How do you know when to play?

A common question that I am asked is, "When do you know when to play during the ceremony?". This is good question and our answer is always, "Good cues". We've played many, many weddings and the flow and sequence is generally the same. What we've found works extremely well is to cover our basis by two methods. First, we will ask how many parents to be seated, how many bridesmaids and attendants and how will they be processing, and are there any children in the wedding party. From this information, we immediately know what to look for while we're performing. As long as we're given a visual cue to know when to start the seating for the parents, we can usually handle it from there. In most cases, however, a wedding director will be coordinating the procession. We setup visual cues that we actively watch for near the end of the prelude to know when to begin each part of the ceremony. A thumbs up from the back of the church for instance works to let us know everyone is ready to get started and every successive thumbs up takes us to the next piece. We decide ahead of time how to handle extra time in a piece that we're playing and how to shorten the piece to come to a fast but appropriate ending place. We also have cues to extend the prelude in case the wedding is not going to start on time. Through all of these methods, we can generally tailor the music to fit what's happening. This prevents us from having to come to the rehearsal in most cases, but in the event that you would like someone there, the leader of the ensemble can attend.