Ben Folds plays my wedding! (3 months early)

Rebecca and I went to a Ben Folds concert on Wednesday night here in LA. It was AWESOME. We shouted "Temple of Groom" several times, but I don't think Ben heard us. It was such a fun show.

Even though for the first part of the show a 6'5" guy decided to barrel through the crowd and camp out nearly in front of us, we had a blast. Look, total side note to that guy, I KNOW that it's not your fault you're so damn tall. We get it... you were born that way. But at least realize that if you're that effing tall, people are going to get a little upset when you push your way to the middle of a general admission show. The 5'4" girl next to me had a right to say something nasty to you because you pushed her out of the way so you could stand in front of her while your drunk girlfriend didn't even watch the show. She literally had her back to the show the entire time. You have a right to stand where you want, but at least get to the show a bit earlier so the shorter people can plan accordingly. And while I'm at it (sorry for the rant guys)... a quick shout out to the guy that pretends he spots a friend towards the front of the venue so he can push his way forward. Your acting is going to have to get a little better than that. We knew there was no "Adrienne!" 30 feet in front of us. It's a great idea though, people were parting left and right, but try to end up in a spot that is physically capable of human occupancy. Don't wedge yourself in between two people less than a foot apart. You seemed like a pretty good guy but I didn't love the taste of your shampoo!

ANYWAY... It's always great to see a Ben Folds show. If we didn't have such a great DJ booked for our wedding, then I probably would have printed Temple of Groom cards to hand out at the show, and would have thought out some way to let Ben know about the campaign I launched a few months ago. He may not be at our wedding, but his music will be there at some point.

Well, to wrap things up, at the end of the night Ben took a picture of the audience so he could tweet it later... check it out!!!!!!!!!!

Click the pic to enlarge!

It's fate. Another Ben Folds post.

I was putzing around the internet today, and I came across this video.


Um, Ben doesn't even have to learn Hava Nagilah for the wedding. Now I'm determined this is fate.

Anyone have any great ideas on how to take this campaign viral? Videos? Song parodies? Little people punching me in the nuts as I beg on webcam? I'll listen to just about every idea you've got!

Dear Ben: Save our Wedding!

I'm about to wrap up the 1st month of the TOG + Ben Folds wedding campaign. And while I haven't heard from Ben, don't be confused, I'm not quite ready to pack up and call it a day at campaign headquarters. Even though I was quite certain that a quirky photoshop and a heartfelt letter was enough to seal the deal, I'm quickly realizing that good things come to those that show great persistence. Nothing ever comes easy, and the past month has shown me that the saying rings true when trying to book super famous mega successful musicians. Who would have thought?

So, in another attempt to reach out to Ben, I'm posting my second letter right here on this post. As always, I'm also reaching out to you, Internet, to work your magical ways of getting this to Ben. Do what you do. You brought us Susan Boyle, Tay Zonday, piano cat.... there's no reason you can't bring us Ben Folds.

Dear Ben,
Hey man, it's Dave again. I think that I may have just missed a call from you. I just totally realized that my answering machine is out of tape. The problem is now they don't really make the message machines that take tape anymore, so it's a lot harder to replace the tapes than you would think and then figuring out how to hook the entire contraption up to an iphone, it's just difficult... anyway - you obviously didn't come here to hear about my 15 year old answering machine technology.

I'm going to get serious for a second, I need you to save our wedding. Last week we sat down and tried to financially figure out a lot in regards to our wedding. After crunching numbers for hours, I just don't see a bright future for our wedding reception music. We want a band, but it's just not looking like it'll ever happen. Then there's no dancing at our wedding, so nobody has fun, and I feel terrible. It's a wedding day disaster.

Remember way back when you were getting your starts and you would play small bars and venues like that, but it was some of the most fun you had. I imagine that would be almost identical to our wedding. The only difference is instead of an unappreciative smelly bar owner sending you on your way at night, you'd have nearly 80 wedding guests showering you with love, and whatever catered dessert we decide to have (we aren't having wedding cake... we just think there are other options we'd like more). This will be one of those feel good moments of your life where you go home happy and realize that you made a difference in 2 people's lives that will last forever. This could be part of your legacy. People will talk about this forever.

