I wanted to elope. I know myself and know that I do not take on a task without completing it to the best of my ability, which oftentimes includes become obsessive about said task. I knew that if I were to plan a wedding it would be a hectic engagement year. Instead of a big wedding with beautiful floral arrangements and photojournalistic photography equivalent to the cost of a small luxury vehicle, I told myself that I wanted to buy a bigger apartment back in Manhattan whenever we moved back. But when I really think about it, I realize that subconsciously the actual reason I wanted to elope was because I was afraid that I would become a crazed Bridezilla. I knew that there were only two options for me: eloping or a massive party. And since we didn't elope, here we are planning an outrageous fête. But I have to admit, it is one that I'm starting to get pretty excited about!!
What have I learned so far about wedding planning? My first instinct were right; it is a war. A war against the wedding planning industry. It is a war full of small battles and just when we round one corner and see the silver lining or accept a decision for what it is, there is another battle waiting for us behind the next door. Luckily, mid-2010 the wedding coordinator I used to work for in LA and I got back in touch, and I have now hired a wedding coordinating coach/god/lifesaver/brainstorming guru/etc etc etc, to keep me from losing my marbles. I have started referring to her as General Ryan because she is helping me win this war on a daily basis and has kept me positive by reminding me that once the first key decisions are made (venue/date, music, photographer, florist), the rest is just all fun.
Our first battle: picking a date and venue. Jay and I initially wanted a June wedding (best weather in Chi-town), but every weekend in June at our top three venues in Chicago were booked. And better yet, they were booked every Saturday for 18 months. And wait there is more: some were booked by women who were not even engaged yet. That is a topic so sad I do not wish to discuss it, so I'll move on and mention that the occasional weekends that were not booked were set to be swarming with conventions whose attendees had already booked every hotel room in the city. Every room. We made calls to confirm this (and by "we" I mean General Ryan saved us by taking on this task since the time zones made it impossible to get anyone on the phone during my waking hours). So we resorted to having a wedding in July. It would be hot, but the silver lining was that it was unlikely to be too wet and a sunny summer day in Chicago is one of the best experiences in the world!!
Battle #2: deciding between DJ and Band, and then selecting one. There was not really much of a decision to be made as we both knew that the dance mixes we wanted to hear could only be provided by a DJ. We love our hip-hop music, but also are children of the 80's, 90's, and Boy Bands (ok that one is more me than Jay). DJ vs Band? DJ - Check!
Shortly after we got engaged, Jay announced to me that he wanted to be involved in the entire wedding planning process, but wanted full decision-making control over music and alcohol. These are two tasks I was happy to pawn off to him (sucker!), and he got cracking on his research almost immediately. For Jay, there was not much research to be done to create a DJ shortlist. When it comes to music he knows what he likes, knows that (luckily) my taste is 95% the same as his, and he knew exactly where to find DJs to meet our criteria.
The first addition to our shortlist was a DJ that he hired for a birthday party back in New York five years ago. At that time, the DJ #1 was still a local Lower East Side guy who was excellent, but up-and-coming and slightly unknown. We thought it would be pretty easy to hunt him down and that his schedule would be fairly available for 2012, but apparently he had been very busy during the past five years! Since Jay last saw him he has moved to LA, worked with Snoop and Akon, and fully blown up. After speaking with him Jay learned that DJ #1 was no small potato anymore and that hiring him would bring on a lot of additional issues (scheduling conflicts, financials, etc.).
DJ #2 was a local nightclub DJ in Chicago. He came recommended by friends who do events and came highly recommended at that. His style is great for a massive party, but we were concerned that his wedding skills may be lacking. While we did not want our wedding music to replicate that of Adam Sandler in The Wedding Singer, we also wanted to make sure that we were not offending some of our older guests with choice lyrics or too much heavy bass.
In yet another wedding-saving move, General Ryan, made a few suggestions and presented us with DJ #3, or dubgypsy as he is more commonly known in LA. DJ #3 is a talented guy who can mix like the masters yet also understands the various energy levels required when creating a wedding playlist. And the best part: he used to live in Chicago himself!! We checked out his resume and not only has he received a lot of repeat business from happy customers and the odd celebrity, but he also has worked multiple Mad Men wrap parties - right up our alley. Since music is our second most important decision after venue, we did not make this decision lightly and decided to move full steam ahead with Patrick Belton, aka DJ #3.
Check out his mixtapes at the link below. You can even download them and put them on your iPod as new workout jams!
Patrick will work with us to create a custom playlist for our event and we are excited to have his help in setting the Mad Men mood for our soiree. This battle was won by Team Masghati/Perlmutter.
Next up: Photographer...
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