Our (surprisingly successful) dancing playlist

I mentioned before that we had an iPod wedding.  Putting together the cocktail and dinner playlist was amazing, and pretty much a piece of cake.  P is a HUGE music snob, he's that guy that knows about a band before anyone else does.  (This was actually mentioned during a toast at our wedding, and everyone cracked up.)  We had a great time putting together 5+ hours of music that we've come to love over the last 6 years we've been together.

And the dancing playlist?  The future hubs (at that time) wanted NOTHING to do with it.  While I've definitely gotten into the music that he likes, I am not above rocking out to mainstream pop music.  At the same time, I DESPISE cheesy wedding music.  Putting together the dancing playlist was on my to-do list from the beginning, and I seriously stressed about it.  Finally, I enlisted the help of some friends, relied heavily on advice from fellow bloggers, and bit the bullet.  I was so nervous that no one would dance, but it actually was a huge success.

All I wanted when I was planning my playlist was examples from "cool" weddings.   So I hope this helps some of you!


New Partner                         the frames (this was our first dance song)
First Day of My Life Bright Eyes
Blister In the Sun         Violent Femmes *
Hey Ya!                     OutKast
Give it 2 Me                 Madonna
P.Y.T.                        Michael Jackson
Superstition                         Stevie Wonder
These Arms of Mine         Otis Redding
Let's Stay Together         Al Green
Gold Digger                     Kanye West
Single Ladies                    Beyoncé             *
Bust a Move                         Young MC   
Billie Jean                         Michael Jackson *
Carry Out                          Timbaland (featuring J.T.)           *
Just Dance                 Lady GaGa & Colby O'Donis      *
That's Where It's At         Sam Cooke
Marry Song                 Band Of Horses
Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough Michael Jackson
Poison                         Bell Biv DeVoe                      *
Ignition (Remix)         R. Kelly                                      *
Kiss                                 Prince & The Revolution
Promiscuous                         Nelly Furtado
Sexy Chick (feat. Akon) David Guetta
Cupid Shuffle            Cupid                                                     *
January Wedding         The Avett Brothers
Sea Of Love                     Cat Power
(When You Gonna) Give It Up to Me Keyshia Cole & Sean Paul      *
Tik Tok                         Ke$ha                                                      *
Track 16                 Neal's mashups Volume 3
Forever                                 Chris Brown                               *
Sussudio                                 Phil Collins                               *
You Make My Dreams         Hall & Oates                                               *     
Juicy                         The Notorious B.I.G.
Galang                         M.I.A.
OMG (feat. will.i.am) Usher                                                       *


*these were the songs that had people in a dancing frenzy.  Don't ask about Sussudio.  You would have to know our friends.

The best wedding fight I'm letting him win

So P doesn't really care about too many wedding details.  However, the details he does care about he has very strong opinions about.

For instance:

• no halter top wedding gown - please don't even ask.  For some reason, I think he once saw a somewhat questionable looking bride in a halter style gown and thinks any halter style looks a bit slutty.  I for one, have no boobs, so I am incapable of looking slutty in anything, but I didn't even need to argue this point because I'm not a huge halter fan anyway.
• no fancy wedding cake - no problem, I don't want one either
• no weird DJ - again, we are on the same page here
• no garter toss, bouquet toss, etc. - ditto

But the most important thing to him is music.  Since we are iPod DJ-ing it up, we have total control here.  He is more concerned about the slower music, as the hip hop/dance music is more my department.  He has been steadily working away at our cocktail hour/dinner music playlist, and it is a thing of beauty.  I will get around to posting it soon, I promise.

Here comes the disagreement: our first dance.  We both have songs we love.  I presented mine, which he really liked.

It's great, right?  But then he hit me with his:



He has put this song on countless mixes for me, it is a cover of a Will Oldham song, and it is so perfect.  Seriously, when we listened to it and thought about it being our first song, we both got a little teary.

So I'm letting him win this one.  'Cause his is way better.  (Just don't tell him that.)

a traditionally-untraditional processional

Hi everyone!  Thanks for being patient with my lack of blogging.  Things have been really difficult for P and I the last week or so.  This last weekend was spent grieving with his family and celebrating his uncle's life.  Honestly, while it was difficult, it was a beautiful experience.  His family really has become my family, and being there was so hard, but it was what we both needed.

So, I've been thinking a lot about the wedding processional, or what I want to walk down the aisle to.  What you may have noticed about me/us, is that I tend to embrace certain traditions, easily dismiss others, and can't make up my mind on a few (changing my name anyone?).  Anyways, we decided a while ago that we are going to have a simple guitar and fiddle duo play our ceremony.  It speaks to our southernness, we love it, and they will be joining the rest of their bluegrass band immediately following the ceremony for some serious revelry. 
I mentioned to the fiddle player (who I feel so connected to already, as she is in grad school for education, just like we were last year), that it would be so cool if they could do a blue-grassy, simple version of Canon in D.  She sent me this link, explaining that the first minute is more what they would sound like, since they wouldn't be rocking out quite as much as these guys (unless I feel like running down the aisle).  So imagine it slowed down a bit, and enjoy.
I love it.  Check it out:


Umm, amazing.  They rock.

A Bluegrass Ceremony

One of the ways we are making our ceremony reflect us as a couple is by having a bluegrass band play! P is not a fan of string quartets, and as much as I love the image of a bride walking down to Canon in D, I love the idea of something more personal.

Bluegrass is a perfect choice for us because we first met and fell in love in North Carolina, and we used to listen to bluegrass music all the time when we lived there! Some of my best memories of North Carolina involve long Sunday drives where we would listen to the local NPR station play bluegrass. P lived in a big ole farmhouse then, and we used to have big bonfire parties where a couple of his friends would play the banjo and guitar. Ahhh, memories...

So far, the plan is to have the bluegrass band play all during the ceremony (while people are being seated, the processional, and the recessional) and also during the cocktail hour directly following the ceremony. If the weather is beautiful, that means they will be playing right on the lake, while we take pictures and our guests minge. Perfect.

Now I just need ideas for what songs they are going to play. Please let me know if you have any suggestions!