Ceremony Harpist, Oak Park Country Club, Oak Park

The Oak Park Country Club has an amazing rooftop veranda for their wedding ceremonies, and it boasts a sweeping view of the grounds. The bride choose "Halo" for her wedding party to process to, and I am really happy with the new arrangement that I put together. I will definitely be posting that to my YouTube channel soon!

www.ChicagoWeddingHarpist.com

Wedding Ceremony Harpist, Pleasant Home, Oak Park

The living room at Pleasant Home, Oak Park

I hadn't been here in years, and it was fabulous to see this wonderful site again!  The 1897 Prairie style mansion is situated just South of downtown Oak Park, and sits next to, or I guess actually inside a lovely park.  They host wedding ceremonies in several locations, including the wide and completely covered porch (which seats 100!), the living area (which seats 70), and the lawn.  The price strikes me as quite fair, too. For $200 you can have the first floor for your ceremony, and use of their chairs.  They will even set up the chairs for you!  They have a wonderful page detailing all of this which you can find here.

When I arrived, the family and wedding party were already visiting and taking photos around the house and grounds.  We had arranged ahead of time that I would be accompanying the bride's two nieces while they played flute, so the girls and I got ourselves organized and had a little rehearsal on "Can You Feel the Love Tonight."  It is such a pleasure to accompany family members, and it never fails to make the ceremony feel really special and super personalized. Naturally, the girls played really well (at 13 and 14 years old, they had some experience and skills!), and it was one of the highlights of the ceremony for sure! 

The bride decided to go super traditional with "Canon in D" for her wedding party and "Here Comes the Bride" for her walk down the aisle. The recessional was left to me, so I did Mendelssohn's "Wedding March" and then went directly into some upbeat popular tunes so the guests could start transitioning to party mode!  The guests enjoyed the porch and the park, and the bride and groom finished their pictures. Altogether, it was a beautiful and relaxed start to their life together, and I could not recommend Pleasant Home more highly!

The harpist's view.

19th Century Club, Oak Park Wedding Ceremony Harpist

The beautiful exterior of the 19th Century Club in Oak Park

Beautiful day!  I have been wanting to play a wedding at The Nineteenth Century Club since first I saw it last Spring, and this week I finally was able to!  The woman who manages the facility was planning to host her wedding there, and she had heard me at one of the other events I was in to play.  The surprising part was that the ceremony took place in a room I had never even seen, and it was a little gem!

Here was my view of the ceremony space just as the doors were opened.

This area is called the "South Dining Room", and it seats 100 theater style, according to their website.  I loved how many shades of white there were in the room.  It just seemed so "bridal" and elegant! Additionally, there is an extremely comfortable reception room just outside the doors, so your guests have lots of good options.  

This was the view towards to stage where the ceremony took place taken, alas,
before they were entirely set up.

The bride had a special request: a Priscilla Ahn song called "Dream".  It worked really well on harp, I thought, and created an amazingly beautiful moment when the bride walked into the room. It is so much fun to be a part of that!  If you have an idea for your perfect musical moment I would love to hear it! 

(Renee 773.881.0706!)

Unity Temple, Oak Park Ceremony Harpist

My harp at the beautiful Unity Temple in Oak Park!

It was such a thrill to play in this historic building!  The layout is unusual to say the least, and the brides wanted quite a bit of specific music, so it took some coordinating!  They wanted to have piano and harp, which is unusual, so I had to check around for piano duets that I could adapt, or plan to accompany the piano as a solo instrument.  Piano can work quite well with harp, but you have to make allowances for the fact that (especially if it is a grand piano) it will be louder than the harp.  Not to worry, I made sure that the piano had the main melody, and I embellished!  We played "Air" from Handel's Water Music, and Canon in D, but the most fun was the tiny little bit of "Bridal Chorus" or "Here Comes the Bride" that we slipped in.  Since we actually had two brides coming down the aisle, it seemed to delight everyone!

For the recessional, one of the brides wanted "Entrance of the Queen of Sheba", also by Handel.  It is a newer piece for me, but it has been coming up more and more often.  I now have that particular selection in versions for harp and piano, harp and violin, and harp solo.  It was a joyous occasion that perfectly suited the bridal couple.  If you would like to see if we can find a program to suit you, just email me at Renee@Harp123.com!

Reception Harpist at The 19th Century Club in Oak Park

Okay, so this is not where I was, but it was so cool!

Another new venue to me!  Sometimes I feel like I keep going to the same 20 wedding venues over and over, so it is nice to find out that I really do not know every place there is yet!  I was actually here for a birthday celebration, and I was downstairs in a different reception room (see below).  But.  You know I had to go wandering around to see what else there might be!  Even without being properly set up, this ballroom was dramatic.  High ceilings, wood floor, and lots of windows.... beautiful!  Their website has some prettier shots.  There are multiple spaces within this building, so I think it would be easy to accommodate different sized parties, and separate cocktails and/or ceremony needs.  

Downstairs for the birthday celebration.
Cozy, but not as dramatic!