Song and dance

What makes for a great reception?

Colors? Flowers? Dresses? No.

It’s the music. All the rest turns into a blissful blur the second you hit the dance floor. If the music is right, so is the night.

Wedding music is tough to pull off, and I pity every wedding DJ in America. This is partly because of their burden of having to please so many different demographics of people and partly because they’re slowly getting replaced. Sorry, but y’all are too damn expensive and getting replaced by iTunes playlists… at least for this wedding.

That’s what happens with good technology. It replaces manual labor.

We won’t be hiring a band either. Again, too expensive and not diverse enough. Also, you know that I’d have to pick up the bass or guitar for a song, and then I’d get distracted and forget I was in the wedding as I rip a solo on “You Shook Me All Night Long.” So anyway…

Groomsman Wesley and I have already ventured into the gray area of appropriate wedding playlists before for my sister’s wedding, so we have a good idea for how to plan:

1. Play oldies for the old folks who only stay for the first hour of the reception. Start with Beatles, Elvis and Sinatra.
2. Transition midway into party favorites like Bon Jovi, AC/DC and Madonna.
3. End the night with club bangers like Jay-Z, Beyonce and Lil Wayne.

The general rule of thumb is that you should move chronologically through the decades during the course of the reception. Start old-school and end modern. Also, play one to two slow-dance songs per hour. People need a break and/or make-out time.

That’s the fun stuff.

The tough part about choosing music is identifying the specific procession and recession songs, the first dance song, the daddy/daughter dance song, etc. I know what you’re thinking, and you’re right, “Thriller” can suit all of these. If only it were that simple.

I think we’ve found the Beatles’ song for the procession. Not sure what we’re doing for the other songs. We’ve toyed with the idea of going 100 percent Beatles music because it’s a totally safe/musically legit direction to take, but we’ve got to explore all of the options.

That’s why I’m burdening myself by listening to all the great songs that could be a part of our wedding, figuring out the right soundtrack for the day. It’s a tough job, but I’ll take this one for the team.

Dresses For The Girls

I try really hard to post something each week wedding related, but it has been more like every two weeks.
I am failing at this, but hopefully will bring my grade up to a C.

Working long hours out of the house and in "our" house, I don't have a lot of time to spend sharing my ideas. Let alone my work schedule doesn't allow for me to post during the day. I wish I was in PR.

This is the dress my attendants will be wearing for the wedding. I think it will look great on everyone.

Finally

I finally ordered my dress!! Well, actually my mom ordered it.

I found it with my Mom and Daisha when I was home for the long weekend. I went on a rampage trying to find the perfect dress and I thought I found it three times. I never had the crying moment that everyone says they have. The moment I had was trying it on four times and saying, "I love this dress."

Also, it was a nice feeling when other customers and their 20 people at Wendy's Bridal complimented me over and over. That was an amazing feeling.

I have learned that you have to take pictures to see how the dress and yourself photograph. Some of the dresses that I thought looked good, made me look like a linebacker in photos. Having close friends and family involved make such a difference. I was super lucky to have Vicki (Future mom), Sarah Betts (Best Friend from Australia), Nina (Future Sister), Mom (Real Mom), Daisha (Best Friend), Amber and Abby (Sister-Best Friend and Niece) involved in the process. It's hard work and I was fading fast. I got a great deal on the dress and I love knowing I have a dress.

The Head Piece

I think this is a beautiful head piece!

Princesses don't need crowns

I need only to spend two minutes on Facebook to see that a lot of my friends, most distant, have gotten married or are planning to get married. We're contributing to the norm of people our age, I get that.

What I don't get are these girls who think wearing a crown or tiara with their wedding dresses is a good idea. It's not. I've been to Disneyland. That's where the princesses are. That's the only places where such head ornaments should be permitted. They shouldn't even be allowed in greater Anaheim.

Amanda, I'm all for the veil, the peacock feather, that cage looking thing, but you are NOT allowed to wear a crown or tiara. I love you. Bye.

I Live In A Frat

I have never lived on my own or had a roomie since living in the dorms of my conservative Christian college. We had curfews every school night until 12:30 a.m., but on the weekends it was 2 a.m. (if I remember correctly) and we could only go to the guys dorms on "open dorm night" and vice versa. I was such a dork in college and I went to sleep at 8:30 p.m. every night -- my excuse was because I played college softball. You know how people are dorks in high school then go to college and become cool, well I reversed that role.

Anyway, I am breaking all my college rules now. Mainly because I am living in a house with 3 boys (I've included Fabrizio!) and I stay up later than 2 a.m. on the weekends playing Rock Band.

It has been quite a whirlwind for me and I catch myself often saying, "I need to go back to college and experience the real College Life." I have threatened to move out and live in the dorms at one of the local universities, but everyone seems to shoot me down. I am pretty sure I will be starting school again within the year, so I am going to do my best to experience college at 28.

Living with 3 boys has its major down falls. ALL OF MY NICE TOWELS ARE BLEACHED. It makes me wish I had the opportunity to live on my own with my nice towels. Instead, I live in a frat.

Back from Indy, back in form

Amanda and I had a lovely, productive time in Indiana.

We decided on our wedding and reception venue: Salomon Farms. It's the right size, the right location, and it's something different -- just like us!



We THINK we've got our caterer: Hall's. Its menu looks right for the right price. We're going with an appetizer-style menu to keep the food simple. We're getting a keg and might bring in a couple bottles of wine for ourselves. Everyone can OD on soda, too.

We tried Hall's cakes but didn't fall in love with anything. We're leaning toward cupcakes and might find a better deal elsewhere. That's TBD.

Oh yes, and Amanda tried on a TON of dresses. Three outings in three days. I'd guess that she's probably tried on nearly 40 dresses by now and I'm sure she'll have a dress update here soon. I'm betting on white.

I'm off to the Men's Warehouse today to look at its suit rentals. I'd like to buy my suit but need to make sure the Men's Warehouse has something to match! I'd like to go with grey suits, but the catch is making that affordable for myself and the groomsmen (in case they'd need to buy, too). It's tough when you're not doing tuxes, but totally worth the style enhancement!