Let the music play.... Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Well, now that the photographer debacle has, hopefully, been put behind us, FH cheerfully asked me, "What's the next step?" The truth is, at this point, there are MANY next steps, but the one that's got my attention lately is our music choice.

In addition to being a photographer, I'm a music teacher, so this one is another high-priority item for me. I'm much less stressed about it, though, because it just is something that isn't as timeless and permanent as the wedding photographs were. So I'd like to have a little fun with things. In fact, I'd hire college students if I could, but the wedding is in the summer and who knows where they'll be!

For the ceremony, I'm thinking of a sort of classic/romantic vibe. Our ceremony room has a pretty swirly pattern on the carpet, pretty, gold chandeliers, gold-ish chiavari chairs, and is decorated in neutral colors. I have some beautiful floral ideas, too. One whole wall is windows, and the ceremony will be in the evening (so, nice light from an almost-sunset? I hope?). For this, I'm thinking of something like a string quartet or a harpist. My cousin, an orchestra teacher, has offered to play violin, so I'd definitely like to incorporate that somehow. It would also be special to me since she played at my mom's wedding about 5 years ago.

I was wondering if the harp music wouldn't be too insubstantial or somehow less "formal" than a quartet. I still don't know about that, but it's sure beautiful! In doing my youtube research, I found this video of a beautiful harpist (playing while the birds sing!).

For cocktail hour, I got the idea of having a nice, classic, jazz trio: piano, drums, and string bass. Plus, one of the sticking points with this venue is that it has a grand piano in our reception room! How could I not utilize that?! People will mix & mingle, drinks will be served, hors d'ouevres will be passed, people will be finding their placecards and being seated. I just thought it would be great to get the party started with some live music, and jazz is pretty neutral. I've found a great Brazilian trio here in the Dallas area, and they seem wonderful and just perfect for us. Problem is, I'm not sure if they're in our budget, and I just don't care enough to do a whole bunch of spreadsheet-shuffling at the moment. I'm tired of spending money! We'll see how this goes.

And for the reception, we already have a DJ in place. Can't wait to work with him! He's just sent me an email in advance of our meeting after the holidays. He says that I need to start working on my must play/do-not-play lists. Seems a little overwhelming.

I suppose my biggest concern is that we have enough music to keep the party going. I really would love for people to have a great time, and dance all night long!

Photo from flickr user "...Steve".