Reception Music: Dancing the Night Away

Like I mentioned before, I am a big fan of live music, especially as far as the wedding is concerned. We were able to incorporate live music into the ceremony with a harpist, but the question of reception music was still up in the air.

Because we want to dance at our reception, I really only saw two options: a live band, or a DJ.  The band was my first choice. I was hoping for something fun and upbeat, and lots of cover songs to keep everyone on the dance floor.

Something a little like this... /  Image via Moving Colors Band, Dallas

...Or maybe even this ;) / Image via Fanpop

As much as I would've really liked a band to be there dancing the night away with us, when we decided on our venue, we realized a large, multi-person band was probably not the best choice. In fact, their setup would more than likely take up our entire dance floor. Part of the reason we chose the Village Ballroom for our reception was because of the smaller, intimate feel. However, this "quaintness" also carried over to the dance floor, and this didn't quite match up with my desire for live music. I've used this picture of the ballroom before, but it gives you an idea of the size of our dance floor:

See the dance floor back in the corner? / Photo Credit - Piazza in the Village on Facebook

Because we are having a somewhat small wedding (100-120) people, the larger ballroom which holds around 300 would have completely swallowed us and our guests, and we decided that the large dance floor was going to look mighty intimidating if only a few guests were already out there. We really want to encourage the family and friends who come to celebrate with us to do just that - celebrate! And for us, that includes showing off some dance moves and just having a good time, so the Village Ballroom was the best choice, eliminating the option for a band. A little disappointing, but definitely not the end of the world. That led us to our other option: the DJ. 

Searching for a DJ was actually a very, very short process for Mr. Coach and I. I spent some time searching for a few DJs I liked based on their reviews, pictures, websites, etc., but I knew we needed to get some more information and meet a few of them before we decided.  After emailing back and forth with about five of them, I had received quotes from the majority and each of them, with the exception of one, quoted me almost identical prices. The exception was Randy Ro Entertainment. Needless to say, I set up a meeting with Randy immediately. Mr. Coach and I decided we would meet with him first, and if for some reason we didn't want to use him, we would consider some of the more expensive options. We weren't really expecting to be too picky going into this meeting. We have a lot of ideas about what songs we want played, so we really just need someone to manage the playlists, as well as emcee the events happening during the reception.

Luckily, the meeting went exceptionally well. We loved getting to talk with Randy, he was very helpful and listened to what we had to say, and we decided to use his company for our DJ services.  We actually gave him the deposit right then and there, after deciding we'd be crazy not to use him! He has experience working at the Piazza and in our ballroom, which was a plus because we wanted someone who knew about the size and what "type" of wedding it would be. 

Side note: As far as pricing, we found out that the exceptional rate he gave us was because of his close proximity to our venue, and the fact that he really doesn't like to lose business that is literally right next door. Totally makes sense - and worked out perfectly for us! We get a first class DJ for half of the price of others in the DFW area.

Have you had any pleasant surprises so far in the planning process? Tell me about your reception music - did you hire a DJ or band? Anyone having someone man the iPod as an alternative?

Ceremony Music: Hiring a Harpist

           
Let's talk about music - for the first of many times. Music is a pretty big part of Mr. Coach's and my life, both individually and as a couple. We really enjoy live music and going to concerts together, and in my opinion, we can both really appreciate a great new song or album. Because of these things, I knew that music would be a pretty significant part of our wedding day festivities. Not just in the form of great music at the reception, but also when we had to decide how to incorporate music that we liked and music that was “us” into the wedding ceremony.


I have always really liked the idea of live music for my wedding ceremony. I’ve experienced weddings where the Bridal Chorus was being played as a recording as the bride walked down the aisle.  It doesn’t make too much of a difference until she reaches the end of the aisle, stands next to her husband to be, and the song cuts off with a very unpleasant, and abrupt end. No good.


I’ve also experienced weddings where the flower girl literally RAN down the aisle, or made it about half way and decided she had to turn around and go back because she didn’t drop enough rose petals the first time. Adorable? Yes. Does a CD track account for unpredictable flower girls? No. 


