On August 17, 2019, I had the pleasure of playing a wedding at the Cape Rey Carlsbad Beach Hilton Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, California. It was a boisterous event, as the groom and his family were Armenian background and celebrated with traditional dancing. When the father of the groom called me, he was interested in me playing pop music and jazz during the wedding ceremony, cocktail hour, dinner, and reception. Later I spoke to the wedding planner and found out that the groom already had a harpist for the ceremony and DJ for the dance part of the reception. I pride my business on catering to my client’s ever-changing needs, so I was happy to adjust to just playing the cocktail hour. But it’s funny how weddings go: I arrived early just in case, and it turned out that they wanted me to play as guests entered the dinner area as well. I ended up playing an hour extra, and had a nice time meeting everyone and playing some new songs that the father of the groom had requested. It was especially gratifying that the DJ and I coordinated seamless transitions from his music to mine at different points of the reception.
