Nash Roberts

A Few Thoughts On My Own Wedding...

Nash Roberts
A Few Thoughts On My Own Wedding...

At last count, The Shakedown has performed for 107 couples since 2009. That’s a lot of me being a fly on the wall for a wide range of weddings. This past October, I made the very smart move of asking Beth to be my wife in front of our family and friends. #Bashroberts was a celebration for the ages. Candidly, it’s taken me a while to process the whole experience but I thought I’d share with y’all 3 takeaways that I learned from finally tying the knot with the love of my life. I hope these are of help to all of you soon-to-be-weds out there as you prepare for your wedding. 

  1. Roll with the punches.
  2. Ultimately, it’s about the people who are with you on this day.
  3. Hire a videographer if you can. There will be a lot coming at you and you’re going to want to go back and relive it.

Roll with the punches? I’ll tell you why as briefly as I can. The play by play is best told over at least two beers, probably more. I want to emphasize that the morning after my wedding I distinctly remember waking up thinking, “That was definitely the best day of my life.” But with that truth in mind, a few of the unplanned wedding day issues that came up included 1) My parents’ washing machine blew a pipe and flooded through the ceiling onto Beth and her bridesmaids as they were getting ready for the wedding. 2) Hurricane Matthew decided to make his way up the Eastern Seaboard, sparing Western North Carolina, but not sparing several of our guests who were en route, including our DJ, who tragically totaled his car on the freeway. After determining that he was safe, I had to pivot to figure out last minute musical arrangements. Big shout out to DJ Steve Jobs. While not a real DJ, he kept the dance floor rockin’ nonetheless. 3) Minutes prior to ceremony start, a tree fell onto power lines several miles away, thus knocking out the power grid for a big chunk of Transylvania County. Thanks to a generator and a boat battery we found, we may have been Brevard’s only party with power that night. None of our 13 months of planning incorporated provisions for these challenges, but this brings me to point two…

It’s about the people who are with you on your wedding day. On October 8th 2016, a community of our friends and family came together to show their love for me and Beth. It was incredible. We could have gotten married in a concrete bunker and as long as those people were there, we would have been ecstatic. It’s about the people for so many reasons. Wedding culture has continued to evolve into this exceedingly heightened experience. With it an industry has grown, increasing the cost of putting on weddings these days. From the venue to the decorations, food, alcohol and the myriad of service providers, weddings are expected to be this huge affair, and they certainly are. I particularly appreciate the escalating costs given that I play for a wedding band that is a significant cost to hire, thus adding to one’s wedding budget all the more. However, at the end of your wedding day, you’re going to remember the people the most. Long after the wine is gone, these are the people that are going to be there to help you figure out marriage. Beth and I are so thankful for the people who made it to #Bashroberts.

My last point is in the “nice to have” category. Get a videographer if you can. You'll thank me later. Given that your wedding day is going to be filled with all of these people, many whom you haven’t seen in ages and probably won’t congregate in this fashion again, it’s going to be a lot to take in. It’s all going to go by in a blur. You’re the reason for the occasion, but you’re going to get pulled in so many directions that you won’t be able to take it all in. Hire a videographer if you can. We were exceptionally fortunate to be able to hire one of the most talented photographers I’ve worked with, Mr. Graham Terhune. Additionally, we knew that we wanted to relive the day again through video, and we’re so glad to have that footage to reflect upon. Beth and I get teared up pretty much every time we watch the hours of raw footage, which is often.  

As I said, we had some challenges come up day of the wedding, and it was still unequivocally the best day of my life. I think that’s partly because we rolled with the punches, but mostly because we had an incredible group of people with us on our wedding day. Beth and I relive the day every time we sit down to watch the footage. 

In addition to our family and friends, Beth and I extend our deepest thanks to the following: