Taylor is engaged!
Raise your hand if you're excited about America's royal wedding coming up! (Eeek!)
One thing about Taylor, the girl can write a romantic, lovey-dovey song. We frequently play Taylor Swift songs at weddings for just that reason! Not only are they sweet songs, but they usually translate really well to strings. (Dare I say, they might sound even better on strings! Not that I'm biased, haha) Below are my personal favorite Taylor Swift songs for weddings! This is not an exhaustive list, of course. She's got a huge library of music! But these are the best-of-the-best in my opinion. #1: Wildest Dreams
This is an EASY #1 pick for me. I just never get tired of playing this song! It's fun yet romantic, it's got some really dice dynamic peaks and valleys, plus it's really catchy! I will never say no to playing this song. Click below to hear our version!
#2: Invisible String
#2 might be an unexpected choice, but I LOVE "Invisible String." It's got some really fun parts to play, and I also love the idea behind the lyrics--that we are connected to the people we love by an invisible string. Time can pass, we can be in different places, but still our hearts are connected by an invisible string.
Click below to hear our version! #3: Love Story
Ok, "Love Story" has to be near the top of my list if for nothing else--pure nostalgia! This might have been one of the first Taylor Swift songs that I really heard (and it immediately got stuck in my head!) This is a great choice for a wedding, not just because it's sweet and the lyrics are wedding-y, but because everyone recognizes it immediately! This is a great choice for a recessional because it's a bit more upbeat than some of the other songs on this list.
Click below to hear our version! #4: Enchanted
I'll be honest, I somehow hadn't heard this song until a bride requested it a few years ago, but it quickly became one of my favorite songs to play. All of the sweeping melodies are so fun to play on violin. You just have to take my word for it!
Click below to hear our version! #5" Lover
Finishing off my list at #5 is Lover. A sweet song with really cute lyrics.
Honorable mention: Daylight
I have to have an honorable mention on this list, and that goes to the song "Daylight." Definitely a bit more unexpected, but as you'd expect, it's a sweet and flirty song.
I hope this list gives you song song ideas for your upcoming wedding! If you need any help choosing the songs for your wedding, don't hesitate to reach out! I am always available to help, and I'm nothing if not opiniated (haha!)
Talk soon, Amber Hi friends, Amber here! Today I want to review another wedding venue in the heart of Atlanta, Terminus 330. All of the photos in this post were taken by the amazing Ashley White. Be sure to check her out at www.AshleyWhitePhotos.com. This wedding last fall was absolutely too precious for words, and Ashley did such a great job of capturing this sweet couple!   As always, I have a lot of thoughts about venues. Let's start with my positives. First of all, I just love the "vibe" of the space. It's got sort of an industrial feel with all the brick, exposed pipes, metal railings, etc. But they warm up the space with lots of florals, velvet sofas, drapery, etc. I LOVE the brick backdrop for a wedding ceremony.   In the photo above, you can get a better idea of the "industrial" feeling with the metal railings. I love the natural light coming in from the big windows!
Another great thing is that Terminus 330 is an all-inclusive venue, so they have the ability take care of in-house catering, in-house beverage service, setup and breakdown, etc. As I understand it, they also offer other services such as design and florals, but in the case of this wedding, there were other vendors brought in for things like the florals and live music. I'll tag all the vendors at the bottom of this post!  WHAT IS MY FACE DOING IN THIS PHOTO ABOVE? I DO NOT KNOW. Lol
 The ceremony space transforms into a gorgeous space for the reception. I'm loving the natural light streaming in through the big windows. So magical! During cocktail hour, guests can go outside onto the back patio while the ceremony space is being flipped. That back patio is also a great place to take photos in natural light with some city buildings in the background! You'll see a few of those photos farther down this post. You know I love a venue that has somewhere fun to take photos! That's always a plus in my book.   Now onto my negatives. The biggest negative for me is parking (if you know me, you're not surprised by this, haha.) Like many venues inside the city, parking is not easy at this venue. There's no parking at the venue itself, so you have to find parking at one of the decks nearby. The decks are not super close, so there's a good bit of walking involved. If my memory is right, I think for this particular wedding, we parked at a nearby hotel, and our parking was validated (yay for parking validation!)  The biggest thing that I'm mindful of with this venue is unloading/loading all of our gear. In front of the venue, there's no lane to pull over and unload, so it's honestly a bit of a safety hazard to just stop traffic in the middle of the road in order to unload. I always assume that perhaps there's some backdoor loading dock that I just don't know about, so I'm hoping that's the case with Terminus 330. Just something to keep in mind! This last thing is going to sound super random, but I just tend to notice everything, haha! It's important to know that the kitchen is directly beside the ceremony space, so when you walk into the venue, there's a really strong food smell. This could be a good or not-so-good thing, depending on who you ask! 
