Choosing Ceremony Music Part 2

Choosing your ceremony music should be a very fun a, stress-free and easy process. It is important to think about what your vision is. Would you like to hear traditional music or popular music? What is the mood you want to create? Is there a song or movie that you both love that you want to include? After you have a vision start listening to samples of music in the style that you have chosen. Below are some suggestions from weddings we have performed over the years. You can listen to samples of many of these on the Repertoire page of our website, www.thedevonshireplayers.com. Check out the May 12, 2011 posting for more popular music suggestions.

• Traditional Music We’ve All Heard at Weddings

Bridesmaid Processional – Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring, Pachelbel Canon in D, Air from Water Music, Air on the G string

Bridal Processional – Wagner Wedding March, Trumpet Voluntary, Trumpet Tune, Pachelbel Canon in D

Unity Candle or any other interlude – Traumeri, Ave Maria, Air on the G String,  Meditation from “Thais”

Recessional – Mendelssohn Wedding March, Entrance to the Queen of Sheba, Rondeau, Hornpipe from Water Music

• Traditional Music With a Twist
  

Bridesmaid Processional  – Romanza from Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, Aria from “Xerxes”, Flower Song from “Lakme”, My Heart Ever Faithful

Bridal Processional- Sleeping Beauty Waltz, Flower Song from “Lakme”, Bist Du Bei Mir, Arioso

Unity Candle or any other interlude -Romanza from Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, Bist Du Bei Mir, Wachet Auf, If With All Your Hearts from “Elijah”

Recessional – Ode to Joy, Te Deum, Spring from the Four Seasons

• Popular Music

Bridesmaid Processional – Summer by Hisashi, Hallelujiah by Leonard Cohen, Theme Music from “Up”, I Had a Farm in Africa Theme

Bridal Processional – Wonderful Tonight by Clapton, When You Say Nothing at All by Krauss, Every Breath You Take by Sting, The Luckiest by

Ben’s Folds Five

Unity Candle or any other interlude – I Had a Farm in Africa Theme, Nothing Else Matters by Metallica, How Beautiful, Kissing You by Des’ree

Recessional – All You Need is Love by Beatles, When I Ruled the World by Coldplay, Don’t Stop Believing by Journey, Beautiful Day by U2

Valentine’s Day and Vendor Suggestions

Happy Valentine’s Day!!! I hope all of you have a moment to enjoy something sweet and divine. I am hoping to pick up a Crumbs vanilla/vanilla cupcake. Yum yum yum!

Are any of you engaged or someday will be? I have been planning my own wedding and have learned what it is to be you. To be the person looking for a vendor rather than being the vendor. It has been quite the learning experience. For one, I have felt that easy and quick communication is of the up-most importance. I have a type A personality and am quite impatient in my personal life so the sooner I receive information the better. Surprisingly, my fiance is the same. He has said quite a few times “We shouldn’t have to beg someone to take our money.” Very true!

I waited a while to deal with flowers because so many people told me how much flowers can cost. Even for some of the smallest weddings the fees can be in the thousands. Thankfully our venue is beautiful on its own and in our style. Modern, chic and elegant. However, I still need bouquets, corsages, etc. One day I decided to stop in a florist on my block on the way to the train because there was a sign for weddings. I went in and asked for a general range for bouquets explaining how many bouquets I would need and my love for Gerber daisies. The woman was SO RUDE! I couldn’t believe it. She refused to give me any information, had no books with possible ideas, but did give me a quote for a bridal bouquet that seemed a bit ridiculous. So I left and it took me a solid month to bother with anyone else. Lucky for me my next experience was wonderful. Wild Orchid, http://www.wildorchidofwestchester.com/,  in Eastchester, NY. I met with the owner, he was kind, organized and had books for me to flip through. I was so happy when I saw the Gerber daisies! I will likely have a dark pink that will pop with the Bridesmaid dresses but there’s a sneak peek below.

