Music Monday: The First Dance

Happy Monday, readers and friends! This is our last Music Monday post. Ever. Promise.

I've featured this song before, but we weren't quite sure that it would be our first dance song. I've had a strange attachment to it since Big Spoon and I met. It's my song about him. Does that make sense? We don't really have "a song," but this one is special just the same because it's true. He is the best thing that's ever happened to me.

Music Monday: Ceremony Music

I have to admit that we changed around the processional music several times. We each wanted to be equally represented here, but since I'm the more musically invested partner, I'm also the more stubborn one. I feel like we've struck a balance as well as infused the ceremony with our personalities through  music.

Processional - "All I Want Is You" U2
Bride's Processional - "I Can't Help Falling In Love With You" - Ingrid Michaelson
Signing Marriage Certificate/Interlude - "Marry Me" - Train
Recessional - "City of Blinding Lights" - U2

Doesn't seem like much, but we both are against using music during the ceremony as a "time-fill" or because it's meaningful to us in some way. Our ceremony words should be honest and heartfelt, with or without music and that's was my main goal in writing our ceremony. There are a lot of songs that are meaningful to us, that doesn't mean we have to cram them all in there. No offense to people who plan to do it or have done it. I've been to many lovely weddings where I sat there and wondered "when the eff will this song end?" I got over it later because the event was beautiful. But long, drawn out, musical interludes make people uncomfortable (it makes me uncomfortable). Off the salt box now.

We've filled our reception playlist with mostly contemporary music - things that speak to me of love and our relationship, as well as a few songs for Big Spoon's tastes. Our final Music Monday will feature our first dance song.

Music Monday: Prelude Music

via phoenixnewtimes.com

I have this spreadsheet, thanks to Style Me Pretty and Google Docs, with which I have been planning our wedding music. I considered the pre-ceremony music - also known as the Prelude - for a long time and discussed it with Big Spoon. He doesn't care as much about pre-ceremony and reception music simply because we won't actually be hearing much of it. So, it's my job to plan for it, which is perfect.

I decided that the music chosen for the ceremony may have more impact if all the music prior to it is instrumental. Thus, Vitamin String Quartet and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. I love classical music and during years in which I'm not planning a wedding, I try to buy symphony tickets. Nashville's symphony is awesome and if you've never been, you really should.

I've put together an hour or so worth of music for before the ceremony. Here's a sampling of what we're including by Vitamin String Quartet:

Stolen (Dashboard Confessional)
Flightless Bird, American Mouth (Iron & Wine)
In Your Eyes (Peter Gabriel)
Beautiful Day (U2)
All I Want Is You (U2)
Lovers in Japan (Coldplay)
The Scientist (Coldplay)
Chasing Cars (Snow Patrol)

Music Monday: Ceremony Music

It's the brief return of Music Monday! Big Spoon was going to post about his wedding band today, but I'm not sure if he'll get around to it (he's a busy guy!). Of course, I don't mind if he top posts me, because his band is awesome.

I digress. The wedding music was much more important to me than to Big Spoon, overall, but we wanted to equally represent our personalities through the music we love. We have a good friend who does a little DJ work from time to time. He'll be handling our music and we'll be renting some additional equipment through my coordinator.

If we wanted to go overboard on the wedding budget, I probably would have hired a string quartet for the ceremony. However, we've done a very good job at staying true to our original priorities and our original budget - those didn't include funds for live music or a full-time pro DJ, among other things. Overall, the most important thing to both of us has been staying within our budget if at all possible so that we can have the things that are really important to us.

Here's a screen capture of our ceremony music spreadsheet (yes, I have it in a spreadsheet):

I decided on having only instrumental music pre-ceremony. We're mixing in W.A. Mozart (my fav) with some contemporary songs covered by Vitamin String Quartet. I still have to organize the order in which I hope to play them, but we're otherwise a "go" on ceremony music! Yay!

Music Monday

I've lost interest in Music Monday ... well, any "day" series, that is. It's a fad, I jumped on the train and now I'm jumping off. With the DIY projects and details of the wedding coming on quickly, I'd rather spend my time preparing DIY posts to read than put pressure on myself to do "day" series posts.

Maybe someday ...

I'd like to thank all my twitter bride friends and planners, Facebook friends and the like for all their kind suggestions for DJs, wedding musicians, etc. I've contacted a few pros based on the references we got.

