Monday, October 27, 2008

Congratulations Grady and Heather

Saturday night we had another beautiful ceremony and reception. The ceremony was held outside on the patio at Bay Oaks Country Club and the reception inside in the ballroom. The ceremony began shortly after the Wings Over Houston Air Show, so we enjoyed watching some cool plane maneuvers while setting up. The ceremony was sweet and funny, personalized because the Officiant was a relative of the groom. Heather looked absolutely beautiful in her white gown with pick ups on the skirt, while Grady looked handsome in his black tux with grey vest and tie.

The colors of this wedding were black and white, with touches of green to reflect the Bride and Groom’s Irish Heritage (I originally wrote that it was only the Groom's heritage but Heather emailed me to let me know that it was both of them. oops - sorry Heather!). :-) Green accents included a Celtic design on the bride’s cake, ribbon with 4 leaf clovers on the Flower Girl’s basket, a green ribbon around the Ring Bearer’s pillow, green ribbons on the ceremony programs, and flags of Ireland on the sweetheart table. The theme was also brought into the ceremony when we played Celtic versions of Canon in D and Bridal Chorus. Near the sign in-table was a deed to a piece of land in Ireland that the Bride and Groom had bought. Now, that’s unique!

At this wedding there were, once again, so many sweet little babies and kids! I was talking to Julie, the great Events Coordinator at Bay Oaks, and we both noticed that children are once again being invited to weddings. It seems like the trend for the past few years was adult only weddings, but now we’re seeing kids again. I don’t mind because I love the little babies!

Now for the dancing: The mother/son dance was so funny! The Groom’s mom was dancing him all over the floor, with twirling, a little Jitterbug, and all kinds of fun dance moves. You can tell she’s a fun woman! We got the dance floor open with the Anniversary Dance (also called a Married Couples Dance). The longest married couple was the Groom’s grandparents, who have been married 62 years. They looked so happy together and set a great example for all of their family. Congrats to them!

One other thing I want to mention about Heather and Grady’s families and friends was how well they got along. You could tell that they genuinely liked each other. They were dancing together, talking, laughing, and having a great time. It’s always so nice to see that!

After the toasts and the cake cutting (which involved frosting on noses and faces), we got back to the events of the evening and lots of fun dancing. After the Money Dance and Bouquet and Garter, Grady and Heather ran through a shower of bubbles (in green containers, of course) to get in their limo and head off to their honeymoon. Congratulations to a great couple!

Monday, October 13, 2008

Congratulations Stephen and Tracy

We provided the ceremony and reception music for this Sunday wedding, which was held at Bay Oaks Country Club. The fall color combination was so pretty. The Bride and Groom choose ivory with sage, and the flowers were in rust/fall colors. The Bride’s cake matched with its ivory icing and sage ribbon trim. The unusual aspect of this wedding was one of the groom’s cakes. He had two, one that showed off his love of duck hunting, and the other was a three tiered round cake covered in black fondant with red flames running up the sides. Too cool! The couple also had favors that went with their fall theme; leaf-shaped cookies at each place setting that were personalized with their last initial. They were tied in a bag with a leaf cookie cutter tied to each. Needless to say, there weren't any favors left at the end of the night!

There were so many little ones at this wedding, and you know how I love the kids. They were dancing, crawling, and just being adorable. It was so cute when the Flower Girl started to cry just before going down the aisle. (Note to future Brides and Grooms, this happens quite often and when it does, it’s okay. It makes for great pictures and the guests think it’s so sweet. So don’t worry!) The ceremony was so pretty, as it was held on the back patio of the country club, with the gorgeous grounds behind the arch. The arch was decorated with fall leaves, to match the theme.

So after an evening of food, drink, dancing, and plenty of yummy cake, it was time for the exit. The Bride and Groom headed out through bubbles to find their car decorated with streamers and cans, compliments of the groomsmen. Congratulations to the newlyweds and enjoy your Honeymoon!

Congratulations Tommy and Rosimar

We had the pleasure of performing at a new venue for this reception. It’s called Picazo Restaurant, located downtown, near Minute Maid Park. They have a gorgeous private events room upstairs, with a great view. The décor is beautiful, from the vast windows to the chivari chairs. And don’t forget the good food and awesome staff. It is a very pretty venue for smaller receptions (maybe 150 people or less?).

So, back to the Bride and Groom and the details. From the time we met Tommy and Rosimar at a bridal show, we knew we’d have a blast at their reception. They are so fun, and such an interesting couple! Their friends are a varied group, but everyone gets along well and they have a good time together. Some of the friends had their hair dyed black with fuchsia accents, which matched the wedding colors. How cool! Oh, and I can’t forget to mention the fuchsia ice sculpture. That was the first time we’ve seen a colored ice sculpture at one of our receptions and it was so pretty. As I said, the colors were black with fuchsia accents, and they looked so pretty together from the linens, to the flowers, to the bridesmaid’s dresses, to the groomsmen’s ties. Everything matched perfectly. We were shocked to find out that Tommy made the Bride’s and Groom’s cakes! This is the second wedding we’ve done in all our years where this happened, and it’s so unique. I love to see a Groom involved in the wedding, especially with something like the cakes. They cakes were beautiful and delicious (the Bride’s cake was hazelnut with raspberry and the Groom’s cake was peanut butter and banana), and everyone loved them.

The dancing was non-stop, as we had expected. There was a conga line going around the room by the fourth song, and it wasn’t even The Conga - wow, what a crowd! They were dancing and singing along and getting crazy on the dance floor all night long. The little Flower Girl Gisselle was adorable, and quite a dancer! How do kids her age learn to dance so well? But then the Ring Bearer Abraham (with his Mohawk) got on the floor and showed us some pretty darn good moves also. Just when we thought the night couldn’t get any wilder, the Bride got on the mic and belted out Don’t Stop Believing. She can really sing!

So finally, after a long night of dancing and partying, it was time to go. The newlyweds ran though sparklers, jumped into their limo, and took off for a Jamaican honeymoon. Congratulations to you both!

Congratulations Ryan and Tiffany

This reception was our first after all the Hurricane Ike madness, so it was nice to get back into our normal routine. The event was held at Bay Oaks Country Club, which always does a great job. I was surprised to see how looked beautiful the grounds looked so soon after a hurricane: you’d never even know Ike had hit!

The color scheme was beautiful: black and white with bright jewel toned flowers. They had chair ties I’d never seen before: sheer black with a raised black damask print. So gorgeous! The tables were topped with white linens and black napkins, candle centerpieces on black fabric, and black and white menus on alternating place settings. It all came together perfectly for this elegant evening reception.

One unique aspect to this wedding was that we had performed at the Bride’s sister’s wedding just 6 months ago, in April. It was nice to see the previous Bride and Groom as well as the family and some familiar guests again. I can’t forget to mention all the cute kids that were there as well. I love the little ones!

After the toasts, cake cutting (no smashing here!), bouquet and garter, and fun night of dancing, the Newlyweds headed off to their limousine through an arch of sparklers. It was a pretty exit for a very nice couple. Congratulations to you both!