Money-Saving Ideas for Your Wedding

You're in that time crunch. You know you've got to hire your wedding services, but you've only got so much money to spend. Can you get everything you want for your wedding day, even with a tight budget? Yes!

Here are just a couple of ways to save money:

  Any day except Saturday

Saturday is the most popular day to tie the knot. Choose a weekday to get married, and not only are all your services likely to be available, but you may also receive midweek discounts. 

  Be a "morning person"

Morning is the best time of day to get married, for a number of reasons. First of all, most couples have evening weddings, so your musicians and other services are more likely to be available in the morning (and may even offer you discounts). Your guests and musicians will be able to find parking earlier in the day (some musicians and wedding vendors charge extra when no suitable loading zone or parking is available adjacent to the wedding site). One more note: People won't drink as much in the morning hours, so you'll save money on the bar tab at your reception. 

Read more ideas on my website. And if you want to receive detailed budgeting ideas, including wedding budget worksheets, you'll find them in my book, "The Bride's Guide to Musicians: Live Wedding Music Made Easy and Affordable", published by Hal Leonard Books. It's available at my website (where I'll send you a signed copy), and all over the Internet. It's even available as a Kindle edition on Amazon.com!

I'd love to hear your thoughts about my book, so if you've read it and put the ideas I've offered to use, please post a review on amazon.com to help spread the word.

(Musicians: If you are looking for ways to make wedding performances happy, easeful experiences, check out my book, "The Musician's Guide to Brides", also published by Hal Leonard Books. Find it at my website, as well.)

For Valentine's Day and Beyond

Today, Valentine's Day, I received a few articles and links about love, so I thought I'd spread the love and post them here for you to peruse. Don't forget to read through to the bottom of this post, so that you can try out my hubby's wonderfully decadent Two-Tone Guinness Brownies!

• The Harp Connection's Romantic Harp Music Albums for Valentine's Day and Beyond! View all of their recommendations, including my Haste to the Wedding CD, filled with traditional Celtic love songs.*

• It's never too late to send an e-card to your sweetheart. You could send a silly card from RubberChickenCards.com loaded with fine dating advice (get a free six month subscription right here). Or some Hunny Bunny e-cards or the little-bit-naughty Bunny Burlesque e-cards from the folks at BanjoBunny.com. Or head on over to my other blog for special ways to say "I Love You".

• Acupressure Point CV17, for Healing Your Heart Emotionally. Stressed out because you are head-over heals for a certain someone? Or are you getting over a relationship? Check out this link.

• Does Dark Chocolate on Valentine's Day Help Your Heart? You bet it does, according to RealAge.com. But did you know that not all chocolate is healthy for you? For it to contain the maximum amount of antioxidants, the chocolate needs to be cold-processed--Healthy Chocolate! Join and make income while enjoying the benefits of high antioxidant chocolate.






Speaking of chocolate, here's that special recipé from my hubby, "Mr. Bakerman", for Two-Tone Guinness Brownies:

Ingredients for Bottom Toffee Layer: 
Cooking spray
6 Tbs. softened unsalted butter
1 1/2 C. packed light brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 C all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking power
1/4 tsp. salt
1 C. chopped pecans or walnuts

Ingredients for Chocolaty Top Layer:
3 oz. finely chopped unsweetened chocolate (or you could use 3 Healthy Chocolate Power Squares if you cut back a bit on the granulated sugar)
4 Tbs. unsalted butter
1 C. granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 C. Guinness stout
1 C. all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Spray a 13 x 9" baking pan with cooking spray.
2. Prepare the bottom layer by combining butter and sugar in a medium bowl. Beat with a mixer at medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla. With a wooden spoon, stir in flour, baking powder, salt and nuts. Spoon batter into prepared pan and spread evenly. Bake 20 minutes and remove from oven.
3. Prepare the top layer by placing chocolate and butter in a double boiler. heat gently and stir until chocolate is melted. Stir in sugar, then add eggs, vanilla and Guinness, stirring until well-combined. Whisk in flour and salt until all ingredients are combined. Slowly pour over partially baked bottom layer.
4. Bake 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out almost clean. Remove from oven and let cool in the pan, placed on a wire rack, before slicing.
Serves 24 (or more, if you slice them into smaller squares). Serve within 2 days.


Sending loving thoughts,
Anne :-)

* Purchase my Haste to the Wedding Album all over the Internet, including at my website, where you can request an autographed copy. Or download it from CDBaby.com, amazon.com, and iTunes.

Cross Pollination for Valentine's Day

Are you looking for some fun ways to say, "I love you"? With February upon us and Valentine's Day approaching you might want to mozy on over to my other blog. It's called Fun With Words and the current post is loaded with love quotes that you can insert into a card or letter or say to your sweetie.

After visiting the Fun With Words blog, come back here for related posts about music and more for Valentine's Day. I call this a bit of cross-pollination for Valentine's Day :-)

Are there some posts you'd like to see here relating to Valentine's Day? Please share your thoughts.

