Posts Tagged ‘Reception’

Father & Daughter First Dance Songs

One of the most common questions we hear from Michiana Brides is “what do we dance to at the reception”? This always seems to be followed with “what are the popular Father & Daughter songs”? Well at Michiana Weddings we are here to help with your wedding planning, so we have compiled a list of the most popular Father & Daughter Dance songs out there. We have also linked them to, when possible, Amazon.com where you can listen to a short excerpt of the song and also purchase it!

Song Artist Category
A Whole New World Peabo Bryson Show Tune
A Wink And A Smile Harry Connick Jr Adult Contemporary
Beautiful In My Eyes Joshua Kadison Pop
Because You Loved Me Celine Dion Pop
Butterfly Kisses Bob Carlisle Christian
Daddy’s Hands Holly Dunn Country
Daddy’s Little Girl AL Martino Standards
Dance With My Father Luther VanDross R&B / Soul
Have I Told You Lately That I Love You Van Morrison Pop
Have I Told You Lately Rod Stewart Pop
Hero Mariah Carey Pop
I Loved Her First Heartland Country
I’ll Stand By You The Pretenders Pop / Rock
In My Daughter’s Eyes Martina McBride Country
In My Life The Beatles Oldies
My Father’s Eyes Amy Grant Chrstian
My Girl The Temptations Mowtown
My Little Girl Tim McGraw Country
My Wish Rascal Flats Country
Sunrise, Sunset Fiddler On The Roof Showtune
The Way You Look Tonight Frank Sinatra Standard
Unforgettable Nat & Natlie King Cole Standard
Wind Beneath My Wings Bette Midler Pop
You Raise Me Up Josh Groban Pop

Wedding Inspiration Gillespie Center

I was surfing Facebook wedding sites the other day when a picture on a company page had me going… WHAT? Something bothered me about the picture, it was the Gillespie Center, the decorations were obviously poorly styled after another wedding I had seen there but something wasn’t quite right. Well after a few days of looking I finally found the spectacular original wedding, which the picture on FACEBOOK was a poor knock off.

So Michiana brides, what the heck, let’s revisit for some real inspiration the wedding of Christine & Brian. The ceremony was at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart on Notre Dame with the reception following at the Hilton Garden Inn Gillespie Center, in South Bend.
Wedding planning and atmosphere design by Cynthia Basker of Celebrated Events.
Atmosphere decorations and Floral by Michaelangelos The Event Company.




No I’m not going to point out who is the poor imitator, if you run across the picture you will know. If you are looking for something like this gorgeous decorating of the Gillespie Center, then I recommend contacting the original creators of this spectacular setting. Accept no imitations!

Wedding Inspiration From Celebrated Events

The beauty of a wedding planned by Cynthia Basker at Celebrated Events is unmatched in the Michiana area! Here are some pictures for wedding inspiration from Celebrated Events blog. Tina & James wedding took place at the Notre Dame Basilica of the Sacred Hear with the reception following at the Palais Royale in downtown South Bend. See more inspiration from Tina & James’ wedding at Celebrated Events!

Ceremony site: Basilica of the Sacred Heart, University of Notre Dame

Reception site: Palais Royale Ballroom, South Bend, IN

Floral/Decor: MichaelAngelos

Photography: Adam Novak Photography

Event Design & Coordination, Specialty Rentals: Celebrated Events

Paperie: Cloud Nine Invitation Design

New Event Facility in Michiana!

A couple days ago, I teased about a new event facility on the campus of Notre Dame. Well yndi Basker from Celebrated Events has a new blog entry today about Club Naimoli on the Notre Dame Campus in the JAYCC. Club Naimoli is a new event facility for receptions,  rehearsal dinners, and is absolutely gorgeous with the Notre Dame feel. Check out all about her tour of the new facility at her blog.  Celebrated Events

New Reception Facilities at Notre Dame?

We are hearing that Notre Dame is opening a new area for hosting receptions on campus! Just rumors right now but as soon as we know something we will let you know!

New Reception Venue by Notre Dame?

Basilica_of_Notre_DameIf you are thinking about getting married during 2012 or after there may be a new reception hall for you to choose from! According to Cynthia Basker of Celebrated Events, (BTW the best wedding coordinator in Michiana) at least 2 hotels opening in the Eddy Steet Commons, next to Notre Dame University. One of those hotels is planned to be a full service Marriott with a grand ballroom! So Michiana will have another new reception venue to host your wedding days at. The added bonus is it is within walking range of the Basilica of the Sacred Heart! So I expect it will be especially popular for the brides planning a Notre Dame Wedding. Read all about the new hotels here.

