Music Monday 26 - Our Wedding Music

I haven’t posted a new blog since May 17. In the months leading up to our wedding, I was losing brain function at an alarming rate; unfortunately, what brain power I had left, needed to be reserved for things like my job and planning a wedding. Now that I’m happily married, though, I feel my brain coming back to me. So, in the words of Eminem, guess who’s back?

I did get married recently and I certainly don’t plan on every subsequent post to be about either our wedding or marriage. But since I’ve already discussed wedding songs, I thought I might spend some time reflecting on our wedding music and why we chose certain songs.

Procession of the Bride

Alycia and I had a difficult time selecting the song to which she would walk down the aisle. Neither of us wanted something traditional like the wedding march or “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring”. I thought that Billy Idol’s “White Wedding” would be a good selection but Alycia disagreed; I think it was a sign, though, that we should have chose that song when we saw The Wedding Singer on our honeymoon. We eventually decided upon Norah Jones’ “Come Away With Me”. Alycia and I both like jazz and I had always felt that “Come Away With Me” was one of the most romantic songs ever. Sure, it doesn’t have the blatant romance of “My Heart Will Go On” or “Teenage Dream”, but I’ll always think about my bride walking down the aisle when I hear “Come Away With Me”, and that’s all right with me.

Recessional

If our decision for the procession was difficult, our decision for the recessional was contentious. Before we even began dating, I told Alycia that I wanted the throne room song from the end of Star Wars played as my wife and I walked back down the aisle. In my mind I couldn’t understand why Alycia wouldn’t want that song, especially when I wanted it so badly and she didn’t really care. While it was a contentious and difficult decision, it provided a great illustration for a sermon and we eventually decided together upon “Where the Streets Have No Name”. U2 is my favorite band and “Where the Streets Have No Name” is my favorite song ever, so my musical inclinations were still satisfied. It was great to hold my wife’s hand for the first time and walk back down the aisle as the intro built; it truly was a celebratory moment.

First Dance

In our minds we both had images of a well choreographed first dance. With that in mind, we selected “The Best is Yet to Come” by Michael Bublé. We thought it would be a good song to dance to and wow all of our guests with our dancing prowess. Unfortunately, even though we had some choreographed steps, we lacked the time necessary to practice. So our beautifully planned dance dissolved into something akin to Kate Gosselin’s appearance on Dancing with the Stars; unlike her, though, we’re still not crazy. So instead of a tightly choreographed dance, we had a stumbling, bumbling shuffle across the dance floor, full of laughs and smiles, mercifully cut short by the DJ.

If you're married, what songs did you select for your wedding? If you're not married, what songs would you like played at your wedding?