I had wicked insomnia last night. Didn’t fall asleep until about 5:30. This would’ve bee bad enough on it’s own, but I also had Beyonce’s “All The Single Ladies” stuck in my head. And since when I mentioned this earlier in the night, my roommate said, “Hah, you went to a wedding recently,” (and “All The Single Ladies” is played at least once in every reception at the bouquet toss), “Thank You For Being A Friend” joined the mental loop around 4am (since it shows up in every wedding slideshow).
My mind working the way it does, this led me to post something to Twitter along the lines of, “Wedding traditions are a great way to make your ‘special occasion’ look just like everyone else’s.” Then I started brainstorming was a less-traditional wedding playlist might look like.
Processional – Knights of Cydonia by Muse – a good, fun geeky song with a solid tempo that hasn’t been in every wedding for the past hundred and fifty years.
Recessional – I’m not sure which track it is, but there’s an awesome song from the Fellowship of the Ring soundtrack. It starts off with a big orchestra hit (“bum BUM, BUM, bum bum BUM”), and is lively and full of joy and triumph.
The Slideshow – above all, don’t use “Thank You For Being A Friend.” Everyone uses that; it’s a more common choice than using “God Blessed The Broken Road” for the first dance was a few years ago. I’m not certain the slideshow is a necessity, but if you have to have one do something unique – like this.
The First Dance: Something from an animated Disney movie – I lean towards “Can You Feel The Love Tonight?” from Lion King, but go with your gut on this. In fact, for
The Playlist (not in order): No rap. You can’t dance to it. (No, standing around in a circle watching one person do “dance moves” like The Lawnmower, The Shopping Cart, or that fishing thing isn’t dancing.)
As much music from Disney animation as possible.
Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger – Daft Punk
Danger! High Voltage! – Electric Six
Love Today – Mika
It Takes Two – from Stephen Sondheim’s Into The Woods
Anything from West Side Story or the Cowboy Bebop soundtrack
Anything by any member of The Rat Pack, Michael Buble, Harry Connick Jr., Queen Tom Waits, or David Bowie
And, just to confuse your guests, throw in The Rake’s Song and The Mariner’s Revenge Song by The Decemberists. Leave them with a “wait, what?”
The Bouquet Toss – Do not, do not, do not use All The Single Ladies. How about Lollipop by Mika?
The Garter Toss – There’s a few options here. Start with the theme/motif from The Terminator (“dundun dun dundun”), and go into something from The Matrix, Pirates of the Caribbean, or Gladiator.
I should’ve been a wedding planner.
Trope of the Day: Scott Pilgrim – the movie hasn’t been doing as well financially as I think it should be, so I want to raise awareness. It’s awesome and full of win, and you should check it out. Yes, you.