Oh my gosh I love all these natural-light photos though! This is the outdoor space I was talking about earlier. I love how you can have the cityscape in the background! Overall, I give this venue a 7.5 out of 10, with my biggest considerations being parking and safety in terms of unloading.
Let's make some noise for this precious little family! The puppy smiling, I die.
Here's all the great vendors for this one! Photo: @ashleywhitephoto Wedding Planning + Design: @popandfizz Venue + Bar: @terminus330 Doggy care: @fairytail_petcare Catering: @dogwoodcatering Beauty: @vigilantecosmetics Floral: @luxeandbloomatl Bakery: @gingerspicebakery DJ: @ballroomblitzevents Strings: @cobaltstrings Linens: bbjlinen Rentals: @atlantapartyrentals Chandler’s suit: @tomjamesclothing Kacey’s dress: @whitemagnoliabridal alterations: @tkbridalandalterations Hi friends! Amber here. Today I'd like to review a new(ish) venue in Atlanta: The Carlyle. I can't remember exactly when it opened, but if my memory serves, it was late 2019. We've played numerous weddings at The Carlyle over the past couple of years, and I'd love to share my thoughts with y'all.
All of the photos in this post were supplied by the lovely and talented Laura Watson. Y'all go check her out at www.LauraAnneWatson.com 
Let's talk about 2 more things I love: the lighting (I mean, look at how Laura was able to use the natural lighting in the photos above!) and the acoustics. The openness of the spaces and the high ceilings make for really great acoustics. The sound is naturally amplified and carries really well. Good acoustics are a plus in my book!
Now I unfortunately have to talk about some things I do not like about this venue. And those things are: parking and safety. It's important to know that there is almost no parking at this venue. Parking is extremely limited, and vendors can't park at the venue at all. Vendors have to park across the street at a business complex, which is totally fine and not that unusual in the city. BUT there is no cross walk, no street lights, and really no actual intersection at the venue. So we have to quite literally sprint *illegally* across many lanes of busy traffic on a crowded, unsafe road. All while carrying armloads of musical gear. At the last wedding, there was (thankfully!) a police officer outside to help us cross the street after the wedding, but there wasn't an officer out there to help us get to the venue before the wedding. I have no idea about the logistics of this at all, but it would be worthwhile to see about getting a police office to be out on the street way before the wedding to help all the vendors actually get to the venue. I almost got completely run over by a car, and y'all I'm just not ready to meet Jesus like that. It's also not a super close walk, so I would advise other vendors to wear flat shoes that you can sprint through traffic while wearing. I'm just looking out for y'all! LOL
I really hope y'all enjoyed my review of the Carlyle in Atlanta, GA. Let me know if there's another venue you'd like me to review! Lots of love, Amber
Hi everyone, Amber here! It's been quite literally an eternity since I wrote a blog post, and my only defense is just "life craziness!" But I'm back with another honest venue review from the point of view of a vendor. This time, I'll be reviewing one of our favorite venues, Barnsley Gardens. Scroll all the way to the end to read about why this couple is one of my very favorite couples of 2019. Hint, it has to do with my undying love of Chick-Fil-A and those delicious chicken sandwiches. If you ever want to buy me a present, send me a CFA gift card, LOL! All photos in this post are courtesy of Jessica Williams, who is FANTASTIC. Go check her out!  PROS: Overall, Barnsley Gardens gets high scores from me.
I MEAN, LOOK HOW BEAUTIFUL THESE RUINS ARE. AND THE TREES OMG.
There aren't a lot of cons for me, but the few that I do have are listed below! CONS:
  LOOK at this ceremony site with the ruins in the background!! We always play to the right hand side, on the porch of that blue house. That way we are super close to the action, but we are covered from the hot sun, wind, etc. It works out great!   
  How beautiful are the ruins set up for the cocktail hour?! So breathtaking. 