The DJ was also an interesting experience. A friend of ours referred us to a DJ with wonderful credentials. He was more expensive than we originally thought a DJ would be but we decided to go with it and find another place to save. My fiance was in charge of this piece and became very frustrated. The communication was lacking. We waited almost a week for the contract, he kept needing to reschedule the exchange of the contract etc. The straw that broke the camels back was he had said he would be in touch with my fiance during a specific day and they would meet to exchange the contract and deposit. They work across the street from each other in nyc so this should have been easy. However he never called. In fact, we still haven’t heard, so back to “we shouldn’t have to beg someone to take our money.” My fiance found a replacement in no time and he is wonderful!! Barry Blends, I highly recommend him. I am hoping for a dance party, not a wedding where only a few people get off their butts and dance. If you are in need of a DJ check out his site, www.djbarryblends.com. My favorite part of his site are the testimonials.

Finding a limo service was a cinch. Everyone in the area knows about Silver Star Limousine. They are the company with the commercial with the pink mini cooper stretch. I went to the showroom and met with Mario Jr. He was everything I needed. Knowledgeable, friendly, affordable, and had me at ease. Mario even recognized me from being at other weddings. He asked if I wear all black and have a long violin case. Yup! That’s me except it’s bigger than a violin case and has a viola in it.

So long story short my feeling is you should go with the vendor that is easy to work with, gives quality customer service, and has the product you want and hopefully love. As a vendor I hope I am able to achieve this with all of my clients. I can’t imagine being the vendor that someone cringes at! So I am working even harder (I didn’t think it was possible) to make everyone’s wedding as special as it should be.

 

Imagine this dress with dark pink Gerber daisies. I think this will be the look for my Matron and Maid of Honor. The bridesmaids will be in an  eggplant dress of their choosing.

 

 

 

TDP Wins an Award and Wedding Planning

Hello All! Hooray for The Devonshire Players! We are officially the Best Ceremony Music Pick on the Knot.com. We are all so excited and proud. I don’t think any of us envisioned  this growth when we first started. It is amazing to me how far we have come. Playing with this group is fulfilling me in such a profound way it is hard to explain in words.

Winning a prestigious award hasn’t stopped us from thinking about our growth. What will be the next step for TDP? That is what we are working on now. Electric string instruments are the rage. So we are hoping to add this service to our clients very soon. It is also very fun! Look for more info on this soon.

Personally, Shaun and I have booked our photographer, DJ and honeymoon all in January. I know people say planning takes a long time but I prefer to bang out as much as possible when the opportunity presents itself so we can enjoy being engaged. It’s so much more enjoyable for me to be home together or going on a date relishing in the happiness of engagement than sitting at home sifting through who we are going to hire and looking at the horrifying site of a excel spreadsheet dedicated to our wedding!!! I love my fiance but he is a CPA so the budget looks scary to me even though we aren’t breaking the bank. My creative lifestyle doesn’t lend to seeing very many spreadsheets that are highlighted with formulas often. However, it is VERY useful!

In case any of you fellow brides are looking for a photographer do check out Shaun Baker, www.shaunbakerphotography.com. He has been wonderful to work with and I love his photos. Despite working in the wedding industry I had no idea how much photography can be. OUCH! Shaun has the best of both worlds for me. For our budget he was reasonable, he has been quick with communication, his work speaks for himself, and his personality is relaxed. The personality of the photographer was important to me because I have seen frenetic ones at weddings and the energy is off when this happens. I am sure to be a ball of emotions on the wedding day so a relaxed vibe is definitely up my alley.

Our February list includes transportation, hotel, flowers, makeup, and wedding invitations. If all works out I will be done planning by the end of the month and living in engagement non-planning bliss. Fingers crossed!

Listen to New Music!!

I am so excited. Last Wednesday we recorded 10 pop songs for our website. I am beaming with joy! I really hope you enjoy them. They will all be on our website soon. Sit down Vitamin String Quartet, bring on The Devonshire Players lol.

