Facing the Music

The Wedding Guru Judy Lewis fields this week’s wedding questions. Today: Facing the Music

In many ways, modern technology makes planning a wedding much simpler and as a prospective bride you are, no doubt, very savvy about how to make it work for you. The days of running around from one vendor to another are over. Only the vendors who have made the cut to the “last round” need to be visited in person. The Web can offer you any number of short cuts and time saving advantages. For example, most manufacturers of wedding and bridesmaids’ gowns have Web sites. That works especially well if you have chosen attendants who live in different cities and want to include them in making selections.

Vicky asks: “Most wedding venues no longer allow prospective brides to sneak in for a peek in order to hear what a band or orchestra sound like. How can I get an idea of what these musicians sound like before I hire them? I hate to go by looks and references alone.”

Dear Vicky: You are correct. This is a luxury that venues no longer provide — they have found it to be disruptive of the wedding in progress. To combat this, most live music groups have prepared a CD with samples of their different kinds of music they play. Some groups have one, or more, vocalists and these too appear on the CD. Some more sophisticated professionals have prepared DVDs, so you can not only hear, but also see the group “live.”

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Another way to catch a live glimpse is to visit bridal shows that have performances going on during the time the show is in progress. Call the show promoter in advance, so you can check credentials, before you see the group in action. You may also wish to ask to see still photos that the group has taken at affairs they have played. For a listing of many of the region’s bridal shows, visit HudsonValleyWeddings.com/shows/shows.htm for up-to-date information.

Netta asks: “Call me a nervous Nellie, but how do I ‘protect’ myself from having my DJ or photographer (who work alone) bailing if they are sick and being left without music and/or photos?”

Dear Netta: I don’t think you’re being an alarmist! Most wedding professionals who work alone have a backup team to cover for them in case of an emergency. It’s unusual, but if there is an emergency, he or she gets hurt or sick, or something catastrophic happens, you could be out a photographer and miss capturing these memories. Get the names and contact numbers for each of the back-up team.

To submit a question to “The Wedding Guru,” e-mail it to judy@hvmag.com, or add a comment in the box below.

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