Elizabeth Anne Designs: The Wedding Blog » music and entertainment

Mo+Boy Tie the Knot: The First Dance

Mo — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 17:28:42 +0000

We did not choreograph anything. We definitely did a lot of swaying. We managed one turn, which I think is pretty good considering we have two left feet.

And there were no maracas and no Celine Dion. [Thank goodness]

Since we have no song to call our own, it was actually a pretty un-romantic process of listening to a bunch of songs that we thought we could easily sway to. The boy really likes Frank Sinatra, so my first thought was to go with something more classic. Also, I was told “nothing weird” so that already ruled out a bunch of songs.

The Very Thought of You played as our family walked down the aisle, so I thought it would be nice to dance to it as well.

La Vie en Rose was also considered, as was I Could Have Danced All Night because once upon a time in 2003 I put it on a mixed CD for him and he still listens to it. In the end, we danced to I Wished For You by Jasmine Ash, which if you watch Ugly Betty[SPOILER!] is the song played when Bobby proposes to Hilda. It got the seal of approval from the boy, the sister, and the friend, because it sounded very sweet, and for its excellent swaying possibilities.

I’m not even sure he remembers what song we danced to, but I saw a few tears well up in his eyes while we did the middle school shuffle. I’m pretty sure he’s glad we didn’t end up playing air maracas.

Do you have a song? What did you dance to at your wedding?

* Photos by Jessamyn Harris and Sheri Tennison Berg for Jessamyn Harris Photography

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No Chicken Dance Allowed!

Teresa — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 13:30:05 +0000

Tap tap tap… is this thing on?

I’m sorry, lovely readers, that I have been missing in action. While I’d love to pretend that my absence was caused by some amazing adventure, the reality is that I’ve been chained to my textbooks. Anatomy & Physiology, specifically. ’Tis the season for finals, but enough of that for now. We have more important matters to discuss:

As if this picture isn’t evidence enough, Dave and I are rockers, pure and simple.

Okay, okay, I lied.

However, being raised on the likes of CSNY, The Grateful Dead, The Beach Boys, Warren Zevon, and Jimmy Buffett (give or take some Irish drinking songs), music is a huge part of both of our lives. Likewise, music will be an important part of our wedding day.

That said, I have a confession. I may or may not be a DJ’s worst nightmare.

For the past 15 months or so, whenever I’ve heard a good song, I would jot it down on our list of “good wedding music.” Creative name, right? The list of songs included:

“The Way I Am” – Ingrid Michaelson
“Walkin’ After Midnight” – Madeleine Peyroux
“You Can Call Me Al” – Paul Simon
“I and Love and You” – The Avett Brother
“First Day of My Life” – Bright Eyes
“Can’t You See” – The Marshall Tucker Band
“Just Like Heaven” – The Cure
“In the Mood” – Glenn Miller
“Got My Mind Set On You” – George Harrison
“Caravan” – Van Morrison

and of course, the ULTIMATE wedding song…

“Hang On Sloopy” – The McCoys

At first, this whole list idea seemed like a good thing. However, 15 months of wedding-song-listing later, I have a list of… um, well, 180 songs. Even if each of those songs had a duration of only 3 minutes, my list would still be 9 (NINE!) whole hours worth of music, and we’re certainly not having a 9 hour reception. After realizing that I was becoming more and more insane about the music, we (read: Dave) decided that we needed to consult a professional. Enter Synergetic Sounds and Lighting.

We were lucky enough to meet with Jason Weldon, who started the company in 1998. Dave and I knew that we wanted to be able to trust someone completely with song selection, and that we wanted our DJ to be low-key. Anyone encouraging party games or the Macarena need not apply. Within minutes, Dave and I could tell that Jason knew his stuff. After asking what types of music we liked, Jason gave us a quick playlist including “Cecilia,” “All I Want is You,” and “Fame.”

The magic word (or song, rather) is “Cecilia.” With that, we had our DJ. :)

Do you, my dears, have any must play songs? Did anyone else need any sort of musical intervention?? Please tell me that I’m not the only one!

