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Ceremony Musicians

47 Strings

Juli Sackman

used by sophertobe

From: sophertobe
If you are considering a harpist, Juli Sackman is the most affordable and talented one I found. She did an excellent job and followed through with everything she said she would do. I highly recommend her as a ceremony musician.

Brookside Brass

used by mrsmolly*

From: mrsmolly*
A+ ~~ Being a musician, and coming from a huge musical family, made music a really important part of my wedding. I always knew I had to have a French horn playing at the ceremony because that’s the instrument I played for ten years and I love the sound of it. Brookside Brass was recommended by Longview Mansion. They are a brass quintet and they sounded very regal and wonderful. I got chills when I heard the two trumpets sound Trumpet Voluntary for my walk down the aisle. I really felt like a princess. There’s just something about the sound of brass that made our ceremony so special. I’m very glad we hired them. Stephanie Cox, the leader, e-mailed me a couple days after the wedding to thank me for letting them be a part of such a beautiful ceremony. It’s the little things that count when it comes to vendors.

Brookside Strings

Alex Shum
816.333.0130
alex [AT] brooksidestrings [DOT] com

used by CMLs-girl, iluvdaisies, malaika

From: CMLs-girl
$300 for violin only at ceremony. You can also have a string quartet for $750

A+ ~~ Alex is an amazing musician, and he really gave our ceremony that something special.

We did all of our communications by email, but he was more than willing to meet in person to play for me. We had a full Catholic Mass, which he was very familiar with. He emailed a sample program, I sent back my changes and we were all set. He also coordinated an organ player and cantor for the mass. I didn't have to contact either of the other musicians, they arrived on the day of, and had obviously performed together before. I received many compliments on the music and Alex.

Alex was at the rehearsal briefly, but only because I forgot to mail final payment 3 weeks prior. He agreed to pick it up the night before, so we didn't have to worry about it at the ceremony. He generally doesn't attend rehearsals if he has performed at the church before, but he's such a seasoned pro, he doesn't need to "rehearse"!
From: iluvdaisies
A+ ~~ I never actually met Alex in person, but he was very easy to work with and communicate with. Once we got the ceremony planned I emailed him the songs we wanted played and the actual ceremony all written out. We chose all traditional songs for the ceremony, but I asked him to come up with his own mix of prelude and postlude music. I never got to hear it but I have no doubt that he did an exceptional job. During the ceremony, he made all the songs end when they needed to so it seemed like we timed everything perfectly. So glad that I found him!! I was extremely happy! Violin solo for the ceremony was $200, includes prelude, processional, during ceremony, recessional, & postlude.
From: malaika
A ~~ I posted a request for a musician on the UMKC conservatory website and Alex replied. He is a violinist with the Kansas City Symphony and I thought he did a fabulous job! We never met face to face until the wedding day -- we did almost all of our correspondence by email. He was very prompt with his replies and always very polite. He did a fabulous job with the music and I was glad we went with him. His price for the wedding performance seemed pretty reasonable, although I thought he charged a lot for attending the rehearsal. I ended up not having him at the rehearsal but things went fine at the wedding.

Deborah Clark

used by bridezilla411

From: bridezilla411
A ~~ Debbie was an amazing harpist. She plays for the Kansas City Symphony and is absolutely gifted. I could have listened to her play for hours.

Karen Engebretson

used by nyyankeeinkc

From: nyyankeeinkc
Organist

A+ ~~ She has a lovely voice and sang all of our songs as well as playing the organ and the piano. She also worked with us several weeks before to pick out the perfect songs for us.

Evensong

used by toddysgirl

From: toddysgirl
A ~~ Evensong is a classical guitar/flute duo. Larry Beekman and his wife are the musicians and were super easy to work with. Everyone loved the music and the tiny bit I heard was great! Larry is a big Beatles fan and played their music beautifully. We did all of our communicating by email so I never actually met him, but he seemed like a nice guy ;-) Very affordable too!

Fontana Trio

used by Rockstar79

From: Rockstar79
A+ ~~ Lots to choose from for songs. We did some rather untraditional music, including a song from the movie Amelie for our sand ceremony. They played each song perfectly and I can't wait to see our wedding video to relive the ceremony while hearing them play the music.

Jim Grimm

Classical Guitarist
grimmtr [AT] aol [dot] com
816.309.8870

used by i_heart_james, JoelandLayna

From: i_heart_james

Price: $200 including ceremony (unlimited time) and travel--and rehearsal if we had wanted

A+ ~~ I don't actually remember what music he played, but everyone raved about him afterward! I did hear some of the bridesmaid's music and thought it sounded perfect! I am so glad that we went this route with our outdoor ceremony, but he would be great in any setting and he sounds perfect by himself.
From: JoelandLayna
A+ ~~ Jim was a recommendation by another RB. He is a music professor at William Jewel College and played the classical guitar. At our first meeting he told me not to worry about renting sound equipment for our outdoor wedding b/c he would just bring extra of his own for us to use. That saved us over $150! Then, about a week before our wedding he called and asked if it was okay for him to come to our rehearsal and play just so he knew when everyone would be walking in- at no additional charge. Highly recommend him!

