FritzPro Music, Inc.

Let’s face it; I haven’t written anything here for awhile.  I have a good excuse for that, and I want to explain.  After 17 years of disappointment and sadness, my husband and I finally became parents!  On September 4, 2010 we met our beautiful baby girl, Rosina.  She was born in Philadelphia in August to a wonderful young woman who wanted her to have everything she couldn’t give her and so she and her boyfriend chose us to be her parents!  We are absolutely thrilled with her and stand in constant awe of her birthparents who, in spite of loving her more than life itself (and because of it, no doubt), and in spite of the fact that they would love to have raised her themselves, made an adoption plan for her so that she could have the life they wanted her to have, instead of the life they could currently give her.  We aren’t rich but we have so much: our lives are settled and secure, we belong to a close-knit community of supportive family and friends, and most importantly, we are emotionally ready to be parents.  It is an open adoption, which is better for all concerned in my opinion, so we will be able to keep in touch with her birth parents, and to send them proof of Rosina’s happy life.  As Rosina grows, she will meet and get to know her birth parents, and will have the opportunity to know where she came from biologically, and to know for sure that her birth parents didn’t “give her away” because they didn’t love her.  In fact, they found us for her because they love her so much and how can so much love ever be a bad thing? 

I know that this is a wedding music blog, but sometimes one must digress for a moment for something important.  I don’t want to turn this into a referendum on adoption, but I did want to share a little of our experience.  I am still working at my wedding music business full-time, but since my office is in our house, Rosina comes with me to work and spends her day alternately playing with me and her dog (a beautiful blue Great Dane named Luna, who we rescued last summer), and playing by herself, either in her swing or on the floor safely ensconced in her brand new play yard, both within inches of my desk.  Any time I get too intense, she giggles behind me and reminds me of what is truly important and there’s nothing better than that!!!

Next entry, I will get back to the business of helping you plan the perfect wedding, but for now I wanted to share something a bit more personal.  Having Rosina has helped me find new joy in a lot of things, especially in my work, that in some small way helps to create new families for others.  May you all find the joy in your marriage and life that I have found with my “Prince Charming” John and my beautiful princess Rosina.

I know it has been a very long time but I am now back in some sort of a routine after a summer of total craziness.  I have played a lot of weddings this summer, but one in particular stands out that I wanted to share.  First of all, it took place at the Hilton Oceanfront Hotel in Virginia Beach, with the incredible Tom Johnson in charge so that guaranteed a wonderful event right from the start.  Second, the bride and groom had put the preparations in the extremely capable hands of Pearl Taylor, of Uniquely Yours by Pearl.  I always enjoy working at the Hilton, and having that pleasure combined with Pearl’s professional and loving touch made my day!  Even I feel special working with these two people and I’m working!  Imagine how the bride felt…

So, she felt great, as a matter of fact.  She was a woman who had known disappointment and sorrow, and from what she says, had given up on the idea of “happily ever after” when she bumped into a very nice man in line at the movie theater.  They soon discovered that they were soul mates and the joy in the room was palpable.  She was escorted by her lovely daughters who were thrilled by the match and the glow on their faces told everyone else how happy they were that their mom had found her other half at long last!  Because of her history, our bride asked us to play “Bless the Broken Road” as done by Rascal Flatts for her processional and it couldn’t have been more perfect!

There wasn’t a dry eye in the house and the ceremony that followed was equally personal, as the couple had a long term relationship with the rabbi who married them.  She talked about them and to them as if they were old friends (and indeed they are), and shared in their joy in a very genuine way.  The cantor’s beautiful voice enhanced the mood further and I was extremely moved by the entire ceremony.

For the recessional, our bride was wavering about whether to go with the traditional Mendelssohn “Wedding March” or use a traditional Jewish recessional called “Simon Tov and Mazel Tov”.  At the very last minute, she chose the Jewish music and it couldn’t have been a more perfect choice if it had been scripted in a movie!  After the groom broke the glass, we launched into this very lively piece and at first there was a gasp of appreciation and then they all began clapping and singing along as the bridal party danced its way back down the aisle!  I almost couldn’t play because I was grinning from ear to ear.  What a perfect experience!!!

