Wortley Hall Wedding Showcase

“Playing at promotional events is key to the success of any freelance musician. Read on to find out about my latest experience at Wortley Hall near Sheffield”

Chandelier

My harp beneath

I was invited to play for the Wortley Hall wedding showcase last Thursday evening. My relationship with this warm soulful place goes back quite a few years by now and I jump at any chance to play there. The staff are brilliant! They’re helpful and friendly in an unforced natural way and they go to great lengths to ensure that each wedding runs smoothly.

My excitement escalates when I approach the quietly spectacular structure of weathered golden stone. Pulling up outside the main building, the views over the grounds and the adjacent sprawling countryside are breathtaking. This truly is a fine example of Yorkshire at its best.

My heart leapt when I spotted my welcoming committee in the dappled shade of the yew trees:

Walking my harp through the hotel’s Ruddy Duck restaurant, I spied a pair of brass duck head bookends. Wortley Hall is a sanctuary for these feathered friends. They in turn lend an element of playfulness to their stately home.

If you read last week’s blog post, you might have detected a hint of ennui at the whole rigmarole of much of the wedding fayre business. Not so at Wortley Hall. I consistently get bookings from playing at their fayres. The harp is definitely right at home here.

I’ve played for lots of ceremonies in this unique hotel, and live harp music always goes down a treat, whether it’s for the civil ceremony and drinks reception, or the wedding breakfast afterwards in the glorious wooden splendour of the Foundry Dining Room with its ornate ceiling and gigantic chandelier. There’s a relaxed homely grandeur about Wortley Hall which I love. At the most recent Fayre in January, I had a quick look at the refurbished rooms upstairs in the heavens. They’re like little romantic nests tucked away in the antiquated eaves. Wortley Hall is the perfect place for a secret escape from it all.

Just like that - the atmospheric splendour of the Foundry Dining Room

The atmosphere at the wedding evening was peaceful and intimate. There was none of the hustle and bustle of dozens of suppliers promoting their wares to customers hungry to discover the latest wedding trends. I was one of only three suppliers. The others were Keith Woods Entertainment, who provided the floral arrangements, transforming the ceremony room into an exotic garden of paradise with the bountifully laden boughs of their blossom trees. Creative photographer Eternal Photography was the man behind the lens, or rather beside his photos. He definitely takes better photos than I do, but hopefully you get a feel for this beautiful location from my snaps.

For this event, I decided to take a slightly different approach from what I usually do at commercial fayres. I played what I wanted to play. A risky strategy? Maybe, but if I’m enjoying myself, there’s more chance my audience will enjoy themselves too. Don’t get me wrong! I love my wedding harp repertoire and I could play Mendelssohn and Wagner for a Thousand Years, or at least ‘til the ducks come home, but I was in the mood for something different that evening. And so were my audience from the feedback I got. Doing it my way could be the way forward…

Atmospheric

The gardens at dusk

Night time statue

“I’ll be recording some short sound clips (and maybe more) from March onwards. Keep checking in to listen to my harp beat!”

FAYRE ENOUGH

You cannot be serious!

Last night/this morning, I’ve had about 3 hours sleep. I’m in the throes of a creative phase and I have a billion ideas burgeoning busily and noisily in my head. I’ve had quite a frustrating time trying to get involved in more and more wedding fayres so that I can meet all you lovely brides and grooms who would like to book my wedding services but can’t find me for one reason or another. I’ve pushed beyond my comfort zone and contacted and reconnected with local venues within West Yorkshire without success. Despite several efforts I’m greeted with the reply that makes my heart sink - “We’ve already got a musician”, or a hefty charge in excess of £200 to go and work at a fayre. Anyone who knows me will know I’m not work shy and I’m happy to invest in something that will reap rewards, but after enquiring on a forum for harpists and, most importantly, within myself, wedding fayres these days aren’t the viable investment they used to be for harpists. The return simply isn’t high enough. There’s always someone who will do the work for less money in what is a niche market, relatively speaking. Understandably, everyone wants a bite of the apple. When you book me, you do get a highly personalised professional service. I have skill, experience, knowledge and expertise (I trained intensively for 11 years) - it isn’t just me rocking up with my harp and playing your favourite music. Most importantly, I genuinely care and I love my job!

