Preacher Man, we really need to talk...

Arrggh, I woke up from a great slumber still frustrated about this, so I must vent. Blogs are good for that (maybe?). What I do know is that 2 (of my maybe 4) readers can appreciate this since they are also wedding musicians. ;)

Ok, I played for a lovely wedding last night. It was in a gorgeous backyard. One of those large acreages in Deer Creek, rolling hills, lots of trees, and probably the most amazing outdoor spread I've ever seen for a wedding. The bride had been very laidback about choosing music for her wedding. In fact, in the days leading up I had been a bit anxious because I rarely work with a bride who is so NOT worried about what song she will walk down to...we really want brides to like their music!

So, we finally got the deets ironed out & I was feeling good about it all. The band playing for the reception agreed to let me just plug in to their system. And what a system it was. This band, Wise Guys, have quite a spread...I showed up extra early and worked with their sound guy. All the equipment was on a gorgeous (covered) deck...but it turns out it was almost 50 yrds away from the actual ceremony. (A detail it would've helped to know!) No worries, the PA was huge, I had a good view, and preacher man was gonna cue me throughout the ceremony.

I could tell early on preacher man was not the best communicator. We swapped notes prior to the ceremony...I just needed to know his lines right before I started playing. Instead, he proceeds to go through EVERYthing he is going to say. Ok, I can be patient.

Well, the clincher was literally one MINUTE before the service begins, the mother of the groom becomes insistent on lowering a giant curtain over the 'stage' so that the photos will not show the wedding party coming out. (They were all coming from inside the house near the deck). So my anxiety is suddenly on the rise..I gotta see the wedding for my cues, people! No one is hearing me, so I have to just go with it.

So, I am literally just having to guess out my timing on the music because, oh yea, it turns out I can not HEAR the ceremony, either. A giant fountain to my left blocks the sound. And preacher man is not even using a mic (another surprise to me since there were 100+ guests). Here's the part that annoyed me...I play the brides' walk down, knowing I can just ballpark the walk (without seeing it)...and finally someone opens the curtain a tad as I am wrapping up the bride's walk. AND PREACHER MAN is apparently leading the audience in prayer while I am still ending the song! I can't explain how annoying this is. Preacher man also did not cue me once, so I was just desperately trying to read his lips for things like the unity candle. In hindsight, I should've just unplugged & marched the 50 yards over there & done it all without a mic. ;)

As a wedding musician, timing is key to everything going just right. I almost always cut bride walks very short, you needn't play the whole song. But there may be a measure or two where the couple stands there gazing at each other nervously while you wrap up. And everyone waits. That is what you do. But never have I played a wedding where the preacher just disregards the music & starts talking. Is it ok to want to scold someone "of the cloth" at a wedding? ;)

Seriously, when the wedding was over, had I not been busy doing the "cocktail" music, I would've found preacher man & told him thanks for throwing me under the bus.

There were two redeeming parts to this story. One, the clouds were brewing overhead & the sound guy had to unplug & start tearing down. He had over $10,000 worth of equipment that was about to be dumped on. The father of the bride was distraught, as he had hoped to dance with his daughter. So, I was able to just grab my guitar & do a very acoustic number for them ("The Way You Look Tonight"). It was actually pretty sweet. All the guests were eating & the rain was starting to sprinkle, but bride & dad just danced on that patio, both a bit teary-eyed. It was nice to know I could help in that way.

I was just hoping that the music incident did not upset the bride. (She seemed fine, she actually seemed very sweet & just nervous about being the center of attention...and thankfully her best friend had nothing but kind things to say about the ceremony music...I knew that it was a royal mess-up, tho, and it bugged me).

The other redeeming moment was when I talked to an old college buddy who was there as a videographer. We occasionally run into each other at some of the fancier weddings 'round town. We were talking about ol' preacher man & I asked Ben if he knew what church he was from. (I was still considering running into this guy in the near future to tell him he needs to get his act together....haha). And get this: he had told Ben that he was not from a church; he was a "street preacher." So much became clear in that moment.

My husband deals with church staff (or volunteers) on a daily basis, so he sees some characters for sure. He sees when there is ego & sometimes it gets ugly. (Seriously, some people do NOT realize how badly they represent their church just in the way they talk to people like their webmaster). But this just takes the cake. The wedding cake, that is.