Don’t Stop Believing – Journey

Bad Romance – Lady Gaga

Fields of Gold – Sting

Hallelujiah – Leonard Cohen

The Scientist – Coldplay

Theme Music from “Up” – Michael Giacchino

A Little News

This afternoon I had a few moments between practicing, calling clients, and prepping for teaching….soooo….drumroll please….I ordered my dress! Yes, yes. This particular blog posting will be about my wedding experience rather than the business so stop now if you don’t want to know . Last month my mom and I went to three different bridal salons. Pronovias in NYC, Meme’s in Larchmont and Botticelli in Bronxville. I also ordered a dress online from Ideeli. The Ideeli dress arrived before we went to the salons. When I put it on I thought this is very pretty but I didn’t get a wow factor. I was also distracted because I was at my parents house about to take them to meet the fiance’s family. The same week we went to Pronovias knowing that the dress I saw online was out of my budget. The range for the dress was $2000-15,000….ummm as much as it would be nice to be able to spend $15K on a dress and not think about it that’s definitely not my life. I am a musician! And not the kind who is on TV and has celebrity status. All this being said I still wanted to just see it in person. Sadly they did not have the dress to even try on because they sell the samples to brides from Brazil who come to buy their dresses here and get altered at home. Tear, tear….but they did have quite a few other dresses for me to try on. I was not in love with any of them but I was on my way. I left there thinking that the Ideeli dress was very nice but the material was not nice, very itchy so it was loosing it’s flair. A week or so later we went to Meme’s and Botticelli’s in one day, in that order. Meme’s had a beautiful simple dress, which is very me but then I went to Botticelli’s and fell in love. It said, you are a bride Lakshmi. I left and said to my mom, “I think that’s the dress.” Right there someone should have stopped me and said Lakshmi no more looking or stressing but of course I did none of those things. I spent the next week wracking my brain as to whether it was the right dress and not trusting my gut. Luckily this didn’t last long because I went back to Botticelli to try it on once more and I knew. It’s the one. I am not going to tell you the material, or style or any of that. I really want to keep that a secret.

I was surprised today by the feelings I had ordering it. I thought it would be simple and without emotion but while  standing there signing my name and giving a deposit I was filled with a mixture of emotions. I am not sure how to explain them in words but there were so many. Maybe nervous excitement is the best way to explain it. Every so often I am reminded that I am engaged, getting married, it will be a very special day but forever is also a long time .

 

Happy Ending in Mamaroneck

Our last wedding of the year was the perfect way to end the season. Kate and Neil booked their wedding with us in early January at Mamaroneck Beach and Yacht Club. They were very easy-going. They had told me that their wedding would be short but it was record time! I learned that the wedding ceremony does not need a lot going on in order for it to be beautiful. Following the ceremony we moved over to cocktail hour and got hit with a waft of yummy smells! We had a wedding before this one so our tummy’s were grumbling and our mouth’s were salivating. As we began playing their request list I saw Kate swaying to Sleeping Beauty Waltz, it was quite adorable. Neil and Kate came over to us to thank us. They were exuding such joy and so were the guests. It may be surprising to hear but it takes just the right people together to create an energy of pure bliss at a wedding reception. Neil and Kate’s crowd was the perfect mix. Once we finished playing we were able to sample the cocktail hour food and it was divine! Samosas, lamb chops, hummus and pita, pasta, grilled veggies, asian noodles and dumplings, coconut shrimp, and so much more. I was completely amazed by the range of food and the quality. For all of your brides looking for great food do not pass up Mamaroneck Beach and Yacht Club. Even the venues with Abigail Kirsch catering will be beat on my cocktail hour delicious rating! Here’s a photo of the happy couple.

Empathy!

OK….seriously….I work in the wedding business and still I am shocked by what businesses think they can get away with when a client says the word “wedding”!! Over the years I have worked with many brides. Brides wanting all different kind of weddings, styles of music, ages, remarriage, 2nd weddings etc. Each time I am reminded how important and special that day is to them. Well…..I am now in the same boat. I do have a different look on things being that I worked in catering halls as a teenager and now perform ceremonies BUT that doesn’t mean that I don’t want the day to be beautiful and memorable without breaking the bank. Today while emailing with a venue where I think we will get married I was given a last-minute additional price and the price person had gone up $20, SIGH! I took a breath and remembered, right, wedding, that means take me for everything I have. After a phone conversation I managed to negotiate the new additional price and was informed that my original price per person was correct. I really hope that my clients do not feel bamboozled by me. Perhaps it’s easier in a business like mine because it’s the same service over and over again at the same price. Or maybe knowing what it takes on all different levels for a wedding is a disservice because I know what the real cost is. All that being said, I empathized with brides before and now I empathize even more.

On a happy note, I have been loving our October weddings. This weekend is another a busy one ending with a stop at Crabtree Kittle House in Chappaqua. They are always so wonderful to work with. Fun times ahead!

