Category Archives: Weddings

Running, Weddings

Easy Friday

Today has been a great day so far!  I woke up early, had a work out with my trainer Mike (which was pretty tough), hit the store, picked up my race packet for tomorrow’s race, and played a wedding.  Now it’s laundry and perhaps an episode of Mad Men (am one week behind).

The wedding was outside at Sunset Country Club in Sunset Hills.  It was a nice day, though a bit sunny.  We aren’t able to play in direct sunlight (can ruin the varnish, and definitely puts the instruments out of tune easily) and sometimes it’s tough to convince people of this.  We had to play from under an awning a little ways away from the wedding site, and it was still quite bright due to the angle of the sun.  That said, it was a gorgeous day–could have used some cloud cover personally but was great for the bride and groom!  The crowd was really friendly and seemed like a great bunch of people.

(still using the retro camera!)

 

You can tell how sunny it was! Beautiful scenery though, and the pictures don't do it justice.

 

Me in the car beforehand

 

I’m nervous and excited for tomorrow’s race.  It’s very different from the half marathon, of course (only 5K , approximately 3.1 miles) and on a much smaller scale, but I am hoping to have a good time and run most of it.  I already got the t-shirt though, technically wouldn’t even have to go.  (I will of course!  and Chris is coming to cheer me on as well).

The race loot:  includes small sample of Wheaties.  I should probably eat those beforehand so I can finish strong!

T shirt, wheaties FUEL, race number, and shoe tag for timing.

 

Lots of sponsors, including my gym (Club Fitness)

I’ll let you know how it goes!  Have a wonderful Friday night 🙂

Weddings

Congrats to Ben and Erin!

Tonight I played for my student Ben’s wedding.  He has been taking violin with me for close to two years and asked me to play for his wedding.   I was honored to do so!  I met his fiance (now wife) Erin at the class recital in June and the two are a great couple.

I wanted to take some pictures during the ceremony but I thought it would be obtrusive as we were seated up front.  I used the retro camera app on my phone to take a few beforehand.

View from our seats of the Artists Guild in Clayton
What a gorgeous fall day!
The chairs were all around these gigantic flower beds
Their Huppah

All in all, it was a beautiful wedding.  We had been invited to stay for dinner, but there was a small series of unfortunate events and we had to leave beforehand.  The venue was really nice (Artists Guild in Clayton) and the band sounded fantastic (I’ll have to ask Ben who they were, might have been friends of his as he is a musician.)  Congrats to Ben and Erin and best wishes in the future!

Weddings

Two down, one to go!

It’s a three wedding day.  I have done two so far, and I took some neat pictures that I wanted to share.  I have an HTC Hero and have recently been messing around with some camera “apps.”

 

Butterfly House in Faust Park

 

The first wedding was outdoors.  Originally they set us up in the sun next to a bunch of flowers, which were buzzing with bees.  We moved to get a bit further from the bees (imagine that!  Not wanting to play for over an hour next to a large amount of bees.)

The second wedding was at St. Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Soulard.  When we got close, we saw that it was a gorgeous old church. I tried a few different camera settings for fun.

My friend Ranya actually took this one, and I love it!

 

This was the "Polaroid" setting.

 

 

Inside the church, using the "retro camera" app.

 

My next wedding is outdoors in Clayton at the Artist’s Guild.  I am playing for a student (and friend)’s wedding and am looking forward to it!  The weather should be just perfect, and we are staying for dinner of course.  It should be a nice evening.

 

Weddings

Washington, MO

From my recent posts, a reader might think all I had been doing recently was running.  I’ve actually been quite busy with teaching and weddings as well.  The race was my most exciting weekend event, but not the only thing.

Saturday I played for two weddings.  The first was at the Piper Palm House, which is a wonderful venue.  I’ve played several weddings there, both inside and out.  I’ve also attended a reception there, and in a few weeks Chris is playing a chamber music concert there as part of the Symphony.

The second was in Washington, Missouri, about 1 hour west of St. Louis.  It is a beautiful drive, and a beautiful town on the banks of the Missouri River.  I had played a wedding in nearby Krakow and remembered that I really enjoyed the drive there.  Today’s wedding was at St. Francis Borgia Catholic Church.  The church was VERY tall, lots of steps to climb, and had great views.  My friend Ranya and I took a few pictures.

Looking up at the steeple of the church
Beautiful inside!
The organ pipes were blue!
View from the church. The sun was just starting to set.
Performing, Weddings

Spassfest

Today I played a wedding in a delightful town called Germantown, Illinois.  Now that I am far away from the small town I grew up in (no offense, Mom and Dad) I am better able to appreciate the charms of visiting a small town (rather than living in one for 18 years…it’s not quite like Sarah Palin makes it out to be on tv).  Anyway, the church I played at was really beautiful inside–I wish I had been able to take a photo, but I thought I would have needed a flash and only had my phone.

On my way there I drove by several of these banners and had to stop to take a picture.  I want to go to this festival!  When I got home I looked it up online.  Here’s the link to the one in August…next year perhaps.

Spassfest!

I was thinking about all the little towns and churches at which I have played weddings (I had three hours of driving today, lots of thinking time).  I wonder if it would be interesting to try to keep track of all the ones I play, take pictures, learn something about each community?  Maybe that will be my blog focus for 2011…wedding season is almost over for this year, but next year is wide open!  Unless I am running late I generally enjoy my drives–east of St. Louis the landscape is gorgeous.  West of St. Louis is farmland which is nice in itself (calming at least!).

I am listening to the SLSO concert tonight online–it’s streaming from the St. Louis Public Radio website, and will be every Saturday at 8 pm (CST).  I was running around all day and wanted to relax tonight rather than attend, so here I am.

Teaching, Weddings

Sick

Okay, got all that silly vacation stuff out of the way.  Back to the real world here.  So, now I’ve come down with a nasty cold, I’m on day 4 of it and it is really annoying me!  I am now able to function well enough to work, but I missed two whole days earlier this week.  Just when I was ready to get back into the swing of things…

We played for two weddings today.  The first one we almost missed due to horrendous traffic.  It was at the World’s Fair Pavilion, which is about ten to fifteen minutes from my house.  I allowed 40 minutes…and it took over an hour to get there.  Luckily the photographer was running even later than the musicians (and the bride had only just arrived) and it just started late.  I felt bad, but I don’t know WHY the traffic was so awful.  Labor Day Weekend, I suppose.  Wedding number two was very nice and uneventful.  The bride’s mother was very sweet and came over to hug us afterwards.  (I wanted to warn her away due to my cold but didn’t have a chance!)

Tomorrow I am ATTENDING  a wedding.  A good friend of Chris’s is getting married tomorrow.  I hope I feel better!  I haven’t been to the gym in five days (not being able to breathe properly/at all really messes that up 🙁 ) and I really don’t feel great moving around at all.  Gah.  Perhaps by tomorrow evening this will all be behind me.

My new school classes start on Wednesday.  I am nervous but excited.  I have met some of the students but not all, and I look forward to getting to know them better.  I have a little preparation to do beforehand that I’ve been putting off until I feel better…I might just need to forge ahead and do some things today.

Happy Labor Day to everyone!