Second Line Wedding

As we were walking towards Jackson Square to get to Muriel's {having finished dinner at Bacco}, we heard the bells of St. Louis Cathedral ringing out wildly. Normally, the bells chime the hour but this was a great cacophony of noise. I turned to Troy and said, "They normally only ring the bells like that for funerals or weddings, right?!" Troy told me that he thought so and I started quickening my pace.

Sure enough, we saw a whole wedding party outside in front of Jackson Square beautifully dressed and dancing with parasols to a jazz band that was cheerily playing. I asked Troy if he had ever seen anything like it {since he grew up in New Orleans} and he never had! So we stayed and watched a while.

Here come the Bride and Groom! They were positively gleaming-- it was the cutest thing ever. Talk about a party in the streets! Everyone that was a part of the wedding was dancing along with the band and there were plenty of onlookers like us who were snapping pictures of the whole parade.

I wish I had video to show you, but in this picture, the bride and groom are dancing too! In fact, I think the groom was getting down more than the bride. :-)

Off they go... can you see some of the band at the helm?

We had time to kill before we went to Muriel's so we walked around and when we came back to Jackson Square, the bridal party was just making their way down the street in front of Muriel's. Look at that enthusiasm! They look like fun people to know.

FYI: a second line in New Orleans is usually the party after the main parade. That's where all the people follow behind and either walk or dance to the music waving handkerchiefs or twirling parasols. It's considered a jazz funeral without the body.  

I was so glad we got to witness this. How often do you see a wedding parade in the streets?!