Tag Archives: handbell duets

Handbell music at a Wedding in Connecticut

We’ve just returned home from a very long road-trip, all the way from West Michigan to Connecticut and back. We went there for the best-possible reason – for the marriage of two of our friends. It’s been a long time since we played handbell music at a wedding!

With the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve had very few opportunities for road-trips and handbell performances in the last year or so. You can imagine our excitement when we received first a “Save the Date” card, followed by an invitation, for a wedding in Connecticut!

handbell music wedding

A connection made on Facebook!

The bride and groom are a long-distance couple who connected with us on Facebook around ten years ago. At that time, we were still in our own long-distance relationship. Over the years, we’ve connected with a lot of long-distance couples who have contacted us on our Facebook page. Some people reach out to us for one-time advice or support, and we never hear from them again afterwards. However, some couples continue to stay in touch with us, and we’re happy to count them as friends, as we’ve been through similar experiences. It means a lot to us when people share their stories with us, as we shared our long-distance relationship story during the time we were apart.

The bride contacted us on Facebook a few months ago, and asked us if we’d be able to play some handbell duets after their wedding ceremony, to welcome the happy couple and their guests as they left the church. She particularly requested Amazing Grace, so we put together a small selection of hymns and classical music.

Playing handbells outdoors can be interesting!

The day of the wedding dawned dull and cloudy, and we had some concerns about playing outside if it rained. Fortunately the weather stayed dry, if a little windy! As we were attending the wedding primarily as guests, we didn’t want to miss the ceremony, so we stayed until after the vows and rings were exchanged. Then we quickly left the church, and took our bells and equipment down the stairs. We were ready to play in plenty of time for the door to open and the guests to start appearing.

The unexpected challenge of playing handbells in a suit

We coped pretty well with the gusty breeze. When we play outdoors, we’re always thankful for the sheet of plastic that goes over the top of our music to hold it in place! The unexpected challenge turned out to be playing handbells while wearing a suit. As a t-shirt enthusiast, Larry’s not very often seen wearing a suit; in fact this was the first time he’d worn one in more than a decade. Our usual duet performance attire doesn’t involve a suit, and it took a few moments for Larry to adjust his technique so that he didn’t create a “zinging” sound when a bell occasionally collided with a button! Still, all-in-all, the music went very well, and the wedding guests enjoyed it. We received lots of positive comments at the reception afterwards!

Would you like us to play handbells at your wedding?

If you’re hearing wedding bells, and you’d like to find out more about having handbell music for your ceremony, please contact us to find out more about our music, fees and availability. Handbells can be a magical addition to any wedding day!


Play Music on the Porch Day 2020 – at Bay View, Michigan

We had a great time taking part in our first Play Music on the Porch Day! This is a worldwide annual event that takes place on the last Saturday in August – but we’d never heard about it until very recently.

It so happened that we were at our summer cottage in Bay View, Michigan on the day of this year’s event… and our cottage has a porch! However, our cottage is next to a busy street, so it’s quite noisy. We decided it would make more sense to borrow a quieter porch, so we headed over to Evelyn Hall, and played handbell duets there for a couple of hours.

As this “performance” was very much a spur-of-the-moment event, we ended up with an audience of just one person, plus some passers-by. It was a good opportunity for us to bring out some of the pieces we hadn’t played since our street-performing sessions in Downtown Holland last summer! We propped a phone up on a table, and managed to get a few videos, admittedly with a terrible camera angle, but you’ll get the idea. The weather started off rainy with a strong breeze, but later the sun came out, and more people started to appear.

You can find more videos from Play Music on the Porch Day on our YouTube Channel!

We enjoyed doing this so much that we’re already planning more random porch music sessions at Bay View. If you missed the opportunity to take part in Play Music on the Porch Day this year, mark your calendars for the end of August 2021!

Play Music on the Porch Day - Michigan handbells