"Avoid this woman. We paid her £380 to play for an hour and a half in the woods during our wedding ceremony and drinks reception on Saturday 10th August, 2019. She played for half an hour before the ceremony and then wouldn’t play the remaining hour because she claimed the conditions weren’t appropriate. Her reasons are as follows... her fingers were too cold (it was 20 degrees) and a small branch fell on the wedding celebrant who was no way near Cecily (the celebrant carried on like a profession, I hasten to add). I asked Cecily for the money for the hour back and she refused. I therefore, am going to be looking into what legal action to take as I am not happy paying £380 for someone to play for half an hour! Cecily ruined our wedding day so don’t book her... she could ruin yours, too! "

Reply by The Waldorf Harpist
N/B: Please note this booking was private and not through Last Minute Musicians. If it had, then the LMM contract would have made clear that the musician reserves the right to protect their instruments (and themselves) if the working environment become unreasonable or dangerous. On this day the MET office had issued a yellow warning for gale force winds and the weather conditions were a cause for concern. The wedding took place in a wood and as well as the celebrant being hit on the head by a falling branch, a much larger branch fell inches away from my harp after the ceremony. It is always difficult and upsetting to have to make the decision that it is unreasonable to continue playing when it is somebody's wedding day. I did, in fact, manage to play for 1/2 an hour before the ceremony and during the ceremony itself. When it was clear after the ceremony that there was no available option of moving inside, and after much consultation with ushers and friends of the couple, I made the decision that it was no longer a safe environment to work for me or the harp. I was assured by those I spoke to that the bride and groom would understand. The cold was a factor (high winds make the temperature feel much colder, and I would like to add several guests did put on their coats. I was also kindly offered a jacket) but not the reason for having to curtail this booking after 1 hour of playing. It is sometimes possible to deal with the ill effects of playing in the cold but the issue here was the lack of back up plan when the weather made the working environment dangerous. Nobody should be expected to work in an unsafe environment or put their extremely expensive and delicate instrument (as well as themselves) at risk when their livelihood depends on it. I would hope that having managed to play before and during the ceremony (and before the couple departed for photographs) that the decision made did not ruin anyone's wedding day. Naturally I am saddened when anyone feels dissatisfied with the service provided and I have never had a negative response to my performance at a wedding before. With best wishes, Cecily

Rating: 1 / 10 Share this review:

"Thank you so much for playing at Natalie and Stewart’s wedding on Saturday. Your harp playing sounded beautiful and fitted the Georgian setting so well."

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"Zoe played beautifully on our wedding day, and my husband and I could not wish for more. "

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"Just want to say a huge thank you for your performance at my sister's wedding. The guests were very complimentary and were pleasantly surprised. You played beautifully!"

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"Thanks again for your playing last night. You did the harp part proud, especially as it's such an integral backbone to the piece. A number of people commented on how much they had enjoyed your contribution."

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"Ruth Lee was absolutely fantastic at our wedding! I can’t recommend her highly enough! Thank you very much!"

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"Enchanted Harpist, i finally have the time to thank you for the 10th of July. you truly MADE the night as magical as it was ✨ i hope you enjoyed the night as much as we did. my entrance would not have felt so touching if it wasn’t for you. your talent is unmatched ❤️"

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"Rebecca arrived in really good time, full of energy and enthusiasm; was set up and playing as we welcomed our first guests. She played a wonderful selection of folk, classical and pop music throughout (taking a break while we had speeches) and created a very warm atmosphere. It was a treat to have her back for a second event too. Lovely addition to our party. Thank you, Rebecca. Caroline. "

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"Ruth played beautifully at our Wedding last year. Firstly, in our church and then for our drinks reception. So many of our guests were impressed with the variety of songs Ruth could play and said was a lovely touch to our special day. Thank you!"

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"Bianca is an unbelievable harpist and her vocals where just beautiful. She was extremely professional and an absolute pleasure to have here entertaining guests for the evening. Bianca really helped to make a unique evening for us."

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"Zoe played at my daughters wedding..it was amazing, made the day..very talented ..would highly recommend her to add her magic touch to your special day."

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"Thank you once again for entertaining us so royally last evening. You really helped make an excellent evening even more memorable!"

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"Thank you so much for your services yesterday afternoon. We all loved the music and I received many positive comments – it really did add to our event. With kindest regards"

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"We absolutely loved Stien's harp playing and received many compliments from our guests. It was also wonderful to have Stien playing outside during the drinks reception. "

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"Beautiful music which really set the tone for our special day. Walking down the aisle to a song we’d chosen played on the harp was amazing and we’d be happy to book again for another special occasion."

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review: