dance

the wedding chronicles | decision #10

kdavis 1 Comment

THE MUSIC

chugging along through our to-do list, phillip and i had to make a decision about the music for both the ceremony and the reception.  we kind of worked our way backwards and began with figuring out what we wanted to do for the reception.  the ballroom at glendalough manor does have a fantastic stage for live music, and ever since i was a little girl i always thought it would be fantastic to have a live band playing at my wedding reception.  to that point, our friends grant and leah had a great 7-piece band play at their reception a few years ago, and it really was everything you could imagine a good wedding band to be.  they played modern favorites as well as great traditional reception songs and fit in perfectly with the atmosphere of the night.  the same goes for my cousin sara and her now husband christian.  at their wedding earlier this year they had a jammin’ band that belted out every rock hit you could imagine, including “sweet home alabama”!  now, as we all likely understand, a great band comes at a great price, and as much as i would love to have live music, phillip and i together decided we’d rather spend those (likely) thousands of dollars elsewhere on our big day.  unless you have an unlimited budget, you have to pick and choose at certain points.

now, glendalough manor has dozens of preferred vendors if you need help finding any and luckily one of those includes a house dj who has done nearly every single one of the wedding receptions at the manor.  he goes by the name jules and after meeting with him a few months ago, it was an easy decision to say “yes” to him as our wedding dj.  he was prepared for our meeting, answered our questions without hesitation, and was even open to suggestions for specific requests we had.  as nearly any guest will tell you, a good reception needs good music, so we are hoping that jules will get you all out the dance floor because that is certainly where you will find us!

as for the ceremony, since it is at phillip’s childhood church of Holy Trinity Catholic Church, there are understandably certain restrictions about the kind of music you can and cannot have.  however, we do thankfully have some flexibility.  for example, we can have recorded music played through the speakers or we can have live musicians.  we can go with more contemporary selections or keep it traditional with those wedding songs that have stood the test of time.  it really is up to us, and since phillip and i both are musically inclined, i anticipate we will be able to collaborate together to pick music that will complement the emotion of the day and be a perfect fit for us as individuals and a couple.  music means so much to us and i bet the soundtrack we pick for the ceremony won’t leave a dry eye in the house.  make sure you pack those tissues!

viva las vegas!

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this time last sunday, kiley, kari, and i were recovering from a fun couple of days out in fabulous las vegas!  besides being in desperate need of a girls’ weekend away, we also were in town to see the legendary britney spears in concert!  before we get to that, though, there are plenty of other things to share first.

after getting a good night’s sleep on thursday at kiley’s parents’ house (thanks, mr. and mrs. a!), we woke up and grabbed an energizing breakfast at craft kitchen before taking a smooth ride out east to our first tourist spot the hoover dam.  our trusty transportation for the weekend?  kiley’s dad’s souped up jeep wrangler.  how bada** do we look in this?!

a short 45-minute drive later we arrived in clark county, nv and joined the other masses of international and local visitors as we explored this american wonder.  unfortunately the dam tour was closed that day, but we had plenty of other seeing to do as we followed the roadway and sidewalks to get incredible views of lake mead, the colorado river, and the intake towers, flow gates, and spillways.

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if you ever find yourself in the area, i highly recommend making the trek to the dam.  there’s plenty of parking, plenty of fascinating information, and plenty of good photo ops to fill a few hours of your day.

something else that’s cool?  you can stand in two states at once – neat!

upon hiking back up to the car and chugging some water, we drove ourselves about an hour the other direction to check out an art installation off interstate 15 called the seven magic mountains.  designed by internationally renowned swiss artist ugo rondinone, this public installation is designed to represent the creative human presence in the desert with bursts of “form and color.”  pretty cool, right?

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one of the most fun things about visiting seven magic mountains was people-watching all the visitors who were trying to get the perfect filter-worthy photo for their social media posts.  not wanting to miss out on the entertainment, i snapped an inspiring shoot of kari against these brightly colored boulders.

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and kiley got in on the fun, too, with a model walk of her very own!

we were now in a pinch to get washed up and ready for the concert, so we hit the old dusty and headed back home.

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we are #andrichheavy

kdavis 3 Comments

okay, folks, i know things had been quiet on the blogging front from me for the past couple of weeks, but i have good reason:  my brother kyle and kari got married last week at the first southern andrich wedding!  we had been busy bees in those days just beforehand, and when all was said and done, everything was worth the effort.

out-of-town guests started to arrive on thursday, and so began the #andrichheavy invasion.  so, what is this #andrichheavy hashtag of which we speak?  well, we had a lot of family and friends from the andrich side of things at the weekend festivities, so we coined it all as being #andrichheavy.  the words were spoken, and that was all she wrote.  every post and tweet and instagram picture were tagged with #andrichheavy, and we could not have loved it more.

andrich heavy

the rehearsal dinner was a blast at the yellow house up in roswell.  so much southern food, plenty of beer and wine, and lots of laughing as we roasted the groom and played a few ditties for the happy couple.  as i have been told, i was quite the tipsy hostess all night, and i would not have expected anything less.

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now, after months of planning and a whirlwind weekend of activity, we have a new addition to the #andrichheavy clan, miss kari.  kari and i met each other in college through the redcoat marching band.  she and kyle began dating our sophomore year, and it wasn’t before too long we all knew something really special was there.  over the years, kari has slowly inducted herself into the andrich family, counting herself lucky getting to meet them in waves rather than all at once.  i’ve been told we can be a bit to handle…

kyle and kari black and white

the october weather was cooperative and gorgeous, with crisp and untainted clarity in the air.  the wedding party looked sharp, and the guests were glamorous as well for the evening event.  you could not have asked for a more perfect setting.

aaww.
more tears!
that’s some real emotion right there.
a beautiful bunch.
me, getting emotional, again.

after a teary-eyed ceremony, the real fun began as we danced and drank the night away at the roswell mill club.  glow sticks and tunes carried us into the cool autumn night, keeping us close to a sweet event of love and laughter.

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as i drove into the office monday morning, i realized i was crashing hard, physically and emotionally.  my body was exhausted from the weekend’s events, and it seemed my heart was just as sore.  i was overjoyed to have our loved ones in a single place to celebrate such a wonderful step in life, but watching them all leave on marta trains and delta planes left a bitter taste in my mouth.  i was in a glass case of emotion for nearly four days straight, and now i’ve been ripped back into reality.  ah, such a harsh jolt!  when you feel things as fully and strongly like i do, it can all seem like a big wave sweeping down, no matter the occasion.  i guess we’ll just have to plan our next gathering soon!  who’s up next?