Pandemic Bride Chronicles Part Three: The Sound Of Love
This image is from a Lucy Black Entertainment event. Photo Credit: Eli Turner
This post is dedicated to quality entertainment vendors and especially to Lucy Black Entertainment.
I believe that every great love story has a soundtrack from Casablanca, Gone with the Wind, Love Jones, and even Waiting to Exhale. Great movies use song to accentuate a story, which is why I think everyone should incorporate live music into planning an intimate wedding.
Here is my question to you: What is the sound of your love?
Ironically, my love story started with music because my husband-to-be and I met at a bar while he was waiting for a concert at Howard Theatre. I remember leaving him at the bar and thinking, “Wow that was a great conversation.” But I didn’t realize that this one moment would turn into friendship and transition into a deep love. Our home has a gallery wall of art dedicated to music with a vintage Tina Turner album cover he purchased abroad, black and white Blues Alley photo, classic Beatles photo and, yes, an ode to how we met: a one-of-a-kind picture of the drummer Seun Kuti whose concert brought us together two years ago. As we searched for an entertainment vendor, we had to be precise because our love story is one that blends two cultures, two countries and has a connoisseur (him not me) in the mix. As you begin to think about music for your wedding, here are some quick tips:
Identify what matters most in your love story – For us, it was important that the entertainment vendor had a solid knowledge of classical composers but could also provide modern elements throughout our evening. Ultimately, we selected Lucy Black Entertainment because, from our perspective, their classical training and ability to understand my love’s request was impressive. They approached our intimate wedding with a clear commitment to creating a custom musical experience. In our partnership with them, we feel like we have a soundtrack that will authentically represent our love story.
Evaluate vendors based on recent performance – My fiancée has a long-standing professional background in music and even though I was aware of Lucy Black’s work, he spent a lot of time listening to the links provided in the proposal and comparing that to what he knew he wanted. There are two learnings for couples considering live music:
Any entertainment vendor you are considering should be able to show you a link of recent work that is a match for what you are seeking. As an example, if Lucy Black said “We do that,” but could not show us an example, my love would not have felt confident in hiring them.
Entertainment vendors should be able to demonstrate diversity within the work. In our proposal, we were presented with multiple vocalists (male and female), string arrangements, and genres spanning from the 1900s to modern day. While some music resonated with us more than others, it demonstrated the level of mastery we were looking for and left us feeling confident.
Sound matters. Once you have decided on a vendor, do not shortchange them on something that is critical: sound. Lucy Black offers an optional sound package, but I encourage any couple considering live entertainment to pay for sound and do so gladly because if you want your wedding to come off seamlessly and the performances to truly be their best, people need to hear them. This is not about sticking you with an extra cost; this is about giving you quality.
And finally, once you have settled on your vendor, stay in communication with them. I can attest that my fiancée’s desires were incredibly unique, but Rebecca never said no (even though, at some point, I wanted to say no to him). Rather, she listened and presented ways to achieve our vision with a reasonable compromise.
In the intimate wedding world, can you hire a DJ? Absolutely. Again, you should absolutely do your wedding your way.
However, what I have found is that sharing our love story through song at an intimate wedding is sharing a part of our origin story with our family.
We were brought together due to his love for music; now, we enter into marriage continuing this tradition by enjoying our day with the music that fuels our hearts as we get ready to say, “I choose you, forever.”
p.s. Don’t forget to follow along with our journey via IG @belajoyful.
