Whit:A few months before our wedding we considered putting together a CD of us covering some of our favorite little love songs but time went on and other responsibilities took priority. Then we thought of something that would be more feasible, which was to sing a song live. We thought about singing “Spend My Life” by Eric Benet and Tamia because we were somewhat familiar with it from singing a snippet of it during a friend’s ceremony for their wedding. While we were sitting on the bed in our bedroom, we played the song and attempted to memorize the full song. We both agreed that we had time to go back and create something special…something tailored for us as a brand and for our wedding. So after at least becoming familiar with the entire song we took a break and NEVER came back! Lol smh
RAII:Although we never revisited the song after originally discussing/rehearsing it I still knew I needed to have an instrumental track just in case. About a month before the wedding I bought the instrumental to the song and recorded the backgrounds at home to make a backing track. I was a little disappointed that we weren’t able to get the CD of cover songs together for our guests but I figured at the very least we can sing at the reception since we didn’t sing at all during the ceremony.
Whit:We’d just arrived at the reception venue. My bridesmaids and I are in our bridal suite, finishing our touch-ups and we’re all ready for the hostess to introduce us into the room full of family & friends waiting for us to join them. The bridesmaids, groomsmen,and RAII & I all head to the hallway to line up on the stairs, in order, waiting for our names to be called so we can dance our way into the room with everyone else, excited to get everything started.Now, we’re down to the last few members of the bridal party and my husband whispers to me, “So, you wanna sing, “Spend My Life”? I said, “What?!
(As you can see in the picture below…he’s so not bothered. lol)
Seriously?! We never went over that! We’re gonna do it A Capella?! He said, “I know but I already gave the DJ the instrumental.” I paused & just looked at him & said, “If you’re comfortable with it then I’m down to do it with you.” At that moment our hostess Brittni Shakir announced our names, the track started playing, and my husband walks through his double doors singing the first verse! Lol Me on the other hand, was left alone in the hallway trying to remember the lyrics! lol There was a lady that handed me my mic & asked if I needed help with anything and I interrupted her & shewing my hands, panicking saying something like, “Please, not now, I’m tryna to remember the words! Then I quickly prayed, God please bring these words back to my remembrance. Then my double doors opened & I took the first step forward still uncertain, yet out of the heavens the words sang themselves right out of my mouth!! Lol I was sooooo nervous. I kept thinking you know this part but you might forget the next line. Even if you do, don’t stop. Thank the lord I finally met my husband on the dance floor and immediately felt more comfortable & confident!
RAII:I knew I had made the track but I hadn’t sent it to the DJ yet. The morning of the wedding as me and my groomsmen and ushers were getting ready, I sent the track to the DJ via email and burned a CD just in case. Now, I’ll be the first to admit, I probably could have “reminded” my wife that we were going to sing the song as our entrance into our reception but I just figured we could just flow off of each other like we normally do. We weren’t able to do a soundcheck so I was a bit unsure of what to expect but once I heard the track start, I begin to sing outside the doors to see if I could hear myself and it was cool. I didn’t tell anyone our plan of singing at the reception but some of my family members say they knew that it was me singing. When I walked in and our family and friends started screaming I felt like a superstar!! I was incredibly nervous yet very excited.
Though we had sung together many times before, this was our very first performance together as man and wife and it was one of the most incredible feelings of trust and love especially considering we didn’t adequately prepare for it. We had no idea that our friend would record this video and that this video would become one of our most watched videos to date. Though we don’t sing “Spend My Life” very often, this song will always be very special and significant to our journey.
Photo Credit: Ana Lara for Bamboo GraphicsVideo Credit: Rasul