The Key To A Successful Wedding Reception

The Key To A Really Successful Wedding Reception

With the summer passing into memory, in South Bend / Michiana, I thought I would share with you one of the things I have noticed attending weddings this year. If the reception is a full blown party with dancing, the success of the dancing portion is up to the bride and the groom. As with any function, the guests of honor and the hosts set the tone for any function, but most especially the dancing at a reception. Do not get me wrong, the quality of the entertainment is as important and by some degree more important because if you hire the wrong DJ, band or orchestra for your reception, then there will be nothing you can do to salvage the evening.

But if you have chosen the right entertainment that plays the music that clicks with your guests and you, then how much of a success the reception is, is up to you. By this I mean that if you as the host/guests of honor/bride and groom do not get up and dance every so often, then the reception will be far less than it could be. The most successful wedding receptions I witnessed this past summer were the ones where the bride and groom nearly lived on the dance floor for three or four hours. The host/guests of honor/bride and groom set the tone that their guests will follow. If the entertainment is good there will be dancing, but not nearly as much or as fun as when the bride and groom are participating on a regular basis. If you are outside smoking or do nothing but talking to people around the room then that is what your guests will do. If you are up on the dance floor on a regular basis then your guests will follow you onto the dance floor.

So even if you think you have two left feet, if you are having a band/orchestra/DJ for your wedding reception, then get up on the dance floor and have fun! Your guests will do the same and you party will be all the success that you dreamed it would be!

-Amy

New Wedding Reception Venue!

The Fleur de Lis Ballroom

This weekend we tried to get the website update with the new listing requests that have come in over the summer. I was very surprised when I encountered an unknown Hilton Ballroom listing for Indiana… Where did South Bend have a Hilton hotel and ballroom?

Ladies and gentlemen a little snooping and it appears that opening in 2008 on the St Mary’s campus next to the Inn at Saint Marys will be a new 700 person capacity ballroom for your weddings and social events. If I’m right the only facility larger than this one will be the Century Center!

According to the Hilton Garden Inn  website the facility will be called the Fleur de Lis Ballroom. Opening date is not listed. While I love Palais Royale, Windsor Park and Century Center, this market needs a high end facility that rivals what you find in Chicago or New York. Hopefully this one will meet the need.

You can find their listing on our Banquet Halls page!

-Amy

Book Review: The Best Wedding Reception… Ever

We have been promoting this book on the site since it initially came out a few months ago, I finally got the time to sit down and write this review. So…

How do you plan the best wedding reception ever? Peter Merry of Merry Weddings has set out to give you, the brides planning advice to accomplish exactly that with the Best Wedding Reception… Ever! .

‘Creating a fun, unique, and memorable wedding reception can be very similar to creating a blockbuster movie.’ – The Best Wedding Reception.. Ever!

Reading through the book’s 193 pages you quickly come to realize two things: One this book is about more than just the wedding reception, it covers pre planning and some aspects of the wedding

ceremony are brieflytouched on. Two, it is his opinion that the key to a successful wedding reception lies almost exclusively in the hands of the reception entertainment and/or master of ceremonies.
The book is broken down into 3 distinct sections.
1 Beginning Your Production
2 Creating Your Timeline
3 Adding Your Personal Style

’The top three aspects of a successful reception are the location, the photographer and the entertainment.’ – The Best Wedding Reception.. Ever!

For Peter, the perfect reception doesn’t start at the reception but months or years before you even arrive, with the choosing of your dates and times, venues and vendors. The impact of which day of the week you have your wedding on is analyzed and broken down to the affect it will have on the fun. The various types of vendors and services are reviewed as to the effect their services will have on your wedding. Unlike some wedding planning books, Peter Merry does not tell the reader what they should do but analyzes their good points and their bad points. Peter promotes some of the best advice there is, make sure all your vendors are team players working for a common goal, the bride and groom.

Section two is where the fun reading began, once again laying out the ground work of pros and cons for most decisions Peter begins interweaving personal stories that he has experienced as a disc jockey and tales from other wedding vendors. Here he talks about traditions and new twists on the old tradition. Section two is a breakdown of how most weddings flow, most especially the reception.

Section three is the idea section. Planning and analyzing is left behind as nothing but new and interesting ideas are presented for events at the wedding and the reception, mixed with real life ante dotes from brides & grooms and wedding vendors. This is a great section if you are one of those looking for new ideas or different twists on the same idea to share with your clients. Here you will learn about the ‘the cake smash with a sneak attack’, ‘the surprise right bearer’, ‘multi-media toasts (a real new one for me and something that may be turned into a profitable offering for enterprising videographers) and one of my favorites ‘the Star Trek garter removal’.

“The Best Wedding Reception… Ever!” was a pleasant surprise. A well written breakdown and analyst of what makes a wedding and reception run smoothly and brings the fun out. It is chock full of good information without being bossy for any bride, groom and even wedding vendor, laying out the pros and cons of many wedding planning decisions.

I highly recommend if you are planning a wedding reception to purchase a copy of the Best Wedding Reception… Ever! By Peter Merry!