I guess that's all for now. As always, feel free to email me if you've got any questions OR if you have any dietary restrictions let us know and we'll make sure our venue makes something you can eat. We'll iron out all the details later.

Talk to you soon hopefully!,
Dave

PS. We have a save-the-date we'd love to send you... let me know where to send it, and I'll get it in the mail!

Ben Folds + Our Wedding = My Impossible Campaign

As of right now, I give myself an F.... maybe a D minus for effort.... I haven't booked a musical act for the wedding. It's the ONE task that men across the globe want to help wedding plan. Sure, I've had a lot of great ideas, but I haven't pulled the trigger.

It's late at night and I'm in bed thinking what music I want at my wedding. A name blazes through my head so fast it's like a big fast name that's on fire, and it's evidently all I can think about because I couldn't even come up with a good metaphor for something that's fast and blazes! The name is Ben Folds. I know it's impossible and it will never happen. So I roll over and wake up Rebecca to try to get her opinion. It's absolutely no help that she wakes up and groggily says she wants Ben Folds too. So instead of sleeping, I spend hours trying to figure out where I can find an affordable band to replicate that sound. The problem is, it can't be done. Such a band does not exist.

So I'm coming to you internet. As cliche as it sounds, stranger things have happened. Maybe one day Ben Folds will get bored and google his own name. Maybe I'll be somewhere on that list and he'll click. Let's somehow get my plea to him. I'm sick of wasting my time trying to figure out what I can find to replace Ben... now I'm onto wasting my time trying to reach out to him. Today I launch my campaign to get Ben Folds perform at my wedding reception. With your help, let's make this impossible task happen! If you run a site, post a link! Help a brother out! The campaign begins today!

TEMPLE OF GROOM
OPERATION: GET BEN FOLDS TO PLAY OUR WEDDING
DAY ONE

Task 1: Reach out to Internet
Task 2: Letter to Ben Folds (see below)

Dear Ben,
Hey dude, what's up? Did you see the series finale of "Monk?" I don't really watch that show, but I think it was pretty good. Cool, cool....So look, obviously you know I didn't come here to talk about "Monk" and I know what you're thinking "Dave only writes to me when he wants something." Look, you're not completely wrong. I feel terrible about it. But now I'm swallowing my pride because I'd be forever grateful if you could just do me this one solid: play at our wedding in August. Before you scoff, and turn away, I do want to say that you kind of did this to yourself man. You're too good. You've made it impossible to like any other music. Nothing will do.

I don't want to bore you with details about Rebecca and me, but you'd really like us. We're fun, and we're going to have a great wedding. The food should be awesome, and you're totally welcomed to eat with us. We've been fans of yours for a very long time. I've loved your music for the last 12 years when I first heard you (I was living in Charlotte at the time). We're definitely fans, but we're not the type you have to be afraid of (we've never thought about wearing your skin to see if it makes us better at the piano!). BUT, we are the type of fan that thought that your concert was the best way to spend our 3 year anniversary last year (@ the Wiltern).

On TV, I just watched Oprah surprise her best friend Gayle by having Josh Groban serenade her at work. I think you're easily 10x cooler than Josh Groban. I'm not saying that we're any better than Gayle, but between you and me...well, I just think you'd have a better time at our wedding than hanging with Gayle (although I hear that she makes an awesome spinach and artichoke dip). You seem like someone that would want to make a wedding on a tight budget the event of a lifetime because it would mean so much to the couple. I don't know how true this is, but years ago a friend of mine that went to UNC claimed he saw you talking to a homeless man for over an hour. This proves that you're awesome and caring. This is why I think I have a chance, albeit a 0.04% chance.

Alright, I don't want this to get too beggy, or too long so I guess I'll wrap this up. If you've got any questions, please don't hesitate to write. But before I go, just think about all the website hits you're gonna get from people that read my website. I can guarantee probably about 20-30 a day....a DAY. You'll blow up. Lastly, let me say that Rebecca and I love you and we hope your family is well and having a great holiday season.

Hit me back whenever you get a chance,
Dave

PS. If it makes a difference I can promise that you won't have to play "Rock this bitch" at the wedding!