I'd actually wanted to have way more reviews posted by now, but then I realised that a lot of them would benefit from having photos! Photos I don't yet have! So I'll hold off as long as I can on those and prioritise the review posts based on what needs a photo the least.
So, here we are: the DJ's.
Read MoreAnyone who has ever done any simple sound editing or mixing of any kind with their computer will have, at some point, encountered or even used an open-source program called Audacity. It is probably one of the better programs of that type available, though my use of it was sporadic and basic prior to getting engaged.
As implied, since getting engaged, my familiarity and skill with using Audacity has increased significantly. I hesitate to call myself an expert, but I'm definitely adept enough at it that I know roughly how to get it to do what I need it to do.
This, I think, was a natural result of having 2 people who disagree on what makes "good music". This wasn't such a big issue with the reception, where our music selections could take turns to feature, but it started to become one with the ceremony. I really wanted us both to like what was going to play for the ceremony.
Fortunately, while we had deeply divergent tastes in music, we did have strikingly similar tastes in movies. The problem with using music from movies, however, is that just because you like it doesn't mean it's always suitable for the occasion. It'd been chosen in that movie to reflect/support/heighten a particular scene or event on-screen, and if our guests haven't seen the movie in question, hearing the music alone means they may miss out on a big part of the experience.
That meant that any movie music we decided to use was rarely appropriate as it stood. There were certainly cases where the music was suitable in its original and unedited form (usually because the movie was popular enough or the message was pretty obvious even context-free), but these were few and far between.
Thus came the search for more suitable versions of the music we wanted to use or reference. Acoustic only, for example. Or a slower cover. Or instrumentals only. And it was surprisingly hard to find precisely what we wanted. Youtube was a great source, but depending on the piece of music I was after, there were either only a handful of options or an overwhelming number to filter through. It got stressful pretty fast, particularly when you consider that it's not just my opinion on a cover that matters - Blake's does, too!
I should clarify that we weren't picky to the point where we were going to record anything ourselves. I was happy enough to jury-rig songs to get them to sound roughly like what I'd envisioned. That's where Audacity came in.
The best thing about open-source, popular software like Audacity is that tutorials and how-to's abound on the internet. If I ever wasn't sure how to get a piece of music to do something, a quick Google search would solve my problem. Use it enough times and you start to figure out what the other "bits" of the software are there to do, and some hilarious experimentation eventually did get me feeling pretty comfortable with it.
None of it's perfect, necessarily, but it'll suit.
In the few minutes before I head off to bed on a Monday evening, a problem arises.
Blake and I have vastly different tastes in music. This is an issue almost never - really, it's ONLY an issue when he's trapped in the car while I'm driving and Carly Rae Jepsen comes on the radio. Because I will refuse to let him change it.
To be honest, I have never understood how some people get very annoyed at a song they dislike - it's just a song, it'll be over in less than 5 minutes, calm down.
But now I might get an inkling of what that's like, because our differing tastes are coming face-to-face in the construction of our wedding "must-play" list.
I've agreed to let Blake handle the music, and I'm pretty happy for him to do so given that he seems to have much stronger opinions on what good music is or isn't than I do. I contributed a list of my own must-plays, which I have been slowly paring down (currently at 10 songs).
The thing is, right now, Blake's list has lots of songs that are nice to listen to, but most are really hard to actually dance to. There are also a couple of songs that I don't think actually suit a wedding (i.e., inappropriate messages within the songs) and in my opinion this means they can easily be excluded from a "must-play" list. Which now makes ME the picky one.
I'm sure we'll have this all sorted before the wedding itself, of course, it's just that right now I feel an odd sense of role reversal and I'm having a hard time expressing my concerns about the music without feeling like a huuuuuuge hypocrite. Then again, I'm pretty sleepy right now, so who knows.
I've just started looking into music for the wedding, and while I honestly care more about the music playing during the party, I did have a cursory look at what song could accompany me when I walk down the aisle.
Those who've already been through this process will know this reaction, I think, but: HOLY CRAP THERE IS SO MUCH MUSIC OUT THERE WHERE DO I EVEN START.
I've only been looking at this bit for a couple of days and I found a lot of possibilities. My idea was to come up with a shortlist, re-listen to my shortlist to shorten the shortlist, then run the list past Blake and the A-Team.
Then that moment happens when an idea pops into your head, and all you can think is, "why didn't I think of this before?" And you have your doubts because what if it doesn't sound as good as I remember, or sound as good as it could, or doesn't really match my story, or has some negative connotations, or any other of a laundry list of reasons why a song wouldn't be for me?
Then, thanks to the internet, you find that song and you listen to it. And for lots of reasons impossible to put into words, you burst into tears when you hear it. Because it's perfect, because it's you, because it sounds beautiful.
Needless to say this very sudden and unexpected emotional reaction told me that I had found the perfect song. Knowing me I will keep looking anyway, just to compare, but I'm pretty confident I've found it.