—by Balfour Knight, Balsam, N.C.
A couple of years ago, I was asked to play the harp for a wedding that was scheduled for the middle of November at a venue near my home in North Carolina. The bride, who was from Florida, said that it would be an outdoor wedding at an old estate house that resembles a medieval castle. Well, November in the North Carolina mountains can be quite cold, so I told the bride that I could not possibly do an outdoor wedding here in November.
I did not hear any more about it for a couple of months, assuming that the bride had gone in a different direction, but then she called again. “I just must have you play the harp for my wedding!” she exclaimed. “Is there any way you will do it?” I told her that I would think about it and call her back. I thought about it briefly, and then returned her phone call. I said that I would do her wedding, since it was so important to her, but that I would not play my expensive harp outside in November. “Okay, you can be inside, even if all of us are outside,” concluded the bride.
It was 32 degrees on the day of the wedding when my wife and I pulled up to the large front doors of the castle. My wife and I unloaded the harp and rolled it inside, safe from the frigid temperatures, into an enormous great room that would have been the perfect place for the wedding. The bride had other ideas, however.
I left my wife with the harp and went to park the car. While I was gone, the father of the bride escorted my wife and the harp to the spot where I would play. When I returned, my wife met me in the great room with a strange expression on her face. “You won’t believe where you get to play!” she exclaimed, leading the way. We traveled through several rooms and corridors, up a few stairs, down a long hall, and finally my wife opened the door into the men’s room! I must say that it was one of the finest men’s rooms I have ever seen, but it’s a bathroom!
Evidently, this room was the only one that had a window to the outside space where the wedding was to take place. We put our small amplifier in the window and plugged in the harp so that the sound projected outside. My wife stood by the window and spotted for me throughout the pre-wedding music, having to step out of the room as several men came in to use the facilities.
Afterwards the bride’s father came over and gave me a very generous tip. He said that my harp music made the wedding for the family. And I suppose the wedding made a good story for me. •
