Wedding Ceremony Harpist, Holiday Inn, Elk Grove Village

Set up for the ceremony.

This bride really did things well.  When she contacted me initially, she informed me that while the event was to be an American style wedding, many of those attending would be of Nigerian descent, and that a 3 pm Nigerian wedding would likely not start right at 3 pm.  We had a little chat, and decided to specify a time frame that I would set aside for the wedding, acknowledging that the start time within that time frame was unknowable!  It really helped me, as I came with extra music organized, and was not staring into the back of the hall the entire time wondering if I was going to get a signal in the next 30 seconds to start.  Truly, the time just before the processional is the most difficult for any wedding musician (as you want everything to be as smooth as possible) and having a realistic idea of what is going to happen is just wonderful!

This bride loved soft music, so she decided to go with "Storybook Love" from the movie "The Princess Bride" for her bridal party.  This is frequently an overlooked option, especially when you consider that the song is so familiar to so many people!  The bride walked down to "A Thousand Years" and, bless her heart, although it was a relatively short aisle, she walked slowly enough that I was able to play both sections of the song!  I think perhaps I will ask her to coach all of you... walk slowly, brides!  You are so beautiful, and we all want to enjoy the moment!!!

For the recessional, she chose the more up tempo "I'm Your's" by Jason Mraz.  The best part for me was that one of the groomsmen was actually singing along a little!  Yet another good argument for using pop music at a wedding... people enjoying hearing songs they know!