researching music for your wedding

There are some great books out there for you to read in order to familiarize yourself with the "music world" as it pertains to your wedding. Relying on a professional that is the leader or manager of the music ensemble  is the smartest thing to do, but reading and preparing ahead will make it easier to communicate with her. Here are a few recommendations I have. 

CDs and MP3s as demos

If you are considering booking a group of musicians, make sure that you get more than just a CD in the mail, or listen to MP3s on a website. It is easy to download music from anywhere and make a CD or post MP3 files to a site. Look for a group with video that includes live music and sound. You need to make sure that you are booking the group that you think you are in love with, not some group that has pirated some tunes and added their own label. Do not be fooled by video that is just a slide show with music either, as the photos may be real, but who knows where the soundtrack came from. Don't let this frighten you, as most of us in the business are legitimate professionals that know what we are doing, but always beware the new ones that pop up here and there and don't have the experience or the sound that you are looking for. Your wedding only happens once, and the music sets the stage for it to be elegant or not.