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Creating a ceremony playlist that is uniquely you

Leah — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 16:00:13 +0000

Well, it’s official. I am a married woman, back from my honeymoon, and back to reality! Fortunately for me, my reality is pretty darn good, but I still can’t say that I’m pumped about the coming work week. I am so excited to share all of the wedding details with you all, and especially, to share the photos once I get them. Sigh. Trying to dive back into my inspiration series, I am trying to get back to the basics. This is somewhat hard due to the fact that I still have an adrenaline buzz. I’ve only been back home for a little over 12 hours now.

I started thinking about the ceremony and reception, and one of the things that I got a lot of compliments on and can illustrate perfectly without images I don’t yet have, is the music. Todd and I are both huge music fans, and we knew that the traditional wedding music wasn’t going to cut it for us. I am all about using music to create a mood. It was important to set the tone for our non-traditional rooftop wedding. Our guests would be arriving right before sunset and would be greeted with a champagne cocktail as they exited the elevator. From there, they could walk around the venue, but I knew that most would take their cocktail out onto the rooftop terrace where the sun would soon be setting. In lieu of classical music, we opted for down-tempo tunes, such as Thievery Corporation.

{Author’s Personal Collection}

As for the seating of the parents and grandparents, I wanted something classy and timeless. Who better than Frank Sinatra? His voice can make the worst day seem like sunshine. We selected “Fly Me to the Moon”, and while I didn’t get to see it, the hubby said that it was perfect. For the bridal party processional, I pretty much knew from the beginning that I wanted “Into the Mystic” by Van Morrison. Another voice that gives me goosebumps, and I thought it was ideal. Moving right along- I couldn’t get over how cute my niece and nephews would be coming down the aisle to “All I want is You” by Barry Louis Polisar. If you’re not familiar, it’s from the movie “Juno”. My song was also a breeze because it was one of the first songs that Todd ever played for me on the guitar. At the time, he didn’t even realize how much I loved the song already. My Dad walked me down the aisle to “Sparks” by Coldplay. Sigh. I simply love that song. And, finally, for the recessional, we chose “God Only Knows” by The Beach Boys. The perfect ending to the perfect ceremony.

Chalk it up to basically living on a stage my entire life (I’m a dancer), I suppose I enjoy creating drama by adding the right music. It was almost like a production to me. I had to be sure it captured the moment correctly. I honestly worried that it would be too “out there” for traditional people, such as grandparents, but I did it anyway. I’m so glad I did because it was utterly and completely us. Also, I suppose you can’t worry about offending traditional people when you’re already having a nighttime, rooftop wedding where the two of you hung out for hours before the ceremony. After the ceremony, we entered the reception to “Hey Hey What Can I Do” by Led Zeppelin. It’s a song that has stuck with me from my college years. From there, we went right into the first dance and the father/daughter and mother/son dances. For our first dance, we used “That’s How Strong My Love Is” by Otis Redding. For the father/daughter dance, we chose “Take Good Care of My Baby” by Bobby Vee. We ended the traditional part of the reception with my husband dancing with his momma to “What a Wonderful World” by Louis Armstrong.

If you’re looking for an AMAZING DJ, I have him for you. His name is Ryan Burleson of Beats and Bells. He handled our ceremony and reception. We had the pleasure of working with so many wonderful wedding vendors, and he certainly deserves a shout out. Good and bad news, he moved from Atlanta to Nashville several months back. If you’re in Nashville, you are in luck. He’s a great alternative to the standard, cheesy wedding DJ. I would recommend him to any and everyone.

Brides and brides-to-be, what did you incorporate into the ceremony to make it uniquely you? What music did you pick for the first dances?

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Making it your day

Sallie — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 12:00:12 +0000

As I have mentioned before, the Captain and I are going for a big party feel for our wedding reception. We consider ourselves the Party Crashers and if we had a theme song, it might be “Crash the Party” by OK Go.

Funny side story: The Captain sent me a package back in March with a belated V-day gift. It was a flash drive full of music picked out by him especially for me. “Crash the Party” by OK go was one of them and I listened intently to every word. Well, the first sentence of the song says, “She’s not the prettiest girl in town…” I was a bit taken a back because most of the songs included were romantically related in someway. I was like, “What! He thinks i’m ugly!” I brought it up later and he laughed and said he was hoping I wouldn’t catch that….because the rest of the song is awesome and in no way was he trying to subconsciously tell me that I was ugly. Anyway, the song made it on our wedding reception playlist so obvioiusly I didn’t take much offense to it.