So, for these reasons, among others, I have always wanted live music, played by professionals who can react to unpredictable moments, as well as fade the music off at the perfect time. Now it should be easy, right? Find someone who can play the piano, and more than likely they’ll know Canon in D like the back of their hand. But what I would really like to have is someone who can not only play the traditional wedding ceremony music, but also some songs that represent Mr. Coach and I, as well as some that our guests will recognize and enjoy. 


My first thought was string instruments. I had recently seen a string quartet performing at a local mall (yes, it is a very nice mall), playing everything from Lady Gaga to the Beatles. I loved that it still sounded beautiful and “wedding-like” because of the instruments they were playing on, but was also unique and would allow us the freedom to choose our own, possibly not-so-traditional, music.

Image via Dallas String Quartet

Although I liked their musical diversity, after more thought, a string quartet didn’t feel quite right for our ceremony. I was worried about having a full band at the front of the chapel and I didn’t want things to feel too formal. So, I continued to search. Luckily, after some online browsing, I stumbled across the website of harpist, Jenny Glass. Her tagline, “Music from Classical to Coldplay” made a great first impression on me. She had some sound clips on the website that I was also really impressed by. Jenny and her harp would be much less crowded than a quartet in the chapel, and more flexible for where we positioned them. I was also less worried about the music feeling too formal, and just feeling romantic and elegant instead. 

            
I emailed Jenny, and she invited me to the Fort Worth bridal show to hear her play. She was literally one of the kindest people I have ever met. I listened to the Demo CD she gave me, and after Mr. Coach and I discussed it, we decided she was the best fit for our ceremony. Literally, one of the easiest decisions we've made so far, and I’m so excited to choose the songs we like and hear how beautifully she can play them on her harp. 

Image via Jenny Glass, Harpist

Jenny's harp outside the Piazza! / Image via Jenny Glass

What were your reasons for choosing the type of ceremony music you had/are going to have?  Anyone else having a harp - I'd love to hear your song choices!

A Short Journey to Say Yes to the Dress

I'll go ahead and tell you guys this now - I won't be sharing pictures of my dress until after the wedding. 

I really just don't want any pictures floating around before the wedding, and a certain grandmother would kill me if I shared what it looked like. I will share a little about the process, and some pictures of some I did not choose, and I promise there will be pictures galore after the big day ;)

I began my journey, accompanied by my MOH L (I'll formally introduce y'all soon :) ), with a few pictures of dresses I liked in hand, and a general idea of what I wanted. However, I had never tried on a wedding dress before, and it’s been a while since I shopped for prom or any type of formal gown, so I was expecting to try on different styles to see what I liked best. I went in thinking I’d really like something with lace and nothing too over the top or extravagant. I did want some drama in the back though, with a long train and pretty details - something like these beauties:

Maggie Sottero, Presca Marie / Image via Maggie Sottero

Casablanca 2004 / Image via Casablanca

The first place we visited was a really neat boutique in the Uptown area of Dallas called LuLu’s. The prices were great, the service was great – I was helped by Sharon, and overall, I was really happy with the experience.

Image via LuLu's Boutique

Because they don’t take appointments, we had to wait about 30 minutes before someone was available to help. Luckily it was our first stop, so we were excited to be there and spent most of the time browsing through bridesmaids dresses upstairs while we waited.

Mori Lee 1223/ Image via Mori Lee

Another contender, Casablanca 2038 / Image via Casablanca

My favorite at LuLu's was actually the very first dress I tried on, the Mori Lee 1223. Not exactly what I was expecting myself to like, but it had all-over lace, simple beading on the bodice, and a lot of wow factor in the back. None of the others at LuLu’s could beat this one for me. It got to the point where I would slip the dress on, and before Sharon was done zipping or lacing, I could already tell it couldn't beat the Mori Lee. I left with that dress as my number one, and headed to our appointment at Stardust Celebrations. Stardust Celebrations and LuLu’s are actually owned by the same person; Stardust carries more couture and higher end gowns, but they have a nice room with a selection of lower prices as well. 