 You'll see we've positioned ourselves in a great place to play fun music for the cocktail hour!  This is the reception space behind the ruins. I love that it's covered, and I love that the grass is fake (astro-turf,) so that it looks amazing year-round and won't get torn up with folks dancing on it.   NOW THEN. We have to talk about why this couple is the best. They had CFA sandwiches catered for their reception, AND they had the CFA cow there breaking it down on the dance floor. I mean. I never thought I would have clients who love CFA even more than me.   I'm laughing so hard at this cow dancing, I truly cannot breathe. I'm so glad Jessica captured all of this fun! I should've thought to have a CFA cow at my wedding, lol!   It's time to get back to practicing for me, but if someone wants to send me a CFA sandwich, waffle fry, and a Dr. Pepper, that would be great. ;) Barnsley Gardens: Overall score: 8.5 out of 10. I love the beauty and seclusion of Barnsley Gardens, and I love everything this venue has to offer. My only deduction is because of weather considerations and the fact that you'd have to give up the gorgeous outdoor views if it rains! It's time for another venue review! Today I'm reviewing a new venue, The Hotel at Avalon, which is located at the Avalon in Alpharetta. We had never played a wedding at the Hotel at Avalon before, and I have to say that overall, I thought it was pretty great! I'm a big fan of the Avalon (my husband works 1.5 miles from the Avalon, so we have a lot of date nights there!) I love the shopping and the restaurants! It's a really cool place and it's got a really fun, modern vibe.  Big thanks to My Life Photography for sharing all of these great photos with us! You can check them out at MyLifePhotoBlog.com  
PROS: Overall, I have lots of great things to say about this venue.
 CONS:
      
The ballrooms have plenty of room for dancing!  And I LOVE the way the Avalon looks at night! Look how fun!!!! Again, big thanks to MyLifePhotography for these photos!  OVERALL SCORE: 8.5 OUT OF 10: I love the Avalon so much, and I really enjoyed the Hotel at Avalon. The only reason I had to make deduction out of 10 is because vendors have to pay for their own parking. I hope that you all found this review helpful. Let me know if there's another venue you'd like me to review!
--Amber  Something that I've been wanting to do for FOREVER is venue reviews. We play so many weddings at so many different venues, and let me tell you, the venue the you choose for your wedding is EVERYTHING! You'll find a lot of client reviews online, but there are a ton of logistical aspects that the vendors deal with--things that the clients are often unaware of. Hopefully a vendor's perspective will give brides and grooms a better idea of things to ask their venue, as well as what to look for in a great venue. My goal is to give a completely unbiased, honest review of venues where we play. The good, the bad, and everything in between! To be completely clear, this is NOT a statement about any particular wedding that we have played at the venue, but rather an unadulterated review of the venue itself. First up, CROWNE PLAZA in Atlanta, GA.  All of the photos in this post are courtesy of AHP Photo + Video, and I chose this particular wedding to highlight because of how much I loved these photos! Seriously, your eyes are in for a real treat with these pics. Have you ever seen such a precious couple? AND THAT DOG OMG. Now then, on to the nitty gritty! Crowne Plaza Midtown, Atlanta GAPROS:
 CONS:
 Take a look at that view though!!!!! 
 Gahh look at this preciousness! I HAVE NEVER LOVED A RING BEARER DOG AS MUCH AS I LOVE THIS PUP.  YESSSSS CITY STROLLING CUTENESS  I CANNOT HANDLE THE CUTENESS OF THIS BRIDAL PARTY.
Overall score: 5 out of 10. This venue gets a low score mainly because of the parking and logistical difficulties. Venues that make it more difficult for vendors to work are always going to get low marks from me! Puppy score: 12 out of 10 for unbelievable cuteness and preciousness  If there is a venue that you'd like me to review, let me know in the comments below!