Back to the Party. We also love Buffalo Wild Wings. When a BWW’s had a grand opening in Denton, the Captain skipped class and we waited in line for 5 hours in order to get free wings for a year. We got them. And we love them. Read more about that experience here

{Photos by Suzanna Dodson Photography}

Don’t we look like fun party people?

When we started planning our wedding reception, it made complete sense to include Buffalo Wild Wings. We love them, so why not? The reception should reflect us and wings definitely say Sallie and the Captain. It might not be the “traditional” wedding dinner, but it sure is yummy! I wasn’t sure how it would work out planning with BWW’s, but they were extremely nice about working with my expectations and they actually gave us a screaming deal. When working with non-traditional wedding vendors, don’t be afraid to tell them your detailed expectations of your order and schedule for the wedding day.

My suggestion, if you want something, get it. Weddings should reflect the couple in every way. If you don’t want to wear a veil…don’t. If you want to wear colored shoes, do. It’s your day, so make it yours.

How are you making your day your own?

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Posted in: cakes and catering, music and entertainment, the planning process

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Party Time: Great Bachelorette Spots In Chicago

Cara — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 12:00:01 +0000

There are SO many great place and resources in Chicago. One website that is a must check is Metromix you can search venues by style, cost, and food. Another website that I love is called Last Night Chicago - they offer bridal party packages and transportation- so if you’re looking to spend 20 minutes make a phone call they do all the heavy lifting. A party bus transports you from one location to the other- the choice of bars depends on what time of bachelorette you would like to have. If you want to have a traditional chicago bachelorette there is a package for that. Its a great one stop shop for planning.

Another great site is, The House of Bachelorette, for all things bachelorette related in the realm of decorations and clothing.

Here are some of my personal favorites:

{Image Source}
The Place:Hogs N’ Honeys
The Location: 1551 N. Sheffield Chicago IL
The Draw: Mechanical Bull

{Image Source}
The Place:The Baton Club
The Location: 436 North Clark Street Chicago IL
The Draw: A Chicago Legion Female that Bring the House Down Nightly

{Image Source}
The Place: Howl at the Moon
The Location: 26 West Hubbard Street Chicago
The Draw: Howl at the Moon is another legion none for its dueling pianos and audience participation.

Bachelorettes can go some many different ways, and it really depends on the personality of the bride. Are you a posh bride? Do you want to get absolutely hog wild? Is a chill spa day more your style? In Chicago there’s something for every bride you just have to know where to find it!

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Posted in: music and entertainment, venues

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Our reception: this is how we do it

Kathleen — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 12:00:04 +0000

If the ceremony part of the wedding can be a bit restrictive (at least if you’re going the traditional route), the reception is your chance to show everyone what you are about as a couple, and what constitutes a good time to you. I mentioned before that Jon and I wanted the celebration to be an introduction to the South for those of our guests who had never been to Atlanta; one way we did this was through the food. That’s what most occasions are built around down here, anyway!

Our caterer prepared a delicious menu of “upscale Southern” cuisine that included shrimp and grits, fried chicken, buttermilk and sweet potato biscuits, macaroni & cheese, fried green tomatoes and an absolutely outrageous Coca-Cola glazed pork tenderloin. (One of the strongest opinions my dad expressed through the wedding planning process was that he didn’t think mac & cheese was fancy enough. He suggested mashed potatoes instead; I’m not sure those are any fancier. Needless to say, he was overruled.) The wedding cake was the most delicious red velvet cake I have ever had. At the bar, I had gotten permission to bring in a few cases of glass-bottled Cheerwine, a delicious cherry cola drink from North Carolina that’s hard to find outside the region. If anyone hadn’t tried Southern food before they came to our wedding, they certainly had their fill by the time they headed home.

