Sunday, August 15, 2010
We have a Mini-Moon Destination!
My Aunt Ronnie and Uncle Carmine encouraged us to get going on our mini-moon, and--after some encouragement from Kat and her friend Dave--we finally booked something! We're going to New Orleans and staying at the W! We can't wait to let you know how it is!
The Choir
Last week, I went out to Ivoryton, Connecticut, where the girls' choir that is singing at our wedding was at choir camp. They were spending the week rehearsing music for our wedding, and when I arrived, the girls exclaimed, "It's Danielle!"
Before we shared dinner together, they sang some of the music for me that they'd been rehearsing. The first piece they sang--The Father's Love--was the first anthem I sang with my choir growing up as a little girl. I remember coming home from that first rehearsal and singing it every day until our next rehearsal, including in the shower! So it was incredibly moving to hear a new generation of girls sing it, some of them for the first time. They made wonderful eye contact while they were singing and smiled at me, and I definitely got a little weepy! They also sang John Scott's arrangement of How Can I Keep from Singing, and I joined them to sing John Rutter's For the Beauty of the Earth; it was a real privilege for me to blend my voice to theirs, as they are incredibly disciplined, talented young ladies. It was also really special to me that the girls and their choir director had put in so much time and energy into making beautiful music for us and our friends and family. What a gift!
At dinner (which was preceded by a multi-part sung blessing), I asked the girls whether they liked the music that we'd picked and they got so excited. One girl even said, "I love the anthems so much! They are so, so...so....so....so....um....they're really so nice!" I tried to pick the music I had loved as a child, so I was glad to hear they loved it too.
Another girl asked whether I had sung with their choir as a child. I said to her, "This choir didn't exist when I was little girl. I sang with a girls' choir on Long Island." Without missing a beat, she then said, "Oh, so they were your family?"
What a very powerful comment and a true one in many ways: I didn't always get along with the other choir girls, but we had to learn to sing together, to be together three, four, sometimes six or seven times a week. And even if we didn't particularly like each other, the music seemed to bind us together and affect us all in such deep ways.
After returning from that evening at choir camp, I sent facebook messages and e-mails to the girls from my choir for whom I still have contact information. I told them about the music for our service, and several of them who are already married responded by telling me how they had chosen the same pieces or other ones we sang as children. Some had corralled fellow choristers from our childhood to sing; some had hired our Cathedral's choir, with its new group of girls. Some, like me, looked to other musical voices with whom we had become acquainted in our adult years. A couple even asked if they could come to the service because they never got to hear that music anymore, and they missed it.
All amazing stuff! We hope you enjoy the music from the girls choir and the adults who will be joining them! If you can, make sure to get to the church around 3:30 to hear the prelude music!
Before we shared dinner together, they sang some of the music for me that they'd been rehearsing. The first piece they sang--The Father's Love--was the first anthem I sang with my choir growing up as a little girl. I remember coming home from that first rehearsal and singing it every day until our next rehearsal, including in the shower! So it was incredibly moving to hear a new generation of girls sing it, some of them for the first time. They made wonderful eye contact while they were singing and smiled at me, and I definitely got a little weepy! They also sang John Scott's arrangement of How Can I Keep from Singing, and I joined them to sing John Rutter's For the Beauty of the Earth; it was a real privilege for me to blend my voice to theirs, as they are incredibly disciplined, talented young ladies. It was also really special to me that the girls and their choir director had put in so much time and energy into making beautiful music for us and our friends and family. What a gift!
At dinner (which was preceded by a multi-part sung blessing), I asked the girls whether they liked the music that we'd picked and they got so excited. One girl even said, "I love the anthems so much! They are so, so...so....so....so....um....they're really so nice!" I tried to pick the music I had loved as a child, so I was glad to hear they loved it too.
Another girl asked whether I had sung with their choir as a child. I said to her, "This choir didn't exist when I was little girl. I sang with a girls' choir on Long Island." Without missing a beat, she then said, "Oh, so they were your family?"
What a very powerful comment and a true one in many ways: I didn't always get along with the other choir girls, but we had to learn to sing together, to be together three, four, sometimes six or seven times a week. And even if we didn't particularly like each other, the music seemed to bind us together and affect us all in such deep ways.
After returning from that evening at choir camp, I sent facebook messages and e-mails to the girls from my choir for whom I still have contact information. I told them about the music for our service, and several of them who are already married responded by telling me how they had chosen the same pieces or other ones we sang as children. Some had corralled fellow choristers from our childhood to sing; some had hired our Cathedral's choir, with its new group of girls. Some, like me, looked to other musical voices with whom we had become acquainted in our adult years. A couple even asked if they could come to the service because they never got to hear that music anymore, and they missed it.
All amazing stuff! We hope you enjoy the music from the girls choir and the adults who will be joining them! If you can, make sure to get to the church around 3:30 to hear the prelude music!
Friday, August 13, 2010
Musical Prelude
Just to foreshadow some of the beautiful tunes at our wedding, here is a youtube clip of one of the pieces we're playing! Si Te Quiero is a piece I sang in 9th grade when I was away at a New York State program for high school singers. The soloist from when I was at the program will be at the wedding and reprising his performance!
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Something old, new, etc.
Today we completed the items needed for the old superstition: something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue. We already had something old (my grandma's wedding ring, which I had sized to fit me), something new (my dress), and something blue (Maid of Honor Meri bought some blue items for under the dress). Remaining, however, was the something borrowed.
So after going to New York to talk with the florist and do a makeup trial run, my mom and I went to Julie's, where we went through all of her bracelets to find the perfect one for the wedding day! We settled on a beautiful opal bracelet that her mom and dad gave her one year for Christmas. It matches the dress really well, and will definitely remind me of her presence on the 4th!
