I received a call from a man named Robert who wanted me to play for his wedding. He shared with me how much he appreciated me playing for his wife's funeral earlier last year and that he was getting remarried on the Carinval Triumph out of the Galveston cruise terminal. We discussed the details of what and when he wanted me to play for the wedding. Robert said I had to be at the terminal by 9:00am so that I can get checked in. All the people attending the wedding had to enter the ship at the same time. When I arrived I received a badge that I had to keep with me the entire time I was on the ship.
I checked in on the day of the wedding and waited in the lobby until we were instructed to go through security. There were about 3 different wedding parting waiting in the lobby. I found this to be very interesting and fun because I have never played for a wedding like this.
Once through security I had to go with the wedding party to do a run-through for the wedding. This was very straight forward on my part because all I was going to play was a couple of tunes for the wedding.
When finished, I had about an hour to explore the ship and have lunch.
I was having a good time walking around taking pictures. I left my jacket and vest back in the room so I would not mess it up. I had several people ask me to play my bagpipes for them. No, sorry. I don't have them with me right now. I had lunch on deck 9 and just relaxed prior to the wedding.
It was time for the wedding at 11:00am. I played "Highland Cathedral" as the wedding party entered and played "Scotland the Brave" at the end of the wedding.
This was a beautiful wedding! I was so happy for Robert to meet and marry another woman who he loves very much. After the wedding we took some photos and then headed to another part of the ship where a short reception and lunch was going to be held.
Here is a picture of Robert and his wife coming down the stairs into the resception area.
It was such a blessing for me to be there for this occassion becasue I saw the hardship he faced when I played for his first wife's service. This is so awesome that a person can start life again after such a loss!