For the cocktail hour entertainment, we looked to Jon’s musical background – he plays the saxophone and writes about jazz – and hired a friend’s quartet to get the party off on the right foot. A DJ took over at dinnertime, playing a mellow mix of jazz and indie tunes that Jon had picked. When it was time to boogie, the DJ got things going and kept the dance floor packed all night, playing everything from shag music to ’90s boy-band pop to hip-hop from the aughts.

If our guests weren’t on the dance floor or by the bar, odds were good that they were hogging the camera at the Smilebooth – an extra that I insisted upon (and paid for) despite initial naysaying from Jon and my dad. This photo booth was a huge, hilarious hit! (Jon and Dad both said as much after the fact.) It was also a great way to get a record of who all came to the wedding without sending a photographer around to each table – not to mention the pictures have a lot more personality than typical table shots would! Our reception would certainly have been awesome even without the Smilebooth, but pretty much everybody has commented on how much fun it was. It’s the best party invention ever! Here are a few gems from the Smilebooth:

These details that reflect the things we love – Southern hospitality, good food, excellent music, photography and of course all of our friends and family – are what I hope our guests will remember about our wedding!

*photos by Our Labor of Love/Smilebooth

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Chicago Cocktail Hour with African Drummers

Kasia — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 13:00:12 +0000

Cutting our rainy photo shoot short was a wise decision, because we made it to cocktail hour at our reception venue, the Ravenswood Billboard Factory, right before Skinny Williams, the Chicago saxophonist we hired to greet people at the door, was finishing up his last set. In addition to Skinny, our ushers and waiters greeted guests at the door with wine and champagne and escorted them to the “placecard” table, about a 3 minute walk from the front door of the building. Guests may have been perplexed as to why they were being lead through several brick-exposed hallways, but as they got closer to our escort card table, no one could deny there was a great party around somewhere, due to the deep sound of beating drums from above.

Our placecard table was simple but special. My aunt took a picture of my husband and I during our wedding ceremony and got it printed just minutes before cocktail hour started. It is framed in the middle of the table, along with both our parents’ wedding photos on each side. We added a few containers of wheatgrass, leftover from the dinner centerpieces, and voila!

{Image on left courtesy of my father; all other images in this post by Missy Photography}

We chose to frame table numbers, with guests names listed alphabetically since seats for dinner were assigned and tags were already hanging on each chair in the dining space. After signing our guestbook, guests entered an elevator next to the table and were taken up to level 3, the atrium.

As soon as the elevator doors opened, this is what guests saw.

…and this is what they heard.

The beat of the drums permeated throughout the whole building and set the tone for the rest of the night….let’s party! Our guests feet began dancing to the beat before dinner was ever served.

On top of all the incredible music we had, the food was just as personal and amazing.

My husband and I worked with our caterer Andy to identify some hors d’ouvres based on places we’ve lived. We chose the following hors oeuvres blindly (without a tasting) but each one was beyond delicious. Guests loved guessing which treat matched which place we lived in. Another cute idea would be to have a collection of YOUR favorite foods.

We realized later we forgot NYC (how could we!?) but NYC is pretty much a smorgasbord of the world, which essentially was the above. At least that reasoning makes us feel a little bit better about leaving it out.

Our caterer Andy, from Ravenswood Billboard Factory, was wise and kind enough to send a plate filled with one of each hors d’oeuvres to the bridal suite so I could taste each one…which I did. I’d highly recommend you ask your caterer to do this–I would have been devastated had I not tried them all.

In addition to passed hors ‘douvres, the saxophonist and the African drummers, we had a slideshow of pictures that I made on my Macbook, highlighting our families, friends and us playing on a plasma (on the left side of the photo above) throughout the entire night. It was muted and wasn’t a distraction AT ALL, which I had been afraid of. Guests LOVED watching this, mostly because we made sure that every single one of them was pictured at-least once; but also because they got to know us a little bit better as well.

