and “Mr Blue Sky” by ELO. I have always been a huge Jeff Lynne fan, so learning some ELO is a real treat. Another great addition to my cocktail hour music is “Ahead By a Century” by The Tragically Hip. In the year following Gord’s passing, their music is even more relevant.
This year has had some unique challenges; playing outdoors with no electricity (not once but twice), and a Catholic church ceremony with some restrictive music guidelines are a couple that come to mind. I always enjoy a challenge, whether it’s the actual music, or the logistics to make it happen.
There have been 3 wedding shows this fall, and one more to go as I write this. 2019 is shaping up to have some different venues (new to me at least!), and couples with some really unique ways of personalizing their wedding day. It looks like there will be a number of outdoor ceremonies, and many being held in non-traditional locations; family farms, backyards, parks, vineyards and restaurants planned so far.
Something that I love doing is exploring people’s musical tastes, and finding ways of bringing their diverse tastes to their wedding day. There is always a few songs that bridge the gap and speaks to each of them.
‘Rob’s Rule Of Thumb For Selecting Your Wedding Music’
Select songs that speak to you. Songs that mean something in your life. Don’t pick songs to keep someone else happy. It’s your wedding day, and the selections should be important to you. Don’t let someone else’s opinion change your mind if it’s a song that you really want included. Case in point, a few years ago, Kelly and Tom asked for “500 Miles” by The Proclaimers as their recessional song. I wondered about it… however, on the day of the wedding, I simply started the song and the guests all took over from there which lead into a great reception and remainder of the celebration. It couldn’t have been a better fit. Now, whenever couples ask me for a song that goes against the traditional wisdom of what sort of song should fit into specific parts of the ceremony, I have learned to simply go with it. This year I did an acoustic version of
“Highway to Hell” for the recessional. Twice.