Recent recollections

“I did a wedding this past weekend that was very small.The bride and groom are incredibly shy, and they told me that no one would dance.We came up with all kinds of alternative ideas: I had a pianist perform for the ceremony and cocktail hour and then interspersed with me [DJing] during dinner, and we were going to use him for sing-alongs. We were going to do a trivia game about the bride and groom, and so on.

This past weekend, my boyfriend and I attended his best friend’s casual wedding, and — just like last year, at his brother’s family-only celebration — he was asked to give a toast. Ladies and Gentlemen, my boyfriend is a very, very kind man, but he is really terrible at speaking off-the-cuff.

Before each of these weddings, I had warned him that he would probably be expected to speak, but he felt certain that was off the hook since the events were so low-key… which he probably still believed up until he was handed the microphone.

It seems like there are a million and one blogs (actually, more than 95 million according to Google!) devoted to wedding advice and planning, many of which are written by wedding professionals. When you need advice on how to handle a particular planning problem, wedding pros generally offer the most authoritative suggestions, based on years of experience in the business and their own thorough knowledge of what works and what doesn’t.

“I was definitely surprised when I opened this email to see my wedding story mentioned (2 years after the big day: the Princeton wedding). It was an interesting night to say the least. Big Ric made it all happen – I didn’t have time to get upset. I guess I thought the lights would come on within minutes (but in actuality they did not come on until the next morning).

Next week’s showcases will mark the debut of our newly formed band, Barcelona. Barcelona’s lineup combines talented new musicians with veteran EBE performers; they are guided by bandleader Melissa, a true artist with a great number of theater and  music credits as well as many years of performing with EBE. Come see them perform live on the EBE Showcase Theater stage — their energy is contagious!

Summer is party season, which means that many of us will have the chance to cut a rug at some point in the near future. If you are getting married this summer, you will certainly be spending a fair amount of time on the dance floor — especially if you’ve booked an EBE band or DJ. Regardless of where you twist and shout, you’ll want to do it in comfort and style… and that starts with good footwear. Yes, we’re talking about dancing shoes!

With the economy down, I’ve seen any number of stories and reporter queries about people who barter their for services or items. If bartering works for you, that’s fantastic. But I will tell you, most companies that are larger than a few employees (EBE included) really can’t trade services for non-monetary payment except in certain, very rare circumstances.

Q: I’m getting married at a beautiful ballroom in town, but I’ve always dreamed of a destination wedding. My fiancé gets sick on airplanes, so we decided to do a local wedding. Is there anything we can do to make it feel like a destination wedding without leaving the city?

Q: My friends and I are planning our 10-year college reunion at a swanky ballroom in the city. We want to create favors that are reminiscent of our college years, but that also are classy enough to match such an elegant venue. What do you suggest?

Recently, EBE’s Steve Meranus sat down with Ann Keeler Evans of Examiner.com to discuss some of the ins and outs of finding the right wedding music in the Philadelphia area.