Becoming a Midlands Wedding Pianist
This is a short article on my journey over the past six months to establish myself as a Midlands Wedding Pianist.
Playing the piano has always been a huge part of my life. It’s what I do best and what I enjoy the most. Yet, following my school and university days during which I was actively playing and performing solo and in bands, I have performed in public very infrequently so much so that a few years I got rid of my electric piano as it was, literally, gathering dust.
My interest was renewed a little during the pandemic lockdowns when I played little snippets for friends and colleagues, still from the comfort of my own home, but going out live on Facebook. Then earlier this year my old piano teacher got in touch to ask if I could step in to play the piano at a wedding as he was doubled-booked. I accepted the offer and really began to look forward to it. This triggered a sort of light-bulb moment and I realised just how much I had missed playing live.
So, I decided to invest in a decent digital piano and a website to start promoting myself as a wedding pianist. I’m still not quite sure if describing myself solely as a wedding pianist is the right way to go, as there are plenty of events aside from weddings where live piano is in demand. Anyway, I set-up as, and remain for now, Robbie Roberts Midlands Wedding Pianist.
The process of building my website was fun as it required help in setting up the structure, content to populate it, and patience as I learnt how to add and edit various aspects of it. My website was set-up by early June, and this coincided with me attending my first wedding fayre. The event itself was fairly poorly attended and nothing really resulted from it, except that I got chatting to another wedding supplier who basically said that if I wasn’t on Instagram, I didn’t exist. A week later, I had my Instagram account set-up, and soon set-up a Facebook page, and Twitter account as well.
In early July I started advertising on Hitched, Last Minute Musicians and Add To Event wondering if anyone would find me in amongst the myriad of different musical options there are out there.
Fast forward five months and I have just accepted my 21st piano booking. I could not have anticipated things taking off as much as they have! Most of my bookings are for 2023, although I have done a run of four weddings in four weeks in the run-up to Christmas, and have a private party on New Year’s Eve to look forward to as well.
However, much more important than the number of bookings, is the enjoyment I am getting from this adventure. I love the whole process. I enjoy getting queries from people and talking through their options. I get a thrill when someone decides to book me and I begin practicing any specific new songs that they would like me to play at their event. I enjoy the feedback and interaction with clients ahead of time when I send recorded snippets to ensure they are happy with the style and quality of playing. And, on the days themselves, I enjoy travelling to new venues, meeting new people, and the thrill of playing live. I have received some lovely reviews recently as well which are always very gratifying.
Thank you to everyone who has booked me to play for them and supported me as I am still at the beginning of this little adventure and have much more to learn. What a wonderful six months it has been and I look forward to reviewing my first full year next summer!