Image via Stardust Celebrations

None of the dresses I tried there really made an impression until I tried on the James Clifford J11231. Again, not really what I was expecting, but I was impressed. This dress had less of the lace, and was a ballgown style, something I didn’t think I would care for on myself. I was pleasantly surprised though, and left with another favorite. At this point, I felt pretty equal about both dresses - neither really "won" over the others, and in my mind, this meant I hadn't found my dress yet. 

James Clifford J11231 / Image via James Clifford

The next day, I decided to go try a few more dresses on my own. I knew I would have to get the approval of MOH L if I found one I liked, but I wanted to do some more shopping. I headed to Lasting Bridal Couture in Addison. I was helped by Sarah, who I loved, and there was only one other bride trying on gowns - another plus. This Justin Alexander was one of the first dresses Sarah pulled for me. It was beautiful, but once I had it on it wasn't giving me that wow factor. Another contender was the Casablanca 2017. Again, it was beautiful, and very flattering on, but in the end it just wasn't my dress.

Justin Alexander 8557 via Justin Alexander

After trying on 5 or 6 others, none of which were really worth mentioning, I stumbled across a beautiful dress I fell in love with. I was floored. It didn't matter than I had just started looking the day before - I knew it was the one. However, I had to get the final approval from a few others. So, MOH L, Grandmother Coach, and I returned to the shop, where they fell in love with the dress as much as I did, and I said yes to the dress! I can't wait to share it with you all :)

Just a side note: all of these places did allow pictures to be taken, but I wasn't anticipating getting to share pictures with all of you, so the only good pictures I have are of my actual dress, not the other choices.

Now, tell me about your dress! Was it what you expected yourself to like, or were you completely surprised by what you liked when you started trying on those beautiful white gowns? Anyone else find their dress so quickly?

A Picture (Or Video) Is Worth A Thousand Words

After choosing our venue, the next big decisions that we nailed down were our photographer and videographer. There was absolutely no doubt in my mind that I wanted to have both of these things professionally done. I know that looking back at pictures and having videos to watch in the years after our wedding is going to be so important, so I want to make sure they're done right!

First up, our photographer, the lovely Miss Megan Fortner. I am so excited to have this girl taking beautiful pictures of our wedding day. I actually knew Megan from school, but only recently did I discover how talented she is with her camera. I love that she will have a young and fresh outlook and ideas for our big day and we had the best time doing our engagement shoot with her - can't wait to share that with you guys soon! 

Image via Megan Fortner Photography

Image via Megan Fortner Photgraphy

Image via Megan Fortner Photography

Next, comes the super talented Vanessa McKellar. I'm not the first bee to hire Vanessa - you might remember seeing the wedding videos she did for Mrs. Snapdragon and Mrs. Frozen Yogurt a while back.  I discovered Vanessa’s blog during my freshman year of college (stalking wedding sites when I should’ve been studying) and literally fell in love with her work. I knew wedding videos were somewhat common, but I had never seen anything like what Vanessa did. The videos she films/edits/works her creative magic on are nothing short of amazing. Had I not discovered her work, I could see myself being unsure about wedding videography, but after I saw what she could do, I knew I wanted her to capture our day.

Vanessa was the first person I contacted (aside from friends and family, of course) after Mr. Coach proposed. I was so excited she had our date available and  I was able to send her the deposit and book her for the wedding. I haven’t been able to meet Vanessa in person yet, but I can already tell she is going to be an absolute joy to work with.  I think that genuinely caring to get to know people is part of what makes her work so special and unique to each person. She’s awesome – I can’t wait to see what she does with our special day. 

Just for fun, here's a beautiful piece of work by the talented Vanessa McKellar - it's one of my (many) favorites! 

Did you know 100% that you wanted professional photography and/or videography, or were you on the fence about either? 

The Search for a Venue: The Winner!

Previously, I listed all of the venues we had visited and what I liked/loved about some, as well as the details I wasn’t so crazy about at others. Now, it’s time to talk a little more about the venue that we fell in love with, and are absolutely thrilled about - The Piazza in the Village!

