Allisen & Andrew’s Wedding

 
The first week of Summer in the Portland-area is expected to be sunny and warm with highs in the 80’s. The last week of Spring has been almost as nice, except for one day.
 
That one day was Saturday, June 18th, the day of Allisen and Andrew’s wedding and reception held at the Queen Anne Victorian Mansion in North Portland. Of course, there is not much you can do about the weather and we made the most of it. Afterall, your wedding day is special no matter what else is happening in the world 🙂
 
Yes, it rained all day, but relented right before the ceremony and after the parents were seated, the wedding party entered to Nick Cave ‘The Far Road’ from the ‘On The Road’ movie soundtrack. The bride then entered to Beethoven’s ‘Ode To Joy’ as performed by the Lumiere String Quartet.
 
In all my 25 years performing at weddings, I had never seen the bride or groom drop the ring during the ceremony, but it happened here and provided some comic relief that lightened up a cloudy day. Allisen and Andrew were introduced and made their exit to Stevie Wonder’s ‘Sign, Sealed, Delivered’.
 
The ceremony was held in the gazebo and guests were informed that appetizers and drinks were available outside on the lawn. The gazebo was turned for dinner by the catering staff and after a chance to socialize for about an hour, the guests went inside the house for the cutting of the cake before returning to the gazebo for dinner.
 
Allisen and Andrew chose a background mix of classic jazz and blues and I played music from artists such as Miles Davis, Joe Pass, Dexter Gordon and others. As guests were seated, they were asked to sign a quilt guestbook and encouraged to offer the newlyweds best wishes and any advice they might have.
 
Following dinner was a champagne toast. Allisen and Andrew then danced their First Dance to Ray Charles ‘You Are So Beautiful’. Next, the bride danced with her father and the groom with his mother to ‘Lean On Me’ from Bill Withers. I then opened the dance floor to all guests and spun a variety of hits that had most everyone up and dancing.
 
A neighborhood ordinance of no loud music after 10pm shortened our time on the dance floor a little, but it was a good run and we finished with Louis Armstrong’s ‘The Song Is Ended’ as chosen by the bride and groom.
 
Congratulations Allisen and Andrew and thank you for the opportunity. -Rich