This wedding was awesome for a lot of reasons, not the least of which was the fact that there was a tiny weenie dog and I got to pet her. The tragedy is that I forgot to get a picture. But trust me, she was adorable. One of the goals of my professional life is to play more weddings with doggie ring bearers. Any other crazy dog people out there? Ok. Now that you all think I'm a little bonkers, let's move on to the many non-dog reasons that this wedding was great. First of all, the photos are spectacular. All of the photos in this post were shared curtesy of River West Photography (riverwest.co) I will apologize in advance that there are so many photos, but believe me, I wanted to post about 50 more.    This wedding tok place at The Foundry at Puritan Mill, which is an awesome venue. It's got a cool, industrial feel, but it still feels warm and romantic.   Have you ever seen such a precious bride?  This wedding was coordinated by one of our very FAV planners, Kristen J Scott of Kristen J Scott events. She is hands down one of the most meticulous, organized, and thoughtful planners that we have the privilege of working with.  We also really enjoyed the music for this wedding. They chose a mix of classical tunes and modern, romantic songs.   If you look closely, you'll see that we are playing a classical tune called "Traumerei," which means "dreaming" in English. This wedding really was like a dream!  During the lighting of the unity candle, we played a string trio arrangement of "The Prayer," which is one of my very favorite songs! It's such a beautiful and romantic song, and it works really well as a "background" song during a unity ceremony.        Brb, I'm dying.  
How stunning are these florals by Gertie Mae's Florals?!    All in all, this was a stunningly beautiful and romantic day. The next time there's a dog, I'll be sure to take a picture!! :)
Vendors: Planning: Kristen J Scott Events Photography: River West Photography Venue: The Foundry at Puritan Mill Bridal: Sweet Elegance Bridal Dresses: Anthro Tuxes: The Black Tux Floral: Gertie Mae's Floral Hair/Makeup: BrushWorx Catering: Endive Catering Video: Active Prod. Linens: BBJ Linen Stationary: Swoozies  Do y'all love the olympics as much as I do? Summer, Winter, I love them both. But when the winter olympics come around, I LOVE to watch figure skating. Figure skating is awesome enough, but the music selections are what I really love. And the 2018 Peongchang olympics were no exception. I watched every minute of figure skating that I could, and I was beyond thrilled to hear so many string-heavy selections. There were so many great songs, but I'm going to round up a few of my favorites below. So crank up your Spotify or YouTube, because you're going to want to listen to these tunes! photo: Roberto Schmidt/AFP/Getty First up we have probably my #1 favorite song of the games, which was selected by Mirai Nagasu of the USA. (GO USA!!!) She skated to Nocturne no. 20 in c#minor by Chopin. Originally written for piano, it has been adapted for violin and is now part of standard violin literature. PLEASE go listen to this piece! Your heart will break of beautifulness. Nicole Schott of Germany skated to the theme from the movie Schindler's List by John Williams. Possibly one of the most beautiful melodies ever written, it was famously recorded by one of the greatest violinists alive today, Itzhak Perlman. Seriously, look up his performance on YouTube and tell me how much your soul could not contain the gorgeousness. Elizabet Tursynbaeva of Kazhakstan skated to Carmen Fantasie as performed by the violinist David Gerrett. Garrett is a very popular violinist who often gives a modern twist to classical favorites. Requiring technical skill of virtuosic proportions, this piece is super exciting and worth a listen. photo: nbc olympics Finishing first overall and earning herself a gold medal, Alina Zagitova skated to Don Quixote, which is a very famous ballet. It was exciting to hear so many classical standards played at these games! There were a lot of selections from operas and famous ballets during these Olympic games, like Tchaokovsky's Swan Lake. Yay classical music!!! Michael Christian Martinez of the Philipines skated to a song that really took me back to my childhood. He chose Emerald Tiger by the fusion violinist Vanessa Mae. I absolutely LOVED Vanessa Mae when I was young. She is a "fusion" violinist, meaning that she combines classical training with non-classical music. I was super inspired by her when I was young, and I listened to her cds until they were warped. Her music is so fun and worth a listen! photo: nbc olympics Una Shoma of Japan finished 2nd overall and earned a silver medal. He skated to a VERY famous classical piece: Winter from The Four Seasons by Vivaldi. The Four Seasons was written in 4 parts, with each part representing a different season. We frequently perform movements from each season, and Winter is actually one of my favorites! Dmitri Aliev of the OAR skated to another famous classical selection: Masquerade Waltz by Khatchaturian. Masquerade Waltz is a very fun and exciting piece written for orchestra. Khatchaturian is also famous for writing an awesome violin concerto, which I also highly recommend for listening fun. This brings me to another one of my VERY FAV tunes. (Although I feel like I keep saying that each one is my favorite, haha. But this time I'm serious!) Misha Ge of Uzbekistan skated to Massanet's Meditation from Thais. I cannot overstate how much I love this piece. We play this piece every chance we get because it is just that beautiful. It features violin melody lines that are so beautiful your ears will be in a constant state of disbelief. If we have ever played your wedding, there is a good chance we played this at some point. It's so pretty!! I could ramble on for hours about all the great string and orchestral music I heard during the 2018 olympic figure skating events, but I will wrap it up with my favorite from pairs skating. Astakhova/Rogonov of the OAR skated to a medley, but it began with one of my all-time favorite pieces of music: Adagio for Strings by Barber. If you have never heard it, I highly, HIGHLY recommend you look it up. It's one of those songs that is so beautiful but tragically sad at the same time. But mostly it's just soul crushingly beautiful. Thanks for reading along! Let me know if you fall in love with any of these tunes. Yay strings!!!!!
