I’m always encouraging couples to find ways to infuse personality into their weddings and claiming that the best weddings are the ones in which you get a sense of who the bride and groom are both as individuals and as a couple. Well, this summer I went to a wedding that gets an A+ in both of those subjects. The wedding took place on one of the hottest days of the summer and the air conditioning at the venue was not powerful enough to keep the guests from having to fan themselves with programs, menus and anything else they can get their hands on. But I hardly noticed the heat, despite my dress sticking to my body and the sweat gathering beneath my knees, because of the overwhelming displays of talent and ridiculously high level of entertainment provided by the bride, groom and all their cohorts.
We, the guests were treated from the moment we sat down to a showcase of talent that ranged from world-class tap dancing to amateur singing/song-writing. Every performer was a friend or family member of the bride and groom. And if you’re wondering how they acquired so many talented friends, well, the groom is a firefighting salsa dancer and the bride is a gifted musician and music teacher. In addition to inviting their friends and family to perform salsa, tap, marshal art and Hawaiian dancing, the couple also regaled the crowd with their own amazing gifts. Over the course of their engagement, the groom taught his bride to salsa and together they performed a very exciting routine with twists and dips and lifts. And the bride taught her groom to play the piano and he played and sang a duet with her with the professionalism of someone who’s performed as a pianist all his life. Other notable performances include a surprise rock song written and performed by the groom’s niece and nephew dedicated to their new aunt, and a tap dance solo by a world renowned dancer who calls Gregory Hines his mentor.
The best part of the entire reception was a video, shot and edited by the groom’s brother who is a talented novice film maker, about the couple and how they came to be married. The video featured interviews with members from both families as well as footage from the daily lives of the bride and the groom. It was an honest, candid, humorous and very touching documentary about how they met, courted and fell in love.
I felt like we should’ve been charged admission! But the most incredible thing about this wedding is that no matter who you are, if you didn’t already feel it, by the end of the evening, you felt like you had known this couple all of their lives. In today’s world where we tend to be a little more skeptical about love and marriage, it is no small feat that this couple convinced all of us that they are truly, meant to be.