Image via Tru Identity Photography

Image via Jennefer Wilson Photography

There are so, so many things I love about this venue. Most importantly, I love how much Mr. Coach likes the Piazza as well! After we had finished our appointment, and visited a few other locations, he would be the one to mention how it just didn’t compare to the presentation we’d been given (shout out to Lorna, who was awesome!!) and the whole atmosphere of the location. Of course, I was thinking the same thing, but something about hearing your fiancé say it out loud just makes it even more true.

Image via Piazza in the Village

The entire venue is elegant & romantic, but doesn’t feel too formal. The chapel could easily be used just the way it is, without any extra decorations added, and it would be stunning. For the reception, we chose the smaller of their two ballrooms, the Village Ballroom, which I believe will be the perfect size and atmosphere for all of our family and friends. It (along with the chapel) has these beautiful chandeliers and the entire place was very carefully designed. Seriously, even the bathrooms were cute! The Piazza will be doing the catering, which I am very excited about. After our visit, I read a lot of reviews and I think we are going to be very happy with the food they prepare. 

The Village Ballroom / Image via Piazza in the Village

Tell me some of your favorite things about your wedding venue! Do you love that it can be used just the way it is, or are you looking forward to dressing up a "blank slate" of sorts?

The Search for a Venue: The Choices

With our wedding style in mind, the process of setting up appointments to see a few venues in the DFW area began. Other than wanting a chapel and a reception space that wasn't absolutely massive (we were thinking around 100 guests at this point), we were pretty open minded and ready to see some options. Over the course of two days, we visited all of the wedding locations we were seriously considering. Because of our crazy schedule at the time, we had to do some pretty impressive scheduling to fit them all in back to back, but we were able to see all six!

Our first stop was the Northeast Wedding Chapel in Hurst. Before the visit, I had looked the location up online, and the surroundings seemed a little too commercial to be the setting for a wedding. When we arrived at the chapel, this proved to be true - it was situated on the corner of a pretty busy intersection. However, once we were inside I was a little more impressed. The decoration was simple, but I thought it had a lot of potential. The size was good for us, and once you were inside the building you forgot about the surroundings outside. I liked that they allowed outside caterers and were okay with any vendors you wanted to bring in. They were basically a blank slate, and gave you a lot of freedom. There was also a small garden area between the chapel and reception hall where I could see a cocktail hour taking place.

Image via Northeast Wedding Chapel / Photo by Fairy Tale Photography

Next was the Piazza in the Village in Colleyville. I had the highest expectations for this location and they certainly didn't disappoint. I had already been in contact with the girl we would be meeting with and she was extremely prompt and helpful. I loved the pictures I had seen of the chapel and reception ballrooms, and, like the Northeast Chapel, I liked that both the ceremony and reception would be at the same location because many of our guests are unfamiliar with the Dallas area. As we drove up to the Piazza, I fell in love the location surrounding the chapel. It’s located within a “village” of sorts that has a florist, bakery, and some nice apartments, along with the wedding accommodations. The chapel did not disappoint. It was gorgeous, as were the courtyard and both of the ballrooms. The Piazza does their own catering and I was a little unsure about this because their food & beverage minimums are a bit pricey, but overall our entire appointment was impressive.

For the last stop of the day, we headed over to the Gaylord Texan in Grapevine.. This location didn’t have a chapel, and it was probably the least like all of the other options. During a past visit to the hotel I had noticed an area of the atrium that I thought would be beautiful for a ceremony, so I wanted to check it out. We only get to visit wedding venues once, so why not!? The Gaylord was beautiful, and all of the wedding pictures I have seen hold true to that. I will say the coordinator seemed a little unprepared and not very enthusiastic about the wedding (maybe just in comparison to the service we had received at the Piazza?) They also required we use their (expensive) catering, so again I wasn’t too sure how I felt about that.

It was tough to find a picture, but this is the area in the atrium I liked / Image via Bella Pop Photography

The next day we had 3 more appointments.  Our first stop was the Milestone. This place was a gorgeous plantation house type venue with a beautiful view, but it was FAR away - and we were already a good 30 minutes out of Dallas to begin with. Once we got over how long it took us to get there, the location was beautiful. It had a grand staircase, beautiful ceremony room, and a really nice reception hall. They also had an amazing bridal suite - it was huge! Again, their catering options were expensive and required. There were a lot of things I loved about this location, but I just couldn't seem to get over the fact that our guests would have such a long drive in an area they were so unfamiliar with.

