Your wedding professionals include your photographer, your DJ, your live musicians, and your officiant.
For your perfect wedding, all of us work together seamlessly.
Your photographer
You will probably work with your professional photographer from the day that you get engaged until you receive your wedding album.
Your professional wedding photographer is listed here first because she will preserve your romantic memories for all time. Your guests may be capturing amateur pictures, but only if you allow them to, and your best wedding photographs will be taken professionally.
Your professional photographer has photographed many, many weddings. It is not my job to tell her what to do, how to do it, or what photographs to take. I am there to help, not direct. We’re both members of your wedding team.
Why is your wedding officiant talking about your wedding photographer?
There are several reasons, chief among them is that experienced wedding professionals are used to working smoothly with other wedding professionals. Before your wedding ceremony begins, your professional photographer and I will discuss the flow of your ceremony, the ceremony elements that you have decided to include, and photo possibilities that are specific to your unique wedding.
For example, there are two must-have photos at nearly every wedding: The ring exchange and The Kiss. I’ll describe to your photographer how I’ve coached you about your wedding rings so that she has plenty of time to get several great shots. I’ll also explain how I’ll be invisible when it comes time for The Kiss.
Most importantly, I’ll give your professional photographer my only rule for photographers: “Get the best shot possible and tell me how I can help you.”
Kim Kelly is a photographer that I recommend by name. Kim and I have worked together, and I’m impressed by her professionalism and creativity. You can visit Kim Kelly’s website, her Facebook Page, or call Kim at 203-376-1781. Full disclosure: I recommend Kim Kelly because I believe that you will like her and her photography of your wedding. I have no financial interest in whether you hire her as your photographer.
Do you plan to have a wedding videographer?
Your wedding photographer will be taking still photographs, capturing brief moments in time. Your videographer, on the other hand, would capture both the audible and the visible record of your most romantic day.
Your videographer will probably set up the video camera on a tripod where all of your ceremony can be seen from one vantage point. Your videographer may have a separate microphone to gather sound. Possibly your videographer will get an audio feed from either me or your DJ.
One of my jobs as your wedding officiant is to help your photographer and videographer get unobstructed shots. Before your ceremony begins, I’ll make a request to your guests that they be mindful of the visual record being made and ask that they remain seated. Again, my responsibility is to help, not give directions to an experienced professional.
Your professional wedding DJ
DJs are not replacements for live musicians. DJs and live musicians each have expertise in their chosen field. Professional wedding DJs and professional musicians often work as a team to make wedding ceremonies romantic and stress-free.
Wedding DJs and club DJs are different. They have some skills in common, and some skills that wedding DJs use, club DJs neither know nor want to learn.
Your professional wedding DJ will look on your wedding ceremony as an opportunity to provide quality service in sound reinforcement, and possibly background music and / or ceremony music. Club DJs are all about keeping people dancing. A club DJ would look on your wedding ceremony as an annoyance, or at least a boring chore.
Professional wedding DJs are virtually invisible during wedding ceremonies. You and your guests can tell that someone must be causing the music to play and making it possible for everyone to hear the words spoken during your ceremony. What you and your guests won’t hear before, during, or after your ceremony is the high-pitched squeal of feedback.
Your DJ will either provide a wireless microphone or plug my wireless mike into his or her equipment. Your DJ may also provide a microphone for someone who is going to read or sing during your ceremony. Most professional musicians either do not need sound reinforcement or provide their own, and your live musicians may request that your DJ amplify their music.
It goes nearly unsaid that your wedding ceremony DJ will most likely be the DJ and master of ceremonies for your wedding reception. With the right DJ, you and your guests will love hearing the music you’ve requested, and everyone will dance until they’re tired out. (Professional DJs know how to politely decline guests’ requests for songs that either don’t fit the mood or the crowd and do it without hurting anyone’s feelings. [Does anyone really want to do the Macarena?r])
Your live musicians
Live musicians provide you with much more flexibility than recorded music. Professional musicians who frequently play at weddings are very apt to have the songs that you want already in their repertoire. If they don’t know a piece, your musicians will most likely learn it for your wedding.
Timing is important for your wedding ceremony to flow smoothly. The Music Page shows you some places that you’ll probably want to integrate music in your ceremony. From your gentle background music that welcomes your guests into your ceremony space to the lively upbeat music that sends your guests to your reception, your musicians will play a significant part in the romance of your wedding.
Your professional wedding musicians will make a smooth transition from background music to the entrance of the first member of your wedding party. When it is time for the bride to make her entrance, your musicians will probably take just a few seconds of silence to heighten expectations before they launch into the bride’s special music. One of the advantages of live music is that the musicians will stretch the melody if the song is too short or bring it to a smooth end if the bride is in place before her song is finished.
If you have a unity ceremony that has some natural silence in it, musicians will probably play a little peaceful music until someone begins speaking again.
You may decide to have your musicians play for your cocktail hour if you have one before your reception. With your musicians’ help you’ll choose light music that your guests will enjoy because you know how their musical tastes run.
Divina Strings, pictured at the top of my Music Page, are professional, experienced wedding musicians whom I’ve enjoyed working with several times. Divina Strings vast repertoire includes a wide range of classical and pop music, and they can play as soloists, string trios, string quartets, or unique wedding bands. Their website is WWW.DivinaStrings.Com. Full disclosure: I have no financial interest in which musician or musicians you choose.
Your wedding officiant
Your wedding officiant is the one professional that you must have as part of your wedding. Without an officiant, you’d just be having an elaborate party.
As your officiant, I have both the training and the experience to help make your wedding day as unique, romantic, and as stress-free as it can be. It’s hard to talk about myself without seeming to be bragging.
This website has no stock photos; each picture is of a real wedding. There are no models; only real wedding couples are pictured. Some of the photographs were taken by professional photographers, some by talented amateurs, and some by me. Represented on these Pages is a small fraction of the hundreds of weddings that I’ve had the honor of officiating.
Selecting the right officiant for your wedding is obviously important possible and can seem difficult. That is why I strongly suggest that you and I meet for a no-cost, no obligation planning session. We’ll meet somewhere relatively quiet where we can chat undisturbed. Or we can use Zoom if you’d prefer! You’ll be interviewing me, and I’ll be interviewing you. You’re encouraged to ask lots of questions and take notes. I’ll ask you questions about your vision for your ideal romantic wedding, offer you lots of options, and take detailed notes about your decisions. I will respect your privacy; I won’t ask you anything that is too personal or that would make you uncomfortable. At the end of our meeting (usually an hour or so), you’ll have a good idea of whether you and I are a good fit for your wedding. If all three of us agree that we’re well suited, then we can move forward toward your wonderful wedding. If you or I don’t think we’re a good match, we’ll shake hands and part with good will and my best wishes.
You’ll never receive any pressure from me; you don’t like a hard sell any more than I do. You’ll find that I’m laid back, but serious about giving you the best customer service possible.
Please give me a call or text at 860-543-2334 to talk about your romantic wedding. I promise that I won’t call you without your permission.