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February 6, 2012
Tips on Booking a Wedding Gig
Don’t Forget to Market Yourself
Finding couples who are getting married isn’t difficult – but it does take time and money. The promo package you send the bride is extremely important, since you won’t get a second chance to make that first impression. If you’re serious about grabbing a portion of the wedding pie, hire a designer to provide an original logo, envelopes, letterhead, and business cards. And pay a studio with a professional engineer to produce a top-notch demo, preferably a CD. I group 20- to 30-second excerpts of music into categories labeled “Prelude Suggestions,” “Wedding Marches,” “Recessional Choices,” and so on. Make sure you spell all the pieces’ names correctly, a little step that will save you time when the bride calls in a panic because the wedding program is “going to the printer tomorrow.” It may also be worth placing a well-designed ad in your newspaper’s wedding section, but be careful. I’ve found that attending a wedding fair brings more jobs than buying a small monthly ad in a newsprint handout. And don’t forget that you can barter. My local symphony and opera offer ad space in their programs to musicians who’ll play for performances. The beauty of this business is that the more weddings you play, the less you’ll need to market yourself.
By Van Vinikow
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