Finally, I am going to share with you my husband’s contribution to cocktail hour. Rewind a few months, right after we sent out wedding invites–we had about 10 extra. My husband suggested we invite some famous people randomly because “you never know.” Ha! We invited five and were hoping for a 20% acceptance rate. Just one right? Alas, none could make it, but four of our five VIPs responded: Michael Jordan, The Pope, President Obama and the Queen of England (who RSVPed ON TIME, what a classy dame). The responses we received were probably Dave’s favorite keepsakes from the wedding process and he INSISTED (I mean insisted! This may or may not have caused a small fight between us) that we tape them up with scotch tape in our very classy wedding….Ahem. In the end, I agreed with his suggestion, of course, and it turned out great. Guests LOVED the “wall of rejection” as we called it, and enjoyed reading the responses.

Can you guess which of our five VIPs did not respond? Clues: Famous, female, Chicago talk show host, who is leaving our great city next year. The Queen responded yet she didn’t… Just sayin.

How are you personalizing your cocktail hour?

Next up: Our Intimate Dinner Party

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Our 10 Person Band (each played separately)

Kasia — Tue, 04 May 2010 13:00:14 +0000

My fiance and I came to our first prolonged discussion about our wedding when we broached the ultimate question: band vs DJ. As you may remember, the DJ won. We want out reception to feel like a hot night-club/lounge in the city and we think our bi-lingual (Polish-English) DJ will deliver exactly that! Despite this, we’ve hired some live musicians along the way to supplement our special day.

My fiance and I met because of our connection to Africa; We spent two years in the Peace Corps in Africa, and I spent another year working there the year after graduate school. In fact, Dave proposed to me in Africa when he came to visit me that year! So we knew early on that adding African elements to our wedding was a MUST. One of the ways we are highlighting our love for and in Africa is through out music. Instead of the iPod, we’ve hired 3 African drummers to play during cocktail hour. They will be jamming in the atrium for an hour while guests sip or chardonnay and champagne.

Ajoite playing at Chicago Festival

Because our wedding is an industrial style building, I was getting anxious that our guests might think they were in the wrong place upon arrival. I have been racking my brain trying to figure out creative ways to highlight our entrance with either balloons, florals, or signs until it hit me – what about a lone sax player!? What could be a more appropriate on Blues Fest weekend than a fantastic Chicago sax player greeting you at the door? We are thrilled that the amazing Skinny Williams has agreed to play as guests enter our venue.

Skinny Williams and band playing Oye Coma Va

Finally, since our ceremony mass will be bi-lingual, in Polish and English, we’ve hired a festive 5-piece Polish folk band to play joyous music as we walk out of the church and greet all our guests.

Polish Highlander Folk Band (Disclaimer: this is not the group we’ve hired)

So that makes 10 musicians (including our DJ). We think the three supplemental segments of live music will add more ambiance and decor to our wedding than flowers would, so that’s why decided to forego flowers entirely (except for bouquets and our DIY centerpieces).

* tip: contact music conservatories and local music shops that offer lessons, for remarkable musicians with affordable rates for shorter gigs. Great resources I contacted in Chicago were the Chicago Jazz Conservatory, Columbia College School of Music and Old Town School of Folk Music.

What music decisions have you made?

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Our Wedding: The Photobooth

Kelly — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 15:11:26 +0000

Ahh yes, the photobooth. I had been looking at photobooths since before we got engaged and it was one of my big must haves early on. I was willing to splurge to rent one, even. Enter mad amounts of stress that made me want to abandon all of it, except for the part where Garrett and I would be married.

My photographers (who are also friends of mine) set up the booth for me and hired someone to press the button. We discussed remotes but I just know someone would’ve accidentally dropped it into their pocket. Plus, drunk people going to check and see how the pictures are turning out = disaster. We limited the hours on the photo booth so our poor photo attendant could go home at some point. We were hoping for a legitimate backdrop holder but it didn’t arrive before our date. I don’t think anyone really noticed/cared. And now I have the yellow fabric for future projects, which is pretty special.

Lessons learned for future brides:

1) Create a sign to direct guests to your photobooth, let your DJ know in advance to announce it, several times.
2) If you are doing it yourself, make sure to order too much fabric, it’s better than not enough.
3) If possible, have a handout to let guests know where they can see the images later.

I say all of these things because I didn’t do them. And while I really love the images we did get, most guests didn’t know about the photo booth since it was in a separate room at our venue. Signs are great. Make signs.