On top of all of these wonderful things, the bride and groom are just the sweetest people who went out of their way to greet everyone (including the vendors) and make everyone feel great.  I wish these two very special people the very best and hope that only good things come to them during their long life ahead.

Last Friday was another day, and another wedding at the beautiful Hilton Oceanfront Hotel in Virginia Beach.  The staff, the venue and certainly the view there are unparallelled as I’ve mentioned before.  I love playing there because they not only take exquisite care of their guests, but also their vendors as well.  It never fails that when I arrive, at least one person (normally more than that) offer to help with my equipment and once inside, every staff member who walks by asks if there’s anything we need.  Wonderful!

The thing that made this wedding even more special was the mood of the bride, which was infectious.  All of my brides are happy and excited on their wedding day, but this particular bride, Kathleen, was something else altogether.  She was happy and excited, but she also conveyed strong feelings of being blessed, and being “home”.  It was a feeling that washed over everyone, including us and it was truly an amazing ceremony.  There was laughter in abundance and a relaxed, unbridled joy throughout the ceremony that left no one in any doubt whatsoever, that this couple was meant to be together. 

Often ceremonies are a little stilted because everyone is nervous and afraid that they might “do something wrong”.  I’m here to tell you that there’s really nothing that anyone can do “wrong” at a wedding as long as everyone important is there and their hearts are true, but some people get so wrapped up in the spectacle they have worked so hard to create that they forget that it’s all really about the joining of two people, their families and friends.  Even with all the preparation, decor, food, music, and everything else that goes into wedding planning, the wedding itself is simple, timeless, and elegant all by itself.  It’s a spiritual joining that is witnessed by a couple’s family (both of blood and of the heart) and everything else is just window dressing. 

This couple definitely got that, even though they also had all of the other things that make for a memorable celebration.  The energy among the guests as they left the ceremony for the cocktail reception was a true testament to the couple’s feelings for one another.  Normally, the guests are happy and talkative afterwards but in this case, they were jubilant.  I’m very honored that we got to play a small role in this incredible day.

I wanted to write a quick post today about an organization that is near and dear to my heart, and that is ISES.  “ISES” stands for “International Special Events Society” and it is a professional organization for events professionals of all disciplines showcased in the events industry.  I have belonged to ISES Hampton Roads for about 7 years and I can’t tell you what a wonderful experience it has been for me.  I have met and become friends with many of the area’s top events professionals and because of those connections, my business has expanded and improved.

Why should you care about all of this?  It’s actually a wonderful resource for you when you’re planning your wedding because the premise of ISES membership is professional service, ethical business dealings and high standards.  So, if you hire an ISES member to provide a service, you are guaranteed that you will get top quality service throughout the planning and execution of the event.  You can certainly find many wonderful professionals who are not ISES members, but if you’re stuck and don’t know where to look, the Member Directory on our website is a great place to start.  Or, you can visit the official website of ISES International and use the Member Finder function there to locate great vendors all over the world!

I have always stressed in this blog that when planning a wedding or other large social event, you should do everything you can to minimize stress and worry, and if you have a database of quality vendors from which to choose, it’s a good start.  I know that when I arrive at a venue to set up and I look around and see that there are other ISES vendors there, I know that I can relax because everything will work out perfectly.  We work together often enough that we’ve become a “team” in which everyone knows what everyone else needs and so we can smoothly go about the business of making your event run like a well-oiled machine without getting in each others’ way!  The big winner in this case is always you, and isn’t that what our goal ultimately is…to make your day beautiful, perfect and stress-free!

