As a musician, I have done multiple weddings, in multiple hotels, for multiple couples and it never seems to end. For one thing, I started doing this when I was 17 years old and have nearly lost the passion for doing wedding show. Every time I finish a wedding gig, i tell myself "this is the last", but it never is.
After doing this for 7 years and counting, I realize that I have forgotten the meaning of a wedding. To me, and to most musicians, we go in, we set up, we do sound check, we prepare the same set list we prepare all the time with the same love songs which turns out to be happy-pink-cheeked-couple favorites. It's never hard. Always monotonous. We all sigh. Sigh with me...
But a few weeks ago, at yet another wedding, singing songs the band already know like the back of their hands, I decided to pay attention.
I looked around. The room was decorated with pictures of the bride and groom, the tables we arranged to perfection, bottles of red win at the ready. Everywhere I looked, people were dressed to the 9, and as usual I separated the people who were actually happy for the couple, the ones there for the free drinks, the ones there for the free food, the ones waiting to pick someone up, the flustered bride and the helpless groom, the few foreigners thrown onto the guest list to make it look sophisticated and the help.
I sang my first set. Maybe 6 people listened. I finished and a speech was made and we waited in a waiting room. As fancy as we looked on stage, we were still "working" and were treated as much. That's fine. Our break was supposed to be for an hour, so I decided to walk about the place.
I was fretting, annoyed at still doing weddings, still singing covers, still getting paid scraps and still not getting noticed. Why am I still at the same place I was at 5 years ago? How have I grown? I can't see it.
Then like a lighting bolt (which is how fast my mind jumps from topics) I looked at the bride and groom. This is what it was about.
Love.
I looked at them, and even though they were talking to their friends and families, their hands were clasped together, fingers intertwined. I realized, even though my singing was as relevant as the fork used by the person seated at table 3, the wedding would not be completed without a singer, singing with a band, belting out tunes as old as time permits, that would make this wedding, just this one, perfect.
Here I was, invited to be part of someone's image of a perfect wedding, to kick off something as new as a dress, as scary as a marriage and as fresh as a start.
The 2nd and final set was amazing.
