As their wedding officiant, it was to my amazement that the Groom and the Mother of the Bride tacked a pre-ceremony problem with creativity. The violinist was stuck in traffic. So they decided to download Vivaldi's music on a cell phone and pump the sound over my microphone. We did a trial run and it worked. Fortunately, we had live music because the musician arrived just in time. It's always something to keep me learning new things and sweating the details just a little more each time.
The venue for this ceremony was the NY Chinese Scholar's Garden that is part of Snug Harbor Cultural Center on Staten Island. It's a stunning location and can work for both large and small ceremonies. There is covered space for a rainy day if the group is not too large.Ceremony idea: The Mother of the Bride surprised the couple with a butterfly release. This was unknown to me as well, and because I didn't know about it, it was a missed opportunity to integrate the symbolism of the release into the ceremony script. So when you work with your celebrant to design your ceremony, let parents and close friends know who your celebrant is and how your ceremony is taking shape. Anyone interested in surprising you might contact your officiant with addiitonal input. Just sayin'!
