Ahh spring. That time
of year when everything blooms and the possibilities for the future seem
endless. I know June is the traditional month for weddings but June also means
summer tour. And who wants to be the couple that has their wedding fall on the
same weekend as a 2 night run at Merriweather or a 3 night run at Bethel? So a
few HMLLs I know decided to schedule their vows in May as to not run the risk
of coinciding with Phish Tour. So yes, I’m writing about Wedding Tour. First up
the OG HMLL gets hitched in the only way she knows how, outside surrounded by friends,
family, and butterflies. (If you don’t know what an HMLL is read this http://kempepedia.blogspot.com/2011/01/what-hell-does-hmll-stand-for.html
)
First off,
congrats to Christine and Todd Robinson. The ceremony and reception were at Lauxmont
Farms located in Wrightsville, right along the banks of the Susquehanna River. Christine
and Todd live in Marietta and she grew up in Mechanicsburg, so the river has
been running through her veins for her whole life. The preamble to the vows
highlighted their relationship to the river and it made an amazing backdrop to
the ceremony. There were horses in the fields and wind mills generating clean
green energy off in the distance.
It rained that
morning but the sun started to poke through the clouds around noon and the skies
were blue and clear by the time the ceremony rolled around at 2:30. It was
quick and sweet. Everyone was given these little boxes which contained live
butterflies. They were released during the ceremony and the sky was filled. Pretty
amazing sight. We chilled out among a
Japanese garden while Andy Miller and Ian Carroll played instrumentals on the
guitar and fiddle. Good stuff. After the wedding party did their things with
photos and a carriage ride around the grounds for the happy couple, we were
ushered into the tent as they were going to start serving food.
By then, the skies
had been getting darker and it opened up and rained buckets. At one point, it
was raining so hard you couldn’t even see the river. It rained maybe a half an
hour and then it was beautiful the rest of the evening. The grass had dried out
enough kids were out hula hooping. I chalk the perfectly timed weather to the
epic power of Christine’s laugh.
They had 2 bands,
Little Birds and Hexbelt. Never saw Little Birds before but they were perfect
for dinner music, first dances etc. Hexbelt came on as the sun set and threw it
down. Todd was part of the Hexbelt family and it was the perfect band for the
end of their reception. I’m not familiar with their originals but they were all
upbeat and had the crowd dancing their asses off. You can listen to the show here http://archive.org/details/Hexbelt2013-05-11.matrix
Hanover's version of the Fab Four
Overall, it was what Christine wanted for
her wedding. Which is exactly how it should be. And remember when I said it was
a Wedding Tour? Got one more this weekend when Nate and Christie get hitched at
a Phish themed wedding. And oh yeah, I’m conducting the ceremony. No divinity degree,
but I do have a PhD in rock and roll, and what more do you need?
Dave Kemp
BA American Studies
PhD Rock and roll
