e

e)

Many organists participate in the wedding rehearsal. Many do not. I am one of the latter - unless my presence seems really to be coveted by the couple, and they are keen on my presence at the following rehearsal dinner. There are some relatively few couples who value highly the organist. I know people who, after decades, remain excited that I played for their wedding. Most others regard the organist simply as another person who has been retained to fulfill a task.

My fee is for the wedding, meeting with the couple, planning and practicing the music. Rehearsals with singers and other musicians is extra, as is my presence, if insisted on, at the wedding rehearsal. (And, if there is acceptable solo or instrumental music which I neither have nor want, it is the responsibility of the bride and groom to acquire it and provide it.)

The only perceivable need for the organist to be at the rehearsal would be to adjust his music to the length and pace of the procession. However, since the switch from bride's maids to bride, and then the procession's conclusion is largely an improvised matter, it really isn't necessary for him to be at the rehearsal. The rest of the procession is pretty much pro-forma. Too, rehearsals sometimes drag on and on. It is absurd to expect an organist to be twiddling his thumbs during all that. (Unless they wish to pay him extra for doing so.) As for rehearsing with singers, etc., this should be done at some other time arranged with the organists, so that details of performance can be worked out.

Actually, I think that it is more of a, shall we say 'cultural', thing amongst Protestants that the organist's presence at the rehearsal is sort of de rigeuer. Not so much amongst Catholics and many Episcopalians.

A.

There's no wedding coordinator at my parish to cue me, so I only do one long entrance piece for the entire bridal party, since I can't easily tell from the organ loft when the bride's up next. And the priest, who isn't a stickler for da rubrics virtually any other time, sticks largely to the book for weddings. So I really have no need to be at a rehearsal, and this is perfectly OK with me.

A) Agree with most of Mr. Osborn's comments. If for some reason my presence is required at the rehearsal there would be an extra fee.

On the other hand, an organist without experience in weddings could probably benefit from a rehearsal or two.

A

I (almost) never go to the rehearsal. I believe I have gone to two rehearsals, and I have always charged extra. As far as I am concerned, it would be a complete waste of my time.

A...never never ever.

thanks for all your responses!
many people responded "A" - never participate in rehearsal.
sorry if this is too basic a question, but we are a small parish with rather few weddings, so I need to ask, how do you know when to stop the general music you play while guests are being seated, and change to the processional for the bridal party?

Can't just go by the clock. Last wedding actually started about 75 minutes after the stated time;
this most recent one started about 5 minutes after the stated time, but the organist was not notified and the bridesmaids just started coming out.

There is a woman at our parish who is something like a wedding planner. I think she volunteers to do this job, but I'm not sure. She tells the organist when to start and stop; he's in the loft.

Someone needs to tell the organist.

The organist needs to find an usher (and/or someone else) to come up and tell them when the bridal party is ready to enter. The organist wraps up whatever prelude they've been playing, they give 10 seconds of silence, and begin the processional. It's not that complicated, and it certainly would not be helped by attending the rehearsal. The solution takes 30 seconds of asking someone for help; you don't need to go to the church and sit through the whole rehearsal for that.

You could even send a note to the bride and groom ahead of time (or discuss it at your music consultation) asking them to depute someone for this important task. If they want the music to begin at the proper time, they'll assign someone responsible.

I do not (nor have I ever in other jobs) attend the rehearsal, except for very exceptional cases where there is a personal connection and/or some unusually elaborate music involved (such as a choir or instrumental ensemble). We do have a wedding coordinator currently who attends the rehearsal. She and I touch base briefly before the wedding to compare notes on numbers in the wedding party, numbers of honored guests to seat, etc. It works fine.

Although, I have to share that a couple of weeks ago a bride showed up 20 MINUTES after the wedding start time, on purpose, because she thought it was a cute Irish tradition. I considered introducing her to my cultural tradition of leaving the wedding when the bride is not on time. Anyhow, the rehearsal would not have helped in that case, since she kept her plan a secret from everyone.

A - never attend rehearsals (unless it's a family member getting married). If I am in a loft, always make sure someone will cue me when they want to start "seating of Mothers" or beginning bridesmaids...whatever the cue is I need (as once this starts, that's all I need....as I can then see when the last bridesmaid/kids are down in front and need to change music for the entrance of the bride...if that's the plan). If not in a loft, usually can see the narthex and someone will wave/cue me that the procession is ready to begin. I also think the cantor should arrange an alternate time to rehearse....(even if the cantor is also a bridesmaid...which is never a good idea anyway).

E (since I'm not an organist).

As an MC for (often) EF and (once) OF weddings, I always attend the rehearsal (and usually invite myself, ("When is the rehearsal? OK, I'll be there.) Since I'm sufficiently musically (as well as liturgically) knowledgeable to communicate what's going on with the wedding and what's going to happen to the organist/music director, this usually makes their attendance unnecessary.

Since these are frequently one-off events with musicians and celebrants who don't work together on a regular basis a good deal of communication is necessary. That doesn't really need to happen at the rehearsal, but it needs to happen at some point.

As MC, I've gotten paid about half the time, which is nice, but usually not necessary for me, though I generally expect that other servers who aren't wedding guests get a small stipend. Since I don't generally expect to get paid, I don't expect to get paid for a rehearsal. If I required servers to come to one, I guess I'd expect them to be better compensated than they otherwise would be, unless they knew the couple personally and were invited guests ... but I wouldn't probably wouldn't recruit as servers people who needed that extra rehearsal.

A - The coordinators attend, so there is no point for the musician to attend

A...1,000 times over

Late to this, but my response is A. I just want to know how many bridesmaids there are, and I ask beforehand.