Our Super Secret Surprise!
One of the most fun, daunting, and difficult details of our wedding was one that we couldn't talk about. UNTIL NOW!!
That's right, for those of you that weren't able to attend the wedding, or have somehow missed Bob, and Jerry's posts on this exact subject, I am going to tell you the history, nay the herstory of our super secret wedding surprise :-)
Jerry had a hankering (his words) for some barbershop a while back and bought a CD. He would play it for me in awe of the 4 part harmonies and exclaim how much fun it was to try and sing along. Back in the days of his ipod (may it rest in peace), my beloved would recount story after story to me about how he really nailed the tag in the car on his way to work and then would try to reenact the scene, only slightly forgetting that in order to hit those high notes, he has to sing louder than a foghorn in San Fransisco at dawn. This would in turn produce lengthy barking fits from the dog and a tearful smile from me with a simple encouragement, "neat".
And then it happened. One smoky after-church-band-practice visit to Player's Retreat, Raleigh's resident "corner bar where everybody knows your name"- or at least that guy's name, Jerry started talkin shop. Barbershop. To everyone's surprise, Bob and Seth were instantly in and we all decided to try our hand and finding the notes. We sang in the bar, one after the other, hello, hello, hello, hello....it was magical. not long after this encounter we joked around about being a barbershop quartet. And it certainly didn't take Jerry and I long after we were engaged to say...WHAT if....we all sang a barbershop song AT the reception!!!?? Somehow we got Seth and Bob to agree to what would be one of the most musically challenging summers of my life (I won't speak for them)
It was too impossible. Improbable. We could tell no one. There were several reasons for this.
1) We made a pact that if it was horrible, we would scrap the whole project, no matter how much time we spent.
2) We didn't want people to be expecting anything. That way even if we thought it was good enough, if we got nervous and flubbed a bit, hopefully no one would notice.
3) Seriously WHO sings a Barbershop song at their own wedding?? We had to see the looks on everyones' faces when Jerry busted out the pitch pipe.
I will tell you that we practiced, a LOT. I still can't believe Bob knew I was sneaking off during the chatty times at practice to blog and check myspace, but that man is good. He knows things.
Our last practice was the Wednesday night before the wedding. And we were solid. It was amazing to hear the transformation of a ragamuffin quartet turn into a well-oiled machine. For us, even while we are no Realtime, it was golden.
I all but forgot about the song until the reception. After the Father Daughter dance, Jerry and I took the stage and he offered a little speech. Everyone thought he was just giving a toast, but then he announced the song and Bob and Seth appeared as if from above. We started singing and I cannot explain the electricity on that stage and in the room. There was a natural pause about halfway through the song and people started applauding so fast that we had to wait to keep going! In our wildest dreams, we had no idea it would be that fun! What we wanted to be a silly, fun, and entertaining twist to an otherwise typical wedding reception, became one of the biggest highlights!
We honestly had the best time hanging out with our friends in preparation and having the finished product go so well was the best reward we could have ever hoped for! Great job everybody!!!
