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.
No comments:
Post a Comment