GOLDEN GATE MUSIC

Let the wedding music specialists at Golden Gate Music and Northern California's finest musicians create the wedding music of your dreams.

After coordinating music for many hundreds of weddings over a quarter of a century, we have learned something that we want to pass on to you. Every couple is different and so should their weddings be. For some couples, music may not be a high priority item in their wedding plans, and there's nothing wrong with that. If this sounds like you, there are a lot of inexpensive options for you: using a DJ, hiring conservatory students, or even playing your own wedding CDs. But, if you want the music to be as unique and special as your gown, flowers and vows, we would like to offer you the finest ensembles, most extensive repertoire and unmatched service. We work together with you to create music that truly reflects your taste and style.

So your wedding plans are well under way and you're ready to choose your musicians. Know who you are getting. Many of those demos you hear are not what you will hear at your wedding. Some are many years old, played by different musicians. Others are professionally recorded with every mistake and out-of-tune note edited out. Some people even borrow other group's recordings! I do not believe in this "assembly line" approach to music. Our demos were recorded live right here in our living room with all of our regular players. We are a small and elite group of musicians who have enjoyed performing together for years, including the concertmasters and principal players of all the major symphony orchestras in the Bay Area. If we cannot fill a booking with these musicians, Golden Gate Music will not take the job. Your wedding is just too important; it's your once-in-a-lifetime moment. So how do some of these organizations book three, four or more weddings on a given date? That's simple. They operate like a factory. Instead of using musicians who play together regularly, they have long lists of players that are called randomly without regard for your specific needs. It's like buying your wedding gown right off the rack at WalMart.

When you are checking around for musicians for your wedding, these are good things to know:

• Who is playing on the demo CD? Will any or all of them be playing for your wedding?
• How long ago was the CD recorded?
• Was the demo CD recorded live or edited in a studio?

Golden Gate Music's groups are very flexible. With just a change of an instrument or two, we can completely change the look and sound of your music from ceremony to reception and through to dinner. Since you don't have to hire separate groups, you save money. For instance, you can have a classical string quartet for your ceremony, a couple of strolling violinists for the reception, then a small jazz or Latin ensemble for dinner. You are limited only by your imagination.

Not sure of how many musicians to use? We will never try to persuade you to hire more than you need to fit your venue, guest count and budget. Sometimes a violin/cello duo is just right for a small ceremony. Or perhaps a flute trio will work perfectly. When choosing the number of musicians, there are no hard and fast rules. We can also explore the possibilities of amplification.

No other group in Northern California can offer such an experienced custom arranging service. From ABBA to ZZTopp, from the music of Albania to Zaire, Golden Gate Music can create a professional arrangement of your special song. From Mazel Tov to Celtic Allelujuia to Mobarak Baad, we will prepare authentic and tasteful arrangements of international traditional and religious ceremony songs. The arrangers at Golden Gate Music have been commissioned to arrange music for a bride in Dublin, Ireland, and even to create an arrangement of "Under Paris Skies" for a wedding in Paris as well as songs for ceremonies across the United States. We always welcome your suggestions.

Planning a really big wedding? You don't have to worry that the music can't be heard. A professional P.A. system is available with matching microphones for the musicians. We can even provide a microphone for toasts and speeches. For that truly lavish wedding, you might consider the elegant Golden Gate Strings.

We've played at the best venues. Check the "Venues" page to see a list of the most recent places we've performed. We have experience at wedding sites throughout Northern California. Some of our specialties are custom-designed music for Wine Country weddings, sophisticated San Francisco ceremonies and non-traditional weddings.
 
Looking for something truly unique? At Golden Gate Music we encourage our couples to use music to express themselves. Recently we have created wedding music for ceremonies with all-Beatles songs, a French-themed wedding, a wedding in the Napa Valley inspired by the Tuscan countryside and one featuring R&B hits,

We have an extensive repertoire. At the bottom of this page are a few of the many songs that you may choose for your ceremony. These are just suggestions. Please go to the "Song Lists" page to see the Golden Gate String Quartet's full repertoire. Go to "Live MP3's" to listen to some of the selections. Just write or call for song lists for the other groups and ask for our wedding demo CD. If choosing music for your wedding sounds like an impossible task, we can design it for you.

We work with some of the finest vendors too. We've listed a few of our favorites on the "Great Links" page of the website. They have consistenty shown the same qualities that we value at Golden Gate Music: creativity, vision, flexibility and professionalism.

"I wanted to write and say thank you for your incredible artistic vision and talent. I was absolutely blown away and am still hearing the wonderful feedback from guests. I guess there were many gasps and not a dry eye during the show. That's exactly the dramatic effect I was hoping for! Thank you again for providing us with an amazing event and wonderful memories." L.S. on her wedding at San Francisco City Hall