Monday, February 2, 2015

Rock n' Romance-Wedding Post 7

Let's talk music. It's a snow day round here, so why not? One thing has nothing to do with the other, but I'm housebound and still need to wrap up some of the reception details, so let's.

And by details I mean the band. THE BAND!!

When it comes to music and wedding receptions there are essentially two options. You can hire a D.J. or you can hire a band. Some venues require clients to use their D.J. services, but since ours was 'a la carte' we had choices, and we knew we wanted a band.

Hubs and the bride know and love their music. My hubs is one of those people who can tell you a song title, singer, and year of release, almost before the first full note is played. Daughter1 is the same, and since their musical tastes are happily similar, finding the band was a job I left in their capable hands.

I'm not gonna lie...deciding on which band to hire was a teensy bit stressful. There are a couple of reasons for this stress, one being hubs and his girl both had very specific ideas about how the band would sound, what songs they would play, and most especially, what songs they would NOT play.


In addition to their precise requirements, if you haven't actually seen the bands you're considering in person, then you're making a judgement call based on short YouTube clips, websites, and reviews. It was a little overwhelming and we knew we needed help. We worked with a company called East Coast Entertainment, and they were absolutely wonderful to deal with from start to finish. If you need a band for an event of any kind, I highly recommend checking them out.

East Coast has an online questionnaire outlining the specifics of your event (date, time, place), how much you want to spend, what sort of music you like, etc., and then they send you links to bands that meet your criteria. The best part about East Coast though, is they assign you an agent, and our agent Marty really helped us narrow down the choices. He took the time to listen, get to know us a bit, understand our personal tastes, and in the end helped us secure our band, The Business. 



Hubs said from the get-go our band must have horns, and The Business included both sax and trumpet (which hubs may or may not have had a turn at sometime during the night!). They're based out of Asheville, NC so came and went the same day.

They're an incredibly talented group of musicians, and their vocalist Jim Arendell has a wonderful soulful sound to his voice which I absolutely loved. Really which everyone loved, as there wasn't a single song the entire evening where people weren't dancing. They brought such a fantastic energy to our event, and I'd hire them again in a heartbeat.


So I guess you can tell we were happy with the band-ha! The bride and groom delighted the whole crowd with their sweet first dance as husband and wife, True by George Strait. Country artists somehow put into words so much of what the heart longs to say.

After dinner hubs had his moment too, and he enjoyed every minute of his dance with the new Mrs. M. Deciding on their song was another hard decision. While they both love country music, they also love beach music, southern rock, the Motown sound, and more. I think Daughter1 always imagined they'd dance to beach music, but in the end hubs wanted lyrics that captured his heart.


They danced to My Little Girl, a song made famous by Tim McGraw, but which our band played and sang. Not a country band, but their soulful sound was absolute perfection here.


At some point in the song selection process my daughter asked me if hubs had thought much about their song before now? Um, only since the day he first laid eyes on you in the delivery room of a Midwestern hospital.


She thought I was exaggerating, but I wasn't.

Honestly I think when that newborn baby daughter is placed into her father's waiting arms for the very first time, that father flashes forward to dancing at her wedding. In those first minutes of her life, his mind positively rebels at the very thought of ever handing over his beloved girl to anyone ever. Ever ever. Never. He prays for time to please go slow.


But time it has its way with us, and in a blink that day is here. He sees the smile on her face and the light in her eyes. He is carried along on the wave of pure, unadulterated joy spilling out of her heart and he does not rebel. The happiest day of her life is the happiest day of his life, and he loosens his grip on the golden thread that binds her heart to his.

He knows you can't stop time.
He's surprised to discover he wouldn't want to.

20 comments:

  1. I love all of these posts. I hope they last a long long time. (I am taking notes too!) Such pretty pictures.

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  2. I have so enjoyed the wedding posts and pictures. I've wanted to say how beautiful your daughter is and was that day. She was so perfectly classic and everything about her gown, hair, and make-up, was amazing. How proud you and your husband must be! And daughter #2, simply lovely!

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  3. The band can really make a difference, so that's probably why so many go to a disk jockey to get the music they want, something already recorded. Glad all had such a great time at the reception.

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  4. I would have loved to have had a band at my wedding. As it turns, we actually just used our ipod and speakers and made our own song lists. One of my most favorite moments of my entire life was dancing with my dad at my wedding and him walking me down the aisle.

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  5. Oh Joyce I love to read your posts, these of the wedding I must admit I have wiped a tear or two. Girl, you have such a way with words and you do it in a way you almost make the reader feel like they are there. I truly believe you need to try writing a book. You could do it! Love these posts, can't wait to see more pictures!

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  6. So happy with the band! It was worth all the stress. Loved every moment of dancing with T.J. daddy and you! Xo

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  7. Crying here...I could say so much more.

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  8. Such a beautiful post. Do we have to wait for Daughter1 to post about YOU at the wedding and reception? I'm sure you danced with the groom. Hope we get to see you in these last few posts, Joyce. Please! How great that the band was so awesome!!

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    1. There's not a lot of pictures of me, but the photographer got some, so I'm sure I'll share more when his come back.

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    2. I am in the background of the photo where the groom is spinning the bride : )

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  9. Very sweet - my husband has always resisted the boyfriends at first, but he does come around :-)

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  10. Loving these wedding posts. Absolutely a beautiful wedding!,

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  11. And, again, this brought back such sweet memories for me. We were blessed with an awesome band as well when our daughter got married. The father/daughter dance is so, so sweet and it took all I had not to have a big emotional moment when ours was taking place. As always, enjoyed this!

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  12. Awww, this makes my heart happy! Your hubs looks sooo much like his daddy!

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  13. Oh how wonderful to have a band. And a REALLY good band too. We went the DJ route and it was surprisingly stressful picking one out. We saw SEVERAL. The music can almost make or break the whole reception party fun. Soo glad yours was a success. Perfect Father/Daughter song btw. My daughter and son in laws first dance was George Straight's I Cross my Heart. Love him.

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  14. I don't care how many weddings I photograph, every time the father/daughter dance happens, both me & my assistant get misty eyed...

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  15. What a lovely post. Sounds like the music and dances were perfect in every way.

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  16. Joyce...you truly have made me feel like I was at the wedding myself with how well you've captured every single detail. I think daughters hold such a special place in their daddy's hearts...and always will. This made me cry.

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  17. What a wonderful post Joyce. You have such a way with words. From your words and the pictures, I can almost imagine being there.

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  18. Daughter1 wanted a band but the least expensive one we could find around here was $8,000 and we just don't have that kind of money. So we went with a DJ. Daughter 2 wanted a DJ so that was easy. LOL I'm very much enjoying your wedding posts!

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