June 26, 2010 Donovan Pavilion

We played for a wedding on June 26 at the Donovan Pavilion.

We had the honor of accompanying the bride's uncle, vocalist Bob Hansen as he performed Schubert's "Ave Maria", and Josh Groban's "You Raise Me Up" during the ceremony.

 

As the guests were being seated, we played selections from Handel's "Water Music", Vivaldi's "Winter", Handel's "Largo", Bach's "Sheep May Safely Graze", and "Arioso". The wedding party then entered to "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring", and finally, the bride to Clarke's "Trumpet Voluntary".

As soon as the bride's father was seated, Mr. Hansen performed "Ave Maria". Later on, just before the vows, we once again accompanied him as he performed "You Raise Me Up".

We played Mendelssohn's "Wedding March" for the recessional as the wedding party exited, and continued with Handel's "La Rejouissance" "Entrance of the Queen of Sheba", and "Hornpipe".

The Donovan also provided a beautiful backdrop with the river rushing along in the background, against the mountains covered in bright green spring time foliage.

June 25 - The Westin

This past Friday we had the opportunity to play for a very unique wedding at the Westin.
In fact, the wedding wasn't unique in that anything out of the ordinary was planned, and I was amazed at the beauty of the backdrop at The Westin.

We've learned however that sometimes things just don't go according to plans. As we arrived to the venue, a storm was moving in from the east (generally storms come from the west) - the wind was whipping like crazy, and after a few moments there were a few drops of rain and lightening was seen. Due to the expense of our instruments, (and because of the metal strings and parts,) we aren't able to play outdoors in such weather.

We met with the wedding coordinator, and she mentioned that they weren't planning on sending the guests out into the weather, so we relocated into the downstairs foyer and played our prelude music from there.

It was finally decided that they would try to brave the elements, and so we set up under an umbrella on the back patio.
The ceremony was beautiful, and the family members and wedding party entered to Pachebel's "Canon". The bride then chose Wagner's Traditional "Bridal Chorus" as she entered.

It truly was a breathtaking sight to take in the backdrop of Beaver Creek mountain, with the river rushing along right behind the bride and groom.

 

We played Mendelsohn's "Wedding March" as the bride and groom's recessional. We continued with a few other pieces, and then relocated (yes again) to a spot underneath the eaves so that we weren't in the middle of the patio.

Unbeknownst to us, on the deck right above us, a party was in full swing. Apparently they had a live rock band who had been gracious enough to hold off until the ceremony concluded. As we began to play during the cocktails and photos, the band above us decided that they'd waited long enough, and also began to play. After fighting through several songs, we realized that instead of providing something elegant and beautiful, the cacophony of the two groups (ours and the rock band)was really, well - cacaphonous. It was finally determined that it would sound better if we stopped, and so we packed up.

The Westin did a great job in dealing with the weather and music situations, however we felt very bad that we weren't able to play Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata" a piece which was very special to the bride and groom which they had requested.

Here is a photo of the flowers and the table settings for the dinner which followed.

 

June 19 2010

We kicked off our 2010 Summer Wedding Season on June 19th with two back to back weddings.

Our first wedding was in the Beaver Creek Chapel which was beautifully decorated with big bright balls of peony flowers inside.

 

We arrived a little bit early so that we could spend some time rehearsing with a vocalist and pianist.
After a quick rehearsal, we began to play prelude as the guests entered and were seated.

As the processional began, we played "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" as honored family members were seated, and the bridesmaids, flower girls, and ring bearers entered.

The bride entered to "Canon" and we continued to play for half a minute longer as she reached the end of the aisle.

During the ceremony, we had the opportunity to perform a new piece with a vocalist - a friend of the bride and groom, accompanied by the groom's mother on the piano. We performed a beautiful song titled, "Beloved" - a Christian composition as performed by Kari Jobe.

As the ceremony concluded, we played Beethoven's "Ode to Joy" as the recessional. We then followed up with a few other pieces while the guests exited, and then we sprinted to our next venue at the Eagle River Presbyterian Church.

 

I have to share a little background regarding the next wedding.
Back in 2005, our violinst Cindy and I were acquainted through a friend. As we spoke and were thrilled to find someone else to play with, Cindy mentioned that her daughter Whitney played violin as well. We all got together to meet each other and have some fun playing...and shortly thereafter, The Vail Valley String Quartet was formed. Whitney performed with us for our first season, and has subbed whenever we've needed her in the summer time.

This wedding was very special to us, as it was Whitney's wedding.
She chose several of her old favorites for her prelude music, including Handel's "Water Music", Vivaldi's "Winter",
Corelli's "Pastorale", and Bach's "Air". Just before the ceremony, we were asked to play O'Connor's "Appalachian Waltz". Whitney chose Ungar's americana sounding "Ashokan Farewell" as her processional music, and she then entered to "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring".

During the ceremony, Whitney's brother and sister sang "Lucky" by Jason Mraz, and we played Ivers and Keane's "Bygone Days" during the unity candle.

As the ceremony ended, we played Beethoven's "Ode To Joy" as the recessional piece.

Vail's 2010 Summer Wedding Season

Our summer season has officially begun!

We started off last weekend with two weddings which were back to back, and have two more weddings this weekend.

While I generally try to post some photos and comments right after each wedding, discussing wedding music selections and details, June has been a pretty crazy month, and I haven't been around to do so.

I will however, be posting heavily this weekend and promise to get everything fully updated.

Welcome to our 2010 summer wedding season - we are very excited to meet so many of you, and participate in your upcoming weddings!