Play the Night Away

T

he wedding season upon us always makes me think of some of the wild and wacky chasunah stories. True, I deal with the music, but I’ve also dealt with blackouts, missed flights, snowed-in weddings, grooms who lost the ring, and arguments between mechutanim.

The number-one disagreement at practically every wedding I’ve worked with is how loud the music should be. I once arranged a band for a friend whose son was getting married, and he was pretty concerned that the music not be too loud. He even stipulated that there shouldn’t be any speakers in the women’s section. The other side, however, wasn’t very happy about this — and it must be a genetic thing: Because in the middle of the wedding, the 85-year-old grandmother of the bride called me over and said, “Young man, I’m begging you. Please! Crank it up!”

One time, my good friend Shabsi Parnes, king of the one-man bands, was hired at a wedding in Boro Park, at Ateres Chaya. On the news there was talk about a snowstorm brewing, so as soon as the wedding was over, Shabsi rushed to his van to head back home to Monsey. The snow had already begun to come down, and as soon as he made a left turn onto McDonald Avenue, he noticed there was a city bus stuck in the snow. He quickly decided to turn back and get out of that traffic mess, but just then another bus that was behind him also got stuck. So there he was, stranded between two buses, unable to move in either direction. And that’s where he stayed. Ten hours later, at 9 a.m., when they finally began to clear the street, he was able to start the hours-long drive back home in the blizzard. The only problem was that he had a 7 p.m. wedding in Monsey. Baruch Hashem, he made it to Ateres Charna at ten minutes to seven. The chassan and kallah were thrilled that he made it on time despite the storm — although they thought he’d just traveled a few blocks and surely had a good night’s sleep the night before.

Another issue that often comes up between the two sides is the size of the wedding band. It can run anywhere from one person to 50 pieces. About 30 years ago, I was involved in arranging a wedding in Atlanta, which was something I’ll never forget. The father of the bride informed us that there would be three bands at the wedding. I asked him, “Do you mean there will celebrations in three different rooms?” He said, “No. there will be three bands in one room, all playing parts of the wedding.”