Here is my first blog on the Winnipeg Wedding Site. I thought, rather than list venues and tunes that I have played, and trying to remember details from the 1,000s of wedding I have done and wedding ideas/faux pas I have encountered, I’d blog about events as I do them. I will make then searchable and and you can get ideas about not only the songs for your ceremony, but pros and cons of wedding venues, wedding photographers, caterers, etc.
This week I played for Leah and Todd’s wedding at the Millennium Center. As I do a lot, it was a solo guitar setting. This is the most practical and cost effective thing to do. As I say regularly, solo instruments like violin LOOK good in a movies and song good because what you hear is a symphony but only see a single musician. In real life it still looks good but a single player in a huge room playing single notes ALWAYS sounds thin. So a solo guitar or piano is the better option (unless you want to pony up more $ for a string trio).
For the processional, signing and recessional they chose
‘Perfect’ by Ed Sheeran,
‘Bubbly’ By Colbie Caillat
‘How Sweet It Is To Be Loved By You’ by Lamont Dozier and brothers Brian and Eddie Holland )though made famous by Marvin Gaye, James Taylor, Joan Osborne, Michael McDonald and Michael Bublé.
I set up in the corner and was playing tunes from my repertoire 30 minutes before the ceremony.
They started right on time (which is a little unusual). First mother of the bride, then the flowers girls as well as a little spoken word memorial for those not there, the bride’s maids and the bride.
Lovely folks and I wish them all the best.
The venue is a popular one. It is beautiful, large, centrally located, etc. Parking is always a challenge before you factor in construction and such. On top of that it has a few inherent problems. The first and most noticeable is the acoustics. The rotunda style building is a marvel to behold but everything echoes and echoes in a huge way! Because of this the human voice, even through the house system, is muddy and unclear. There are some places where the speaker setup is heard better than others but there are more dead zones than good listening areas. It could be fixed somewhat by more and smaller speakers and boosting mid range while dropping some bass. Unfortunately they have it tweaked more for the DJ’s than the spoken word and those guys like LOTS of bass.
On top of the that , the current manager, while efficient, seems to care little about courtesy and aesthetics. While playing the gentle relaxing prelude music for the arriving guests, he saw fit to choose that moment to bang water jugs together and pour ice into coolers. An efficient room turn over seems to involve kicking all your guests out to the noisy street (something to consider if you have a spring fall or winter wedding or what to do if it rains) as well as make the first table set up right ON TOP BY THE MUSICIAN WHO IS TRYING TO PACK UP HIS GEAR AND LEAVE AS WELL!
I say this not to slag this event location but to give you some heads up.
Wedding Music Winnipeg
2025 Corydon Ave Suite 202
Winnipeg Manitoba
R3P 0n5
(204)-487-3664
riverheightsmusic@gmail.com