There’s a lot of talk about how special the wedding day is to the Bride & Groom, but some people miss the fact that your wedding will have great impact to the families of the newlyweds. This past Saturday I was fortunate to play at the reception of Jenna Fox & Aaron Heffley at the Pittsburgh Field Club in Fox Chapel. From our first meeting it became clear to me how important family would be in every element of their day.

Jenna and Aaron had the most beautiful sunny day for their wedding, which was perfect since their cocktail hour was held in an outdoor area of the Pittsburgh Field Club. Cocktail hour featured two wonderfully talented live musicians, a pianist and flautist from Pittsburgh Music Live.

Jenna worked very closely with her mother, Patti, in the planning of the special and unique elements of the big day. I met a couple of times with Jenna & Patti to talk music and to create a few special key events that made the day extraordinary. They both had terrific ideas for the perfect music to play throughout the entire evening.

The Fox’s found an old VHS tape with a very young Jenna dressed up in her mother’s wedding dress talking about her future wedding plans. In the video young Jenna talked about dancing with her father at her wedding someday. It was a big crowd pleaser as we played this video immediately before Jenna danced with her Dad.

It was wonderful to get to know so many members of both families. It was great to see them work so hard to make everything perfect for Jenna and Aaron. Jenna’s brother Dorian even made a special dedication to the couple that added a great touch to the end of the evening.

A very unique part of the evening was shortly after dinner when Jenna had a special dance honoring the men who mean a lot to her. During the song she was able to dance with her father, brother, a bunch of uncles and her grandfather. It was quite touching and a great way to include even more of the family in the reception.

It was great to see how much fun Jenna’s parents had dancing all night long! I loved seeing how happy they were for their daughter and new son-in-law.

My evening was made even better by the opportunity to work with some of the best vendors in the world. Julie & Gene from the Field Club were the model of perfection, stepping in to help fix any and everything that needed done.

Then, the icing on the cake, was the pleasure of working with some amazing photographer: the one and only Joanne Bartone and her partner Karen. If you visit Joanne’s website, it’s clear to see how she uses her talent and personality to create magical memories. While many photographers aren’t anxious to capture photos at the reception, Joanne and Karen worked their tails off all night long to capture every detail and moment. Oh, and they’re great dancers too!

Jenna and Aaron included their families into many of the details of planning their wedding and reception. In return their families showed their love and respect by doing everything they could to make their day completely fantastic. I think some people are worried to get their families too involved with their special day, but the Fox’s & Heffley’s proved that the day can be even more special when you share all of it with the ones that are closest to you. Congratulations to the NEW Mr. & Mrs. Heffley!

As many of you know, planning for a wedding and reception can be extremely difficult. The biggest piece of advice I can offer my clients is to do what comes naturally and to be true to yourself. When you plan a day that is truly a reflection of who you are, planning becomes much easier. I recently had the great pleasure of performing at the reception of Emily & Michael at the Doubletree Hotel in downtown Pittsburgh. Emily & Mike knew exactly what they wanted for their big day and made the choices that best represented their tastes, the results were amazing.

Emily & Mike created an elegant and relaxed reception for around 45 of their closest family and friends. The intimacy of the room and the amount of guests really allowed everyone to have more personal time with the bride and groom. When planning for the wedding we had met at a local Starbucks, the music there became our inspiration for the cocktail hour and dinner.

Once everyone had time to visit, it was time to open the dance floor. Emily & Mike created such a vibe of happiness and joy that everyone in the room could feel their excitement.

Emily’s mother even came up and danced the twist with everyone.

Emily & Mike asked me to make a special announcement and dedication to their good friends, Emily & Nick who were recently engaged.

Emily & Mike’s first dance song was “The Way I Am” by Ingrid Michaelson. I can’t imagine a more appropriate song for them. They are so comfortable in their own skin and were completely genuine about their excitement for their wedding and reception. They chose not to spend time doing a lot of traditional parts of the reception, and instead focused on having fun with their guests.

Watching Emily & Mike’s reaction to their guests, the music and everything else at the reception, it was clear that everything had turned out exactly as they had planned. To me they serve as the perfect example of how to approach the decisions for a wedding. I’m thrilled that I had the chance to get to know them, and that I was able to play a part of making their day so special.