ON THE WEDDING DAY | BOOKING INFORMATION | WEDDING FAQ wedding is a joyous and special time in your life, and we are confident that you are planning to make it a memorable experience for everyone involved. CSEA provides elegant and tasteful music tailored to your specific needs, so that your wedding day will hold many fond memories for you and your family. Creating a wedding day as perfect as the one you've imagined involves hard work and careful planning. At times the number of details to arrange may seem overwhelming. Naturally you want everything to be perfect. You want everything to be perfect including the music. The music sets the right mood and tone for the entire wedding and adds much more than one can imagine. Our service is designed to add that special professional touch and ease some of the burden of organizing your special day. Let us assist you in planning the best possible wedding music for your special day, a day you will remember forever, a day you will want everyone to remember! Selecting music and musicians for a wedding is not an easy task. As professional musicians and experts in our field we will provide the most beautiful wedding music possible. After listening to a tape of our extensive wedding music selections at your leisure, you will customize your own wedding by choosing the selections and the instrumentation you prefer for the various parts of the wedding ceremony. If there are any questions, we are only a phone call away. We look forward to working with you as you celebrate this very important day for you, your family and friends. ON THE WEDDING DAY It is recommended that on your wedding day, the music begin fifteen minutes before the ceremony starts as guests arrive and are seated. The chosen group will then continue to play until it has received a signal that the bridal party has arrived. At this point the music selected by the couple is played, beginning with the processional. The two other standard moments where music is required are signing the register and the recessional. There is no limit to the number of pieces you can have in your ceremony. Many couples have music for communion, after a reading, preparation of the bread and wine, gift offerings etc... You are free to customize your ceremony as you wish. BOOKING INFORMATION Once you have decided on the desired group and amount of time, the following steps are taken: Verbal confirmation (telephone or email). Contract sent out. Signed contract returned with a cheque for the full amount post-dated to the wedding day. Two weeks before your wedding day, tape is returned. To receive our package, please fill out our request form. FREQUENTLY ASKED WEDDING QUESTIONS Q. How do I determine what music group to have? A. By listening to side A of the tape. There you will hear most of the different combinations that are available. This will be followed by a discussion with us about your specific needs. Q. How do I determine what pieces and how many are played at the ceremony? A. By listening to side B of the tape. There you will hear 30 selections from which to choose. Arrangements can be made to play pieces not heard on side B. Normally there is a minimum of 3 pieces played at these moments: processional, signing the register and the recessional. Some couples like 2 or more processionals and others like some music played after a reading. There is no limit to the number of pieces played in your ceromony. Q. What if I want more than one processional? A. No problem! Often there is a wish for seperate processionals for the following: the parents, flower girls/ring bearer, groomsmen, bridesmaid and the bride. Q. At the church/location, when should the music start? A. Normal practice is for the music to start 15 minutes before the ceremony does. This is when the guests usually arrive. The musician will then play prelude music until such time as they get a signal that the bridal party has arrived. If the bridal party is late, the musician will continue playing prelude music until the bridal party does get there. Q. If the musicians do not come to the rehearsal, how is it all co-ordinated? A. On the day, the leader will coordinate with someone to get a signal when the bridal party is ready to come in. Even if the bridal party is late, the musicians will continue to play prelude music until they get that signal. The leader will also coordinate with the priest/minister about the music inside the ceremony. Q. What do the musician wear? A. The men wear tuxedos (black bow ties) and the women wear all black or a black skirt with a white top. Q. How about music at the cocktails or the reception? A. Music is commonly played at these times. The musicians will also play a much broader range of music than at the ceremony. Q. What about breaks? A. In a 3-hour period the musicians will take two 15-minute breaks or one 30-minute break. If there will be speeches during the period the musicians will be there, then the breaks will be timed accordingly to maximize the playing time. Q. Do I have to supply food to the musicians? A. Normally this is not a requirement. The one exception to this occurs when the musicians are engaged for a 4 or 5-hour function over the dinner hour. In this case a plate of sandwiches would be greatlt appreciated! Q. What about a sound system? A. If the number of guests exceed 200 a sound system is recommended. There is an addition charge of $150.00. Sound systems are never required for a ceremeony. Q. Will there be space for the musicians? A. In cramped quarters it is recommended to go with a smaller group such as a duo or solo. Q. Will the same type of music be played at the reception as the ceremony? A. No! Music for the ceromony is more conservative and made up mostly of Baroque and Classical pieces. For the reception, a broad range of music is played including Broadway, Gypsy and the Beatles.