Arrival of the Queen of Sheba
Listener Submission: Most Meaningful Wedding Music Story

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When we were married nearly two years ago, I had a long list of pieces of music that I wanted played throughout the ceremony. It was hard to narrow down to just a few tunes, but there was one piece where I wouldn't budge. Arrival of the Queen of Sheba by Handel.

This piece is special to my husband and I because we first heard it together on our second date, seeing Four Weddings and a Funeral.I forget which wedding it was that played the music, but my then-boyfriend loved the piece. He had never heard it before. I told him I had a copy of the piece on a CD at home; he gave me a skeptical look. The next time he came over to the house, I played the track for him. His face lit up and he said, "hey, that's the piece from . . . that wedding!"

He listened to it practically every time he came over, until I thought he would burn a hole through the CD. Years later on our wedding day, as we prepared to walk up the aisle for the first time as husband and wife, the organist started playing the recessional: Arrival of the Queen of Sheba by Handel. My husband turned to me and said, "Hey, it's that one song; I thought you said they couldn't do it." Actually, it was another song I liked that the organist couldn't find. And I told him so; still, it was the most wonderful unplanned surprise I could have given him that day.

Sarah Voigt
Saint Paul MN