Vail's Betty Ford Alpine Gardens

Despite recent wet weather, Vail is absolutely breathtaking right now. I spent some time this week at a couple of different sites where we often play, and thought I'd showcase a couple of them.

 

This is the wedding area of the Betty Ford Alpine Gardens. Wedding parties often descend the stone steps (upper left) or cross the footbridge (to the center right), while their guests are seated on the patio. Surrounded by the fragrant garden flowers, we generally sit off to the far right, and along with trilling birds and the gently cascading waterfall, we whisk our clients and guests off to an enchanted, idyllic fairyland.

Following are additional garden photos

 

Footpath

 

Beaver Creek Chapel

 

Today we played for a wedding at the Beaver Creek Chapel. It was a perfect day to get married. Water rushed down the creek, the skies were swathed in a gauzy blue, breezes wafted the scents of blooming flowers through the air, and the couple was surrounded by those who love them - both present and in spirit.

As we recently added a few new pieces into our repertoire, we enjoyed including them in today's prelude and postlude music. Some of the additions included Bach's "Arioso" and "My heart ever Faithful." We also included the arrangement of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" which had been requested earlier this year as we liked how it turned out and wanted to use it again.

The bridal procession entered the chapel to Bach's "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring," while the bride followed with Pachebel's "Canon".

As the ceremony ended, the couple exited with Handel's "Hornpipe." We then followed with several pieces including Beethoven's "Ode to Joy," Handel's "La Rejouissance," and the Beatle's "Here Comes The Sun."

We enjoyed being a small part of this couple's beautiful, perfect day.

Summer wedding season begins

Today we officially began our summer wedding season. Summers in the Vail Valley are exquisite and the locals are familiar with the phrase, "come for the season, stay for the summers." That's how most locals end up living here year round - and we were excited to do a local wedding today. While the mountain tops retain some of their snow, all of the snow on the valley floor has melted, and spring flowers are now in bloom - everywhere it seems.

Red Sky Ranch was the site of today's wedding. It hosts one of the valley's newer golf courses, as well as an exclusive community. Today's ceremony was on the range next to the clubhouse, granting a gorgeous vista.

Despite the breathtaking views, the wind was very strong and we struggled to stay warm and keep our music (and stands) in place despite the 12+ music clips. Due to the weather, the guests came out just prior to the wedding party, and as such we didn't play much prelude.

The ceremony was beautiful and the bridal attendants entering to Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring, and the to bride to Pachebel's Canon. We were grateful for these selections as they are easier to memorize and we weren't able to turn our music pages without a long pause due to all of the clips needed because of the wind.

After the brief and windy ceremony, we played the Wedding March for the recessional, and then Hornpipe and a few other selections as the wedding party was whisked back up to the heated clubhouse via golf carts.

While mountain weddings can be gorgeous, we find that the weather can be very unpredictable. As such, flexibility and a large supply of music clips are a must!