View of the wedding reception set-up at the Point, taken from the 31st floor of Regents Park, south tower. (Photography by John Lodder, CC BY 2.0)

May the force be with them
One Hyde Park resident tries to sneak into George Lucas’s wedding reception—sort of.
[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_original","fid":"823","attributes":{"alt":"","class":"media-image","height":"179","typeof":"foaf:Image","width":"460"}}]] It was just a couple of weeks ago, in a galaxy not so far away. In fact, it was conveniently close by. Why director George Lucas had chosen the Promontory Point Park as the setting for his wedding reception was probably a question that ran through the minds of many Hyde Park residents last week. Lucas had married his fiancée Mellody Hobson on June 22 at his California ranch; the couple was holding their reception a week later on the 29th. It’s not often that a Hollywood celebrity comes to Hyde Park, so when I heard about the Lucas reception, I had to check it out. I made several attempts throughout the night to get close to the event, without success. There were barriers on the lakeshore path up to around 53rd Street. [[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_original","fid":"829","attributes":{"alt":"","class":"media-image","height":"449","typeof":"foaf:Image","width":"460"}}]] Guests began arriving in the late afternoon—said to be in attendance were Robin Williams, Mark Hamill, and Ne-Yo. Notably missing from the night’s proceedings: Chewbacca, C3PO, and Jabba the Hutt. Some were shuttled in by a small caravan of golf carts. A crowd gathered at the park entrance on 55th Street, including reporters and photographers. I was disappointed to see that nobody had shown up in costume. At least a Darth Vader or two, maybe even a Stormtrooper. My Wookie outfit was, unfortunately, still at the rug cleaner’s. The highlight of my night came at around 10 p.m. Approaching the Point from the north along the lakeshore path, I happened upon the barriers. From my vantage point it was difficult to see anything at the Point, and difficult to even hear anything. However, promptly at 10 p.m. a band began to play loudly. This was presumably Prince, who was reported would be playing a two-hour set. I stood in the light rain listening for about five minutes with three other people, until the summer night became too chilly. Remember that scene when Luke watches the binary sunset on Tatooine? Like Luke, I too gazed wistfully off into the distance, although without a John Williams score. I returned to the area at around 1 a.m. A continuous stream of tour trolleys was whisking away attendees. The newlyweds probably saved the Millennium Falcon for themselves.