Precious moments
Touring couple takes advantage of break for impromptu wedding at Summerside business
It was the perfect quiet moment.
Joey Landreth sat with his fiancée, and soon to be wife, Anna Salgado, in the side room of Holman’s Ice Cream Parlour and were pronounced husband and wife.
“It, kind of juxtaposed our lives – we don’t really get a lot of time alone together. Whether Joey’s on tour and on the road, or when he’s home and we’re sharing time with our families, which is great, but it was really special to have it be a quiet moment for us. Because we don’t always have that,” said the newly wedded Salgado.
Landreth, a touring musician, and Salgado got engaged in August and had tentatively set a wedding date for late summer after the music touring season was coming to a lull.
“I’ve been on a pretty big tour for the last couple of months. And then these dates came up [to play with] Fortunate Ones in Atlantic Canada.”
The great opportunity would have meant he would be away from home for another two weeks after an already month-long run. Landreth said he would go on tour provided Anna was able to come too.
She got time off work and pair set off.
Sitting in the car together, driving along the highway, Landreth remembers the moment they decided to elope.
“What if we just got married on this trip, on a whim?” Salgado asked.
“There are a couple of days in between shows, two days in Charlottetown, what if we got married there,” Landreth said back. Soon Salgado got on the phone and began calling around looking for someone to officiate the wedding.
“I Googled a list of marriage commissioners and the first one on the list was available and they were based in Summerside. They suggested a local coffee shop, but it wasn’t available at the time,” she explained.
Over the phone the commissioner, Wendell Cameron, said, “I always thought it’d be cute if there was a little ceremony inside of Holman’s Ice Cream Parlour.”
Salgado said back, “That sounds pretty cute. I’m down for that,” chuckling at the end of the statement.
Everything fell into place without a lot of planning in advance, the pair agreed.
“We decided in Fredericton we were doing this, we got our wedding bands in Moncton, our marriage licence in Charlottetown and got married in Summerside. It’s been a whirlwind, but really fun and really exciting.” Adding to the magic of the day was fellow musicians, Andrew O’Brien and Catherine Allan – the husband and wife duo of Fortunate Ones – were Landreth and Salgado’s witnesses to the marriage. “We kind of sprang it on them. But they put so much spontaneous work into it to. They surprised us and picked us up at the hotel in their van, which they had decked out in flowers and everything,” said Salgado. Landreth added, “They had been touring in that van for a month, so it was pretty lived in condition. Andrew had woken super early that morning and taken it to get washed and cleaned up. It was absolutely gorgeous and beautiful. They put down the middle seats and made us sit in the back, so it felt like we were in a limo. It was so cute.” Salgado continued, “They drove us there and back, it was the most wonderful thing. They captured this really great memory for us.” Jenny Meister, one of the owners of Holman’s Ice Cream Parlour, said they’ve had a wedding party take photos before, but never a wedding service. It was a fun moment. We were happy to be a part of such an exciting moment in people’s lives.”
Going forward, the pair will make a few more stops on the tour before returning home to Winnipeg, Man.
“We had about three days in Halifax after the wedding, before the next show, so we’ve just been hanging out and eating good food. It’s been the perfect little honeymoon period,” Salgado concluded.