Our Music Playlist

Our DJ is a friend who has offered his services for free...the thing is, he's not an actual, professional DJ. He just happens to have all the necessary equipment. So out of necessity, we've been very involved in picking and supplying the music (We have an MC to help him along). We came up with a list of music (a long process scouring our ipods and the Internet) and divided it up of Cocktail Hour, Meal songs, and Dance songs. We even designated songs for cake cutting and the bouquet toss.

Our playlist on Excel.

The hardest part, actually, was agreeing on what songs to play. The future hubs and I have very differing musical tastes. He loves hip hop and R&B and I would much rather be jamming at a Coldplay or Muse concert. So we came up with these guidelines for picking the soundtrack to our wedding day:

1) The lyrics should be pretty clean, meaning no cuss words! We purposely looked for Radio Edit of all the songs.
2) The lyrics shouldn't be about breakups or anything ominuous. I was at a wedding once where the bride and groom danced to "You've Lost that Loving Feeling" as their first dance song and I almost died!
3) Diversify the list. We came up with a list of healthy doses of hip hop, pop and alternative, as well as some the older crowd will appreciate.
4) Cocktail hour music could be upbeat or mellow, Meal songs are mellow tunes to play softly in the background, and Dance songs are any popular tunes to get people excited to get onto the dancefloor.
5) We decided that our wedding wasn't really the time to expose our guests to majorly obscure tracks that we love, so we thought a good mix of pop music was essential.
6) No Macarena or Chicken Dance. Nope!!!

Did you come up with a Music Playlist for your DJ? What were some of your Do Play or Do Not Play songs?

dum, dum, da-dum....

Source

dum, dum, da-dum....Don't act like you don't know what that is! Ok, that's Wagner's "Bridal Chorus," or for those less familiar with classical pieces, the very popular "Here Comes the Bride."

I do not want to this played as I walked down the aisle with my father. It's a great dramatic opener, but I just don't feel it for my own ceremony. For one thing, our church does not have an organ, just a piano and I thought the piece wouldn't sound as great on piano. Our pianist suggested the other often-used piece Mendelssohn's "Wedding March," but as stately and regal as it is, I didn't feel that either.

After scouring classical pieces on Youtube, I decided on Bach's "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" for the rest of the wedding party's entrance (sponsors, parents, bridesmaids, groomsmen, etc.) and then switching to the ever-lovely "Cannon in D" by Pachelbel for my father and I. No, it's not as grand and dramatic as the other pieces, but I have always loved the piece. I love the exquisite build up in the first few bars. I think it's a gorgeous piece as I come walking toward my new husband-to-be!

This past week, aside from trying to find the great soundtrack to my "dramatic entrance," I had been trying to come up with a music program for our ceremony. My sister's choir and pianist have so graciously agreed to perform for our ceremony. I did, however, need to provide them the music selections (which, according to our church's rules, must be Christian hymns or classical pieces).

While I am familiar with a lot of hymns sung during mass, I couldn't think of any songs that were appropriate. I wanted the songs to reflect our readings as well (Song of Songs 2:8-10,14,16a;8:6-7a, 1 Corinthians:12-31-13-8a, and Mark 10:6-9). There are several resources on the Web (and good ole Youtube) that helped me narrow down my choices. Here's what we came up with for our Catholic ceremony (without communion):

Prelude:
"Where there is Love"
"I Have Loved You"
"Set me as a Seal"

Processional:
"Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" by Johann Sebastian Bach
"Canon in D" - Pachelbel

Psalm 145: The Lord is Compassionate (sung by cantor)

Lighting of the Unity Candle
"When Love is Found"

Recessional:
“Ode to Joy” by Beethoven

Yay! Our musical program is complete....now onto the reception!

Things could be worse

For the last couple of days, wedding planning has kind of taken a backseat again. You see, my fiance's family is going through a crisis right now and he kind of hinted that it may affect our anticipated budget for the wedding. I haven't really thought about the impact of that right now, or it hasn't really hit me as I thought it would. A lot of self-centered brides would be crying over this "tragic" development, but um, no. For one thing, there are more important things to take care of. Things beyond the wedding that are far more "tragic." Family crisis needs to be resolved. The well-being of loved ones are our priority.

How much is our budget now? I don't know. But if we thought we had to be resourceful and creative before, we definitely need to turn it up several notches. But I'm not worried. We're still going to be married, regardless. That's just how I see it. Things happen, s!%t happens. Move on. There are worse things that can happen. (Thanks, $2000 Wedding Budget for putting it into perspective!). But you know what? Despite not really do anything for wedding, things are kind of getting done.

Well, I met up with some friends for pho (Vietnamese noodles, yo!), and I told them a little bit of what's been going on. My good friend's boyfriend graciously offered his talents to DJ for our wedding, for FREE! I was really touched by his generous offer and he insisted it was his wedding gift to us! Wow! I mean, really, wow! Even though things might be a little bleak right now as far as funds, we have been really blessed. A friend just offering to volunteer to help plan the wedding, another friend agreeing to do both photography and video for way, way less than he normally charges, and now someone DJing for free. People have been really good to us and we're so completely grateful.

I'm baaack!

See, that wasn't so bad. A few days not really worrying about wedding stuff  was actually quite nice (but I have to admit, I did catch myself daydreaming, or allowing myself to entertain a random thought or idea for wedding). For the most part, I tried not to focus on the big day. The fiance and I watched Inglorious Basterds (not for the squeamish, that's for sure), walked the dog, took my parents out for dinner to celebrate their birthdays, resumed my job search (the publication I work for is currently on "hiatus"), I read a book (The Pursuit of Happyness -- so much more to the story than the film portrays)--all to remind me that I do have a life outside of wedding planning.

So what to do now? Well, I have a full plate of to-dos to take care of. First, and this is a biggie, the dress. I have a couple of maybe's -- dresses I think are lovely, clean, classic and, um, verrry much in my budget range. But there is another possibility that I know I need to explore. It's a long-shot considering my budget, but it doesn't hurt to look into it. Keeping my fingers crossed!

I need to research DJs. We were thinking of going with my cousin, but...I don't know...he upped his previous proposed quote and, well, we're not so sure he's much of a deal anymore. We'd love to include him in the wedding cuz he's family and all, but dude, what happened to the family discount?

I'm finishing our STD's, and I'm really excited about them. More on this later.

I'm gathering quotes for local hotel blocks. Didn't think we would need to do this since most of our guests are local, but since we'll reserve a couple of hotel rooms for the bridal party that weekend anyway we figure we can save money with the group discount rate.

Hmmm, what else? Does anyone know of a good Samoan dance group in the So. Cal area? Just thought I'd ask.

Hey, Mr. DJ!

We thought we might have to skip out on a DJ, but I nearly forgot my cousin is a seasoned DJ himself. I did my research and I know most DJs (at least in the LA area) go for at least $1000. My cousin is giving us a "family" discount rate of $600. That's a Dj and an MC (and we want an MC we're comfortable with). Sounds like a good deal and I trust he'll do a good job. Hmmm, $1000 vs $600. That's saving us at least $400!