COCKTAILS & CONVERSATIONS: PART 1
February 9, 2021
Featuring Sarah Nickens, with SG3 Events, and Aimee Griffin, with A. Griffin Events at the Conrad Washington. Cocktails provided by Molecular Food & Cocktails.
REBECCA: Thank you, ladies. We are here for Cocktails and Conversations. The cocktails provided by the fabulous Calsin, with Molecular Food & Cocktails. So, we’re here today just to connect with two amazing event planners we work with to really chat about what’s been going on, which is a very broad way of saying, 2020 has been a shit-show. Can I say that? So, with that, one thing that we specifically wanted to focus on was two weddings that we did, one with each of these lovely ladies. And they presented unique issues that we had to face because of the pandemic. So, not just having a micro wedding necessarily, but having a COVID wedding. So, how do we as event professionals take these challenges of a COVID wedding and keep the integrity of the vision and the dreams of the big wedding, of the dream wedding, but shift? And how do we make it still an unforgettable event? So that’s really what we want to focus on and chat through. So we’ll start with Sarah. We’ll chat about one of the weddings we just did this fall.
SARAH: Absolutely! So, thank you for that awesome intro. So this summer (or I guess almost early fall), we had a very unique bride who loved music. Music was one of her top three must-have elements. And she was having what’s considered a bigger wedding during the pandemic, and the challenge was how do we pull it off and make everything happen with COVID around? But the bigger challenge was she had a lot of asks as far as music is concerned, but after speaking with her about what she was looking for, it was a lot of different genres. You know, she loved contemporary jazz, she loved R&B, she loved pop, she loved choir. There were so many things. I remember her just wanting it to be very very memorable and really wanting someone that will cater to her needs. And in my mind, I'm thinking, that sounds like three different bands. So, I call the ladies of Lucy Black and what I love about the ladies is that they are amazing at communication. So, we got on a call with my client where she was able to share what she was looking for. I was pretty much way off.
REBECCA: Well, I'll back us up just a hair because I think one thing that stood out to me about this was our initial phone call you were like, “I don't know if this is possible, but we want a full band for the cocktail hour”. And I'm like, “well, it's always possible, right?” And then we started talking about music and styles and that's when it got a little bit complicated because it was a little all over the place, so it's like, the best thing to do was just hear from the bride; what is she thinking? And it was very funny because Lauren and I got on a Zoom call. Again, thank you COVID for that. Actually, that's something that I like about it.
SARAH: It worked really well.
REBECCA: We have this face time now with clients, but we started chatting and the music she was listing we were like, this is...
LAUREN: It was very eclectic.
REBECCA: Very eclectic.
LAUREN: And things that I recognized and I know, but to pull that off as a live band or the types of groups that we work with, it's not, you know, kind of that Top 40 normal-ish music that you might hear on the radio or that you hear at a wedding. And so we were like...
REBECCA: And it was a mix too. Because it was like, she really loved jazz and we ended up pulling out of her that she liked the Motown and R&B, but then some of the jazz that she listed was actually very modern. So, trying to think of what musicians we would bring in, which is really where our minds go, was like, what are we going to do with one group, to do all of this?
SARAH: Exactly. To make this happen. I think what really made it unforgettable, there are so many things that made it unforgettable, but I have to talk about this. Just, the ladies curated an experience around what my client was looking for. So, from start to finish, we worked around how do we make music stand out? How do we make music become something that's memorable? So, I'm one of those people where I hear a certain song, it triggers a certain memory. So I feel like, you know, the ladies ask the right questions on the call with my client and in doing so, they were able to say, "Okay, we have a feel for what she's looking for". Once we got that it was really all on them. I trusted them to curate an experience. For the processional, we had a male and female singer and we had someone on the keyboard and the bride wanted a very specific song to walk out to. It wasn't a super popular song and she liked certain parts of the lyrics. So the ladies actually customized just the certain lyrics that she liked and we even arranged it to the point where the male and female singers would be hiding in the bushes so no one would see them and create that experience that you would expect that it's going to be keyboard throughout the ceremony and as she starts to make her way down the aisle, then here comes the male and female singers singing this beautiful ballad. And that was just one of them. That was just one of them.
