Raise your hopeful voice...

Music.  Like food, its something that can evoke powerful emotions for me.  It often reminds me of people I love, special moments and many memories.  I cannot hear How Great Thou Art without thinking of my Nana or a Johnny Mathis Christmas carol without thinking of my mother.  When I hear Goo Goo Dolls' Slide, I still think of the sinking feeling I got when, in the 7th grade, I told Sean Beville 'I love you, too' because my best friend told me I had to say it back even if I didn't feel it (b/c it was the song playing on Z104 during this magical moment).  And at Kelsey's wedding, when I heard the first few notes of  Ben Folds The Luckiest as she began her walk down the aisle, that was when I really started to lose it.

The walk down the aisle is a big one.  It'll be the first time Javs sees me in my dress :) and has some obvious (although slightly outdated) symbolism of me leaving my childhood, i.e. walking down with my daddy-o, and starting a family with my husband, i.e. being passed off to Javs, getting hitched and heading back down the aisle with my husband.  Anyways, Javs and I started batting around songs we loved, thought were purdy and (shocker..) felt 'us.'  Not surprisingly, a lot of the songs we came up with were from musicals that we had seen/heard together and loved. 

This song is called Falling Slowly and is from the musical Once (it won the Oscar for Best Original Song back in 2008, their acceptance speech was adorable).  Once started as a low budget film (which is awesome and you should all watch), but is now a hit on Broadway (they kind of did it backwards, but it worked) that won 8 Tony Awards (including Best Musical) this year!  It was a musical Javs introduced me to back in our woo-ing days (when he was still trying to impress me with his vast and varied musical knowledge) that we've listened to countless times on car rides and during movie watching.  In all honesty, its a bit of a sad song if you read the lyrics, but there are some moments of hope peppered throughout and I love the theme of coming home.  This was it.

Now, how to have it played?  We've been working with Sam Hill Entertainment in Cville (both for a band and now for ceremony musicians), but debated if we wanted a guitarist or pianist to play.  (The song is written as a duet for both, but we listened to several versions via youtube that just had one or the other that were fine!)  We listened to three suggested guitarists on their site, reviewed the playlist each included and looked back to Sam Hill for advice (they all sounded good?).  Which was willing to learn and play our song?

it kind of looks like he is sleeping
in this picture, but I think he's
just getting into the music

Peter Fields was our guy!  Javs and I liked that his songlist included lots of options.  I loved his Classic Rock hits and he even provided a 'Broadway' section to his songlist.  Since we will probably be selecting some less tradition music for our pre-ceremony and processional - he felt like a good pick!  Oh, and he'd learn and play Falling Slowly for us (win!).  He also had a pianist that could join him for the ceremony if we wanted (at an additional cost of course). I was extremely tempted....since our song was designed as a duet, and for these instruments no less, I knew it would sound better with both....and per usual (or maybe it was the heat) as we discussed the options on the beach my parents threw up their hands and said if we wanted both, we should get both (the few hundred bucks wouldn't break the bank).  How wonderful are they?  We'll have our special song played as beautifully as it is written for the big walk down the aisle :)  Lets hope it doesn't make me too emotional....

**Advice Alert**  Just ask.

I think I've already given this advice, so I'll keep it short: if you want something, ask for it.  You may not get it.  But you definitely won't get it if you don't ask.  Javs knows I am not the world's biggest negotiator.  I hid in the car when he started to negotiate on the price of his mattress (it was very embarrassing...).  But I've tried in a few instances, wedding related, to negotiate a cost/service here and there.  While I haven't always gotten exactly what I asked for, I think every vendor offered an alternative (that favored us) or part of what we had requested.  (My goodness is that what negotiating is?!?)  Having both musicians pushed us to the high end beyond what we had budgeted for ceremony musicians, but when I asked if there was some wiggle room (yes those are the words I used verbatim) on the costs we ended up getting them lowered!  YAY - victory is mine.

So just ask.  (you never know)

Borderline Crazy

yes, I'm certain that I am, but that's not what this post is about. This post is about...OUR BAND!

On the way to NC to celebrate bridesmaid Jess' bday (and Lindsey's and Sandy's even though Sandy wasn't there) Javs and I stopped in Norfolk to check out Borderline Crazy, a band that had been recommended to us by another band we wanted for the wedding, but wasn't available.

We left work early on Friday (leaving work early is the best feeling in the world - so much better than playing hooky from school) and headed down 95 to the 757. We picked up the FOB in Williamsburg and continued our southward journey to the glowing lights of the waterside. After a lovely dinner - our trio headed to Jack Quinn's, a quaint Irish pub on Granby St., to judge the musical stylings of the Crazies.

I was immediately pleased upon seeing the sign outside of Jack's announcing the band. (And that there was no cover - cause I, per usual, had no cash....) So we stepped in and found three stools at the bar.

Now - our concerns going in: 1) We wanted to make sure the band played a good variety. Neither Javs nor I are particularly enamoured with modern music. We listen some times (read: when we're in other people's cars) and could certainly sing a long to some popular choruses (read: I know when to say 'mazel tov' in that song that I'm fairly certain isn't even popular anymore because it was over played times a bajillion when it first came out). In addition, we have a variety of generations that will be attending the reception that may want to do some grooving on the dance floor (particularly my dad's fraternity brothers and -based on Mame's wedding - most of Javs' aunts and uncles). So we were looking for variety - particularly because I felt the song list on their website favored more modern stuff (Adele, Katy Perry, Gaga, etc).

2) We wanted them to sound good. We got advice early on that listening to your potential band live is crucial to ensure they really are going to have a good sound quality at the reception. I'd scoured youtube to find videos of them performing, but wind/bad video quality made it difficult to hear how they actually sounded.

The song they were playing when we walked in was Johnny Cash's Ring of Fire. Good start on the variety! Which they followed with Nancy Sinatra's These Boots were Made for Walking. We really enjoyed their first set. Dad kept recognizing songs and the few he didn't know - Javs and I did (some quality 90s music including Third Eye Blind's Semi-Charmed Kinda Life). They also sounded great. We commented that the music wasn't too loud (although it did seem to get louder the longer we stayed). Even though our reception is in an open pavilion - I think bands that blast their music sometimes lose out on quality. Michele (lead singer) and Diego (who sings male vocals when necessary) were both great and Ernie (the drummer) kept smiling and bobbing his head (the appropriate look for a quality drummer, Dad informed us).

When they took a break - Javs and I walked up to introduce ourselves as the couple inquiring about their services for an October wedding in Charlottesville. Both Michele and Diego (who I called Michael at first b/c I swear the contract said Michael and not Michele - but he laughed it off and introduced me to Michele) were both super nice. They said they loved doing weddings and obviously had an even wider variety that they would play for us on the day! They pointed out a couple (sitting at what could only be described as their Groupies table) that were married last year and had the band perform at their wedding. In addition, Michele met my Dad who asked a little bit about the country music they play - since I and many of our guests are fans. She mentioned that they definitely did some country and had started their first set with some Sugarland (we had just missed it). We let her know that we wouldn't be staying for the next full set cause we had to head back to Williamsburg, but that we loved the band and were excited to have them at the wedding.

We stayed for the first couple songs of the next set (which were country songs - super nice of her to play since we had inquired!) and left as Michele belted out some Adele. We were super happy! I had cared way more about having a band (over a DJ) than Javs, but we both ended up being happy with this group and their price! YAY! Reception music - check