Our Wedding: The Music
I'm starting a blog series to recap the details of our wedding day and we're going to start with the music. It's a very fine place to start, right?
Early on, song choices were important to me during the planning process. Thanks to the music, I was able to close my eyes and picture what it would be like to be in that moment!
As with a lot of my wedding-planning decisions, I was on the hunt for things that were unique and would feel different to our guests. I didn't necessarily reject traditional details but I sought out ways to make our wedding day ours (beyond the trends). I want to share with you the songs we chose for the important moments of our wedding day and inspire couples to choose music that fits their personalities and evokes emotion from everyone involved in the day! You can find the entire playlist at the bottom of this post.
The Ceremony
Prelude Music: I asked Adam, our DJ, to choose fun, modern love songs over instrumental music. Right before we started the ceremony he came into the bridal suite to check on us and said he had Hootie and the Blowfish playing for the guests. It was perfect! He read my mind. Our transition song from prelude to processional was Justin Timberlake's Mirrors!
Family Processional: We did not have a wedding party (no bridesmaids or groomsmen) so our grandparents, parents, Kyle's brother and my little cousin processed down the aisle before us. They all entered the ceremony to a cover of the 2001 song, "Wherever You Will Go", originally by The Calling. We chose a version from the 2015 season of The Voice! It had a bit more of a wedding feel and I loved the harmonies!
Bride and Groom Processional: This was by far the hardest song for me to pick. I wanted to walk to something totally unique and fun but then I also worried that I would regret not paying homage to the walk that I would only make once in my life! I'm a huge fan of Boyce Avenue and one afternoon over the winter I listened to their cover of Cyndi Lauper's Time After Time and I just knew. Kyle and I both processed to this song (separately). I walked to the final chorus (and cried).
Recessional: This was an easy choice. By far the easiest of all of the songs for the day. I'm a big Paramore fan, Kyle actually likes this song (surprising) and it just fits. Our wedding was held on the nine year anniversary of the week we met so it's even extra fitting. It was such a fun, upbeat, awesome song to exit to! Even though we basically ran back down the aisle... sorry, Melania.
The Reception
Reception Entrance: Again, I wanted a song that was fun, different and a bit ridiculous. This came on Spotify in my car while I was driving home from a wedding one night and at the end (starting at 5:27) where she repeats "I knew you were trouble when you walked in", it just clicked. Bam. Reception entrance song... done.
First Dance: Our photographer, Melania, basically chose this song! She sent it to me not long after we got engaged because it came up on her Spotify playlist at work one day. I listened to it once and sobbed. I made Kyle listen to it and I sobbed then too. A few weeks later, I played it for my other photographer friend, Caity, and she pointed out that the lyrics are perfect for growing with a family. It's a life-long song. Because it is a bit obscure, I had the lyrics printed on the backs of a welcome card that we left at every seat for each guest. Whatever may come, your heart I will choose. Forever I'm yours, forever I do.
Cake Cutting: Alright, this one is really weird but hear me out. If you go to (or work) a lot of weddings you'll know that everyone chooses cute songs about cake, sugar and sweet things to cut their cake to. Rightfully so - that makes sense. But I hated all of those songs when I started to think about it. What else does cake cutting involve? Knives. We're big Game of Thrones fans and decided to pay homage and just be silly. I'm wondering now how many people noticed that it was the Game of Thrones theme song playing while we cut?
Last Song + Encore: These were straight up "go with your gut" decisions. I picked these songs and then we just stuck with them. IT WORKED OUT PERFECTLY. Miley was our "final song" and then John Denver was the sing-a-long encore. We had a small but really amazing group of our closest friends still there at the end singing and dancing along with us (and ready to keep drinking at the hotel). This was definitely a weird pair of songs on the surface but surprisingly they worked so well together!
We can't recommend or thank Adam of Soundfactor Entertainment and Events enough. He made sure that every moment was incredible, he served us as his clients so diligently and he made our reception so much fun. I never once worried about any of these details thanks to Adam. I had 100% trust that he would create an atmosphere that was perfect for our wedding day and he knew how much these wonky song choices meant to me. Thank you so much, Adam.
Our song choices were seemingly all over the place but each song was perfect for each of those special moments. We made decisions that were a bit non traditional but definitely fun, representative of us and memorable. I avoided all of those long lists of suggested popular songs deemed perfect for your wedding day. My advice to other brides would be to do the same thing! Start seeking out songs early. Browse YouTube, just let Spotify play and see what songs stick in your head or transport you to that moment that you're anticipating so much!