Welcome
Welcome to all bridal couples!! You are entering into one of the most exciting and hectic times of your lives. Among the hundreds of decisions you will make are choices about music: live or recorded, solo or chamber music, vocal or instrumental, classical or contemporary? When it comes to music, my advice is "Leave it to the professionals." After receiving two degrees from a prestigious New York music conservatory, I began my concert and wedding career. Since that time, I have appeared in well over 1,500 successful weddings and receptions, from small, intimate ceremonies on the beach to big-budget extravaganzas. I played in my first wedding while still a young student and after 40 years of accumulated professional, orchestral, teaching, and performance experience, you can trust that you are in good hands.
Wedding Information
Thank you for visiting my website. I hope that the following information will be helpful to you as you begin the process of selecting your wedding music. To help you know how much music you need to choose, let's walk through the ceremony.
First is the pre-service, or prelude music. This typically begins twenty to thirty minutes before your wedding time. It is not necessary to choose particular prelude pieces unless you wish to. After many years of experience, I have come to prefer a lot of flexibility in the order of the prelude music because the seating of guests can be unpredictable. The prelude ends with the seating of family members. The seating of the mothers should not occur until all the guests have been seated and the bridal party is ready to start. This is my most important cue, because after the seating of the mother's/grandmother's the next piece will be the attendant's processional. The attendants must wait for a few seconds of silence, and a change of music before they begin to process. Of course, this sequence can vary greatly depending upon the formality of the wedding.
Next are the processionals. In terms of music within the service itself, I appreciate having your input here, because these pieces will particularly reflect your personal preferences. Many couples choose to have two processional pieces; one for the attendants, and one for the bride. For an extra impact, I have often hired a professional trumpet player for the bridal entrance who also plays again when the ceremony is concluded.
After everyone has come in, it's time for the service music to begin. This can include as many or as few pieces as you would like. The unity symbol after the vows, communion, or following a particular reading, would be potential places to include music. Many houses of worship have restrictions about secular music in the worship service; therefore it is helpful to check with them before finalizing your selections.
As the service ends, you will want to have a recessional piece. Typically, this would be a bright, up-tempo selection. Please indicate how the ceremony will end (with a kiss, an introduction, or in some other fashion), and whether or not you will be excusing the guests in any special manner. Usually for the postlude (the time when guests are transitioning to the reception) I play a few minutes of very upbeat selections. I often am asked to play for cocktails and/or dinner and am happy to do so, depending upon your preferences. I typically draw my reception repertoire from the great American Songbook: this includes hundreds of covers and standards which you can view on my repertoire page.
Common Booking FAQs
Please contact me via email or call me at (231) 342-2021 to check my availability. Please specify the exact time and location. Once my availability is confirmed, I will e-mail a planner for you to return with the deposit, or you can download one here. I happily accept VENMO payment or a direct mail check from your bank, as well as personal checks and cash. You may email the planner sheet to me, or if you wish to mail directly to me with the deposit, please use the following address:
Sylvia Norris2986 Silver Farms Lane
Traverse City, MI
49684
Some couples wish to use more than one musician. If this is the case, I typically hire the other musicians for you. The harp sounds wonderful with many other instruments, including, duo’s with flute, violin, cello, viola, or trumpet. Trios include harp, flute and cello, or, harp, violin, and cello, and of course larger groups of up to six players are possible. Northern Michigan has a wealth of fine musicians because of the proximity of the Interlochen Center for the Arts, which has been a bedrock of excellent musicians for nearly a century. I also work with fine singers, and can provide superb soloist and vocal duo’s.
Some people want to be able to utilize a family member or friend to perform and this is also possible, but I feel less confident in guaranteeing the final product when I work with non-professionals. I also must charge an additional $50.00 for rehearsal time with the family member or friend.
Many people hire me to play part or all of the reception, either alone or with one or two others. One of my favorite combinations is to use a flutist who also doubles on saxophone. This grouping allows for lots of versatility in the styles, (from classical to jazz with everything in between, including dozens of current pop covers). As a solo harpist, my “background music” repertoire runs to hundreds of different selections.
During the process of booking a wedding I receive a deposit to secure the date. I ask to be paid the remaining balance preferably two weeks before the wedding date. I know that once you are married, you will want to focus on your guests, not this detail. I do have to charge an additional fee if I am owed a balance after the wedding. The late fee charge is 15% of the original fee.
Please call me at 231-342-2021 or email me at sylvia.norris.harp@gmail.com with your wedding date, time, exact location, and personal requests (i.e. duo, trio, voice, trumpet, etc.) for a price quote. I do not give quotes on my website because my prices vary due to many factors, including the difficulty of transporting the harp to a particular outdoor setting, number of special requests for music not currently in my repertoire, distance and expenses to the venue, etc.
Yes, by selecting the music page of my website you can listen to a sample of my playing. The samples are mostly traditional and classical; they will give you an idea of my ability, but not the breadth of my repertoire. I literally learn new pieces nearly every week during wedding seasons, so my already large repertoire is constantly growing to reflect the changes in current wedding music selections.
Yes! I think the harp sounds gorgeous outdoors. I play only full-size concert pedal harps which have a very lush and rich sound. People are often amazed that the harp, while often not amplified, is able to carry beautifully outdoors.
The harp is a very precious and costly instrument running into the tens of thousands of dollars and would be irreparably damaged by rain, therefore if rain is threatening, I cannot play outdoors unless I am in a protected location. In that case, no one else wants to be caught out either, so a quick relocation is always the best solution. I always request that my couples specify a rain location for all unprotected outdoor venues.
Yes! I am happy to add to my repertoire of wedding music offerings. As you can imagine, the options are limitless, but my time is not. I will be happy to learn two or three new tunes for specific wedding clients. Depending upon the request, each one could take up to fifteen hours of practice time for me to perfect and, as a busy professional, I can’t always fit that additional prep time into my schedule. The good news is that I can draw from my already huge repertoire of standards and covers to find selections that fit into the theme, mood or genre of music that you wish to showcase for your wedding ceremony.
I've given you a lot of information that may or may not apply to your particular case, but it saves a lot of questions in the long run. Please contact me for any help that I can provide. Best wishes as you work toward this special day, and thank you again.