Booking an English-speaking wedding singer in Spain: what to ask first

Booking your wedding music from another country is an act of faith. You cannot go and watch them play on a Saturday, you may not share a language with them, and you are sending money abroad to hold a date a year away.

I am on the other side of that conversation most weeks. These are the questions that genuinely tell you something, and what a straight answer sounds like.

"Do you actually sing in English?"

Ask it plainly, because "yes" can mean several things.

It can mean the singer has learned a handful of English songs phonetically. It can mean they are comfortable performing in English but cannot hold a planning conversation in it. Or it can mean both the repertoire and the communication are bilingual.

You want the third. Ask for links to them singing in English, and notice whether their replies to you are written in fluent English or run through a translator. You will be exchanging a lot of emails with this person over the coming months.

"Can we hear you sing live, not produced?"

A studio recording tells you what a producer can do. Ask for live footage: a ceremony, a concert, anything unedited.

In my case there is television footage — I sang on The Voice Spain in 2020 and reached the final of The Voice Kids Spain in 2017 — plus live video from weddings and from the restaurant where I have sung every weekend for five years. That last one is the honest test, frankly: singing to people who did not come to hear you, week after week, is where you learn.

"What exactly is included?"

This is where quotes stop being comparable. A price is meaningless until you know:

• Which moments it covers: ceremony only? ceremony plus cocktail hour? the whole day?
• Whether sound equipment is included, or hired separately.
• Whether travel to your venue is included or added later.
• What happens if the day runs over the agreed time.

Two quotes that look far apart often turn out identical once you break them down, and two that look identical can differ by hundreds of euros in extras.

"Do you know our type of ceremony?"

A civil ceremony, a symbolic one and a church wedding are three different jobs musically. The number of songs, where they fall, and how long each needs to be all change.

If you are having a symbolic ceremony written by your celebrant — very common for international couples in Spain — the music has to be built around a script that does not exist yet. That is fine, but it needs someone who will actually ask to see it.

"What if we want a song you do not do?"

Most singers will learn a song for you. What varies is the notice they need and whether they charge for it.

I ask for four weeks and do not charge extra. The reason for the notice is not laziness: it takes time to find the right key for my voice, prepare the backing and rehearse it until it sounds like a performance rather than a cover.

If a singer says yes to any song with two weeks' notice and no fuss, be a little suspicious.

"How does paying from abroad work?"

Ask this early, because it is where cross-border bookings get awkward.

Standard practice in Spain is a deposit to hold the date — usually around 30% — with the balance before the wedding. What you want in writing is: how much, by when, what happens if you cancel, and what happens if they cancel.

That last one matters and almost nobody asks it. My own commitment is simple: if illness or something genuinely beyond my control ever stopped me performing, the full amount comes back to you, deposit included. Ask whoever you are booking to put their version of that in writing.

Note that Bizum, the instant payment app everyone in Spain uses, generally needs a Spanish bank account — so from abroad it will usually be a bank transfer. Not a problem, just worth knowing so it does not surprise you.

"Will you talk to our planner or venue?"

If you have a wedding planner, the answer should be an immediate yes, and it should be a relief to the singer, not a burden.

Coordination between the venue, the celebrant, the photographer and the music is where weddings actually go wrong. Somebody has to know when the bride is walking, how long the aisle takes and when the registrar stops talking. It is much easier when that conversation happens in Spanish between professionals, and you just get told it is handled.

The short version

The right questions are not about price. They are: what is included, what happens when something goes wrong, and can I actually talk to this person.

If you are planning a wedding on the Costa Blanca and want honest answers to any of the above, write to me. I will tell you straight whether I am the right fit — including when I am not.