Wedding Ceremony and Cocktail Harpist, Drake Hotel, Chicago

The Grand Ballroom.  My harp is on the right.

I have been to the Drake on many, many occasions, and it is always an adventure!  The building is so old that getting a harp in, and to the floor where you are needed, is generally a complicated, multi-step process. No matter.  I just show up plenty early, and that always works.  There really is no substitute for allowing enough time!  On this particular day, I also needed to be onsite early to rehearse with the singer.  The music had been in flux in the days leading up to the wedding, and when everything settled it was agreed that I would accompany one of the bride's friends on "A Thousand Years."  The room looked beautiful, and the singer was quite talented..... all going well, right?  Then we found out that due to microphone needs the singer and I would not be on the same side of the stage; she would actually be a good 20 feet away from me!! Officially?  Yikes. We made it work, which was the important thing, but it was nerve racking.  Generally, when musicians are far away from each other, they have monitors so that they can hear one another. This actually is not even the main issue at a wedding. For wedding processionals, it is rare indeed that once straight through the song is exactly the amount of music needed. You almost always have to cut the song short, or repeat some portion of it, and (even if you get to rehearse) you never know how it will really go ahead of time. Communication among the musicians is absolutely key to a smooth processional. So, I am delighted it worked out for this lovely bride, but plan to keep your musicians together, if possible.  We will be able to do our best work for you!

Harpist's view!