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Mrs. Blueberry Mrs. Blueberry, Kansas City Age and Occupation in 06: 21, Full-time Student Fiance's Age and Occupation: 23, Full-time Student Engagement Date: September 10, 2005 Wedding Date: May 25, 2007 Venue: Wynbrick Center - a historic mansion in my hometown. About Me: We're having an intimate, 125-ish person wedding with a full-blown dessert reception. When I'm not obsessing over wedding stuff or studying for my BA in English, I'm usually playing with our two kitty cats, blogging, doing crafty things, or hanging out with Mr. Blueberry!
 
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Mrs. Blueberry, Kansas City Age and Occupation in 06: 21, Full-time Student Fiance's Age and Occupation: 23, Full-time Student Engagement Date: September 10, 2005 Wedding Date: May 25, 2007 Venue: Wynbrick Center - a historic mansion in my hometown. About Me: We're having an intimate, 125-ish person wedding with a full-blown dessert reception. When I'm not obsessing over wedding stuff or studying for my BA in English, I'm usually playing with our two kitty cats, blogging, doing crafty things, or hanging out with Mr. Blueberry!
About Mrs. Blueberry

Harpist Meeting

May 17th, 2007 @ 12:12 pm by Mrs. Blueberry

On Sunday afternoon we met with our harpist at her home across town. What was originally going to be a brief chat to determine what-pieces-when turned into a two hour talk about music and weddings in general. I’m *so* excited to be working with this woman; her philosophies and practices really align with ours and what we want for the wedding.

In addition to talking about the trials and tribulations of being stuck in the back of an orchestra (I’m a bassist, so I understood her plight!) and the merits of uber-traditional versus unusual pieces, we did manage to nail down all the music for the ceremony. Here’s what we’ve got:

Prelude (30 minutes as guests are seated):
Her repertoire includes harp renditions of many popular songs–everything from “Stairway to Heaven” to “Can’t Buy me Love”. It’ll be pieces like these that we have during the prelude.

Processional part 1 (Mr. Blueberry + Officiant, parents, grandparents, etc):
Pachelbel’s Canon in D
Believe it or not, I *love* how the Canon sounds on harp! Before our meeting, I was sick to death of the piece and actually told Mr. Blueberry “We will *never* have this in our wedding.” But as soon as the harpist played the first note, I was already tearing up.

Processional part 2 (MOH + BM, flower girls):
“Passepied” by Marcel Grandjany
This isn’t one of those super recognizable pieces, but I really like how it sounds following the Canon in D. It keeps up that ‘marching’ tone and is filled with sweet and light notes–what could be better for four flower girls? smiley101

Bride’s processional:
“Bridal March from Lohengren” by Wagner
Yeah, “Here comes the bride.” Another one that I’d said I would *never* have in my wedding. But I just hadn’t heard it on the harp before. This one made me tear up, too–I’m going to be such a mess heading down the aisle!

Unity candle:
“Send Her My Love” (originally performed by Journey)
Mr. Blueberry and I have a thing about Journey–right after we started dating, we went to a Journey concert and had a ton of fun. When I gave him a pocketwatch the following Valentine’s Day, I had it engraved with “Forever yours, faithfully” (another Journey lyric). So it’s only fitting that we would incorporate it into our ceremony somehow!

Recessional:
“What a Wonderful World.” This was suggested by our harpist; she said she thought we might like it. And she was right! It’s the perfect way to end our ceremony smiley101

Postlude:
More contemporary pieces from the prelude.

6 Responses to “Harpist Meeting”

1.
Sarah says:

The song I’d originally picked for the last dance (Peter Gabriel’s “The Book of Love”) made me tear up so much, I decided I had to change it. It’s going to be an emotional enough day already!

2.
tofu says:

we’re hiring a harpist too for our outdoor wedding! i love the look and sound of a harpist. good choice, miss blueberry.

3.
Iris says:

You know what brides would find useful? A website with samples of traditional wedding ceremony music, because we only know a few by name (not that “Here Comes the Bride” is the official name), and the classical music and names sound alike to people who aren’t into classical music.

4.
Sarah says:

I’m a music librarian, and when conductors come to me and ask “how’s that go?” (happens more than you’d think!), I just play the samples from iTunes. Usually that’s enough for them to figure out if it’s what they want.

5.
kp says:

Ooh - Harpist! Your wedding music is going to be ethereal!

6.
FWM says:

I was wondering if anyone has any recommendations for the most dramatic processional song that a bride could walk down the aisle to… My first choice thus far is Handel’s Music from the Royal Fireworks (minuet), but I want to make sure that I’m not missing anything even more spectacular!!


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