This past weekend I had the privilage of providing the music for two different couples, both of whom were very invested in the music that would be played during their respective wedding ceremonies.  On Saturday, I had a special request for a keyboard player and although I normally work with a guitar player in my groups, I am very fortunate to be acquainted (personally and professionally) with one of the top keyboardists in the area and he was only too happy to help out.  The wedding took place at a wonderful venue, to which I am a very frequent visitor, the Kingsmill Resort and Spa in Williamsburg, VA.  My bride and groom wished to personalize their music, but also pay their respects to tradition, so opted for a program that mixed traditional selections with the more contemporary.  I’ll list their program here so that you can see how beautifully the two can mesh:

Seating of Grandparents/Mothers: Lascia Ch’io Pianga from “Rinaldo” by G.F. Handel

Bridal Party Processional: Canon in D by Johann Pachelbel

Bride’s Processional: The Luckiest by Ben Folds

Recessional: Somewhere Over the Rainbow by Harold Arlen, arr. “IZ” Kamakawiwo’ole

My second couple of the weekend chose also to blend traditional and contemporary, but had our Petite Symphony Trio, with clarinet guitar and string bass as the instrumentation.  The second wedding was at a newer facility, and one where I had played some corporate events but never had the pleasure of doing a wedding before Sunday.  The venue was the Half Moone Cruise & Celebration Center in downtown Norfolk.  It is a terminal from which cruise ships leave, but was cleverly designed to double as a stunning waterfront events venue and mission accomplished!  It’s main event room is a large, round room with high ceilings and an outdoor terrace surrounding most of it.  The views are incredible, and the service was (and always is) impeccable.  They also have a smaller room off to the side that works perfectly as a cocktail reception area, and for those really big events, the terminal area (huge, with waterfront views and wide open spaces) is also available.  Their program was personal and inspirational and included the following:

Seating of the Grandparents/Mothers: The Prayer (Josh Groban/Charlotte Church)

Bridal Party Processional: You Raise Me Up (Josh Groban)

Bride’s Processional: Canon in D (Pachelbel)

Recessional: Don’t Stop Believin’ (Journey)

The reason I’m publishing their programs is not to say that you have to choose this music, but rather to illustrate a little of what some other brides and grooms are doing.  We are happy to play anything you like, providing we can find it in print (I’ve only been stumped twice in nearly 15 years).  Both of these weddings were beautiful and memorable, in large part because they took the time to think about the music they wanted for their “soundtrack”.

Well, “I Do” is history, and what a great experience for all of us!  Michelle Kilgore of Weddings by Michelle pulled together a truly spectacular presentation from beginning to end!  The concept, while not completely unheard of, is certainly a rarity in this era of large, overwhelming bridal shows where the brides are turned loose in a giant space full of hundreds of vendors.  This was more intimate, more approachable, more informative, and certainly more personal for both the vendors participating and the brides attending (we had a full house; woo hoo!).  They were greeted upon arrival at the beautifully renovated (it’s a stunner, believe me!) Portsmouth Renaissance Hotel, with passed hors d’oeuvres and cocktails and then treated to a tour of the hotel.  During that time they were also presented to several of the photographers present to meet and greet, and have their questions about wedding photography answered.

After that, they were escorted into the ballroom, which had be transformed (with decor, florals, lights, and live music [our Petite Symphony Quartet]) into a dream wedding!  They were seated by tuxedoed ushers as if they were guests at a wedding and then the show began.  First, they met the genius behind the project, Michelle Kilgore, and were then treated to a video of our “bride” getting ready for her wedding (in truth, our bride and groom were newlyweds who were still giddy from their own wedding, so positively glowed with happiness all day!) in the Presidential Suite, complete with a fabulous professional makeup artist, photographer, and tasty tidbits to keep her from feeling faint during the day.

The program then proceeded through every facet of the perfect wedding day, from a reinactment of a ceremony complete with music (our Petite Symphony Quartet continued), officiate, guests and a unity candle ceremony through a cocktail reception with hot jazz in the background (us again with our Swing Union Trio!), eye-catching drinks and tidbits, to the reception complete with unbelievable table settings to a heart-wrenching first dance accompanied by a DJ.  In the middle was a fashion show and all of the vendors were given an opportunity to spend just a couple of minutes educating our brides about our particular areas of expertise.  