I’ve experienced a fair (!) bit of interest at fayres but unless I take a deposit on the day, there’s only a small percentage of clients who actually pursue their initial enquiry to eventually end up booking. It would seem that the way forward is focusing on developing my online presence. A search engine ad? A social media advertising boost? Signing up with agencies? A sleek slick shiny brochure for clients to take home and show their nearest and dearest? New publicity photos and videos? Which one of these risky time consuming costly endeavours should I choose? If there’s something you would like more of, please don’t hesitate to get in touch - all suggestions welcomed! And if you know someone who would benefit from me playing at an event, do pass on my details!

I think my plan of action will become clear as I move through my year, and seeing as I’m quite an old fashioned girl at heart, word of mouth will play a major role. For now I’m focusing my energy on doing my new part time job. Did I tell you I’ve got a job? I started in January and it’s been one of the toughest learning curves of my life but I really am loving the stability and security it offers me and I can only see positives. It definitely beats almost falling asleep on the motorway round midnight after 2 or 3 days of orchestral work. The reality is that, financially, I’m probably better off doing my part time job. Don’t get me wrong - I’m not saying no to orchestral playing, which I miss very very much, but I haven’t found a way for it work for me yet this season. My focus now is on developing my presence locally. That and getting a few hours practice in. This week, I’ve managed a deliciously giddy hour. I thrive on four hours a day which is unrealistic nowadays, but I’m very optimistic there’ll be a quieter week in the near future when I get on top of learning and digesting so much new information.

“What’s your new job Rhian?” I hear you all ask? Check in during the next month to find out more. There are some exciting events coming up which I would never have imagined and which I can’t wait to share with you…

Behind the scenes - getting creative. All images - John Steel Photography. With heartfelt thanks to Wortley Hall for their generous support in allowing me use of their spectacular hotel

Selling Myself - Good Things Happen in Threes

The first thing you’ll notice about the photos in this post is the quality. That’s because I didn’t take them! Like most introverts, self promotion doesn’t come easily. I love playing the harp and most things about my amazing instrument fascinate me, but the business aspect of my job is not one of my strongest points. It’s Monday morning and as I sat looking through my lists and checking my website and my social media, well, the only social medium I use, I realised that I’ve got about an hour most mornings this week to catch up on one of my favourite things, a bit of writing. It’s been a full on hectic fortnight interspersed with bouts of sporadic sleep and there’s been a delicious abundance of notes on my music stand and, thankfully, there still is.

The main project was my video and photo shoot. I had my trusted creative team on board, photographer John Steel and the indefinable Gareth Boot. John is a fabulous photographer who I first met at a wedding fayre at Durker Roods Hotel in our village in 2015. He asked if he could take my photo and despite thinking he was a bit odd, I was delighted with the artistic result he came up with of me playing in the hotel reception area. His work stood out. There was something special about it, and I loved how he made my harp look. There’s definitely something about me and chandeliers.

Just over a year ago, I received some social media training with Esther Orridge at Social Progress in Honley. She put me back in touch with John and he made my publicity shots on top of the local moor an experience that was fun and occasionally too exciting. I found out that he isn’t odd, he’s just quirky and introverted, a bit like me. Picture John with all his photography gear, and me in a 1960’s Berketex heavy velvet dress (£25 from the local antiques shop), winter coat and walking boots trying to find even ground where it was safe to balance my harp in the August evening chill. My harp trolley was useless. He lost his shoe in a peaty bog trying to find the ideal purple heathery ground. We both agreed to try somewhere else, which resulted in some unique breathtaking shots with my harp and a paradisiac sunset.

Magical Moorland

August evening shoot just up the road. Passers by slowed down and turned their heads at the sight of spotlights and a harp

Compromise doesn’t sit well with John - he questioned my sense of adventure when I suggested doing the shoot from the safety of the car park. I’m glad he did.

