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!

We have a photographer!!!!

Last week we booked an awesome duo that will shoot our wedding! I'd love to introduce you to Brian Callaway and his wife/shooting partner Allison! Together the two of them make up CallawayGable Photography.

Rebecca and I are in love with them, and their work. The pictures they take are beautiful, artistic, and memorable. Allison is a former high-fashion model and utilizes the experience she has by knowing how to pose the bride and groom. She knows all the best angles. What I've learned by looking at some people's photography, even if you're looking for that "photo journalistic" style - if the photographer is shooting you from the wrong angles or you're recreating a moment posed in the wrong angle, the picture is useless. Brian has such a great eye and looks to capture as many senses in each photograph as he can. The dude even makes iphone pictures look incredible.

Best of all, the two of them couldn't be nicer! I'm so excited about having them shoot our wedding. I feel comfortable with them, and even though I've only known them for a little more than a month - I feel like they're friends! I trust them, which is so great. One thing I definitely don't have to worry about on the day of the wedding (ie "did the photographers get that?! UGH!)

Check out some of their pictures. I'll post some engagement session photos whenever we get them taken. Can't wait to have these two photograph us!

(I mean REALLY?!? look how awesome that posed photograph looks w/ the wedding party! I don't love traditional staged photographs, but I'm dying to have one of these a la a Vogue magazine picture, or something you see on a billboard advertising Gossip Girl!)

Only 10 more followers...

...and I post the first in a series of embarrassing pics and videos of myself.

Every 50 followers I'll post something I've kept hidden away for years!

Note: My parents just told me about footage they have of me doing stand up at the age of 6. It includes impressions of Alf, Robin Leach, and Pee-Wee Herman. This is not off limits.

Asking the guys to join the party.

I have a question for anyone out there with answers: Is there a non-cheesy way of asking a friend to partake in your wedding?

I've been sitting staring at a blank unwritten email for the last few days trying to craft a letter to a few friends about the wedding. There is absolutely no way to do this that doesn't sound like I want to make love to each and every one of them. Funny thing is that I don't even want them to be in the wedding (we're not having a big wedding party) I just want them to hang out with me during the day of, get ready with me, be ushers at the wedding, and take a few photos with me.

I'm getting married in August, so is it too soon to send out this email? I'm afraid that it's going to launch us into a thread of making-fun-of-me emails with speeds Nigerian spammers would be envious of. (Which reminds me, before I send out this email to my guy friends I need to claim money that an unknown relative left me in Nigeria, I'm apparently the only heir to the millions.)

Is this something I shouldn't even ask over email? Do guys actually pick up the phone and have a heart to heart with someone before asking him to be in the wedding? That sounds worse than the email! Do I need to schedule something kind of overly masculine with them and sneak the question in somehow? For instance maybe I should pull a belt off my car's engine, have a friend over to fix it, and then be like "Dude, this fan belt is like insane. We should hang out on my wedding day." This is almost WORSE that I'm not asking them to be in the wedding, that would be a nice honor... instead I'm asking my friends to hang out with me and take pictures with me so I can verify I do, in fact, know people and have friends.

Help.

Ten Thousand Only exclusive interview!

Days after I got engaged I found a blog that opened my wedding eyes. It not only got me more excited to plan my wedding, but it got me in the blogging mood. The blog is called "Ten Thousand Only" and it followed one girl from pre-engagement to present day (post wedding). It was so fun to read about a fellow Angelino on a tight budget ($10,000 - obviously) who wanted to throw a fun party. In a way, I loved it because I felt like she did a lot of the leg work for our wedding planning. I already knew the spots that were going to be too expensive, and she's given us ideas on where to cut corners. All that being said, I'm a fan and I was thrilled to score an interview with her and thought I would share it with you guys.

- Why did you start your blog?

I had been reading a few wedding blogs as part of a long list of daily detractors. i realized that there were weddings i liked reading about and ones that turned me off. i gave myself a dream budget* and thought it through. if i researched as much as the ladies on these blogs, could i do it? could i possibly throw a $10,000 wedding? a $10,000 wedding i would l-o-v-e? could i would i?

- I've already purchased my Gocco, and foresee a lot of DIY projects on my horizon to help cut costs, what were your DIY successes? Was there a project that you tried and wished you just spent the money to have someone else do it (aka a DIY disaster?). I really hope it wasn't the Gocco.

can i just tell you how much i LOVE the gocco? i love it. i don't know how to do anything fancy with it. but i'm a whiz at the basics. there's something about printing your own stuff that makes you feel like the craftiest craftmaster on the planet. when you're clearly not.
i've gocco'd invites, thank you cards, note cards, paper, anything i can get my hands on, etc...and i haven't come across a project i've regretted yet. and now i've just jinxed myself.

- How active was your fiance (the groom)? Did he help you plan?

he wasn't the driver, really ever, during the planning process because i'm the one who'd been researching all this wedding stuff for a year before we even got engaged. he'd been following the blog so he kind of knew where it was all headed. i think he sort of took a step back to let me just do my thing. and when i needed his help, he was right there. it worked for us.

- What decisions, if any, did he make? Was there anything that he wanted to take charge of in planning?

there wasn't a project he wanted to own. we kind of just did things together, made decisions together. neither of us was ever staunchly against what the other person wanted. lucky, huh.

- What's the best advice you could give an engaged couple about to have a wedding on a tight budget? How about a couple living in LA looking to have an LA wedding?

to the engaged couple on a tight budget: be flexible.
to the LA couple looking to have an LA wedding: be flexible.
one of the dumbest/smartest things i learned was that...you can't have a $50,000 wedding on a $10,000 budget. and yes, i had to learn that.

- What is your favorite time travel device (ie the Delorean, the glowing spinning time warp wall, the giant old timey metal contraption that spins till it disappears, etc)?

hiro isn't a time travel device but he's the master of time and space. so...hiro.

- Now, if you were to use that time travel device to go back in time and change one thing about your wedding, what would it be?

i wouldn't change any aspect of the wedding itself. but there are some details that were overlooked that i do regret. first, i would confirm the ceremony program with our officiant to make sure that we were on the same page (we so weren't). second, i would make sure we formally thanked all of our guests (we got caught up in the frenzy and didn't make the announcement we wanted) and went around to greet each of them (we only got to half of our guests. double argh). but, i couldn't help the logistics that got swept out of my control. that's just the way it is. everyone says the time is short and it totally is...and i absolutely couldn't wrap myself around the fronts and ends of everything that was happening. plus i was trying my best to just soak it all in. so...i was kind of busy.

- What's the best thing that's come from your blogging?

what a loaded question. a million things.
there were a lot of times while i was planning when i felt cautious, worried, anxious. if i do this, what will people think. if i don't do that, what will people say. over and over and over again.
and what TTO offered was some of the most sane, wise, encouraging advice through readers and fellow bloggers. it was pretty amazing. i mean, i wasn't an experienced or inspirational blogger of any kind...i was just a stranger who jumped in and started blogging blindly and anonymously without knowing much about anything.

but in the end, the blog was a major influence on how our wedding turned out. and we were so effing happy. and in the best possible way.

Some great pictures from Ten Thousand Only's wedding!
pictures taken by Max Wanger.