The brides weren’t just relegated to watching though; throughout the afternoon tuxedoed waitstaff passed drinks and delicious foods for them to sample and enjoy right along with the production!  The entire day was so amazing and I’m sure that our guests left not only with some good advice, but also wonderful gifts from all of the vendors. 

I know that everyone (especially Michelle) is exhausted from the task of putting this all together, but I also know that we are all already looking forward to next year to make the show even better.  See you there!

It seems that everyone is talking about how expensive weddings can be, and they’re right.  If you watch We-TV at all, you can see half a dozen shows where brides and grooms are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to over a million dollars because they want that “wow” factor in every facet of their day.  If you have a million dollars just lying around, I say “go for it” and have every extravagance you can imagine!  But, if you’re like most of us, every dollar has to count and we all have to watch how much we spend.

I played a wedding on Saturday that could serve as a model for perfection on a small budget.  My bride and groom were interested in having a beautiful and fun celebration with their friends and family but weren’t interested in going into debt to do it so they made a list of what was most important to them, spent their money there and just didn’t worry about the rest.  What they ended up with was this: an afternoon ceremony in the beautiful courtyard (complete with flowering trees and a fountain) at the Mariners’ Museum in Newport News.  They hired my flute/guitar duo to provide the music, and customized the music to suit them personally.  After the ceremony, they went inside where they had a beer, wine and soft drink bar for guests to enjoy while the bridal party had their photo session.  Our duo went inside with them and played a nice selection of jazz standards in the background to set the mood for the party.  After the photos were completed, I served as Emcee and introduced the wedding party, complete with a “grand entrance” for the bride and groom.

After that, they shared their first dance together with live music (Love Me Tender) and had a wonderful buffet of hot and cold hors d-oeuvres and a beautiful wedding cheesecake.  We left at that time and an i-pod took over because they didn’t feel the need for a large “show” during the rest of the afternoon.  They had simple florals and linens, and dispensed with chair covers, overlays, and fancy tableware but from where I stood, no one noticed.  They were all enjoying themselves immensely.

In sharing this story with you I’m not saying that you “shouldn’t” have any of the fancy things like larger florals, ornate linens and tableware, or a DJ or band.  Not at all; I only wanted to illustrate that you can have the wedding of your dreams without jeopardizing your financial future.  It’s always best to have reasonable expectations of the type of wedding you can afford.  Set a budget and make a list of priorities, then stick to both.  In this couples’ case, the location was important and so was the ceremony/pre-reception music, so that’s where they spent their money first, and even so, they went with a small musical group so as not to over-do.  They also wanted their guests to enjoy the bar, so had beer and wine, which is less expensive than hard liquor but still fun.  The food was simple, but plentiful and I understand, very tasty, so no one noticed that there weren’t 3 kinds of seafood and a steak.

The main thing I want to say is, “Have a beautiful wedding.  Have an extravagant, “over-the-top” wedding if you want.  But if you can’t or are not willing to pay for all of those very expensive things, you can still have a wonderful, memorable celebration of the beginning of your new life as a family.”

I am fascinated by the social networking phenomenon, I have to say.  I am a person who grew up without a computer (oh no, I’m dating myself!) but early in my adulthood, I was one of the first people I know who raced to buy one and never had any fear of it as many of my friends did.  When the Internet came along…look out!  I was living in Europe at the time and just being able to send an email (FREE!!!) was unbelievable because at that time overseas phone calls were over a dollar per minute.  Fortunately for me my mom was also very excited about computers so she could receive my messages.  After all, what’s the fun of writing emails and not having anyone to send them to?  Sort of like being the only guy in town with a telephone (which actually happened, but that’s another story!)