Helios Quartet

used by kimboloco

From: kimboloco
A ~~ Again, didn't really get to hear them all that much, but they got great reviews from people who were there. Prices pretty much market.

Rich Hill

richhillandtheriffs [AT] earthlink [DOT] net

used by AdamsWifeToBe

From: AdamsWifeToBe
A ~~ Jazz trio. Rich came to our house to go over ceremony music options. He is a total wealth of knowledge.

Phil Holmes, Trumpeter

used by madgey28

From: madgey28
A ~~ Phil did a great job with the trumpet. We had actually figured he would only be playing during the entrance and exit of the church, but about halfway through one song, I saw him sneak over to the pianist and see what she was playing. And then he picked right up on the song and added a trumpet. He did that on some of the songs, and the ones that he did sounded great. He did a great job of knowing which songs would be accented with a trumpet and which ones he should not chime in on. I highly recommend him.

Debbie Kirschner

Organ and Piano

used by madgey28

From: madgey28
A ~~ Debbie is a friend of my mother's, although she also plays with Steve Courtney quite a bit. She did a great job and it sounded wonderful.

Sara Holmberg

holmberg [AT] KU [DOT] com
785.550.9529

used by snookies0608

From: snookies0608
2008 Cost -- $300 for cellist/violinist duo A ~~ Sara is great. Also a recommendation from our DOC, Sara was professional and easy to work with. She is a FT graduate student, so getting ahold of her wasn't always easy. She rolled with everything we threw at her though. I wanted all Beatles music, and she did it perfectly. I just had to send her the book. She wasn't able to be at our rehearsal because of her lessons, which worried our DOC because of our unconventional music and venue, but it was perfect.

Jim Lammers

used by Orangina

From: Orangina
A ~~ We wanted a live musician for the ceremony music. I originally posted on UMKC's musician request website and when I got a reply from him I turned him down because he was way out of our budget. He asked me what our budget was- $150- and he ended up playing for that price. Once again, I didn't have the energy to pick songs for the entire ceremony, so I just told him I did NOT want any of the traditional music (here comes the bride, etc.) and he did the rest. I didn't actually hear him during the ceremony-my mind was elsewhere- but we received a lot of compliments. He even sent us a copy of one of his music CD's as a wedding present- how nice!

Metropolitan Ensemble

used by lawgalkc, mothchick

From: lawgalkc
A ~~ I found Metropolitan Ensemble through recommendations from Realies. I was having trouble finding ceremony musicians who didn't charge an arm and a leg for travel fees to Leavenworth. In all, it cost us $400 (plus tip) for 30 minutes of preceremony music, ceremony, and exit music. They even learned "The Luckiest" by Jack Johnson to play for our candle lighting. They were very easy to work with, sounded absolutely amazing and I highly recommend Metropolitan Ensemble.
From: mothchick
A++ ~~ Dana and the rest of the group did fabulously. We got a ton of compliments on their music. I couldn't have been happier with their service

Michael O'Shiver

used by jamienryan

From: jamienryan
Michael O'Shiver plays the Electric Harp and Piano and sometimes both at the same time!Michael O'Shiver plays the Electric Harp and Piano and sometimes both at the same time! Michael is so different from the rest of the musicians we intereviewed. He is a great musician that has a cool, laidback attitude - he can play anything from church hymns to Rolling Stones. The electric harp is not a light and airy instrument; it has a deep and rich tone that my guests raved about!

Tabitha Reist Steiner

used by bridezilla411

From: bridezilla411
A ~~ Tabitha was my original harpist and she was also great to work with. A month before the wedding a mandatory event came up for her so she had to cancel. Tabitha still gets an A though because she found a replacement for me and got the other harpist to honor her price. She told me if I had any issues with the new harpist to call her back and she would find a new harpist. She just went above and beyond to make things right and I really appreicated that.

Anthony Swindler

used by nyyankeeinkc

From: nyyankeeinkc
Bagpiper

A+ ~~ OMG! He was incredible and we received so many compliments on his part.

Tiny Prayers

Steve Courtney

used by madgey28

From: madgey28
A ~~ Steve has one of the best voices that I have ever heard. I believe he only sings for Catholic masses. He was extremely reliable and also helped to make sure all of the musicians had been coordinated. To help us pick out songs, we went to his house and he played the piano and sang each song for us. When I needed to change a song (my mom didn't want one of them we had picked), he called me on my cell phone and played the piano and sang the new song to me to make sure I knew what it was and liked it. He is a little bit pricer than some other cantors, but worth every single penny.

Connie Wollenhaupt

Harpist

used by StephanieandStefan

From: StephanieandStefan
A ~~ Connie was easy to work with and extremely organized. Her harp music was so beautiful, and everyone could hear because she brought her own amplifier.

Jeff Wood

used by lesary

From: lesary
A+++ ~~ Jeff is the best. His wife had a baby on Thursday night before our wedding. He could have easily called and said he wanted to be with him new daughter, but he showed up anyway. One of his songs is so special to Chris and I and he knew how much it would mean. I can't even begin to count the people who have contacted us about him wanting to hear more. He used to be in a local KC band and is out on his own now. He is a great singer/songwriter and a genuinely nice guy to boot.