I'm already excited for Beijing 2022! Go USA! It's Throwback Thursday! And that means we are throwing it back to one of the gorgeous weddings we've played recently. Today we want to share Molly and Joe's wedding, which took place at The Estate in Buckhead back in October. This wedding was beyond elegant, but with some unexpected twists! All of the images in this post were shared with us curtesy of Sandra with Picture This Photography. (We've done quite a few weddings with Sandra and she's always awesome!) Keep scrolling to view the beautifulness.  
These two...I mean just look how beautiful their portraits are! So sweet. The Estate really provides some beautiful spots to take wedding photos.
  The elegance of this wedding is obvious. But what I loved is that Molly and Joe put their own personal twist on their wedding. Their music selections were some of my favorite of this whole year.  Molly asked me to write music for a few of their favorite songs to be played during their wedding. She requested "Little Talks" by Of Mice and Men, and "Stubborn Love" by The Lumineers. I had so much fun arranging these songs for strings! I especially loved "Little Talks," which they used as their recessional song. It's so fun when our clients ask us to learn new music, because then their wedding is really a reflection of them and their personal tastes. When details of a wedding are customized, it really adds a special touch.    After the wedding, we headed upstairs to play the cocktail hour. The Estate is really cool because it has so many different areas. We kept the set list for the cocktail hour fun with lots of modern, upbeat songs!
 Don't mind me, I'm just casually dying over these florals and tablescapes. <insert crying face emoji>
 I mean! I can not get over these lights. All the heart eyes for this reception.   What a fun day! It really doesn't get any better than when a client combines classical elegance with modern, fun twists. Congrats to Molly and Joe!
Vendors: Venue, catering, bar, & florals: The Estate, Michele Lend with Legendary Events Planning: Suzanne with We Tie the Knots Ceremony and Cocktail Hour Music: yours truly, Cobalt Strings! Photography: Sandra with Picture This! Photography Video: Matthew Baxter Band: Atlanta Showstoppers Hair & Makeup: Brushworx Transportation: Atlantic Limo Hey friends, Amber here! Happy Throwback Thursday! Today we are throwing it back to a beautiful wedding we played back in August at the always beautiful Big Canoe! All of the photos in this post were shared with us by Frank Gibson, one of the sweetest photographers around! You can find more of his work at www.frankgibson.com  We were lucky enough to have gorgeous weather for the wedding, and then moments after the ceremony ended, the bottom fell out. But I think the rain made for some gorgeous photos! Big Canoe is always so pretty, but I think the misty skies are especially beautiful.   For the prelude music, we played a mix of hymns and modern, romantic songs.  For the processionals, we played "Falling Slowly" and "Canon in D," and for the bride's entrance, we played "A Thousand Years!"  Frank caught us laughing about something or other. ;)  I mean, let's talk about that view. How breathtaking are those trees with the lake in the background?!   Mary Catherine and Jim were such a precious couple. We are so lucky to have great clients!
I love all these gorgeous detail shots that Frank snapped of our instruments!!!      Congrats to MC and Jim!
Vendors: Venue: The Chimneys at Big Canoe Planner: Winey Blonde Events Ceremony Musicians: yours truly! Florist: Kasey Currie Caterer: Talk of the Town Cake: Sweet Treats by Leigh Hair/Makeup: Tammy Frye DJ: Pirone Entertainment Photography: Frank Gibson Photography Rentals: Party Time Rentals |
RSS Feed