Despite a warning of red tide caused from release of water from Lake Okeechobee into the Gulf of Mexico with dead fish washing up on the beaches, my violinist duo partner and I had been hired for a beach wedding on the terrace of a ocean-front hotel. As we approached the hotel, our eyes started watering and the smell of dead fish permeated the air.

We braved the stench, though, and set up for the ceremony. Suddenly, the wind picked up. My skirt blew over my head, so I dug into my gig bag and put clips on the hem of my skirt to weigh it down. The wind also took down the arch, which the florist had set up with flowers, sending petals and blooms all over the place. The arch had to be reset and the hotel maintenance crew brought in rope and tied the arch to two adjacent palm trees. The wind blew through the audio speakers, and threatened to topple our music stand, which was weighted down with my string bag.

The wedding was delayed an hour. Guests were coughing from the red tide. Finally the ceremony began. The bridesmaids came down the aisle holding their bouquets in one hand and trying to keep their skirts down with the other hand. The ring bearer entered carrying a huge ring replica. A gust of wind knocked down the poor little toddler on his derrière, and he sat in the middle of the aisle crying.

High winds and the stench of dead fish made for a ceremony the bride and groom will long remember, and one my violinist and I hope we’ll soon forget.

—Barbara Kraichy, Naples, Fla.

I started playing weddings in high school. I was really nervous at first, so I usually arrived an hour before I needed to start playing. One wedding I played was the day after a heavy rainstorm. When I arrived at the venue for the ceremony, I was surprised to see a sign that read “road closed due to flooding—no entry.” I found an employee nearby, and she said the only way to get to the site was by foot over a tiny, wooden, flooded bridge that was a quarter mile long. That was the only access to the island ceremony site.

I panicked a bit. I didn’t have the coordinator’s contact information, so I called the bride asking for an update. The bride was shocked when I told her there was no way for guests to get to her wedding. The venue hadn’t even called her to notify that it was impossible to get to the ceremony site.

After she verified with the venue, everyone had to act quickly. Within the hour, the coordinator had to set up the reception room, which was 20 minutes across town, to hold the ceremony, and I had to drive across town and set up to play. Luckily, the wedding went smoothly, and the bride even mailed me a nice tip afterwards with a note saying she was grateful the harpist saved the day! •

—Liana Alpino Nashville, Tenn.