In its 2½ years, the stage of Rady Shell already has hosted a hit parade of talent performing for concerts and private events — Jennifer Hudson, Bernadette Peters, The Beach Boys, Bonnie Raitt, Sheryl Crow, Ben Platt, George Benson, the Commodores, Norah Jones, Alicia Keys, Sting, Billy Joel, Train, Goo Goo Dolls, and more.
On Sept. 14, 2021, Apple unveiled its new iPhone 13 to the world on the stage of the exotic conch shell-shaped concert stage with a dramatic view of San Diego Bay.
But no one had gotten married on the stage itself. That is until Jan. 2, when Lea Slusher and her fiancé, Stephen Hornsby, exchanged marriage vows inside the Rady Shell — a hard act to follow.
The Rev. Greg Batson, senior pastor of Foothills United Methodist Church, istered their vows shortly after 4:45 p.m. before a small group of wedding guests seated where San Diego Symphony musicians normally sit.
Slusher is the orchestra’s vice president and head of artistic istration, having moved here in 2018 from Carnegie Hall in New York City where she was director of artistic projects. She books performers for San Diego Symphony Hall and the Rady Shell. So, she booked her own wedding.
An earlier wedding and reception had been the first to take place in the surrounding park on Oct. 9 — a celebration for Amy and Adam Jacobs, the son of Jerri-Ann and Gary Jacobs and sister of Congresswoman Sara Jacobs.
The couple had quietly had a civil wedding and Jewish engagement ceremony on May 2, 2021, during the pandemic. They patiently waited 17 months to stage their formal Jewish wedding and party, complete with fireworks.
“It was a family and friend reunion as well,” Amy says. “Everybody was excited to be able to get together again and celebrate.”
Their ceremony, attended by about 450 guests, culminated five days of activities and took place in the park. The concert stage was reserved for their band and speakers.
That was the perfect setting for the couple because this section of the Embarcadero Marina Park South is called Jacobs Park. After all, it was the idea of Adam’s grandfather, Qualcomm co-founder Irwin Jacobs, that the S.D. Symphony build and operate this $85 million outdoor concert venue. He and his wife, Joan, attended the wedding.
The couple tiered their activities, getting married at the highest level above the terraced rows for seating. Guests then moved down to the cocktail reception at the next level and finally to the ground level set with tables and a dance floor in front of the stage.
“It was incredible,” says Amy. “Every step toward dinner, guests went down a level. There was an unveiling for every tier.”
ing the couple in their ceremony was their infant daughter, Aylana, a tiny flower girl pulled gently in a white wagon by Amy’s 7-year-old godson.
On Jan. 2, Slusher didn’t engage a live band, relying instead on her playlist of favorite artists. No celebrities performed — unless you count Johnny Cash, her black and white Cavalier King Charles spaniel, who trotted out with the wedding rings attached to his harness.
Symphony programming conductors Rob Fisher and Sean O’Loughlin were there — but as attendees, not performers. Symphony CEO Martha Gilmer and Chief of Staff Katy McDonald also attended, along with other of the symphony’s senior management team.
The couple originally was planning to have small ceremony at the Hotel del Coronado for a few of their San Diego friends, followed by a bigger ceremony back in the N.Y.C./New Jersey area, where Slusher’s family lives.
But Slusher was so busy with work, it was simply easier to book her own wedding on a Monday when the facility was not in use — with the blessing of Gilmer and symphony management, of course.
Anyone can book the Rady Shell as a wedding venue, however, the cost varies significantly, Slusher says, depending on the scope of the event and the necessity for use of union labor, which must be employed to operate the venue’s audio and visual equipment, stage work and perform other services.
Non-symphony events are handled by the Padres — reachable by email at: [email protected] — where Jaclyn Lash, senior vice president of special events, says closing off the area for an event can cost $30,000 and up.
The surrounding lawn, however, is park land overseen by the Port of San Diego and accessible to the public when events aren’t booked. Local soccer fans gathered there in late November to watch World Cup matches on the big screen in a free watch party co-sponsored by San Diego Loyal Soccer Club and the symphony,
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“It’s a public park, so if you wanted to get married there, you could do it,” Slusher says.
After their ceremony, she and her husband had their reception nearby at the Lionfish restaurant in the Pendry San Diego hotel.
“We feel like we had a beautiful ceremony,” says Slusher, noting the view of the harbor and Coronado. “The wedding was not stressful at all. Very little had to be overseen.” The bonus for her was that her friends and colleagues at the symphony and Pendry hotel pitched in to pull it off.
The staged wedding idea wasn’t original, Slusher notes. One of her friends had gotten married on the stage of the Kansas City Symphony’s performing arts center.
