"Wisconsin Road Trip" - on Crowbar Road near the Swanson's home.
When Neil Met Sandy....
Sandy and Neil met in the fall of 1988 - that's right, over 20 years ago. Sandy was a music major at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and Neil was a film major (Sandy played a role in one of his short films!) at the same school. Neil also played horn in the University orchestras, and they both studied with the same professor, Barry Benjamin. One of the concerts they played together was at the very hotel where they are getting married!
Sandy took off the following year to continue her studies at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia, then eventually moved to New York to pursue a modeling career (and specifically, hand modeling!). Neil began to take his music more seriously, auditioning for and playing with various orchestras and groups all over the country and traveling all over the world with some of them. He eventually made it back to Chicago, where he continues a free-lance career on the horn.
They always kept in touch, though, and even managed to meet up for breakfast or lunch in Manhattan when Neil and his orchestra du jour sailed through town on tour.
Jump ahead to fall 1999, when Sandy received an email from Neil about an opening in this great Opera Orchestra he started playing in down in Sarasota, Florida, and wouldn't it be neat to play together again? After initially cursing Neil for dangling this carrot, Sandy whipped her chops into shape, made an audition tape, and was invited to come down to join the Sarasota Opera Orchestra as Fourth Horn. After some thought (2.5 seconds I believe), Sandy accepted the offer and started spending 10 weeks during the winter playing her horn again, and sitting next to one Neil Kimel.
During the 2001 season, the company performed the classic tale of "Hansel and Gretel". At the customary end-of-season party, Sandy and Neil made a gingerbread replica of the Sarasota Opera House as an homage to the great opera (and their mutual love of all things sweet!). The house took two weeks, and a lot of communication and teamwork to make. Many setbacks, disappointments, and hours of hard work for nothing were experienced, as well as much satisfaction and pleasure out of creating a masterpiece that was a great success at the party. It was at this point that they realized... hmm... if we can do this together without killing each other..... what else can we do together as a team???
It wasn't until a year later until they started dating, however... and Neil proposed a year and a half after that while on tour with the Cleveland Orchestra in Vienna, Austria. Come the wedding it will be only about 16 years since the day they first met. Take that, Harry and Sally!!!
Sandy and Neil outside the Belvedere Palace in Vienna, Austria, October 24th of 2003...right before Neil proposed!
New member in the family! Well, aside from the usual Grant Park Symphony for Neil this summer, and the start of Lyric's Opera Season this fall, Sandy got her motorcycle license this past July and bought a 2008 Ninja 500. It's currently living up at her parent's house in Wisconsin, but she's had lots of opportunities to get up there to ride - and visit with mom and dad, of course! We're also having the backyard re-done... patio, walkway, planter, and new "cycle bay" along the side of the house (since we don't have a garage). Good times and photos to come!
It's Been Six Years! The ceremony and reception both took place at the Hilton in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on September 3, 2004. Barry Benjamin, Sandy and Neil's horn professor from UW-Milwaukee, performed the ceremony. The Music: For the ceremony Sandy's roomie of 10 years (Scott, from NYC) and three friends from the Sarasota Opera (Alissa, Tim, and Kate) played string quartets as guests were arriving, they were joined by eight (yes that's right EIGHT baby!) hornists (and friends!) from the Chicago, Detroit,and Washington DC areas. We processed down the aisle to "Hansel and Gretel" - man, those horns sounded gorgeous!!! The Dessert Buffet: Sandy here: My cousin Kathy Granger created every piece of candy and cookie on the table - yes even the ones wrapped in foil! Her husband Bernal, Sandy's parents Donna and Sherm, and even Neil and I helped with a few things (mainly rolling and dipping! The candy, that is). Kathy started the tradition of making these treats (and many others) at Christmas time many years ago, and would give them away as presents to the neighboring farms and friends... and a few lucky relatives! The "candy trays" grew each year, I think last year she had over 40 varieties on each tray! Click the highlighted link above to see how it was all done. Kathy's daughter Sonya made our cake (which was exactly as I had imagined it - how DID she do that??), and the topper was made by a pastry chef in New York to resemble us and our outfits, hairstyles, and flowers. What color IS that dress, anyway? Since so many people have been curious about the color of Sandy's dress, here's the scoop. It was made by Peter Langer, an Italian designer. The dress color is officially called "dark ivory", a couple shades darker then a traditional ivory. The bridal boutique happened to be owned by an old acquaintance of Sandy's (although she didn't know it when she first started trying on dresses!), Mark Ingram. He used to be an assistant of Amsele Aberra (Sandy used to do shows for her). After leaving Amsele, Mark opened his Bridal Atelier on 56th Street in Manhattan, where he and Sandy were reunited, and The Dress was found! Sandy's mom, Donna, made the veils to complete her "costume". Thanks mom!!!
Some people have been curious about Sandy's emails that were written when she was living in New York, regarding the events and aftermath of the tragedies on September 11th. Follow this link to emails and photos from 9/11: |