In other wedding news: I had my first fitting yesterday. There wasn't much in the way of alterations--they added straps and measured for the bustle. They also had to adjust the hoop a little. We're also getting close to complete with the bulletins. Yippy!
Less than a month to go!
So after going to New York to talk with the florist and do a makeup trial run, my mom and I went to Julie's, where we went through all of her bracelets to find the perfect one for the wedding day! We settled on a beautiful opal bracelet that her mom and dad gave her one year for Christmas. It matches the dress really well, and will definitely remind me of her presence on the 4th!
In other wedding news: I had my first fitting yesterday. There wasn't much in the way of alterations--they added straps and measured for the bustle. They also had to adjust the hoop a little. We're also getting close to complete with the bulletins. Yippy!
Less than a month to go!
Saturday, August 7, 2010
The Mennonites on Marriage
When I was walking along Boston Common several weeks ago, I saw a Mennonite choir singing and stopped to listen. They were dressed in old fashioned suits and long cotton dresses. They sang traditional hymns interspersed with Bible readings. While listening to them, my eye caught this pamphlet, one among many that they had set up nearby:
Thinking about Marriage
Well, I am, I thought, and took one as I was leaving. The bulletin was set up with a list of right and wrong conceptions people have about marriage, with an explanation of both. Here are some of the highlights (accompanied by personal commentary):
Wrong: You marry for what you get out of it.
Marriage does have much to offer, but sometimes people only want to get and not give. In the end, both suffer.
Right: Marriage requires love, loyalty, and sacrifice from both husband and life.
Each must seek to bring out the best in the other person. "Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord" (Ephesians 5:22). "Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered" (1 Peter 3:7). All the ills of marriage can be cured by following this advice.
Commentary: All the ills of marriage? Really?
Wrong: Marriage is bondage, which only makes the grass greener on the other side of the fence.
Some people seem to think marriage puts up a fence between them and real living. So they cross the fence sometimes or wish they had the nerve to do so.
Right: Marriage protects the purity of the race.
Adultery, fornication, and cohabitation are cheap substitutes that destroy the moral fiber of society. "Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge" (Hebrews 13:4). "To avoid fornication let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband" (1 Corinthians 7:2).
Commentary: Hmm...when was the last time I've heard the word whoremongers? And was race really the right word to use in this context?
Wrong: Marriage is based on feelings of love.
This is a common misunderstanding. Certainly, love belongs in a marriage, but the sensation of love is not the glue that holds a marriage together. If it were, any marriage could fall apart at any minute.
Right: Marriage is based on legitimate commitment.
"When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed" (Ecclesiastes 5:4). The bride and the groom give their word before God to love and cherish each other, to share the joys and sorrows of life, and to keep themselves only for each other as long as they both shall live. They know that God holds them to that promise. The love of God in their hearts i the basis for that commitment and makes it work.
Commentary: Oh, well this just solves everything.
Thinking about Marriage
Well, I am, I thought, and took one as I was leaving. The bulletin was set up with a list of right and wrong conceptions people have about marriage, with an explanation of both. Here are some of the highlights (accompanied by personal commentary):
Wrong: You marry for what you get out of it.
Marriage does have much to offer, but sometimes people only want to get and not give. In the end, both suffer.
Right: Marriage requires love, loyalty, and sacrifice from both husband and life.
Each must seek to bring out the best in the other person. "Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord" (Ephesians 5:22). "Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered" (1 Peter 3:7). All the ills of marriage can be cured by following this advice.
Commentary: All the ills of marriage? Really?
Wrong: Marriage is bondage, which only makes the grass greener on the other side of the fence.
Some people seem to think marriage puts up a fence between them and real living. So they cross the fence sometimes or wish they had the nerve to do so.
Right: Marriage protects the purity of the race.
Adultery, fornication, and cohabitation are cheap substitutes that destroy the moral fiber of society. "Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge" (Hebrews 13:4). "To avoid fornication let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband" (1 Corinthians 7:2).
Commentary: Hmm...when was the last time I've heard the word whoremongers? And was race really the right word to use in this context?
Wrong: Marriage is based on feelings of love.
This is a common misunderstanding. Certainly, love belongs in a marriage, but the sensation of love is not the glue that holds a marriage together. If it were, any marriage could fall apart at any minute.
Right: Marriage is based on legitimate commitment.
"When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed" (Ecclesiastes 5:4). The bride and the groom give their word before God to love and cherish each other, to share the joys and sorrows of life, and to keep themselves only for each other as long as they both shall live. They know that God holds them to that promise. The love of God in their hearts i the basis for that commitment and makes it work.
Commentary: Oh, well this just solves everything.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
We're not Luddites anymore!
Just a quick post before our morning bootcamp because I haven't posted in awhile. We didn't have internet until yesterday, and we celebrated last night by watching cable television--which we haven't had in over a year! Eric took responsibility for the remote, flipped through the channel guide three times. We gave Ace of Cakes a shot; we tried the season premiere of 19 Kids and Counting, but it was all too overwhelming for us.
As Eric said: "Hundreds of channels, and there still isn't anything on!"
So what did we do? How I Met Your Mother DVD to the rescue!
As Eric said: "Hundreds of channels, and there still isn't anything on!"
So what did we do? How I Met Your Mother DVD to the rescue!
Friday, July 30, 2010
Secret service won't be at our wedding, but bagpipers will!
And that totally makes ours better!
Seriously, though, while I wait for the movers, thought I'd post this so you can learn about another wedding! Also, click on the link about hard feelings from those not invited--the cartoon and article is pretty funny!
Seriously, though, while I wait for the movers, thought I'd post this so you can learn about another wedding! Also, click on the link about hard feelings from those not invited--the cartoon and article is pretty funny!
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