Rachael and Jon's Wedding in Chicago

Rachael is Doug's niece. I've known her for most of her life and was honored last Christmas when she asked me if I'd play for her wedding. I agreed without hesitation. This was before I knew the exact date (which turned out to be in November, and they were hoping for an outdoor wedding) and before I thought about the necessity of driving to Chicago so I could transport my harp. Luckily the temperature was around 60 degrees and Doug had agreed to fly to Columbus so he could drive with me.


Many of the rooms at the hotel where we were staying were also booked by parents of young hockey players. They were in town for a big hockey tournament. I think the kids were having fun playing on the elevators because sometimes it took quite awhile for an elevator to arrive. I left the hotel room before Doug, since he was still getting ready and I knew I couldn't just squeeze onto any elevator with my harp. I'd gotten downstairs and loaded my harp into the car when Doug arrived. "Oh, you forgot your belt," I noticed. Doug asked if he had time to go back upstairs to get his belt. I hesitated. I knew I had just enough time to drive to the wedding venue, unpack, get settled, and warm up before things started rolling. Any long waits for elevators back up to the umpteenth floor and back down could really mess me up on being ready. Doug quickly replied, "I can catch a ride with someone else." Cool...no delay. So I arrived at the time I expected and got prepared. Before I knew it, it was time for prelude music. I remembered that a program had not been available the night before at the rehearsal, and I'd forgotten to pick one up before I started playing. Darn! Oh well...I'd just have to get one between playing a few of my prelude pieces. Then a huge influx of people arrived on a bus from the hotel. Keep playing. Then, the coordinator opened a door near me and whispered, "The parents of the bride and groom are coming in now." No time to stop and grab a program. Then the doors opened again and I was cued that the bridesmaids were entering. As the bridesmaids were entering I began playing their music. I thought, "I don't even know how many bridesmaids there are...Stacey is the maid of honor (I think), but she wasn't at the rehearsal...but she'll probably be the last one. Then the doors closed just as I finished their music. I re-set a bajillion levers on my harp and began the bride's music. Everyone stood, and since I was in back I thought, "Great...I'll have no idea when to stop playing since I won't be able to see when the bride gets to the front! Just then, Doug stood and walked down the side aisle and whispered, "She's almost to the front...okay, start getting ready to end." Whew! Good job, Doug! Of course, I still had no program, and I still had no idea what order things were happening. I thought, "Oh well...I'll just watch and be ready to start when they start doing something." Luckily, the presider announced each portion of the ceremony. That helped. All in all, I was well-prepared and didn't feel nervous even when all of those thoughts popped into my head, because I knew it would all be just fine.