LOGISITICS FOR YOUR HARP MUSIC ON THE BIRCH PATHWAY
- Stretchy Time - I won't be watching the clock too closely!
- There can be all sorts of things that might add delays in for the ceremony start time such as traffic, hair, make-up, photographers, dogs, nerves, so please don't worry. This timing is based on about 20 mins pre-ceremony music and 40 mins during the ceremony, but this is only a rough guide.
- This first hour is the least amount of time that you can initially book with me and my harp, it just stretches to cover the Ceremony - a bit like a Tardis.
- I am more than happy to travel with my harp further than the 45mins drive time to get to your wedding, and I frequently do. Just let me know where your venue is and I will let you know what the travel costs would be.
- Travel is charged at 45pm per mile for the full amount of mileage, outward and return journeys.
CHOOSING YOUR HARP MUSIC ON THE BIRCH PATHWAY
My playlist is huuuuuuuge! And it grows every year with songs being added y couples such as you. Hope on over to The Harpinator to hear some of this playlist and view a full list.
After looking through the list you might not be able to find your special song. Well, no worries, as I can see if I can learn it for you. Hopefully you can see from the playlist that no request is too crazy seeming. Don't think "Harp Music", think "Music on the Harp" - what would your favourite song sound like on my harp? That's the magic!
Extra songs are charged at £5 per song.
For your Ceremony it is absolutely essential that you are fully involved in the process, but this does require a little bit more work on your part. Panic not, because we shall get together over tea and cake at one of my Open Harp Surgeries, where, along with some other couples, we will go over your special music.
I am a singer as well as a harpist, so if there is a special song that you want people to really take notice of, then it's a good idea for me to sing it.
THE BIRCH PATHWAY
CEREMONY ONLY INCLUDES
- Background instrumental harp music as the guests gather in the ceremony space.
(Usually a maximum of 20mins depending on when the venue send the guests through, how close the gathering area is to the ceremony area, and how on time the bridal party is!) - The Big Entrance Number!
(If you have an entire squadron as a bridal party, or a very large and long aisle, then you might even have time for 2 pieces of music on the harp.) - Optional Solo in place of a reading.
(If you have a particularly special song you want people to listen to in full, this is a good idea) - Something for the signing of the registers.
(We usually need 3 pieces of harp music here) - The Big Exit
(For when you take your first steps together as a married couple to the rapturous applause of your guests!)
Birch
The Silver Maiden or Lady Of The Woods
Gaelic: Beith (pron. Bey) / Latin: Betula Pendula
This symbol is from the Druidic Tree Alphabet dating from 300CE known as, Ogham (pron. Oh-um).This is a simple system of lines carved into mainly wood but also stone (which is how it survives).
Other Associations
- Planetary body: Venus
- Element: Air
- Seasonal Festival: Samhain (Halloween), and Beltane (May Day)
- Celtic Celebrity: Taliesin, Brighid
- Stone: Clear Quartz Crystal
- Fauna & Flora: White Cow, Pheasant & Fly Agaric Mushroom
Silver Birch Lore
Sometimes known as the “Lady Of The Woods”, the Birch is a pioneer tree of new beginnings. Highly adaptable in harsh conditions, Birch repopulates places damaged by fire or clearings, and colonised Britain as the ice retreated at the end of the last ice age.
Birch is also traditionally used as the Maypole, the centrepiece of our May Day (Beltane) celebrations rooted in ancient fertility customs, and symbolising the young lover’s dance. Cut at dawn and then decorated for the dance, the Maypole was burned later at the Beltane fire.
Birch also symbolises protection. Brooms made of Birch twigs were used to drive out the spirits of the old year, as well as being used to ‘beat the bounds’ of one's property for protection.
Meanings: New beginnings, initiation, protection, fertility.
Birch Magic
- Write a wish on birch bark with the tip of a burned birch twig. Keep it hidden and your wish will be fulfilled.
- Burn a little birch bark or dried leaf at the start of any important new beginning.
- Herd your cow with a birch stick and she will be fertile and birth healthy calves.
- Cradles were made of Birch to protect the bairn from faeries seeking to switch the child with a changeling.