Wedding Planning
"In our life there is a single color, as on an artist's palette, which provides the meaning of life and art.
It is the color of love." ~Marc Chagall
By carefully considering the bridal couple's heritage, family traditions, personal expectations and private dreams, a wedding planner can create a wedding theme that their guests will remember and they will cherish forever. Successful, theme weddings don't just happen; they are carefully planned to the last detail, often including a carefully selected motif in all communications and activities. If you enjoy the ocean and would like to be married on a sandy beach, in an oceanfront house or in a chapel at the beach, visit our Destination Weddings Page for more information about weddings on the beautiful Outer Banks of North Carolina or other destinations.
Typically, SeaSoundStudio Entertainment begins the wedding planning process by asking you about the style and atmosphere you want for your wedding day as well as the budget you wish to allocate to creating the theme. SeaSoundStudio Entertainment then helps you to develop the wedding's theme. The theme will be reflected in the bridal showers, wedding announcements, rehearsal dinner, wedding ceremony, wedding reception and "Thank You" cards. SeaSoundStudio Entertainment will also help you incorporate your theme into the essential elements of your wedding: Marriage Vows; Ceremony Readings; Ceremony Music; Reception Music; Wedding Party Attire; Wedding Program; and Decorations.
Marriage Vows
Although most wedding planning is devoted to other areas, a wedding is ultimately about making a public promise. Each religious faith has wedding traditions and practices, including marriage vows, that have been passed down through generations. The exact phrases vary slightly from location to location and among different officiants. Although most officiants will provide an overview of the entire ceremony based on their experience, you can prepare your own vows as long as they contain the essential commitments.
Although it is very meaningful to repeat the vows that have been used by generations of brides and grooms, preparing your own promises to each other is an emotional, revealing and extremely memorable experience. If you want to write your own vows, start early. Examine traditional religious vows, study poetry, love stories, religious and spiritual texts. SeaSoundStudio Entertainment can provide a starting point, offer suggestions and provide guidance if you need help, particularly if you want to prepare vows that contribute to your wedding's overall theme. Director, Patrice Kaluza, has been providing these services to satisfied bridal couples for more than 25 years.
Ceremony Readings
Readings are usually interspersed throughout the ceremony. If you are planning a religious ceremony, there may be certain limitations on the source of your material. For example, your officiant may provide a list of approved Scriptures from which you may choose. Typically, the Bride and Groom are given considerable latitude in selecting readings that are personally meaningful or that reinforce the wedding's theme. With that flexibility comes the challenge of finding the perfect readings, particularly if the bridal couple are not avid readers.
Director, Patrice Kaluza, has been helping bridal couples identify scripture readings that reflect their feelings about marriage and each other for more than 25 years. Upon request, she will be delighted to assist you in selecting the perfect readings for your special day.
SeaSoundStudio Entertainment can provide you with a list of popular readings and can assist you with selecting readings that reinforce your wedding's theme or your personal feelings about the day. For example, you may want to consider the following ideas: Spiritual passages meaningful in your religion; Song lyrics that resonate with your dreams, A favorite poem or prose of a deceased or absent parent you wish to honor; Excerpts from an old letter; or Materials written during the historical period upon which your wedding theme is based.
Ceremony Music
Music that reflects the theme of your wedding and that appeals to the various generations and cultural backgrounds of your guests is an essential element of your wedding planning. The music you choose guides your guests through the ceremony, integrates your wedding's theme, and expresses your perspective, whether it's religious, cultural or personal. If you are planning a religious ceremony, there may be guidelines or restrictions on the music you can play during the ceremony. SeaSoundStudio Entertainment can coordinate with you and the officiant of your wedding to select music that is personally meaningful and reinforces your wedding's theme while satisfying any constraints imposed by the officiant or the venue.
SeaSoundStudio Entertainment can advise you of which combination of musical instruments would best serve your needs--organ, piano, synthesizer, harp, guitar, string bass, flute, violin, string ensemble, trumpet, brass ensemble, saxophone, clarinet, percussion and other instruments. SeaSoundStudio Entertainment can recommend professional musical groups with the required combination of instruments that have experience playing for wedding ceremonies. After you make your selection, SeaSoundStudio Entertainment can contract with those musicians to perform at your wedding ceremony and communicate your wishes so that you can concentrate on other important wedding plans, knowing the music will be professionally managed.
For a description of the five elements in a traditional wedding ceremony and the music that is appropriate during each time, visit our Ceremony Music Page. To reinforce the style of your wedding and the atmosphere you desire, visit the various artist pages on our site to audition musicians and bands that perform music in the following genres: Classical Music, Country & Bluegrass Music, DJs, Ethnic Music, Jazz & Swing Music, and Rock & Pop Music.
Essential to reinforcing your wedding's theme are the songs to set the mood during cocktails, to encourage conversation while dining, and to stimulate dancing after dinner. SeaSoundStudio Entertainment can handle these elements of your music planning after discussing with you the topics discussed on the Wedding Music Planning page.
The tone you set with music is one of the best ways to personalize your wedding reception, whether the music is provided by a live band, a DJ or both. For a description of the various events during a typical wedding reception and the music that is appropriate for each, visit our Reception Music Page.
Wedding Party Attire
Attire of the wedding party is an important element of your wedding's theme much as the costumes of a Broadway Musical contribute to the quality of the performance. The color of the bridal party's attire, the decorations and flowers all play an important role in reinforcing the theme of your wedding.
Comfort and convenience are additional factors with which you must be concerned, particularly if you are planning a destination wedding. SeaSoundStudio Entertainment can assist you in making the ideal selections for your special day and can provide you with contact information of vendors that have reliably satisfied brides in the past.
Many wedding couples overlook the value of creating a Wedding Program memorializing their wedding ceremony. The Wedding Program keeps your guests informed during the ceremony by describing each of the elements of your ceremony, including the venue, parts of the ceremony, participants in the ceremony, readings, music and even the lyrics of special songs you have selected. If you have written your own vows, they can also be included in the Wedding Program--all of the information necessary to remember the most important event of your special day in one program that can be preserved forever.
If SeaSoundStudio Entertainment has helped you to plan the music for your wedding, we can save you valuable time by preparing and printing the Wedding Programs with changes permitted up until the day before the wedding. You need not coordinate with yet one more vendor--a printer who knows little about your wedding who requires you to complete more lengthy forms. By using SeaSoundStudio Entertainment, you only need to review the final proof of the Wedding Program before it is printed. Of course, the Wedding Program can be designed to reinforce the theme of your wedding if you request. There are many formats, paper styles and colors from which to choose.
The decorations you choose for your wedding venue or reception hall will be the most visible elements of your wedding's theme. SeaSoundStudio Entertainment can assist you in bringing your wedding's theme to life by designing a creative decor to match the color scheme of your wedding attire, assisting in the selection of hall decorations, and producing customized art for table settings.
At your request, SeaSoundStudio Entertainment can design and provide unique table centerpieces that reinforce your wedding's theme without the use of flowers thereby providing lasting mementoes for your guests at a fraction of the cost of short-lived flowers. Through a combination of affordable decor and live music, SeaSoundStudio Entertainment can help you to create a stunning reception that all will remember while minimizing the cost of the reception.