Music is a pretty major part of my life, and it follows that Jolayne and I would try to make it a part of our wedding as well. Originally we were going to have some friends of ours perform some songs that meant a lot to us: “I Found a Reason” (the Cat Power cover of the Velvet Underground song) and “Such Great Heights” (the Iron & Wine cover [from the Garden State soundtrack] of the Postal Service song). Unfortunately, it didn’t work out as our vocalist had a scheduling conflict come up a couple weeks ago. That was kind of a disappointment, but it’s one of those things you just have to work around. We’re still having “I Found a Reason” in the ceremony, only played from a cd rather than live. Instead of the other song, we’re having a slideshow of pictures of Jolayne and I growing up. Those things have the potential to be really sappy, but with some good song choices I think they can be saved. We’ve got “I’m in Love with a Girl” by Big Star and “Our Way to Fall” by Yo la Tengo. They may not be really well known songs, but I think they work really well for us.

We met with the DJ today, and as you’d guess we were probably a lot more picky than most with the music. We tried to get in a good eclectic mix of stuff that would really be unique to us along with more recognizable songs. It’s a hard thing though, because you’re putting control of the music direction in someone else’s hands, a tough thing for any music snob. Its made easier though by my gradual realization that 95% of the music in my collection would kill a party dead, either by putting people to sleep, confusing them, or just being willfully undanceable.

Comments

Comment by Carrie on 2005-04-20 03:47:55 +0000

Awww a slideshow. How cute.

I plan on spending the entire reception trying to get Phil to dance. We’ll see how that works out.

😉

Comment by Will on 2005-04-20 08:54:05 +0000

Awesome! Now that I don’t want to miss 😉 Actually, I shouldn’t say anything because I don’t have any choice about dancing or not, and that should be quite a sight on its own.

Comment by Neal on 2005-04-20 11:27:58 +0000

How about The Smiths’ “William, It Was Really Nothing” and “Jolene” by Dolly Parton? No?

Comment by Will on 2005-04-20 12:21:25 +0000

Hahaha, that’s pretty good Neal. I think “William, It Was Really Nothing” is easily in the running for all-time Most Inappropriate Song to Play at a Wedding Ever, probably with a narrow lead over “Baby Got Back”. And that’s even if your name isn’t William.

Comment by dan on 2005-04-21 08:44:00 +0000

Stick to your guns with the DJ. I’d write up a contract that stipulates the abandon of his payment if he should play anything requiring synchronized movements and gestures by audience members (YMCA, Electric Slide, etc) and forfeits life if the Duck/Chicken Dance or Macarena is played.

We had a local jazz band play