 

 

Engagement Story

Hey everybody!!! I cannot believe it. I am engaged! For most of my 20′s I lived a very single life and got accustomed to it. I had come to grips with the fact that I could be a woman who didn’t marry and it would not be the end of the world….clearly I was wrong!!!! Many of my friends would roll their eyes at me or make faces that meant, give me a break Lakshmi. It wasn’t a woe is me thing just a fact.

In April 2009 I went to speed dating on Allen St in NYC. One of the Divas had told me her cousin was dating a guy she met at speed dating and I figured what is the worst that could happen? I meet a ton of absolutely not’s and have a funny story? No problem! So I decided to wait until my orchestra season was over and off I went. I had no expectations. Upon arrival to the location I was like, omg!, who are these guys they found BUT then a guy in a pinkish red fitted shirt came in and I text my friend, finally a hot one! He was very cute and muscular so my pheromones had heated up lol. The speed dating began and it was a range of funny and weird experiences. Then the pinkish red shirt guy was my date and he kept me laughing. He seemed like a player in those moments together but hey, a girl needs a date! There is much more to this story like we knew someone in common, him slipping me his card and me thinking he really liked a girl I had made friends with there, my being caught checking him out by on one of the other dates :O blah blah.

Fast forward two+ years and we were living together happily but had never taken a vacation together. I am huge on travel and it drove me almost insane every time he said he wasn’t ready to travel with me, doesn’t like flying (this is true), won’t get a passport, has no interest in leaving the country etc. All in all there are way too many positives with Shaun so I just let it go and hoped that one day he’d go away with me and give it a shot. This past weekend was the first time. We went to Mystic, CT which is about 2 hours away from where we live. I had asked that we go someplace close by. Just get out of our normal routines and not have to fly. I was über excited on Saturday when we left and Shaun was exhausted. The night before I had thrown a monkey wrench in his plan. My ring was at my parents house but my plans with a friend had been postponed so we were together. Long story short he ended up using a friend as a decoy and not getting home until 1am! I didn’t know until later but he made a iPhone video of himself walking to the car Saturday morning talking about his plan to propose and why I am the one. I LOVE this video. We also took some video in Mystic before and after the proposal as well as the night before in Foxwoods where I find my facial expressions to him quite amusing. I wish I could post some here but it’s $60 to do so! But right, right the story.

Sunday afternoon we booked tickets to take a boat ride on Mystic River at 2pm. Shaun was a little uncertain because the weather report said possible thunderstorms but I had faith that we would get lucky. I was right! Sunday was humid but no rain. We arrived around 1 to downtown Mystic. We found a bench to sit on by the river to wait. Shaun asked if I would change anything in our relationship and I said no, I’m happy. What would have happened if I gave a list of problems lol?! So we talked about us and the past a little. Made of fun of things we saw like a woman wearing hair rollers on the bench next to us, HA! The whole time he was giving me small smooches and rubbing my shoulders. He was nervous. Then he said thank you for being patient with me about going away together. I really needed to save money this year (he’s an accountant, need I say more…). Then he said I made my goal but I blew it and I said on what? Then he started rustling in his pocket and out came a jewelry box but it wasn’t the standard ring box. He opened it and asked me to marry him. I said yes and something else I don’t remember and he said did you say yes?! And I said yes, grabbed his face with both hands and kissed him ! We only had a few minutes until 2 so we walked over to the boat and called my parents and his mom. I was SOOOOO happy all day and I still am. The boat ride was very nice. I had left my phone in the car by accident so I wasn’t texting and calling people but I was enjoying being with him. We made two short videos, one just talking and excited about it and one where we explain the proposal. I am so happy he thought to make these videos because now we have short snippets of our engagement weekend. My fav is definitely the first one where he says how awesome I am, J/K! So there you have it. Lakshmi and Shaun are engaged. It’s not real to me yet but I am so happy. I will do my best not to bore you all with the minutia of the planning once we get around to it but I will probably complain from time to time or ask for help when I can’t make a decision.

Here I am the night before the engagement, clueless that there’s a ring in the hotel!!!

After dinner the night of the engagement. I clearly packed a lot of black tops. The tragedy of always needing black clothes to perform.

(Excuse my eyes and the reflections of light. We couldn’t get a good picture.)

