Wedding Recap: At Last

Firstly: Happy 6 month anniversary to my Hubby! I can't believe it's been 6 months already!!

When Chris and I first saw our band, Arcadia, perform their showcase back in 2010 they performed an amazing version of At Last by Etta James. I just about lost it when the saxophone came in for the solo, and their singer did the song unbelievably well. It was one of the songs that totally sold me on going with them in the end. Though we had chosen a Dave Matthews Band song for our first dance, I really wanted to make sure that Chris and I also got to dance to At Last at some point in the night.

I asked the band to play it near the end of the night and to make sure that Chris and I were up close to them when they did it. When the time came and they called us up to the dance floor, Chris was nowhere to be found!! While people ran off to look for him, I waited and....danced with myself.

Finally, the Groom comes running out to the dance floor!

I hadn't intended this dance to be just us, but for the first half that's kind of what it was...luckily people slowly started to trickle onto the dance floor and join us.

 

Though it's hard to tell what this picture is, it's actually taken in the mirror above the dance floor, so it's kind of an aerial shot of us dancing!

 Just listen to how amazing the singer is! Also note how I pretty much sing along for most of the song:

I was glad that I requested this, because though we were together a lot that night, it was easy to get pulled in 20 different directions and not be "in the moment". This forced us to calm down for a bit, and just be together for few minutes before we were pulled in different directions again. I highly recommend talking to your DJ or band about doing something like this for your reception.

Did/Will you have a "second" first dance near the end of your reception?

Wedding Recap: Our Band - Arcadia

Our band, Arcadia, was phenomenal and definitely was a key factor in everyone having such a great time at our wedding. From Frank Sinatra to Lady Gaga, they played a wide range of music that satisfied everyone young to old. They kept our dance floor packed from 7:30-1am!! Picking a band was one of our hardest decisions. We listened to at least 8 or 9 bands before deciding on Arcadia and in the end, we could not have been happier with our decision.

ElizabethP.

 

While I don't have many pictures of our actual band up on stage...I DO have lots of pictures of some of our "guest" singers throughout the night: Here's Chris with his dad and co-worker, Vinny - who led us in a fantastic rendition of "Build Me Up Buttercup"

Then a family friend, Mike, takes the stage...he's in an actual band so he was no stranger to the stage:

Chris' brother joins in on the fun

Oh no...taking over!

The crowd cheers our singers on!

 

 

Turns out...we had some talented guests that night! In the end, we finally let the band get back into one piece and they played the night away. We can't thank Arcadia enough for their fantastic talent!

Crazy Weekend(s)

I have a confession: Last week...Chris and I went to see our band, Arcadia, perform a showcase just because we wanted to hear them again. It's like I said when we were choosing a band: How often do you get to go be entertained by a live band for free? It just doesn't happen. We love our band, we hadn't seen them since February and I wanted to be excited all over again for picking them.

I saw that they were doing a showcase at a venue near our house and we headed off to see them! I'm so glad we did because, it seriously got me even more excited than I thought. I think this showcase was so much better than the one I saw in February. Yes, part of it was certainly because I didn't have the added pressure of having to make a decision this time around. I was able to go, sit back, relax and enjoy without having to think so hard about it. But, I really do think this was better. They seemed to have much more fun and even took song requests from the audience doing a ton of songs right on the fly. I can't even begin to imagine having all those songs memorized. The one singer's performance of At Last, seriously blows my mind every time I hear it, and I was so happy she did it again. I just love them and can't wait to meet with them to discuss specific music selections!

This past weekend I was home in PA to help my mom find a dress for the wedding. We didn't find one but that's ok! We have a better idea of what she wants and will keep trucking along until we find one. Melissa and I had a great day at King of Prussia with her AND we saw Straight No Chaser that night. They are an awesome Male acapella group. Here's a clip from the concert we saw (THIS VIDEO WORKS NOW!):

I had a great breakfast date with Cassie on Sunday morning. It had been way too long since we caught up and it was really nice to touch base in person with her again. Sunday afternoon my dad and I went on a long bike ride (read about it here). That night, I cooked dinner for my family plus Grandma, and grocery shopped with Sister. Monday morning, I was up bright and early for another bike ride with Dad (he's a biking fiend!), drove back to New York, had lunch with Chris, made a few pit-stops for some wedding supplies I've started to purchase, unpacked, cleaned, then worked on our save-the-dates after dinner. (They're going out SO SOON!) It was a jam packed weekend but it was so much fun!

Cassie got measured on Saturday for her Bridesmaid dress while she was in town. She has to teach the youth of America this coming Saturday and sadly, could not meet with the rest of the bridesmaids for the fitting. Once the other girls get measured this weekend they'll all be ordered and hopefully ready to pick up soon! So, that means this Saturday I'm meeting up with these lovely bridesmaids below:

We have an 11:30 appointment at Bridal's By Sandra and then my mom made us reservations at a small bistro for lunch! I can't wait to spend some quality time with some of my favorite ladies!