Anyway, I have recently been exploring the world of social networking and although it’s still something of a mystery to me I can see the potential, not so much as a way to connect personally (for me, the telephone or in person will always be best), but as a way to connect with others professionally.  There is an undeniable personal quality to sites like Twitter though, because there will always be the occasional rant or invitation to look at new shoes (what can I say? Business woman or not, I’m still a girly-girl and love shoes!) but that personal touch strengthens bonds between collegues as well as reaches out to potential clients, business partners and just fellow travelers in general. 

I don’t know what this means for the bottom line in my business but at the very least, I’m learning a lot and making some new online friends.  Check out my twitter page and let me know what you think!  http://twitter.com/fritzpromusic

What could be more romantic than getting married on Valentine’s Day?  I think that it was fitting that our first wedding of the 2009 season occurred on Saturday February 14.  The bride and groom were mature folks who had found love a little later in life and were really sweet together!  The first time I met them, I was caught up in their enthusiasm.  It was clear that they knew how very lucky they were to have found each other and wanted to make the most of every minute. 

They chose a lot of custom music that meant something to them personally, including songs like “When I Fall in Love”, “There is Love”, and “One Hand, One Heart” in their ceremony music.  The families were obviously thrilled with the match and the love in the room was tangible.  The fact that they had taken the time to consider what was meaningful to them as far as music and ritual went just made it all the more special.  They lit a unity candle while “One Hand, One Heart” was playing and went out to greet their families, to let them know how much a part of this day they were, and how much they were loved.  Even a minor glitch in the ceremony where a poem to be read was misplaced didn’t mar the day.  They found it later and read it at the reception, which helped continue that really sweet vibe on into dinner. (Absolute proof that a little problem does not mean the ruination of your wedding day.)

We normally depart after the cocktail reception and leave the entertainment for the rest of the evening to a DJ or a Wedding Band, but on this occasion they asked if we would stay to accompany them on their first dance, a request we were more than happy to honor.  They chose, fittingly enough, “At Last” as their first dance song and the room was silent except for the music as they twirled together on the dance floor for the first time as a married couple.  Everyone was caught up in the sweetness of not only the moment, but also the obvious devotion of the bride and groom to each other.

Through all the preparations they were a joy to work with and I wish them all the happiness that they deserve together.  Congratulations Mattie and Jim!!!

This is the time of year that as an events music professional, I dread.  After the hustle and bustle of the Holiday season brides are curled up at home, either with their new grooms or if they are still brides-to-be, with their fiances and bridal magazines.  Corporate retreats and incentive trips are few and far between and I am left to do my business housekeeping.  A lot of people think that we musicians lead a glamorous life (I hear it all the time!): we hang out at the beach all day every day and then when an opportunity to perform comes up we glide up in our limos, play, collect an exorbitant fee and glide away, surrounded by magic and mystery every step of the way.  Not so in real life (you’re thinking about the rock stars you see on T.V.). 

In real life, I spend the first 3 months of the year in my office 8-9 hours per day working on things like income taxes for my business and the people who work for me, filing music and administrative paperwork, developing new marketing ideas and cleaning up in general.  There is a lot of “behind the scenes” work that must be done in order to make music into a viable business and all of this work is done without pay.  Right now I am finishing up gathering my tax information for my CPA (yes, I pay an accountant to do my taxes because as an incorporated business, the forms are too complicated and time consuming for me to accomplish on my own) and hoping to have a chance to start mixing work on our new demo recording.

This time of year is also a busy time for meeting prospective clients.  I do love that part!  Lots of couples get engaged over the holidays so I field a lot of inquiries this time of year and love that sense of “fresh starts” that meeting new people brings.  It also gives me the impetus I need to keep drudging through the boring stuff: “If I finish all of this, I get to play for my clients!”. 

Even though there’s this aura surrounding music as a career, it’s pretty much like any other business as far as day-to-day tasks are concerned.  And, at the end of the day I also have to put several hours’ time in practicing my instruments so that once I do get to the performance I sound polished and terrific! 

Even during the busy season, the office work goes on.  I suppose I should be happy that I have this time to catch up or even get a little bit ahead because once the “season” starts, it goes full-tilt until next January!