REBECCA: I think one thing about that moment to me was the way we even came up with the singers in the bushes, by the way, was a walkthrough with the bride. So we get down there with our bride and she's walking us through what she's envisioning. And so we walk the path that she's going to take. And we're kind of timing this out while we're talking, and we get down there and we realize she really loves the drama. She loves a moment. She loves creating something super special. So as we're talking she's like, “wouldn't it be great if no one knew there were singers until this moment?” So we see this little hedge and we're like, oh, our singers can stay back here and then come out so people don't really know.
LAUREN: We wanted to save the drama for her entrance so that nobody would know and then just be really surprised and - oh my gosh, it's the bride!
SARAH: Yeah, it was perfect.
REBECCA: I was at the end of the path and Lauren was across the way. So we can see each other and I can see Sarah and the bride and I was texting Lauren and I was like, “she's not going to make it! She's not going to make it!” But we knew our musicians. We had talked to them and we were like, “if there's not enough time just vamp.” Our keyboardist is brilliant and he kind of took the energy down as soon as he saw her coming in, so that they could explode - just almost like a vamping, I don't even know what the singer sang.
LAUREN: They just riffed off of it. They improvised. They harmonized together and created this just huge crescendo, climactic.
REBECCA: It was amazing!
SARAH: It was so intentional.
REBECCA: It was incredible.
SARAH: It literally, it seemed so intentional. So, once we had the highlight with her, you know, walking down, I was like, “oh my God. That was amazing. I can't wait for the recessional.” The song that was a particular song that was - Father Stretch, I believe is what it's called. I remember looking at it and that particular song, there are over 80 people in the choir singing that song.
LAUREN: Yep, it's the Sunday service choir from the series that Kanye was doing.
SARAH: Exactly. Exactly.
AIMEE: Not COVID friendly.
SARAH: Not COVID friendly at all. So my bride said, “we love Kanye West. We love this music. This is what we want in a choir. How can we pull it off?” I remember reaching out to Rebecca and Lauren and just saying, “my bride really likes this song. Can you guys make it happen?” and they said, “we'll do our best. We got it. We'll make it happen!” And I will never forget this ‘cause on the day of [the wedding] they were doing soundcheck and I was running helter-skelter trying to figure everything out, and I heard a snippet - and I stopped in my tracks and came out, and just started dancing and it sounded like the Sunday choir. It was amazing, and just being able to pull that off with just a male and female singer and a keyboardist was impeccable.
REBECCA: Well what was funny about that one was when you sent it and I listened to it and I was like, “oooh. So that's not what we have”. And I was like, I have some ideas but before I wanted to confirm that we could do it, I called my keyboardist. And I said, “ok this is the track. What do you think? Do you think we can replicate some of these background vocals?” because it was percussion instrumental. We had it halfway through the track and it was a full orchestra, really. And I said, “what do you think? Do you think we can pull this off and then have our singers sing over it?” And he listened to it and he was like, “we can do this. We've got this.” And because I know and trust him, I know if he tells me we've got this, I don't have to worry. I also had never heard it until that day, but the thing is I knew when he tells me he's good, he's good. He had taken the track and had stripped away the main lines so that everything could be there, which is not something we normally do, but I think we're just getting more creative with COVID. It's like, we want to create these moments. We have a thirty piece choir, but we can't use them right now. So, because we want that vibe still, like ok, let's all get creative together.
SARAH: But what made it exceptional was the fact that you ladies listened to first me, and then you had the opportunity to talk to the client. You really understood what she did not want and I think that helped to tailor, ok now that we have a good feeling for what you're looking for and what you're not looking for, and she trusted me - knowing that I found amazing people to, you know, meet her needs. So, when I look back at everything when I hear these songs now, it reminds me of not just her wedding, but an amazing production, more importantly working with people that actually care, that listen. And just seeing how you guys treat your team. There's just so much respect for them. You love their craft and you can tell that it's just a family; you know it feels like a family.
