Everyone in the wedding industry knew what a big day this one would be. It was no exception for me - my busiest wedding day ever!
It actually started the night before with a Friday evening wedding in Fort Wayne, Indiana. A lovely setting at the Lakeside Rose Garden, and although it was REALLY hot, it was a beautiful (and thankfully, short) ceremony.
I loaded up the harp and headed back to South Bend. Picked up my roadie on the way, and drove up to Grand Rapids, Michigan. My Saturday started with an early wedding, so we spent the night up there to make sure we wouldn't hit any travel snags on the way. And he also didn't want to try to have to wake me up at 4:00 am!
My first wedding of this historic day was at 9:00 am (!!!) at the Frederik Meijer Gardens. Conservatory and greenhouse weddings have the benefit of outdoor beauty, combined with the assurances of indoor weather! Although the high humidity can cause some tuning problems, I love playing in greenhouses. They also have concrete sidewalks - a much better place to put a harp than on grass outside. My only problem with this particular venue is that they did not turn off the fans during the ceremony. The other greenhouse locations I've played at did. Would it really kill the plants to be without them for fifteen minutes? It sure made it hard to hear for the harpist! Fortunately, it was a small gathering, and all of the guests were up close. Since the building was still open to the public, I played quietly throughout the ceremony, to help cut out some of the other noise in the room.
Once that wedding was over, it was back in the car for a quick stop at Starbucks to meet with a local bride, and then down to Grandville, MI for my second wedding at 1:00pm. It was a beautiful (and indoor!) Catholic wedding, presided over by the uncle of the bride. They chose mostly traditional music, and I played with the pianist for the bride's entrance to Bach's "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring".
Back in the car (with the help of my roadie, of course, who kept the AC running for me), and down to Niles, MI, for wedding #3. This one was outside in the heat, but I was well-shaded under large trees. This one was the officiant's first wedding - he was a friend of the couple. It went off without a single problem!
It was exhausting, but well worth it to be a part of so many beautiful weddings and a special day in history. I was lucky to have such a wonderful group of people to work with last weekend. 7-7-07 How could it be anything but lucky!