Images via EE Photography

Next on the list was Fairytale Manor in Frisco. Our first impression was not so great – there was some terrible long-term road construction going on right in front of the location, and it really took away from the venue. They mostly have outdoor weddings, which really weren't an option for us (yes, I'm a weather-worrier), but they told us they could use the ballroom for both the ceremony and reception and just “flip” it between. I now know that many locations do this, but it didn’t sound appealing to me. I was worried about what the guests would do in between, and it just seemed like it was going to be chaotic at this particular location. The ballroom/ceremony room was pretty, but just couldn’t make up for all of the other things the location lacked for us.

Finally, we visited the Bella Donna chapel in McKinney. This was the only location that didn’t have a reception site, so I knew I would have to love it to make the decision to have the reception at a differently place. The chapel was definitely unique. It was set on a peninsula of a lake in a very nice neighborhood. The décor in the chapel was a little over the top for my taste, but it was a great size, had a lot of character, and I'm glad we took the time to check it out.

Overall, the appointments were extremely helpful and a lot of fun! Each of the locations had unique qualities and a wedding at any of them would be beautiful. We spent a lot of time following the meetings discussing what we liked and really didn’t like about the different places, and I continued to look at other places online to make sure I hadn’t found any others we needed to visit. We also did a little number crunching to compare the places that would allow outside catering versus those that wouldn't, and also took into consideration the items that were included like tables, chairs, linens and lighting.

Ultimately, one of the locations really stood out to us and we knew it was going to be the best choice. So, we went for it, and booked Piazza in the Village to be our wedding venue! 

How many different venues did you look at before you knew you had found the one? I was really surprised that we both just "knew" - even Mr. Coach couldn't stop talking about the Piazza after we left!

And So It Begins!

Well, the planning has begun! At least, I’m attempting to begin, but it’s a lot more difficult than I thought! I was expecting there to be A LOT to do, but I guess I didn’t realize just how detailed the decisions were going to be. Everything I’ve read and everyone I’ve talked to has said, “choose your venue first, and then go from there” or “once you figure out where you’re going to get married, you can build off of that.” Well I am here to tell you that is easier said than done! I would love to make all of the “big” decisions first, like where and when, and then fill in the other details as I go, but in order to make those big decisions you have to have a surprising number of small(er) details in order too! Every venue I have talked to needs at least an approximation of the number of guests (which I really don’t understand as far as the ceremony is concerned, but hey – I’m new at this, so what do I know?) and some want a pretty set in stone number, while others even want to know the exact date of the wedding. Um, that’s why I’m here talking to you, so we can set that date…?

A few of the decisions I’m really struggling with as far as the location is concerned are the choice of an outdoor or indoor wedding, as well as whether or not I want the ceremony and reception to be at one location or two. Whenever I look at pictures of weddings with the style I really like, they are almost always outside weddings, but I have really never wanted my ceremony to be outdoors – mostly because I absolutely HATE the idea of worrying about the weather on one particular day for the next 12 months of my life. I feel like planning an inside, more chapel-like wedding with the style and feel that I want is going to be one of my biggest (and exciting!) challenges. As far as the one location versus two, I feel like we’ll get a better idea of these options when we go see some of the venues in person.  Most of our family will be traveling from out of town and out of state, so they won’t be too familiar with the area. Because of these factors, we’re leaning toward staying at one location, if possible.

 Overall, getting to search magazines and the internet for new ideas and places is really, really exciting, and I know that a lot of the things I’m worried about will fall into place as things start moving more rapidly. And of course, it always helps when I talk to my wonderful fiancé about all of these things instead of just keeping them to myself :)

I’ve been in contact with a few different venues, and am in the process of setting up meetings with them in the next week or two, so the first “big” decisions are very possibly just a few weeks away!

What were some of the first things y'all did when the proposal chaos ended, and you really started to get into the nitty gritty of planning? Did you find it difficult to choose a starting place?