REBECCA & LAUREN: It is.
SARAH: It really made a difference and I mean there are a lot of bands out here, but I feel like being able to create something specific to your client's needs and being able to make it memorable is not an easy feat and you guys accomplished that, during COVID. It's not like we had an 80-piece band! And the cocktail hour was amazing. Everything was just amazing.
REBECCA: You know, the more I think about why our role is important. Because I do think that's lost a lot. I've worked with a lot of agencies and agents are a great medium to find teams, but I think one of the things (I hope), we offer is also knowing our team intimately and being able to know who on our team should be handling it.
LAUREN: Not just, here's a guitar player.
SARAH: Exactly.
REBECCA: Right.
LAUREN: Here's a singer. Here's a keyboardist.
REBECCA: Right.
LAUREN: We know their repertoire. What they're really good at. What they would excel most at and the type of genres that somebody might want. We're not going to just call anybody.
REBECCA: Right. And knowing who's going to deal with what situation well. I think that to me is also a huge piece of it. Like you mentioned, a production. It really is a production. I hate to say that weddings are a production, but they are. And for us, when we have multiple pieces of entertainment throughout the night and we're trying to create a flow and experience from beginning to end, I think for us the most important thing is; who do we trust to be by our side to make that happen? Because even though all of them are amazing in their own right, they all fit a different piece. And then depending on who you put together, like even our male singer and our female singer. They're like a power couple. We knew as soon as we spoke with the bride at that walkthrough, because that's what the big piece was. Who's our female singer for this? What style do we need to pull in for her? And after we talked to her we're like, we need this team.
SARAH: I remember when I sent her the track that you guys created for her song.
REBECCA: The edited version? Yeah.
SARAH: The edited version of it. She was like, “wow”! And I said, “oh by the way you know, they're going to find”, because it was Beyoncé and Jaime Foxx singing that part, “they're going to find the best person for this track.” In hindsight, not being at the site visit actually was great because you guys were able to really connect with her and understand what she really wanted, and after that she was great. She was fine.
LAUREN: Well, we always have to give you planners huge props because you help kind of talk us up to them. You build that confidence and that trust with a team that they maybe don't know anything about. That they've never met. And it's so important and so amazing that you all do that for us because it kind of helps better set us up for success when they know, “oh okay, my planner has worked with them a lot. They feel okay with them. They trust them; therefore I will trust them”, which is huge because the best events that we always produce are where we can really get creative. Where people do trust us to use the artists and their own unique artistry to, you know, produce the best possible version of whatever it is that they're looking for.
SARAH: I completely agree.
REBECCA: And I think that even beyond that, 2020 has helped us see that these relationships are just crucial. You know, we're all facing something we're not sure what to expect. I mean, we can book something for next summer and have no idea what's going to happen, and so knowing that we have these deep relationships and we can trust each other and be candid with each other. I think that's the other big piece that I found during this time is we're more transparent - not that we wouldn't be before, but I think in a way that we, maybe as professionals, all hadn't been. That talking about real serious things of like, ok well what if this happens? How are we adjusting? I mean, I think we even talked. We weren't sure if they were going to reduce the restrictions again before that wedding and we talked about, ok what do we do and how does this shift, and how is this going to change what we're producing?
SARAH: I will say that I have to point this out, too. I remember after the site visit, you ladies sent me an email after asking some questions and I remember saying, “oh my gosh!”
REBECCA: I think I was worried it was too much because it was our normal set of questions to make sure everything's good.
AIMEE: I love those questions. They're the best!
REBECCA: It was also every single thing that happened at the walkthrough. So, I was trying to like, paint the picture of what we had done and I'm like, this is going to be a really long email!
SARAH: I love it! I've worked with other bands before and I'm telling you, that was very very unique and it showed again that you guys consider every aspect of an event. It's not just, okay let's show up with our band and make this work, it's really how do we make this unforgettable? And you guys did that.