City Meets Country for a Wedding

Saturday was sooo much fun. My bf’s ex-coworker had a wedding celebration at Camp Oneka in Pennsylvania. They were married in NYC at the Justice  of the Peace at the end of last year after being together since college. The weekend was a celebration for family and friends with no wedding ceremony. Instead of typical invites they sent out save the dates with this website, http://camponanley.com/. You have to check it out. It’s cute in a very different wedding way. Rather than the regular lists of who, what, when and an idyllic story of how they first met you are welcomed with jokes and an air of low key fun.

The week of the event I kept asking Shaun, bf,  what do I wear. Of course I had asked earlier but he just didn’t understand what the big deal was. But on  the website it said camp casual. Ummm….what is that?! Finally Terry, the groom, told me he didn’t care what I wore but his wife would be wearing a long cotton jersey dress and he would be wearing a linen suit. I was in love with that response so I opted for jeans, a black top and some boots. I was informed by Shaun the week of that we would NOT be spending the night in the woods because he’s “not sleeping in a cabin in the woods!” Smh. This Queens boy was not ready for where we were going.

Saturday arrives and I walk  to the train and meet him by grand central. Shaun was pretty cranky because he had class in the morning. He’d already left home, driven to Queens and then into the city. I accepted the complaints but I was on time for the meet as well as another guest. It took us FORever to get out of the city. I always prefer to avoid the tunnels but we had no other option. The ride was chockfull of booooring tax convo between Shaun and Sean. Yes, the other guest has the same name. We drove through many towns, the highways didn’t go where we were going lol. Eventually we arrived and I thought it was so cute. A very small campground with heated cabins. We had trouble figuring out which group of people was our’s and my Shaun didn’t want to get out of the car because he was scared! LMBO! It was 4:30pm! I got out and figured it all out. Lucky for me I had been to sleep away camp as a kid so this was nothing to me. Shaun was talking about how this is how all the murders start in the show Criminal Minds lol. Clearly I’d die first since my 6’3 diesel boyfriend refuses to leave the car!

We found Terry and another coworker Ghada. Ghada was great! Such a funny woman with her adorable 9-year-old. The four of us sat outside by the lake making jokes until dinner. Ghada and I were clearly overdressed as the other guests were wearing t-shirts from the bride and groom, sneakers and old jeans lol. The dinner was held in the dining hall, the picture below is in the hall. Happily people were more dressed up for this part and we didn’t stand out anymore. The food was very tasty. A buffet of pulled pork, baked beans, baked chicken, corn on the cob etc. The vibe was wonderful. I felt like I was at a family party. The guests were in comfortable clothes, the music was pumping and the food was  home style. Terry and Jennie accomplished a lost art in wedding celebrations. Comfort, ease, low-key, family, friends, fun.

Career Thoughts

On Sunday I went to a fabulous Tapas bar in Greenwich CT, Barcelona, with a colleague I admire. She isn’t a mentor to me but she is someone who has built a career that makes me gape in awe. Our discussion was chock-full of relationship and the life of a musician talk. The musician talk left me with a range of emotions. For one, I was reminded of how difficult the choices are for women no matter what their career. So many people we both know have chosen to focus completely on entering the NY scene of musicians whether it be through auditions into the big orchestras, broadway, freelance etc. The common thread is many single women which is hard for me to swallow. If we/I throw myself into building a strong career what will happen to my relationship?? Why has it been so hard for them to find someone? We all know that a relationship can be a distraction but why when women put their career first are there so few men supporting them the way women support men in high-powered jobs? So then I took a few sips of wine, sighed and remembered it’s still a man’s world.

So what am I going to do? That is most important question I must answer. Honestly, I am not sure. I am contemplating what will bring me the most gratification. I am sure that I will not start prepping myself for years of auditions. My quartet is what makes me the most fulfilled musically so it will certainly continue but how do I build on that? Do I try to enter the world of freelance pop world in NY? I could but like every other part of this life the who you know game is key. I know who is in charge of hiring musicians for this work however that person has a core of musicians. Just like I have a core quartet and they are always hired with each having a sub just in case they can’t make it. So do I drop the dream because I didn’t get my Masters in the city or move there outside of school? I really don’t know. The only thing I do know is I must continue to become a better musician so a new practice regime will begin soon. Perhaps give another quartet concert and hopefully take up my colleague on playing together and for each other. She also suggested we give a concert together which totally freaks me out. She’s soooo good! Yes, yes, that’s me still feeling inadequacy after so many years. Stop it Lakshmi! Buck up little camper and make it happen!