Bollywood Harpist, The Ivy Room, Chicago

Set up for a short program and dinner music.

I have a small (but growing!) Bollywood repertoire, and it has become a very popular option for my clients in the past few years. Frequently, they will request that I play classical and American pop selections for the first part of the event, and then reveal the Bollywood repertoire as a surprise for their guests. On this evening, the host was celebrating an engagement in their family at the Ivy Room, and I began by playing the cocktail hour in their lower level bar area.

The lower level bar/cocktail area.

Towards the end of the cocktail hour I moved upstairs so that I could greet the guests with music when they entered. The host wanted me to talk just a little about my specific harp, and how it is constructed, so I combined that with the Bollywood selections she had requested. I finished up with some dinner music, and everything moved along seamlessly!

If you would like to incorporate some Bollywood into your event, my repertoire is listed on my website: www.ChicagoWeddingHarpist.com.

Ceremony and Cocktail Harpist, Tree Studios, Chicago

The congregation sits in those chairs, and quite a few more you can't see!

This was a surprising day at the stunning Tree Studios. As I was waiting to be buzzed into the building just outside this courtyard, there was a young man waiting with me, and he was carrying a trumpet case. I am a generally suspicious person, so I chatted him up a little and found out that he was a friend of the bridal couple's and he figured he would play for their ceremony. He was very nice, really, but the whole idea of last minute changes can be sort of dicey, and super time consuming. I was early enough (as was he), so we set about trying to work things out to the general satisfaction of the bridal couple. 

A better look at the plantings along the path.

Thank goodness, in addition to being very nice, the young man played really well. We tried a couple of things, and decided that he would play for the bride's entrance. I thought the results were quite nice, but I would not have hesitated to tell him no if I thought it was going to make a shambles of the bride's wedding plans. We were lucky that we were able to run it by the family and wedding planner in the time we had, and everyone seemed delighted with the idea. 

The indoor spaces are very elegant and refined.

So, I am not sure what the moral is here.... maybe.....If you need someone who is suspicious of wedding guests with instrument cases, but who also knows "Trumpet Voluntary," call me! Sure, that sounds about right!!! Renee Wilson (312) 860.4997