July 2012 Archive

Oh. My. Goodness. Gracious!

We are 4 DAYS AWAY from the big day — cannot believe it! Things are really falling into place and STARTING to feel real… it’s just taken this long to get to this point! I can’t believe we’re in wedding week. WOW!

While I’m rushing about getting everything last-minute done before all our family members come into town (YAY!!!!!), today I’m going to discuss with you the layout of our evening.

Prior to the day’s main activities [approximately 11AM], my bridesmaids are coming over in the late morning to get ready with hair and makeup. We’re taking over the upstairs of my parents’ house and master bathroom for all our prettying. Drew and his entourage of boys will be here in the early afternoon [~2:30PM] to put on their dress shirts and tie bowties (he’s giving a tutorial at the rehearsal dinner on Friday night –  Yippee!).

{From Pinterest}

Shortly after their arrival, our photographers and videographers will show up to take a few getting-ready shots of us [~3:15PM}. Then onto our first look!

I’m not completely positive where we’ll end up doing our first look (we have all of my family’s farm to go wherever we want), but I want it to be private and pretty. I don’t know if we’ll have him facing me or do the “turn and look,” but I imagine a good deal of tears will be in store. :)

{from Pinterest}

Then the two of us will traipse around the fields taking our pictures together (I’m hoping for some Gone With the Wind-esque candid shots), shortly to be joined by the rest of the bridal party [~4:15PM].

{From Love & Lavender)

Family shots will commence around 5PM, and then we’ll eat dinner over here before we head to the venue for any final preparations/pictures there (if we can squeeze them in), etc.

Prelude music will start at 6:30PM by our amazing friends on violin and piano. Guests will be greeted at the door with their escort cards (so excited for these!!!) and ushered to their assigned seats by groomsmen. This is the time I’ll hopefully be praying with my bridesmaids and gearing up to finally DO THIS THING!!!! {I’m giddy just thinking about it!!!!!}

{From Pinterest}

We’ll be lining up around 6:50, and then making our way downstairs for our processional to the song Drew wrote me a few years ago, “Finding Hope.”

Our ceremony should be fun and beautiful and emotional… anticipating it to last around 35 minutes(ish). Then we’ll take our extended family pictures, any last shots we want around the arbor, and then family and bridal party will go outside with everyone else for our mini cocktail hour out on the porch. Drew and I will be heading upstairs to have a moment to ourselves to freak out and jump up and down about being MARRIED!!!! (I imagine there’ll be a good deal of gawking at our new rings, too! I’m especially missing my engagement ring right now since it’s in the store right now getting rhodium-dipped and cleaned to perfection for the big day!)

{From Jerry Yoon}

Guests will come back in about thirty minutes later and make their way back to their seats for Drew and I to be announced down as husband and wife (EEEEEEE!!!!!). We’ll cut our cake, and then everyone will be free to grab as many sweets as their bellies can hold and fancy-lovely coffee drinks!!!

We’ve allotted for around 20-30 minutes for everyone to mingle with their desserts, let Drew and me make our rounds of seeing people, and getting settled in before we do toasts. My Matrons of Honor and Drew’s Best Man will be saying a few words, and then Drew and I will thank everyone for coming and making all my wedding dreams come true. :)

{From Snippet and Ink}

Then onto dancing!!! Drew and I will kick off our First Dance and get into all the formal things (with a few fun moments spattered in), and then the dance floor will be open for all!!!! We’re seriously hoping everyone will stay a long time and dance all night with us:  I am never one to turn down an all-night dance party, so you bet the second I get the chance, I will be out there like the best of them.

SO EXCITED!!! I can’t believe it’s wedding week and all of this is actually going to go down in just four short teeny tiny days. So excited for all the special details I’ve spent months (and sometimes years) creating and planning!!! There are so many different moments I’m just thrilled to death about… can’t wait to live it all in such a short amount of time!!!!!

Cosmo Creations was recently featured on Ashley’s Bride Guide. Brent Cantrell (Owner) was interviewed about the role he plays as a wedding DJ and his opinions on pre-requested songs! See what he has to say here! Excerpt below.

What role does a quality DJ play?

I think I speak for all of us at Cosmo Creations when I say that the best part about being the disc jockey at a wedding reception is being able to create a relaxing atmosphere for a couple of hours, allowing the bride and groom to mingle with old friends and family and/or stay on the dance floor from beginning to end! It’s easy to tell when someone is enjoying their self, and that’s what we’re looking for. Our “not so over the top” approach seems to work for our budget friendly brides and also our brides on a bigger budget.

Does it help when a couple give you more freedom over the reception playlist?

Yes, after the couple decides on the “mood” of their wedding reception, the music selection becomes critical. Too often a couple gets wrapped up in trying to please their close friends and forget that they will have a lot of older wedding guests to entertain too (family, co-workers, friends of the family). If we look out at the crowd and the average guest’s age is 45 to 50 and the “must play” songs from the couple are all newer Top 40 songs, chances are we need to open the dance floor with something that will ease the crowd into the Top 40 selections. Depending on the guest, this transition could take several songs, but the goal should be for everyone to have a great time.

When a bride does allow you to choose all or almost all of her music, how do you decide on what to play? Do you go off of her personality? Do you quiz her on some of her favorite songs? Or do you just pick what’s popular?

When meeting with brides we sometimes hear that they want everyone to dance and have a great time, yet their “must play” song list is composed of more somber or obscure selections. Our responsibility as disc jockeys and emcees should be to read the crowd’s reaction and keep the momentum going on the dance floor. Normally we can play 15 songs per hour, so at a 4 hour wedding reception you would only expect to hear about 60 songs. That being said, we feel it’s best when the couple give us a list of all the traditional dances and event songs (like bridal party introduction, cake cutting, etc.) and 5 to 10 must play songs. A “do not play” list is helpful too, especially if either the bride or groom are opposed to certain songs that are very popular or have been over played at wedding in the past. Providing a do not play list will take the guess work out for the disc jockey (all your friends may realize that you hate “Call Me Maybe” but to the DJ it’s still #1 on the charts).

~ Kelly

Love this unique photo by Justin Wright!

Last month the Nashville Wedding Planners Group met at StudioWed for our monthly gathering! StudioWed vendors were showcased to the large group of planners:  Hardink Calligraphy designed the invitations to the meeting and had a presentation of past paper goods, Chef’s Market provided delicious food (and the tastiest strawberry lemonade I’ve ever had!), Oakwood Cleaners showcased one of their preserved wedding dresses and taught us all about the process (such a worthy investment post-wedding for brides!), 2 Travel Anywhere spoke about some of the top honeymoon destinations and why it’s so valuable to go through a travel agent when planning a vacation (especially one so important as a honeymoon!), The Sugar Wagon treated us all with ice cream sandwiches, and Simply Stunning Events planner Kristin Kaplan gave an educational seminar on copyrighting and how to protect your work. Enjoy the gorgeous pictures Kristyn Hogan produced of the event!