Sunday, May 19, 2013

Wedding Tour : Christine Sollenberger and Todd Robinson 5/11/13



 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