Wedding Music Predictions (And More) for 2012

With the new year comes predictions of what will be. Since we are closing in on Valentine's Day, I'm posting the Top 12 Wedding Trends for 2012, from the pundits at onewed.com:

#12--Food Trucks--Fun food trucks are rolling in at receptions and after parties with non-traditional food items like fried twinkies and giant pretzels.

#11--Unique Head Chic--Last year's royal wedding turned headpieces into the "in" accessories, as everyone was looking at who was wearing which unique hat at Kate and Will's wedding.

#10--Royal Wedding Inspiration--Not just the headpieces, but this year's wedding styles reflect last year's royal wedding, too (think simpler wedding dresses with lace sleeves, natural make-up, and ivory bridesmaids dresses)

#9--Letterpress with a Modern Twists--Bold colors on traditional paper makes for a popular stationery choice.

#8--Bijou Weddings--Small guest lists mean that couples can afford elegance.

#7--Two Wedding Dresses--One for walking down the aisle, and one for the reception. It's what Kate Middleton and Kim Kardashian did (Kim had three dresses).

#6--Scaled Back Centerpieces--Smaller, shorter centerpieces using unique additions like crystals and antique books.

#5--Touches of Sheer--Transparent necklaces, for instance.

#4--Sparkle--Gold and silver accents are being used for everything from shoes to centerpieces.

#3--Mix and Match Mania--Mixing the dress look for your bridesmaids and groomsmen. They don't need to wear exactly the same outfits.

#2--Ditching Tradition--New traditions are taking place of the old and couples are inventing their own traditions.

#1--Not Your Mom's White Wedding Dress--According to onewed.com, "blush is the new ivory".

Read the entire article at onewed.com.

What about music??? Notice that nothing was said about music! No music in 2012? Ridiculous!

I searched the web, and presently, I could find very little about any music trends for 2012 (at least very little about romantic music trends).

So, here are my own wedding and romantic music trend predictions for 2012:

1. Live Music Makes a Comeback--2011 was the year of the iPod. It was used everywhere, for ceremonies, receptions, and all kinds of other events. The pendulum swings back to live music in 2012. A harpist played at Kate Middleton's reception, and since the royal wedding theme will prevail in 2012, so will live music.

2. Ceremony Music to Fit the Bride's Experiences--More brides will opt for favorite songs as their entrance music, instead of sticking to the traditional (just as they will be creating more of their own wedding traditions and not going with the standard white wedding dress).

3. The Use of Less Mainstream Music--Weddings and events will utilize more music that the couple recently discovered, whether it be Celtic Music, music by independent artists, or music that brings a bit of nostalgia to older generations and is new to young couples. It's their way to introduce something new to their guests.

What are your wedding and music predictions for 2012? 

Hint: You can gather some great ideas for your wedding music from my book The Bride's Guide to Musicians: Live Wedding Music Made Easy and Affordable, published by Hal Leonard Books. It's also available as a Kindle edition on amazon.com.

How Music Can Help You to Keep Your New Year's Resolutions

Yes, it has been a while since I've posted, and one of my New Year's Resolutions is to keep my blogs fresher! Many of us have resolutions to exercise more, take the pounds off, and be healthier in 2012. Here's how to keep these health resolutions using music!

To start, I found these wonderful tips from Dr. Mehmet Oz and Dr. Michael Roizen. In an article posted at RealAge.com, they say that research proves that "listening to music bestows mind-body benefits":

1. Music improves your brain. It actually helps to boost memory and mental powers by firing up neurons in the brain!

2. Slow tunes lower blood pressure. Just 30 minutes per day breathing along to the beat of slow, soothing numbers can do the trick (think Celtic harp music, especially music from my Through the Mist CD!)

3. Music keeps your ears young. Did you know that older musicians don't usually experience the typical aging in the part of the brain (the auditory cortex) that often leads to hearing problems? This means that it's never too late to take up an instrument (like the Celtic harp!)

4. Music relieves stress. I'm sure we've all experienced this effect when we've listened to our favorite music. But there's scientific proof of this: Listening to music lowered heart rates by as much as 5 beats per minute in critically ill hospital patients hooked up to breathing machines. This helped them to heal by relieving their anxiety.

5. A good beat keeps you moving. Pick songs with a good beat to motivate you to exercise harder and longer.

Read more of this article at RealAge.com. And read and listen to NPR stories with more proof of the health benefits of music:

• In The Power of Music, Elena Mannes describes how music affects people and how it can take part in the role of health care. 
• In Treating Stress and Speech Disorders of the Brain, hear how one musician uses music to help people heal.
• And Neurologist Dr. Oliver Sacks Observes the Mind through Music: how musicians play from memory, music's healing role for Alzheimer's and Parkinson's patients, and the relationship between music and math.

Here's hoping that one of your resolutions for 2012 is to immerse yourself in the health benefits of music!

Do you have your own stories about how music benefited your health and well-being? Please share them here.