i had an amazing surprise i couldn’t wait to share with everyone. it was ingenious (ha!). but seriously, it was something i tried so hard to make work. but some things just aren’t meant to be.
with this being said, i will share my idea with you and maybe another bride can make it work :)
remember this scene in love actually? if you haven’t seen love actually yet - put a pause on your plans for tonight, grab a french baguette, some wine, and amazing cheese and park your a$$ on the couch for an amazing movie, and one of my favorites. caution - it is definitely an emotional basketcase trap though.
so anyways - i LOVE that scene. i love how the acapella choir takes everyone off guard and sings “love is all you need” at the end of the ceremony. and i wanted to duplicate this at my ceremony (minus the instruments popping up from the audience). i contacted every acapella choir i could find and they were all booked. i even convinced my catholic priest to let us have a song in the church that wasn’t religious! then i contacted the local high school acapella choir to see if they’d be interested - and low and behold - they were!!! i was SO excited!! my idea was going to become reality!!… and then the music teacher told me how much they wanted. and i nearly threw up.
ok so i am ALL ABOUT supporting a high school music program, ok? let’s just get that out of the way first. my mom is a music teacher in new haven and i know it’s hard to get the funding for instruments, music, etc. so i justified a cost in my head that i thought would make sense for 8 minutes and 1 song. yes - the kids had to learn the song and yes - it was a saturday, but the music teacher said they were all excited about it and fine with coming down for a 20 minute time slot.
they wanted more money than my guitar duo was costing. 2 guys playing guitar for a little over an hour at our cocktail hour. 2 guys who are learning at least 8 new songs for us. so for a high school music group to charge more than a “professional” group was totally out of the question for me. at this point i am in budget mania with only a few days before the wedding and i just could not justify this ridiculous cost!!
so as much as i wanted my dream surprise to take place at the ceremony, i think i would enjoy a helicopter ride over the volcanoes in maui and a nice dinner out (relatively the same price they were asking!), rather than spending that money on 1 song.
sometimes you just have to weigh the options and see what really makes sense, especially in crunch time!!
PS - IF ANYONE ELSE USES THIS IDEA PLEASE LET ME KNOW! i’d love to see the final product, even if it’s not at my ceremony :)
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
I'm sorry your idea didnt come through. I can understand as well the money they need for schools and music programs, but if it really cost as much as a helicopter ride..and dinner…thats just asking too much from a couple who want to get married.
Havent seen Love Actually in a long time…it was a very crazy relationship movie though!
WOW 4 days!! :)
PS What an AWESOME CLIP!
Oh yeah and I cried while watching Ace of Cakes the other day because these kids in a NYC school choir were getting a surprise cake from Duff!! My Stepdaughter was joking with me…"Im crying cuz they got cake!" LOL!
OMG..this is my secret idea too! I actually just wrote a post about it (not scheduled for about 2 weeks though)…BUT..I have something up my sleeve. We are having live music during the ceremony (a keyboardist and a guitarist) and we are having a bagpiper too..I'm trying to get the three of them to work together so the ceremony musicians can start playing this as the recessional and then the bagpiper can surprise everyone and start playing it too. We will see if it works out!
If I had gotten married somewhere that this would have worked, it would have happened at my wedding! Or rather, if it had been in my budget…
Are you getting married in New Haven? If so, which church? My best friend from high school got married at one of the churches/cathedrals there in November 2008 :)
Have you tried other high schools in the area? Or…any sort of community theater groups/show choirs?