It's All About Location, Location, Location....

I'm going to apologize right from the start, because this is probably going to be the longest of my posts. So yes, you are going to be subjected to more of my ramblings than usual.

Besides what the bride and groom are wearing, two of the biggest decisions that they will make revolves around one subject: Location. Specifically, where are we getting married, and where are we having the reception. Let's be honest, when you first get engaged, that's one of the first things to go through your mind.

For some, and I'm speaking to the majority of the religious amongst you, the decision about where to get married is relatively easy. You're going to have your ceremony at the church that you and your family have always gone to. Usually, for a small donation, your pastor/priest/whoever is more than happy to marry the two of you.

For the rest of you, it becomes a little more difficult. You have to find a place, not only to have your reception, but also one to have your ceremony. It could be a place that has some sentimental value, a place that is just simply "perfect" for what you want, or it could even be in the same location that you're going to have your reception. Let me walk you through the places, and ultimately the decision, that my fiancee and I visited.

So, we knew that we were going to get married somewhere in the Rhode Island area. Yes, we both live in Western MA, but the vast majority of the people we're inviting, be it her family or my friends, live between the Worcester area and down in Rhode Island. It just makes more sense to have the few from the 413 drive to Rhodey than to have everyone under the sun drive to us.

Fortunately, since my wonderful wife-to-be is a bit of an internet research nerd, she was quickly able to cobble together a list of potential nuptial nooks (Ok, I know that was lame, but I was really trying to come up with something besides "wedding locations"). Since we were looking at places in RI, and we live about an hour and a half away, we scheduled all of these places in one day. Yes, that made it a little hectic and fast paced, but it was worth it.

The first place we went to was Arrowhead Acres in Uxbridge, MA. We were met by the owners, Dave and Vicki. First off, they were super nice. Second, they were kind of a cute older couple who had only been married themselves for a couple years. From the outdoor gazebo "altar", to the spacious reception hall, to the general atmosphere, this place had it all from start to finish.

We could have easily had a kick-ass ceremony where we rode up in a hot vehicle(more on that in a later post), then transitioned about 30 feet to a slammin' party that we would have setup. On the downside, just renting the facility was pretty pricey. Since we're paying for this whole thing ourselves, we really had to pay attention to costs. So far, this place was at the TOP of our list.

Next, we went to the Smith Appleby House in Smithfield, RI. It's kind of a museum which my lovely History buff fiancee was all about. It was definitely a nice place, but a little too rustic for me. Everything would have been outdoors, which isn't a bad thing, but it could be if it rains. Granted, there are tents and whatnot, but you're still kind of in the middle of a field. This place kind of ended up on the bottom of our list. A good compromise: We're probably going to take some pictures there (the future wife loves it).

Then we stopped by this awesome Italian restaurant in my girl's hometown of Burrilville, RI, a little place called Bella. The banquet room was pretty nice. Two problems though: we'd have to find a place for the ceremony, and the dance floor was a little small. However, the price was awesome and the food is just as good. I'd definitely recommend it to people who are looking for something a little more traditional and who already have a ceremonial location in mind. The place was a solid #2 in our minds though.

Finally, we came to 12 Acres in Smithfield, RI. We met with the owner and chef, and must I say, we loved him! Not only was the outdoor pavilion pretty sweet, but we could also have the ceremony on the premises. The grounds are beautiful and there are these two trees that we would be getting married between. It's hard to describe, but trust me, you'd love it if you saw it.

Fortunately, the menu, the price, the atmosphere, the location, everything was well within our budget. After some debate, well, maybe more debate than I'm letting on, we decided to go with 12 Acres.

I need to sincerely and seriously state that choosing one location was not a knock on any other location. There were so many good things about each and every place we looked at that we really had a hard time narrowing it down. In an ideal world, I'd love to be able to take my favorite parts of each place and combine them into one. But, this isn't an ideal world and decision have to be made.

However, to anyone reading this who is planning on getting married in the Northern RI area, make sure you add all of the above locations to your lists. No matter the location, you can have your wedding be anything from traditional to non-traditional with ease and be SUPREMELY HAPPY with however it comes out.

For now, since I'm sure you're tired of reading this, and I know I'm sure as hell tired of typing this, this is your NYTGroom.

Peace Out
TC

Music - Band or DJ???

So, in the inevitable planning process you may be going through for your wedding, you are going to be faced with one VERY IMPORTANT DECISION: Band or DJ??

Let's face it, in today's day and age, music is an essential part of everyone's life. You can't walk down the street, or through a mall, or even an office building, without seeing at least a dozen people listening to their iPod. The advent of MP3's has made our music collections so portable that we can carry TONS of music with us at all times.

Hell, I've got enough music on my iPhone alone to never repeat a song for 4 days. That's right, a continuous 96 hours. All on my phone. You're jealous. I know you are.

But, back to the whole point of this post. Since music is so important in everybody's life, you have to seriously ask yourself how you want that music at your own wedding. Are you going to want a DJ or a full band? People want two things at a wedding: food and good dancing music. So, let me go through a few of the plusses and minuses for both DJs and bands.

Again, going back to the whole portability of music collections, a DJ will have THOUSANDS of songs at his/her disposal. You will be able to hear all of your favorite songs as they were played and recorded by your favorite artists. This is HIGHLY appealing to a lot of people. Not only that, there is a lot of variety that can be had with much less effort.

That's a huge plus for a DJ. However, there is a huge minus that can come along with having a DJ: the DJ VOICE. You know what it is. That really FAKE tone of voice, and he says the absolute DUMBEST things. Do you really want that at your wedding? I know I don't.

You know what I also don't want? The chicken dance. That song, "We are Family". I have no desire for all of that typical wedding, boring-ass, songs. And if you don't explicitly state that to your DJ, he WILL play them. I guarantee it.

So, maybe you decide to have a band. That's also a great choice. You get to have a band where, if they're a good band, they have a chemistry that will just spread to your entire reception. It can be pretty infectious if the band is just feeding off each other. That energy will spread to each and every person who is in that room.

Unfortunately, the chances of having a very wide range of music that they can play is very small. Also, even the best wedding bands might know only a few hundred songs. That might sound like a lot, but I can guarantee you that majority of those songs will be ones you may not want to hear. To know that many songs, you have to cater to the "popular".

Look at the Top 40 charts over the past few years. You know all those songs you've just become SICK OF? Those are the songs that the band will most likely know. To be honest, there is no amount of chemistry that a band can have that will make me like Lady Gaga. Guaranteed.

Also, and this might be specific to me, I know I could never have a live band at my wedding because I would be picking them apart the entire night. Being a musician myself, I tend to over-analyze any other band I see. I have no desire to be doing that all night.

Additionally, if there were a live band, I would probably get so fed up with them that I would have the guys in my own band take over their instruments and we'd play an impromptu concert. While that would be kind of awesome, I kind of want to spend my wedding day with my wife and not on stage.

So, I think it goes without saying that my wife-to-be and I are going to have a DJ. Also, it's so much easier for me to shake my ass with the wide range of music a DJ has. And as long as I'm dancing, and my future in-laws are dancing, everything's gonna be all right!