Now that things are slowing down, I want to reflect/share some of our wedding songs with you. Not the get down and dirty, shake your tail feather reception songs, but the songs that comprised our ceremony and dances. This was probably the most important part of the evening for us. Josh and I started searching for wedding songs before we booked any of our major vendors. As in, I knew what my processional song would be before we booked the Stillwell House. We are serious about our fun love of music.
Let’s break it down:
Groom’s and Wedding Party Entrance: “Make It Wit Chu” by Queens of the Stone Age
This song just has a great beat and guitar riff to strut to. Josh knew it was his song when he heard it. The lyrics are pretty sexy, too. Because of this sexiness, Josh used his audio editing skills to turn it into an instrumental. It was perfect. And we still knew it was sexy.
Bridal Processional: “Hoppipolla (Instrumental)” by Sigur Ros
I was not going to walk down the aisle to “Here Comes the Bride” or “Canon in D.” Those are fine and well, but way too vanilla for me. Sigur Ros has been one of my favorite bands for a long time. After I realized that “Hoppipolla” was my entrance song, I couldn’t listen to it without tearing up. It’s dramatic, it’s soft, it evokes beauty. It was everything I wanted.
Next I had to figure out how to acquire the instrumental version – enter our DJ – who found it rather quickly and sent it to me for verification. This in turn created more tears. I don’t think anything about our wedding made me as emotional as this song. I was too happy to cry. But as soon as that song started playing before they parted the gates, my mom and I had to collect ourselves.
Recessional: “Home” by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros
This was a no-brainer. It was an often played song right before our engagement, we included it on our invitation (I will post about that soon too!), and it is a perfectly perfect song. It captures exactly how Josh and I feel about each other. With our impending move, the lyrics spoke to us even more. Home is wherever we are with each other. Again, Josh did a little editing so that after we were pronounced husband and wife, the chorus and trumpet part kicked it. It looped after that. It was awesome.
Grand Entrance: “Riot Rhythm” by Sleigh Bells
Yep. You weren’t going to catch us walking out to “Celebrate.” This song is rockin’, super fun, and loud. You might recognize it from the photobooth video. When I was listening to the Sleigh Bells record and found this song, I thought it was a great entrance song because it exemplifies what the reception entrance should be: FUN. The heavy stuff is over. Now it’s time to party. I wasn’t sure if Josh would think it was too hipster-fied, but every.single.time I played the intro and asked what he thought, he responded with a huge smile. Winner!
First Dance: “Fade Into You” by Mazzy Star
We both love this song. The lyrics have a lot of different meanings for a lot of different people, but when I hear “Fade into you….I think it’s strange you never knew” I think of how long Josh and I knew each other before we fell in love. If you’d told 18-year-old me that I would be married to Josh in eight years, I wouldn’t have believed you. Sometimes, I still look at Josh and think: “Wow I am married to JOSH. THAT JOSH! FROM HIGH SCHOOL” and it makes me so happy.
Father-Daughter Dance: “Sleepwalk” by Santo & Johnny
When you grow up with a Mexican dad and a white-girl mama from El Paso there are certain things that are guaranteed. One of those things is that you will spend a huge chunk of your childhood watching Lou Diamond Phillips portray Ritchie Valens in “La Bamba.” My dad and I went back and forth on a few potential father-daughter dance songs, but when I told him how much this song meant to me, he agreed to this one. This song doesn’t just remind me of my dad, it IS my dad. I remember sitting in the living room watching “La Bamba,” incapable of fully comprehending all of the content (seriously, what is WITH Bob?) but loving it anyway. This song is played at the end of the film, when everyone is reacting to Ritchie’s death and going to his funeral. This sounds really horrible, but it is a beautiful song. Thankfully, no one screamed “RITCHIEEEEEEEEEEE” while my dad and I were dancing.
Mother-Son Dance: “Simple Man” by Josh (cover of Lynrd Skynyrd)
I was so proud of Josh for this. His mom suggested the original for their first dance. The lyrics made sense for them, and Lynyrd Skynyrd was Josh’s first concert (that she took him to). The pace was weird for a slow dance, however, and since we couldn’t find a cover version that Josh liked, he took it into his own hands. With a little bit of me pretending to play producer, he actually recorded himself singing for public consumption. I’ve heard him sing before, but he is pretty secretive about it. It turned out great, and everyone wanted to know who it was after they were finished. His mom was extremely happy to announce that it was her son.
Cake cutting: “Love You Madly” by Cake
We found this song independently and sent it to each other. But really, how could you not?
Bouquet Toss: “No Scrubs” by TLC
We had reservations about doing any of this stuff. We didn’t even do the garter toss. There’s just something icky to me about the bouquet toss, I guess the fact that it (maybe harmlessly) reinforces that a woman’s happiness is gained through marriage. You shove all the single ladies on the floor, making them confess their tragic unmarried state, and force them to fight for a bouquet of flowers that lets them know that one day, they too will have a ring put on it. Still, I recognize that it’s a fun part of the wedding and that not everyone has such a cerebral approach when it comes to tradition. When I told my friend Megan about my concerns, she said that if I did it, I had to do it to “No Scrubs.” That was that.
There you have it. Our wedding songs. Picking music for our wedding was one of my favorite parts of the planning process. We really saw it as an opportunity to set the tone for the evening, rather than one to coalesce to the norm. Sorry, Pachelbel.