Music Monday

My new favorite song is Sweet Disposition by the Temper Trap. I have no idea if I could ever work this into "pre-ceremony" music, but it's an upbeat song that will put you in a good mood. If you check out the link, you'll find that the song is based on a lyric from one of Ryan Adam's best songs. And he is my absolute favorite.

Happy (rainy) Monday!

Music Monday

I've been a very lazy spoon. I haven't thought much about music lately or worked on our music spreadsheet (You can download one like it here courtesy of Style Me Pretty and Google) because I've been working on DIY projects and design work.

I'm sure you've figured out by now that I really like cover songs. Here's something fun for you today: Muse covers "Can't Take my Eyes Off You". Very sad to be missing their show tonight.

Music Monday

So, how important is wedding music to you?

It really varies from couple to couple and it's definitely a way to infuse your personality into your wedding day. Picking out music together can certainly serve as bonding time for you and your partner. Or at least I hope it can :D

Big Spoon and I just couldn't care less about having a dance party as a reception (which is one thing I was happy we agreed on). I also know that music isn't high on Big Spoon's priority list. I happen to be a music fanatic, so naturally, the music matters a lot to me. It isn't in the budget to have live musicians or a DJ. Luckily, we have a good friend who has tons of experience and equipment who will be controlling our playlist via computer.

That said, looks like I will be the one providing the playlist for both the ceremony and reception. Although it may be difficult to pull all of this together for our friend-DJ, I much prefer it to hiring someone who will play songs we don't even like or worse, skip songs we specifically request. My first priority is the ceremony music. I can't wait to post a list of what we choose!

What kind of music did you have at your wedding? Traditional/classical, religious or contemporary?

Music Monday

We had friends over to the house yesterday to watch the Gold medal game between team USA and Canada. While we were chatting before the game, I talked to one of Big Spoon's friends about handling the music at our wedding. It was an unspoken thing that we had failed to communicate up to this point and I felt it was important to go ahead and ask him.

He told us that we would need to have our music list/music files finalized around June. That's way sooner than I had anticipated, so Music Mondays will hopefully be more detailed through the spring as we work through what music to use. It's no secret that the music is more important to me than it is to Big Spoon, but I know that he wants to be involved in the process.

Today's song is one that I have picked out for pre-ceremony music - "Heartbeats." It's quite beautiful as are the majority of José Gonzalez's songs, although this is a cover (and I hate the original).

Music Monday

Happy Monday! Guess what? One of my favorite bands has a new CD out! I've been hearing Snow Patrol's "Just Say Yes" a lot on XM. The new album is a compilation of old and new material that I must have. I'm really loving this song.

Also, a big THANK YOU to Little Miss Southern (and Charlotte!) for the great giveaway on her blog that I won! Woo hoo! Can't wait to get these lovelies in the mail.

Music Monday

I'm not feeling very musical this Music Monday. I'm downright irritated at the overdose of snow we are getting in the Southeast. It is NOT supposed to snow that much here! We're over it.

Anyway, while I was sick last week, I picked up a couple of Redbox flicks, one of which was Bright Star, a fictional account of the love affair between the poet John Keats and his muse, Fanny Brawne. I had not heard of it until I ran across a "Living In" feature on Design*Sponge. I typically love period pieces, but this one fell flat for me in all but one aspect: the human orchestra scene. Being the huge Mozart dork fan that I am, I found this incredibly beautiful.

Would you use this as ceremony music? Which do you like better, the human orchestra or the real deal?

Bright Star Sountrack, Human Orchestra



Mozart Serenade No 10 In B Flat Major K 361 III Adagio

Music Monday: If I didn't have you...

...somebody else would do. Or so says Tim Minchin.


Blasphemy! you might say. Surely, there's something special about the person with whom you're destined to be. Your (future) spouse is unique, irreplaceable, and somehow specifically fated to be with you and only you. Or so says the myth of the soulmate.

One of the most harmful myths ever to crop up in romantic lore.

I view the notion of "soulmate" as tremendously harmful to relationships because it perpetuates the notion that somehow, there's only one person who's perfect for you. And when even minor problems crop up, it becomes clear that the relationship (and hence your theoretical soulmate) isn't perfect, so your "true" soulmate must be somewhere else. Relationship after broken relationship is left in the pursuit of the perfect person. Unfortunately, the perfect is the enemy of the good.