I could feel his disappointment when I refused to take my harp outside at Wortley Hall on the 10th of the 9th, 2018 - the sky was ideal for outdoor photography but it was a cool damp day and I had nightmarish visions of it being engulfed in the murky water of the fountain or the two of us slowly sinking to the sombre depths of the nearby pond. Maybe next time if it’s warmer. Not the water shots, obviously. I think the results of our shoot for my website and social medium are pretty cool to say the least. It took place in the appropriately named National Association of Women room, a calming tranquil room tucked away at the back of the hotel, as well as the stunning Foundry Dining Room. I’m a huge fan of John’s work - his creative imaginative style and his attention to detail are outstanding and his editing is seamless. There’s a vivid realness to his images and they ooze life and emotion. When he’s not behind his camera or at his computer, or even on his skateboard, he’s devoted to his two daughters and I love emailing him and getting his out of office reply telling me he’s spending time with his little ones. My one disappointment is that I can’t show you every single one of his fabulous shots here.

Straight on Insta?

My expression reflects exactly how I feel about social media

First came the bit I was really dreading - the video shoot starting at 9am with three hand claps (see photos below). I’d experimented with video at Easter with my close friend Sali and came to the conclusion that the only way to do video was with friends and people I felt comfortable with. Cue another close friend, Gareth Boot, a man with a fervent sense of curiosity and a mind blowing interest in everything, especially technology. I met Gareth thanks to John when I was in quite a dark despondent place in my life a year ago. I was trying to find someone to help breathe life into my old website which I’d never had updated, and after meeting a few website designers, I had a brief phone conversation with Mr Boot. Maybe it’s his background in sales or perhaps his reassuringly broad Yorkshire accent, but I knew immediately he was the right person to help me get my website and my business up to date. After his initial design and the addition of John’s striking photos, I had a website I was proud of which reflected my personality and showcased the services I provided, with the additional bonus of being able to update it myself.

Wisdom and learning

The initial discomfort of seeing myself in action

When I met Gareth, nothing seemed to be going well in my life and with very little work, I was struggling to find any motivation to just get up in the morning. With his firm but fair support and using his CARE system (he’s written a book called TAKING CARE OF YOURSELF - The Four Non-negotiables of Achievement, described as “a personal development book for people who don’t read personal development books”), I started to turn my life around, stopping smoking last December and subsequently giving booze the finger a month later. I haven’t smoked or had a drink since and I’m exercising regularly for the first time in my life so he’s doing something right. Even though things aren’t quite bouncing yet, my outlook on life is significantly rosier than it was 12 months ago. Armed with his knack and penchant for technology, his dogged perfectionism and his creative passion, I knew GB would be the right man for the task.

I had some sound clips recorded a year ago which helped with the process of planning the videoclips. I limited myself to 3 non stop takes of each selected excerpt, a good way of managing my niggling perfectionism. I chose 3 outfits reflecting different aspects of my performance work as well as the styles of the music I played and my personality. I asked if I could use the NAW room at Wortley Hall as I once spent a long break during a wedding in there and spent an hour in utter peace and quiet, so I was almost certain there would be no noise pollution and that we could work undisturbed. Being in a room that represented the suffragette movement also felt significant in this process of finding and owning my voice again and expressing it, both behind my harp and without the comforting reassurance of its towering protection. It was a very positive experience and as you can see, there was quite a lot of laughter to accompany the serious professionalism.

You can check out John Steel’s fabulous images on this website and at johnsteelphotography.com The results of my video shoot with Gareth Boot are on the See Hear page, and you can find out more about Gareth at garethboot.com I have a YouTube channel - Rhian Evans Harpist. I also have a Facebook page, imaginatively called Rhian Evans Harpist. I am incredibly grateful to Laurie and all the staff at Wortley Hall for their assistance and support and for being willing to open up such a stunning weighty venue for my project. Sincere thanks to the couple at the hotel who were curious about what John and I were up to in the dining room with my huge harp. They happily engaged in conversation with me, resulting in some relaxed looking natural shots. The posed ones looked, well, posed.

Clapping

There was this thing where he had to clap three times to sync the sound - obviously nobody else could get a clap in edgeways

Like this?

The art of clapping

Showing us how it’s done

Opinionated

Gareth isn’t the only one who enjoys expressing himself

Exasperation

I think I won him round in the end

Don’t give up your day job GB

Like I said, he’s interested in everything