The Sound Of Bagpipes Revisited

In this post from a while ago here, I talked about how we decided we wanted a bagpiper for our ceremony and found one in the shape of a 10 year old boy, he will be 11 in a week.

Well, last night we had the pleasure of going over and listening to him play. It. Was. AWESOME! He is so good! We were both impressed and got goosebumps. He played a whole array of songs for us. Being that we didn't have a clue about songs or what we wanted, we let him do his thing. After about a half an hour of playing we picked the songs for the ceremony.

He will arrive about a half an hour before the ceremony and play outside while everyone is entering. The prelude music will be Scotland the Brave, Roman Tree, and Wings.

For when I walk down the aisle we narrowed it down to Blue Bells or the traditional Bridal Song. They were both good it was hard to decide. Listen for yourself.

"Blue Bells"

"Bridal Song"

I think in the end we will pick the Bridal Song, for a little bit of tradition, but will have him slow it down a little.

There will be two times during the ceremony that he will also play. Those songs will be Sleeping Tune, and our favorite, Marie's Wedding.

Then the recessional will be Bonnie Dundee and Steamboat.

We are so happy to present some of our heritage through our ceremony. I think the bagpipes will be a welcomed treat for everyone and will be something people have not experienced that often.

Are you straying away from an organ for a church wedding?

Michael Buble, I Heart You!

Seriously, how can you resist him?

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LOVE! I don't know where this fascination came from? I think it started when I was living in a small fishing village in Italy for 3 months and they loved him over there. So I would constantly hear his vocal cords echoing throughout the town.

On top of that, I have always found a big place in my heart for old, soulful music. My parents never listened to the works of the Rat Pack, Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, and the rest, but I fell hard for it all! Maybe because he reminds me so much of that old music. Whatever it is, I would be completely giddy if all we played at the wedding reception was Buble! But.....that won't happen, I don't think our guests are in love with him like I am.

His music will definitely be incorporated into cocktail hour. And I know where else he can be found....our last dance song! And I bet you will never guess the title...."Save The Last Dance For Me."I know, you would have never guessed. We wanted something slow to end the night, but not something so slow that everyone was like...."Oh...ok...that's it." We want them to still be in that "let's party" sprit, but at the same time putting an end to our gorgeous reception. This song just has that emotion.

Has anyone else been so drawn to a certain song that you have to use it?

The Book of Love

I have a mild obsession with the show Scrubs. I say have because even though they are no longer making shows I watch all the re runs constantly and we have all the seasons on dvd.

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Like any other good Scrubs fan, the final episode of Season 8 killed me. You see JD walking out of the hospital and reminiscing about his life. Then this super wonderful, sad song plays and you see a slideshow of what JD thinks the future will hold.

That song is Peter Gabriel's "Book of Love." And yes, I bawled throughout the entire thing! Even now, if it comes up on my Pandora playlist, I get a little misty.

I dare you to watch it and not get emotional!

So why am I talking about this song? Well, we already have our first dance song picked out, but I definitely want to play this at some point in the reception. Maybe even dedicate it to my brand, spanking, new husband.

Does anyone else love this song as much as me?

The Sound of Bagpipes

Although an organist is the traditional instrument of choice at weddings. The FI and I wanted to do something a little different that incorporated our heritage. My aunt had brought up the fact that she knew people that played the bagpipes, and it would be something different to the bring to the wedding. I loved the idea! A couple of weeks later I watched my brother graduate from SUNY Oneonta where everyone was lead in by a local bagpipe group with pipes and drums, the sound gave me chills and I knew that that sound was what we needed at the ceremony.

So we have decided to have a piper at the ceremony who will not only play the processional and when we are leaving the church, but will play the entire ceremony! How can you not love a kilt at the wedding anyway?

After contacting a handful of different groups and organizations in the area it didn't look too promising. Because pipers main goals are to compete, they couldn't give me a definite answer, because they would choose a competition over a wedding. So they told me to look elsewhere or wait until April to see if anyone was available.

Well I am a closet OCD, and can not put something off for that long. As luck would have it, an article was in the paper in December about a local boy who just won a bagpiping competition. Reading more into the article I realized that this boy was the son of my old highschool principal, who I am actually on good terms with. I contacted him and asked him if Misha would want to/be able to play the pipes at our ceremony in July? He wrote back within minutes saying that he would love to and would even come to the rehearsal to practice and make sure everything was just right. 

I couldn't believe it! I was ecstatic and still am actually! He's young (like 10 years old young!) but you should hear him play, it gives me chills! And here is our little bagpiper! 

Did anyone else have their heart set on something they didn't think was going to work out?