Todd and Bill of Abiding Harmony create a memorable piece of music for your wedding that will be remembered and cherished for years to come. They created a beautiful melody for our Trend Wedding couple, Matt and Kay, that was performed live at their ceremony. Todd and Bill even presented our lucky couple with the original sheet music that will be a special momentum for Matt and Kay to keep for the rest of their lives. We love the idea of a custom sound for your wedding so we spoke directly with the creative minds behind Abiding Harmony to learn more!
“We’ve all experienced the magic that music can bring to any moment. Maybe it’s the soundtrack to the first kiss you shared. Or the jam that gets you both up and dancing no matter what kind of day it’s been. Music moves us, changes us…and makes us feel magical.
Still, maybe you haven’t thought too much about what kind of impact an entire day of music made just for you could have on this next step in your journey together.
But here’s what we’ve learned: Long after they remember who sat where or how the cake tasted on their big day, couples recall the breathlessness of that first dance. They feel the excitement in the melody that accompanied the walk down the aisle. Music unlocks those memories in a way no other force in the universe can.”
Q: What does Abiding Harmony specialize in?
A: Creating original, personalized music compositions for soon-to-be-married couples and live sound production for wedding ceremonies
Q: How and when did Abiding Harmony begin?
A: We became a licensed LLC in December of 2016. The idea started in 2015 when Bill and I realized that if we joined forces with our individual talents, we could help create a very personal wedding ceremony for couples that would deeply connect them with their friends and family in the audience.
Q: How long does it take to create a custom music piece for a couple?
A: (Bill) The more time I can spend with any couple’s info/story, the more in-depth I can get with the creative process. That being said, at the very least I would need a week to put the initial ideas together, which is based on the expectation of writing between 4 and 10 minutes of original music for any given ceremony. From start to finish, 2 weeks would be the fastest turnaround.
Q: What inspired the music for Matt and Kay’s wedding?
A: (Bill) I used answers from their questionnaire as the main starting point – as the date of the wedding was 03/02/2018, those numbers became the building blocks for the structure of the piece; interval and melodic ideas, phrase lengths, time / key signature, etc. I also took ideas from both Matt and Kay’s “top 5 fav songs” – Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” can be heard in some of the string accompaniment, along with bits from John Legend, Maroon 5, Maxwell, Etta James, Nickleback… I love ‘stealing’ ideas from such a diverse range of musicians and styles! (Todd) Kay also had a particular acoustic guitar part she wanted to hear as she walked down the aisle – from the song “Unbelievable”, by Craig David. We were originally going to do a string quartet, but Kay mentioned to us that they both really like “cafe jazz” music, so we decided to add an upright bass and acoustic guitar to the ensemble. I know I am bias but I thought it turned out very beautifully. I’m lucky to be able to work with a guy as talented as Bill.
Q: What is your favorite part about creating music for a couple’s big day?
A: For me, (Todd), it’s getting to know the couple and helping them create a ceremony atmosphere that can describe who they are as individuals and as a couple. For me, (Bill), all of what Todd said, along with getting to spend time creating music based on the answers each couple provides in the questionnaire. Every couple we work with is 100% them, and I absolutely love the challenge that comes along with creating something fresh and new that will resonate with each one.
Q: What should couples know about Abiding Harmony?
A: Our goal is to represent each couples’ musical taste and history together and use that music to better connect them with each other and their friends and family. Being a part of the arts community is also very important to us. We love that we can reach out to our local network of musicians and use their talents to help bring the music to life.
Images courtesy of Abiding Harmony
