The Art of Choosing Art

I take great care and pride in taking pictures.

Chris takes great care and pride in playing music.

It should come as no surprise then that I'm in charge of wedding day photography, and Chris is in charge of wedding day music.

When looking for a photographer Chris had to endure many a night of listening to me lament about the lack of quality photographers in the DFW metroplex.

"This one can't frame a picture properly, this guy doesn't have a clue how to adjust for a good depth of field, this boozo has the creative eye of a fruit fly."

It's just not good if it's not me.

There was a moment when I saw myself walking down the aisle, arm-in-arm with my dad, camera hanging around my neck.

After a month of ardent searching we celebrated the arrival of Janelle and Jeff into our lives.

J&J own a small studio in Grapevine, have a photo journalistic approach to wedding photography, know how to use f-stops properly, and more importantly, completely indulge Chris and I's crazy ideas.

I knew Chris would have similar quality control struggles in his search for a band.

We have now listened to and eliminated four hundred and twenty-one bands.

Okay, maybe not that many.

A few of the groom-to-be's critiques:

"The horn sounds like it is dying."

"They have an 80's picture with 80's haircuts."

"The guitarist is 80 and will have a heart attack after the first song."

"The vocalist sounds Iranian."

"There's not enough money in the budget to feed the Fats Domino drummer."

"The vocalist sounds like she's singing through a mouthful of tacos."

Part of me kind of enjoys listening to the critiques.

It helps remind me not to take life too seriously.

Then part of me wants to suggest everyone bring their own iPod just in case we can't find a skinny, non-taco eating vocalist.

Next week we're going to another bar to check out another potential band.

All I'll say is that I'm completely on board with any element of wedding planning that features a tall Cosmo.