Most of my wedding gigs are solo these days, but the stars aligned on a beautiful summer day in Tennessee for myself and my violin partner to have not one, not two, but three back-to-back weddings on a Saturday. We packed snacks to make it through the day, said an “everything will go smoothly, we’ll get to all the weddings on time” mantra, and hit the road to make our first gig—a 2:00 p.m. backyard wedding. 

We arrived and immediately wondered if we were at the right house. We thought we had stumbled upon a yard sale for a moment as contents from the garage were splayed across the driveway. Walking around to the back of the house, we didn’t see any of the usual wedding ceremony “markers” either—no flowers, decorative arches, or even chairs for guests. 

We were greeted by a man in a cut-off tank top, overalls, and work boots who was holding one single chair. To our surprise, we were meeting the groom! Apparently, he and his father had to go pick up the guest chairs in their truck. (Keep in mind we arrived about 45 minutes before prelude time). We turned around to see the bride, clad in an old sweatshirt, exclaiming that she was going inside to start getting ready. My violinist partner and I turned to each other with a nervous smile, but began to unpack and warm up. There was a lovely gazebo in the back yard for us to play under.

Luckily, the chairs finally made their appearance a few minutes after we began playing the prelude music. To our surprise, as the ceremony began the groom emerged again still wearing his cut-off tank top. His groomsmen were wearing t-shirts and biker vests. The bride and her maid of honor were wearing royal blue burlesque-style dresses with lace thigh-high stockings and boots. 

We breathed a sigh of relief once everyone was in place for the ceremony to begin…until the cell phone of a groomsman went off. His unusual ringtone sent the sound of hunting gunshots through the air! “Click, click, boom! Click, click, boom!” The wedding guests seemed unphased and continued talking loudly throughout the ceremony. It was certainly the most unique wedding of the three we played that day—to each their own! •