Celebrate Good Times :: Wedding Music

Of the weddings I've been to in the past few years, I would say they have been about half DJs, half bands (and equally fun!). Like most wedding decisions, there are pros/cons with both options - if you have a DJ, you can play whatever music you want. If you have a band, it's like a mini concert at your wedding! So, for my own wedding, I could imagine either. Although when we visited our venue in-person, the first thing my fiance said about the dance floor was "it's begging for a band!" As long as the people on the dance floor look something like the ones below, I would be totally happy!

Source

Source

DJs are great because they can gauge what kind of music is working and play the next songs accordingly. You also have more flexibility with what you play. If you love a song and really want it played at your wedding, you don't have to worry that it's not on the band's list.

Source: left, right

Bands are awesome too. They become the life of the party and people love a good show. They also come with a higher price tag, so that's something we are factoring in.

This past week Chris has been doing a ton of searching for bands online. It's been fun to listen what he finds. He's been playing everything from country music to steel drum bands...although we would probably go with something a little more versatile. ;-)

Source

Source

What's your take on band vs. DJ? If you know of any great (and affordable) Portland/Gorge area bands, please share!

Checking-In and Engagement Photo Reveal

As we approach the 60 day mark we have begun full crafting mode at our home. This weeks list of items to complete includes; creating envelope liners for our invitations, package the invitations and getting them in the mail. As you can imagine we have a lot to do in a short amount of time. I can't wait to share the final product and tutorials on how we created our invitations. In the mean time, please enjoy a few photos from our engagement session by the amazing Cinzo Photography.

 

 

Heather

Take A {Bridal} Shower

This Saturday was my bridal shower! I love this wedding tradition--getting to spend time with your favorite women, drinking cocktails, eating good food and having wonderful conversation. Ok, I guess being the guest of honor don't hurt either. ;) My bridesmaids did an amazing job putting the shower together. Tissue paper poofs decorated the trees and pottered herbs served as centerpieces. We drank bellinis while playing games and opening gifts. Isn't it pretty!?

Chances are, you're not only a bride but a guest, or even host, at lots of showers as well. In fact, I went to a shower of a family friend on Sunday, so it was a shower filled weekend. At each and every event, I'm taking notes for good ideas, cute decorations or clever gifts. Here are some of my favorite ideas and tips.

I think a shower should feel special. It doesn't have to be over the top, but a few decorations and games really make the event feel important. And when it comes to decor, I say go girlie! The bride is probably trying to keep the wedding sophisticated, so let the shower be vibrant, feminine and fun!

Or, how about making it a unique activity. How cute is this picnic shower?

Picnic Shower

I don't know about you, but I'm always trying to brainstorm unique gift ideas. Registry gifts are great, but sometimes feel impersonal. For a shower, why not give the bride something that she can use at the wedding! How adorable are these personalized hangers and signs? Or Kate Spade's gorgeous "mrs." necklace. LOVE. (Full disclosure, these were not my ideas. My Co-MOH and college friend gave me both the hanger and the "mrs." necklace and I just love them so much!)

Kate Space Necklace, Embroidered Sign, Personalized Hanger

One favorite shower tradition is the ribbon bouquet. You end up with such a masterpiece to use at your rehearsal! As I guest, I think you should have fun with your wrapping so that the bride has an amazing bouquet. How about cute fabric flowers or colorful string?

Ribbon Bouquet,Ribbon Bouquet, Colored Ribbon Packaging, Paper Flowers, Fabric Flowers

Tell me about your wedding shower! Any good ideas to share? I have plenty more showers to attend in the future! :)

::invitation wording:: & a sneak preview

The most difficult task in planning a wedding was finding a venue. The second most difficult task (for me) was researching proper wedding invitation verbiage. Why was this so difficult you may ask? Well, who knew there were so many different ways to skin a cat! If you come from a divorced family (which 50% of us do these days) it changes the traditional format. Of course, there are no strict rules to this. If you're having a casual wedding you can write whatever you'd like. However, if you're having a more formal affair (which I am), then I think it's safe to safe people have expectations that the wording will reflect that. Here's one tid-bit I learned from my research: I learned that if your parents are divorced, their names should each go on their own line (mother's name first). If both sets of parents are contributing to the wedding you'd say "together with." I was surprised by how many questions came up for me while planning out my invites. Here are just a few:

  1. When do invitations go out to guests?
  2. When should the RSVP be due?
  3. If everyone is contributing to the wedding, how do we phrase that on the invitation?
  4. How much detailed info should be on the invite? Do we need an insert or should we just direct them to the website?
  5. Should we include an insert RSVP for the rehearsal dinner?
  6. How do we make the wording formal and important without sounding too stuffy?
  7. We haven't had our food tasting yet, but we need to get the invites out.... should we include meal (type) options? i.e. meat or fish?

Here are some sites I found useful for answering all of my questions and helped with guidelines in creating the ideal wedding invitation wording for us:

And now for a sneak peek at our wedding invites created by LIZELLY at LizzyBLoves, an invitation and stationary design studio.

We have not gone to print yet, so these are just PDF designs.... but you'll get the idea for what we're going for. And you'll get to see the wedding wording we came up with that made all of the moms happy ;-)

Looking forward to sharing the final product with you soon! Lizelly has been amazing in creating a custom wedding invitation that fits the vibe and theme of what we're going for. I can't wait to get them soon!!!

How was your invitation experience? Did you go the custom route? What challenges did you have (if any)? Please share!

Quick check-in

The three month count down has begun and I am consequently BUSY! So this is just a quick check-in to let you know I am alive! This weekend was particularly busy. Niall and I spent the majority of the weekend attending a marriage prep class. Yep, you heard right! I promise to share more details. Oh yeah and our invitations came in! So there is lots of licking, stamping and stuffing going on in this house! This upcoming weekend, my family and my fiance's family is coming in for our Jack & Jill shower! I am so excited! But in the meantime, I've got lots to do!

<a href="http://www.engagedandinspired.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/BrianneandNiall_035.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-18210" src="http://www.engagedandinspired.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/BrianneandNiall_035-e1344310622863.jpg" alt="" width="590" height="393" /></a>

More to come next week! I am praying I am nowhere near as busy!Rich Text Area

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The three month count down has begun and I am consequently BUSY! So this is just a quick check-in to let you know I am alive!

This weekend was particularly busy. Niall and I spent the majority of the weekend attending a marriage prep class. Yep, you heard right! I promise to share more details. Oh yeah and our invitations came in! So there is lots of licking, stamping and stuffing going on in this house! This upcoming weekend, my family and my fiance's family is coming in for our Jack & Jill shower! I am so excited! But in the meantime, I've got lots to do!

More to come next week! I am praying I am nowhere near as busy!

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Word count: 121   Last edited by BrianneDonahue on August 6, 2012 at 7:41 pm

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