Philadelphia, NY, NJ, DE area bands, DJs, instrumentalists and ensembles. Visit this blog for wedding tips and ideas, music facts, contests, polls, and more!
Newly engaged? You can create personal engagement announcements online using Shutterfly or many other sites. Hire a professional photographer for a photo shoot, or just use your favorite pic you already have! Creating a mailing list in MS Excel now will be very useful when it is time to make your guest list for your wedding later. Use MS Word Mail Merge to create mailing labels easily.
The most traditional song for a bride's entrance is not Wagner's Wedding March ("Here Comes the Bride..."), but is actually Pachelbel's Canon in D. But feel free to request a non-traditional song as well for your special day.
Listen to Pachebel's Canon in D played by all the combinations of instruments we have available for strings, with our trademarked Build Your Own Ensemble feature! Click here: Build Your Own Ensemble
Do you know anyone who got engaged over the holiday season? Invite them to "like" us on Facebook to receive bridal tips, music ideas, vendor referrals, advice and more! And for a limited time only, receive 10% off your total balance if you become a fan on Facebook and book your wedding with Cara Mia before Feb. 14, 2011. See terms and conditions below.
Terms and conditions: Offer not valid with 2011 DJ Wedding Package, and cannot be combined with other offers or coupons. Offer valid for new clients only. Visit www.yourcaramia.com/contact.aspx and fill out the "Contact Us" form. You must mention this offer in the "Special Requests, Comments and Questions" section of the quote request. Clients must officially book a job with Cara Mia Wedding and Event Music before February 14, 2011.
My name is Mary Giannone, and I'm the director of Cara Mia Wedding and Event Music (www.yourcaramia.com). I also have a few projects I manage on the side. The above video is my newest project, "CTO Rock Strings."
Cara Mia has recently partnered with CTO Artists (www.cto.com) to promote this newest group- an ALL ELECTRIC string quartet, playing pop and rock songs with a drummer! This is not your grandma's string quartet. Although I know a few grandmas who would totally get down with it... including my friend Shauna's 86 year old grandma who came out to hear us play at Macy's in Center City and loved it! It was her birthday that day too- happy birthday Shauna's Grandma!
Since this group is BRAND NEW we did a few promo gigs this December to get the word out. The video above was taken at Neiman Marcus in King of Prussia. The first violinist and the violist's son, Andrei, took the video- I bet you couldn't tell a 10 year old boy did that!
CTO Rock Strings will be visiting Europe for both music and pleasure over the next month, and when they return we will have ALL NEW REPERTOIRE! These are not store-bought arrangements, people. But rather, we are CUSTOM ARRANGING these for electric rock strings. (Shout-out to Ben!) Kind of like the difference between store-bought cookies and homemade... oh no! I mentioned cookies and now I've lost you in your cookie-filled day-dreams. COME BACK TO ME! Here's the list:
-Michael Jackson Medley- Billie Jean, Annie Are you OK, ABC
-Sublime- What I Got
-Black Eyed Peas- Let’s Get Retarded (Let’s Get It Started) with Tonight's Gonna Be a Good Night
-Journey - Don't Stop Believing
-Alicia Keys - Fallin'
-Bryan Adams – (Everything I Do) I Do It For You into When a Man Loves a Woman
-Eric Clapton - Wonderful Tonight
-Extreme - More Than Words
-Maroon 5 - This Love
-Eagles- Hotel California
-White Stripes- Seven Nation Army
-The Killers- Medley Mr. Brightside into Somebody Told Me
-Smash Mouth- I’m a Believer
-Papa Roach- Forever or Scars
-Red Hot Chili Peppers- Californication
-Pearl Jam- Even Flow
-Smashing Pumpkins- Today
-Elton John- She’s Always a Woman into Candle in the Wind
-Chumbawumba- I Get Knocked Down
-Lady Gaga- Poker Face (or Gaga medley?)
-The Rolling Stones- Wild Horses
-Chuck Berry- Johnny Be Good
-Bruno Mars- Just the Way You Are
-Usher/Pitbull- DJ's Got Us Fallin' In Love Again
-One Republic- Secrets
-Ke$ha- We R Who We R
-Rhianna- Only Girl in the World
Plus, my business partner Carmen chose these five to add to the repertoire as well:
-Live & Let Die
-Cashmere
-I Don't Like Mondays
-It's a Livin' Thing (ELO)
-Africa (Toto)
(I made sure to call him an old-head because three of those five songs I had to look up...)
This January we will also be FILMING A NEW PROMO VIDEO! And re-doing our website. Any suggestions for this new, amazing group, please let me know!
I'm so excited to be working with these talented musicians. Shout out to my boy Mugu, the lead violinist in the video who has been amazing to work with, and who has been working on this project since it's conception almost a year ago.
Use MS Excel to manage your wedding budget quickly and easily. Set up calendar notifications for yourself (personally, I love Google Calendar) about when balances are due. Follow the link below for a free wedding budget template. If you don't have Excel, you can print this template and do it the "old fashioned" way.
A popular song choice for recessional/exit music is "All You Need is Love" by the Beatles. It was also featured in one of the best Christmas Movies of all time- "Love, Actually". For an added touch of class, hire a string quartet to perform the song at your wedding or event.
