Wedding Speeches 101
28 Sep 2016 Leave a comment
in Wedding related Tags: wedding speeches
Credit for graphic to: http://www.sheratonathlonehotel.com/weddings-at-sheraton
A Little Bit Softer Now: How To Dance To ‘Shout’ Without Ending Up On The Floor
13 Jun 2016 Leave a comment
in On a Lighter Note, Wedding related Tags: shout
(via FiveThirtyEight) by Walt Hickey
There are 17 repetitions of “a little bit softer now” in the song. Let’s say you want to be at your full height on the first and at your lowest on the last. You’ll need to drop 15 times. How much should you drop each time?
7 Wedding Traditions That Have Disappeared Over the Past Century
21 May 2016 Leave a comment
in Wedding related Tags: disappearing wedding traditions
(via msn lifestyle) by Emilie Le Beau Lucchesi
Almost a century ago, an Illinois bride cracked open her wedding diary. The thin, white-cloth covered book had empty pages where a bride could record the details of her nuptials. There was a page to describe how the couple met, another to note the engagement, and several to paste in the engagement announcements.
The bride, 18-year-old Marjorie Gotthart, was seemingly unimpressed with the book. She completed only one page – a form designed to resemble a marriage certificate. In big, loopy cursive, she recorded who she married, when, and where. The rest of the pages were empty.
Marjorie’s slight wedding diary was typical for brides of her time. The book did not devote any pages to receptions or pre-nuptial parties. There was no space for a bride to describe her reception venue, the music played by the band, or the meal served. Couples of that era most often married in their parents’ home, usually on a weekday. The lavish affairs that are now de rigueur didn’t become popular until the 1970s.
This means the customs we now call “traditions” are fairly recent. The Saturday evening affair with dinner, dancing, centerpieces, and party favors is not a long-standing tradition. For most modern wedding guests, a “traditional” American wedding would be totally unrecognizable. Here are seven traditions that have changed the most over the years.
1. Traditional weddings were on weekdays.
More than a century ago, there was a rhyme that helped brides pick a date. Mondays were for wealth and Tuesdays for health. “Wednesday the best day of all, Thursdays for crosses, Fridays for losses, and Saturday for no luck at all.” The 1903 White House Etiquette guide reminded young, society women of the rhyme and also noted that in addition to bringing terrible luck, Saturday weddings were terribly unfashionable…
Hilariously Bad Wedding Dresses
15 Aug 2015 Leave a comment
in General Posts, On a Lighter Note, Wedding related Tags: bad wedding dresses
(via somelife)
Another Parent Dance That Won’t Make Everyone Gag
31 Jan 2015 2 Comments
Mark Erelli: “Same For Someone”
Here’s an off the beaten path song suggestion for a wedding reception parent dance. What’s refreshing about it is that it doesn’t give the suspicion that it was cynically written to be a parent dance perennial, unlike many songs which will remain nameless here.
The downside, which is perhaps subtle enough not to matter, is that since it wasn’t written to neatly fit the parent dance constraints there may be a line or two that don’t perfectly jive, i.e. one line in particular sounds like it is being sung by a man to his son. But as I said, it’s fairly subtle and probably would go unnoticed by most guests.
It’s also refreshingly realistic and un-sappy (“oh, it’s a hard world, my child”…”hearts will break, one will be yours”).
Rather than another insipid litany of platitudes this is a song of some actual substance. Bracing. Real. Like the kind of thing a parent would actually say.
See also: https://edcyphers.com/2013/01/14/a-father-daughter-wedding-dance-that-wont-make-everyone-gag/
A Father-Daughter Wedding Dance That Won’t Make Everyone Gag
31 Jan 2015 1 Comment
in General Posts, Wedding related Tags: clem snide, find love
(Reprinted from NPR’s All Songs Considered)
Célèste Brott writes: “I’m trying to pick a father-daughter dance song for my wedding, but most of the suggestions I come across make me gag. They fall mostly into the category of ‘What an angel she is’-type songs, or are too sentimental about ‘What a great dad he was.’ I want it to be something we both love, and that we can dance to. Something that hits the right sentimental note, sure, but isn’t sappy or impersonal. Any ideas?”
Picking any music for a wedding is weirdly fraught, particularly if you’re the sort of person whose taste in love songs — or taste in love, for that matter — runs toward the complex and compromised. Weddings are about absolutes, and love songs that express absolute emotions (permanence, certainty) have a tendency to come off as mawkish or excessively sentimental. Throw in the unconditional love between a parent and a child, and … hoo boy, that narrows down the options. I’ve been taking my daughter to “daddy daughter dances” since she was barely old enough to run around, and have yet to hear anything there that conjures up images of her future wedding day. (THANK GOD.)
That said, since before she was born, I’ve had the exact right song picked out for this very occasion, should it arise — a song that has been laying waste to my defenses since I first heard it almost exactly 10 years ago. I’ve been playing it for my kids since way before they can remember, and my 8-year-old daughter still listens to it as part of our bedtime ritual virtually every night.
“Find Love”
With apologies to those who’ve heard me prattle about this song before, Clem Snide’s “Find Love” is, in all seriousness, perfect; I have listened to it hundreds if not thousands of times, and if anything, it’s only grown on me. Heard in the context of a parent’s love — of deeply humane advice and wishes for a child, regardless of his or her age — it says everything. Take chances. Put yourself out there. Face the world with a generous heart. Live your life. Make the world your own. “Find love, and then give it all away.”
7 Bridal Parties Who Totally Nailed The ‘Mismatched Dresses’ Trend
27 Sep 2014 Leave a comment
in Wedding related Tags: bridal party dresses, mismatched dresses
Image: Emily Harris Photography
It’s the trend that’s dominating Pinterest wedding boards everywhere: “mismatched” bridesmaid dresses. They’re a creative departure from the more traditional, matchy-matchy color schemes we see at weddings, and a welcome opportunity for your girls to pick a cut and color that works for them…
Every Moment Has A Song 