I try to keep the personal real life stuff to a bare minimum on this site, and I'm not about to change that now. But I'll just say that my wedding was awesome and I wouldn't change a thing about it, and I wanted to post the music playlist I put together for the reception, since I labored over the selection of these 101 songs for pretty much the whole time we were engaged. It was really the one little thing that was my domain, since Jennifer did an amazing job organizing virtually every other aspect of the wedding, and she still contributed a good 10-20% of the song selections on here (including all of the classical stuff for the ceremony):

PRE-CEREMONY
Lumiere String Quartet - "Aria" (strings)
Will Taylor - "Ave Maria" (strings & guitar)
Will Taylor - "Julie" (strings & guitar)
Will Taylor - "Beau Soir" (strings)
Lumiere String Quartet - "Air from Water Music" (strings)
Lumiere String Quartet - "Largo from Concerto for Two Violins" (strings)
Elaine Bejjani - "Trumpet Voluntary" (harp & flute)
Elaine Bejjani - "Allegro Maestoso" (harp & flute)
Elaine Bejjani - "Trio Aus Dem Oratorium L'enfance Du Christ" (harp & flute)
Elaine Bejjani - "Thais Meditation" (harp & flute)

CEREMONY
Lumiere String Quartet - "Bridal Chorus from Lohengrin"
Lumiere String Quartet - "Ode to Joy from Symphony No. 9"
Lumiere String Quartet - "Canon in D"

POST-CEREMONY
Lumiere String Quartet - "Allegro from Brandenburg Concerto"

COCKTAIL HOUR
Willie Hutch "I Choose You"
George Jones with Tammy Wynette "Ceremony" (mp3)
Talking Heads "This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody)"
U2 "Sweetest Thing"
Madness "It Must Be Love"
Al Green "Let's Get Married"
Pete Townshend "Let My Love Open The Door"
Mike Doughty "27 Jennifers"
Say Anything "Alive With The Glory Of Love"
Prince "She's Always In My Hair" (mp3)
Lil Mo with Fabolous "4 Ever"
Ciara "Promise"
The Posies "You're The Beautiful One"
Bruce Springsteen "Hungry Heart"
Coldplay "Yellow"
Sloan "Last Time In Love"
Little Feat "Easy To Slip"
Alicia Keys "Wreckless Love"
Nas "Getting Married"

BRIDAL PARTY ENTRANCE
The Dropkick Murphys - "The Gang's All Here"

COUPLE ENTRANCE
Social Distortion - "Ball & Chain"

DINNER HOUR
Ken Stringfellow "Here's To The Future" (mp3)
Aaliyah "At Your Best (You Are Love)"
Ella Fitzgerald "I Wished On The Moon"
Norah Jones "The Nearness Of You"
Thin Lizzy "Dancing In The Moonlight"
Jack Johnson "Banana Pancakes"
Tom Waits "Picture In A Frame"
Raheem DeVaughn "Mo Better" (mp3)
Prince "Forever In My Life"
Big Star "Thirteen"
Queen "You're My Best Friend"
George Jones "Walk Through This World With Me"
Willie Nelson "Hands On The Wheel" (mp3)
Aqualung "Brighter Than Sunshine"
The Beach Boys "God Only Knows"
Curtis Mayfield "So In Love"
War "That's What Love Will Do"
Otis Redding "I've Been Loving You Too Long"

COUPLE'S FIRST DANCE
They Might Be Giants "Another First Kiss"

FATHER/DAUGHTER DANCE
Bob Dylan "Forever Young"

MOTHER/SON DANCE
Jimi Hendrix Experience "Little Wing"

DANCE PARTY (pt. 1)
The Contours "Do You Love Me"
The B-52s "Love Shack"
Van Morrison "Brown Eyed Girl"
Etta James "At Last"
Frankie Beverly & Maze "Before I Let Go"
Justin Timberlake "Rock Your Body"
Brick "Dazz" (mp3)
Percy Sledge "When A Man Loves A Woman"
Paul Simon "You Can Call Me Al"

CAKE CUTTING
The Ray Gelato Giants "Recipe for Making Love"

BOUQUET TOSS
Pat Benatar "Hit Me With Your Best Shot"

GARTER TOSS
Peggy Lee "Fever"

DANCE PARTY (pt. 2)
Tommy Tutone "867-5309/Jenny"
"The Chicken Dance"
Little Feat "Dixie Chicken"
Peter Gabriel "In Your Eyes"
Danzig "Mother"
Bon Jovi "Have A Nice Day"
Billy Idol "White Wedding, Pt. 1"
Queen "Somebody To Love"
Thin Lizzy "The Boys Are Back In Town"
Ted Leo "Where Have All The Rude Boys Gone?"
Al Green "Let's Stay Together"
R. Kelly "Step In The Name Of Love (Remix)"
Billy Joel "Allentown"
Amos Lee "Sweet Pea"
Marty Beech "The Way You Look Tonight"
The O'Jay's "Love Train"
Prince "Adore"
James "Laid"
Tom Petty "American Girl"
The Cure "Close To Me"
U2 "One"
Steely Dan "Peg"
Van Halen "Dance The Night Away"
Michael Jackson "Don't Stop Til You Get Enough"
Rod Lee "Going To The Chapel"
Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock "It Takes Two"
The Clash "Should I Stay Or Should I Go"
The Pretenders - "Brass In Pocket"
The Four Tops - "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)"
Hues Corporation - "Rock The Boat"
The Temptations - "My Girl"
Wilson Pickett - "Land Of 1000 Dances"
Billy Idol "Dancing With Myself"

My brother and best man, Zac, worked as a wedding DJ a few years ago, and he warned me a little about the hubris of trying to pre-program the whole music selection on my iPod with no room for spontaneity or requests, and got me a little nervous. But after a couple early audio issues got worked out (thank lord Zac and one of my groomsmen, Mat, were handy enough to get the speakers up and running), everything sounded great and was received better than I could've expected. I tried to limit the really indulgent selections to the cocktail hour (when most people were outside taking pictures anyway), and really strike a balance between crowd-pleasing and stuff I personally love for the reception, and it actually worked. I knew my people were down to party when they stayed on the dancefloor and went nuts for a jam as obscure as "Dazz." Thank you all for making it such a great night. I'm gonna go off on my honeymoon now, see you in a few weeks.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 21, 2008 at 5:21 PM. You can skip to the end and leave a response.