Moving to the UK was easy, but not without stress points.
I’ve moved countries before — a few times — but France was home for the last 15 years.
The country is familiar, obviously, but changing absolutely everything around you has quite an impact. And launching a new business — again — certainly has its challenges, in these uncertain times.
A new handle on things
One of the first things I did was change my Instagram handle to “UK wedding pianist” — a name that was just waiting for me. Then I wondered how long it would be until I worked again.
Within days, a former colleague booked me for their wedding in November. Which was excellent.
A short time after that, I got a booking for a wedding at The Headland Hotel in Cornwall. Even after playing at all those chateaux in France, this building is massively impressive.
![the headland hotel](https://i0.wp.com/alexthepianist.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/headland-hotel.jpg?resize=300%2C300&ssl=1)
And wait until you see the view…
![headland hotel view](https://i0.wp.com/alexthepianist.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/headland-hotel-view.jpg?resize=225%2C300&ssl=1)
I was booked for the ceremony and cocktails. A baby grand was provided in the ceremony room, and then I played more publicly in the bar.
![headland hotel piano](https://i0.wp.com/alexthepianist.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/headland-piano.jpg?resize=375%2C500&ssl=1)
Four weeks to the day after my last wedding in France, I’m back in business!