In reality, there are a number of people with whom you could be successfully married. Now, the vagaries of circumstance severely limit that pool of available people, and the process of dating is largely about encountering someone with whom you share compatible values, goals, and coping mechanisms.

However, the thing that makes married love feel so unique is the particular series of trials and tribulations you face together and surmount, along with the joys and triumphs you achieve. As you build a life together, you weave a story that marks your lives together, incorporating the high and low points into a narrative tapestry that (in hindsight) looks like it was fated to be constructed that way.

However, this process happens in any long-term relationship. As long as you've got someone compatible enough who you'll enjoy through the long haul and who is a good support for you, you'll eventually make your own story that feels as if it was written between soulmates.

Music Monday

It's time to give some shout outs to Nashville artists! Today's Music Monday is "On A Night Like This" by Dave Barnes. Very talented sing/songwriter. If you like this, also check out "I Have and I Always Will" by Mr. Barnes. Also quite lovely and wedding appropriate.

Music Monday

Big Spoon's favorite band is U2. I've always liked them and my appreciation is growing by association. One of my favorite songs by U2 is "All I Want is You."

The video interpretation is - ahem - pretty screwed up from my perspective, but I still really like the song. It will be interesting to see what we finally settle on for ceremony/reception music.

I offer you the Vitamin String Quartet version of "All I Want is You."

Music Monday

We're going to get a little cheese-tastic today for Music Monday. I have always loved Aerosmith's "Don't Wanna Miss a Thing." I tear up every time I watch Armageddon (during the scene when Liv tells Bruce "goodbye Daddy". OMG).

Sure, it's cheesy (and one of the greatest power ballad of all time!) but the instrumental music is beautiful. Wish I could find a way to work it in to the ceremony - the instrumental version of course.
Here's the Vitamin String Quartet version for your listening pleasure:

Music Monday

More Coldplay. "Reign of Love" is a "hidden" track after "Lovers in Japan" on Viva La Vida. I envision seating our parents and my grandparents while this song plays.

Music Monday

The week that Big Spoon and I began dating, I purchased Snow Patrol's new album One Hundred Million Suns (If you haven't checked it out yet, do!) It's incredible and quite possibly my favorite SP album. I gave Big Spoon a copy on Election Day and we listened to it a lot in the beginning of our relationship. There is one song in particular that makes me think of him instantly and that is "Crack the Shutters." We don't really have a song, but if we did, it might be this one.

 

Snow Patrol - New Music - More Music Videos

Music Monday

This Music Monday, I'd like to share an idea I had for our reception: jazz. Although Big Spoon and I have "complimentary" tastes in music, they are not the same. Thus, building a play list for the reception music might prove difficult if not downright stressful. 

Early on in the planning process, it occurred to me that having jazz music playing during the majority of the reception might be better than having to agree on 100 songs to play. We will most likely be using any meaningful songs for the ceremony, so I don't feel as though we will be missing anything by doing this. 

Keeping in the holiday spirit, I'd like to share an album I purchased over the weekend. It is - simply put - generic holiday jazz and its fantastic for holiday parties.

Unfortunately, the music website I was using for Music Monday has been purchased by Myspace. Grr. So, no more snippets. Check out Christmas Jazz on Amazon.

Music Monday

I have a milestone I'd like to share. I finally finished unpacking last night and tucking away the remaining randomness in the bonus room. It took me several months, but I feel a strong sense of completion.

Big Spoon and I had a good weekend. We had several serious and introspective conversations after which I feel our relationship deepening and growing. I feel very fortunate today to be engaged to marry such a loving and supportive man.

For this music Monday, I've chosen another instrumental from one of my favorites:Ray Lamontagne's "Truly, Madly, Deeply." It's quite beautiful and would make a lovely song before or during the wedding ceremony. Enjoy.

Truly, Madly, Deeply - Ray LaMontagne

Music Monday

Ryan Adams is my favorite music artist. Period. But, I must say,  most of his music is depressing and there are very few love songs. Hopefully, his new wife can change that for the world. In the meantime, I will offer up one of his few love songs for your listening pleasure.

I don't have just one favorite lyric from this song. I love the whole thing.

2. My Love Is For Real - Ryan Adams and The Cardinals