The Band.

We found a band. A great band.

Since F does not really care about the particulars when it comes to music, I took the lead on finding the band. After a quick Google search I found a website dedicated to NY weddings, www.liweddings.com. The site features just about everything someone may need for planning a wedding.

There are 20+ bands that are featured on the site, and just about all of them have their own websites that feature video and audio samples. Bands that did not feature video clips were skipped over. Why? Well, I realized that some bands may sound good, but they look like they are not having any fun, or lack some chemistry. If they are not excited, what makes me think they will get my guests fired up? I narrowed the group down and emailed everyone. Every band I emailed got back to me, and for the most part they offered up pricing information, additional video clips, as well as press packages they sent me with a DVD my F and I could watch together.

On their sites many of the bands sounded awesome. Then their DVD arrived. What happened between their website and the fancy DVD that came in the mail? I guess seeing them on a big tv with good audio made it easier to see and hear their flaws. Oh well. The pack was quickly narrowed to two bands plus a band that a friend had seen a few times.

We made a few appointments to check out live showcases, and off we went. This past Monday we drove to New Rochelle and saw our first band, the one that a friend referred to us. They are usually a 9 piece, but only 7 of the members were there. The were great. The only drawback is that they are expensive. For less than half the price we can get a DJ, but we decided that we were going all the way.

We would love to have a 9 piece band, but are going with an 8 to save a little money. Plus the bandleader gave us a discount since we offered to pay a chunk of the tab in cash. I guess cash really is king.

F's parents are going to pick up some of the tab, and my parents are taking us the rest of the way there.

The band features a drummer, guitarist, bass player, keyboards, saxophone, 2 female and 1 male singer.

Place booked. Photographer hired (have I written about that?). Band should be booked officially once we get the contract. Let's hope the rest of this comes together with such ease.

Comments!

Thanks to my friend for posting a link to my blog on her blog. I have since received a few visitors and even a few comments. One comment that really made me think asked if I may become a "groomzilla". Yikes. Let me assure you of a few things...

I won't be involved in the selection of the wedding dress, the bridesmaids dresses, the flowers, and the color theme. I expect to be asked for my opinion about the invitations, and the gift bags that will be created for all of our guests staying at the hotel at the reception hall. The gift bags will require my attention because I know that I will be needed to help pick up all the stuff that will fill them... The music will fall on my shoulders, and the photographer seems to want to have us both involved (btw, my F found and pretty much hired a photographer).

Is it wrong that I am participating? My F's parents are picking up most of the tab, but we are dipping a bit too, and I'll admit it, I am a control freak, but not a hysterical control freak.

I guess the true test will be watching closely at how the next 11 months of planning goes.

Jazz hands.

This afternoon a blogger friend of mine sent me a handful of links to blogs that are being written by people in the same situation as me. Most are from the perspective of the bride, although there were two written by guys.

After just a few clicks I realized that people add pictures, links, charts, and other great eye candy to their blogs. Please forgive me in advance because I probably won't be jazzing up my site with such things. Trust me, part of me would like to, but I haven't gotten there just yet. Perhaps with time I will get more comfortable with this and add a little flair, so check back often!

Kudos to those of you out there that have great looking blogs.

And in case you are interested, here is a link to my friend's blog.

Hotel gift bags.

This afternoon my fiance, now to be referred to as "F", and I returned from a weekend away with a solid group of her college friends. Fun times, but I am glad to be home.

During the near four hour car ride we were bound to spend at least some time talking about the wedding. It took about an hour to start. The topic was the gift bag that we are go create for the out of towners staying at the hotel. We both have traveled for weddings, and not every time, but most times there is a bag of goodies waiting for you upon checking in. It is usually packed with bottles of water, cookies and chips, and almost always Advil (thank goodness for the open bar).

At the tea party hosted earlier in the week by our banquet hall there was a person there that owns a company that creates and distributes these bags for you. F was all about it until she learned how much it costs - 25-35 per gift bag. With a projected 45 hotel rooms being booked for the weekend, we won't be hiring her. I suggested hiring F's younger sister for the job, and F thinks she would be happy to help out. She is very creative, and I think she would enjoy being part of the process.

Well, a few minutes into talking about it we found ourselves disagreeing about how many drinks should go in each bag. 2? 4? What if people are staying for more than one night? If two nights than do we double to stash? We were actually going back and forth about it. Another minute later we realized it was a crazy thing to debate over.

Is this the stuff we are going to spend time debating about? How many bottles of water go in a gift bag?

I have mentioned this before, but we needed to remind ourselves that it is just a party. I do blame myself for this debate as I broke a rule I mentioned earlier - only fighting the battles that really matter. Drink count is hardly worth debating over.

Don't worry, the gift bags for the travelers will be fine.

a thought

Is planning a wedding supposed to be a nightmare?

Maybe I am just naive, but it is simply a party with a little pomp involved.

Some music. A little food. Friends and family.

I'm glad my fiance has kept it cool so far, but considering that we are 11 months I am sure that we will have our moments.