2017 Wedding Songs
Last year around this time, we took a stroll down memory lane regarding the music selection at my wedding. I won’t bore you with the same ol’ story this year, but for those who missed it, a quick one-liner about it: my darling husband is actually a music snob and as a result, painstakingly selected every single “important” song in our wedding and reception (and even went so far as to tell our DJ that he wouldn’t be receiving a tip if my husband heard so much as one bar of a Bob Seger song…seriously). With spring and summer wedding preparations wrapping up, before you kick your heels up and relax, take a few minutes and spend the time to craft a soundtrack for your wedding that will only enhance the magical quality of your fairytale night.
Here are my picks for this year’s top musical honors for your wedding.
Processional: Claire de Lune by Claude Debussy; more specifically, the third movement of the Suite Bergamasque. I can’t take total credit for choosing this song. My sister-in-law got married over the summer and her husband is a music genius. Like, went to college and majored in music. He is a highly skilled musician and definitely a discerning consumer of music. At any rate, they chose this piece for the processional. It’s a beautiful piece of music. It was written as a piano interpretation of Paul Verlaine’s 1869 poem by the same name. Although the piece of music is instrumental, this is the poem, translated into poetic English from the original French.
Your soul is like a landscape fantasy,
Where masks and Bergamasks, in charming wise,
Strum lutes and dance, just a bit sad to be
Hidden beneath their fanciful disguise.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvFH_6DNRCY
Singing in minor mode of life's largesse
And all-victorious love, they yet seem quite
Reluctant to believe their happiness,
And their song mingles with the pale moonlight,
The still moonlight, sad and beautiful,
Sets the birds softly dreaming in the trees,
And makes the marbled fountains, gushing, streaming--
Slender jet-fountains—sob their ecstasies.
It’s beautiful, isn’t it? The words aren’t spoken in the music, but you can feel the meaning. The movement is tranquil, romantic, and just a touch melancholy. But perfect for creating a dreamy mood at your ceremony.
Recessional: The mood of the recessional is generally cheery and fun, with the newly minted Mr. and Mrs. skipping jubilantly back up the aisle to go and get the party started (or take photos for an hour while the guests grow hungrier by the minute, with only cheese and crackers to satiate their hunger). For the recessional this year, I like an oldie. We’re going back in time, way back (although not as far back as Clair de Lune). In 1972, Richard Carpenter and John Bettis wrote a fun and spunky song about feeling high, bolstered by the love of another. Top of the World was released as a single in 1973, a full decade before I was released as a single. But the song is faintly country, and pop, and is just a real feel good melody. Another bonus: most of your guests over the age of 30 will probably be familiar with this song. Here is a taste of the lyrics from the chorus:
I'm on the top of the world lookin' down on creation
And the only explanation I can find
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V08tc-pBx9Y
Is the love that I've found ever since you've been around
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZsHvcojLOQ
Your love's put me at the top of the world
Entrance: When the bridal party makes their entrance into the reception, culminating in the announcement of the bridge and groom, a song specially chosen for the event is played. Now, in recent years, what with the advent of YouTube and social media, there are increasing instances of shockingly complex entrance theatrics, usually including elaborately choreographed dances performed by the bridesmaids and groomsmen as they enter the reception. I’m so glad this was just becoming a “thing” when I was in the always-a-bridesmaid stage of life, because I am generally regarded as a hideous dancer who has absolutely no business shakin’ it on the dancefloor. My pick for this part of the wedding isn’t going to come as a shock to anyone who has been paying any attention whatsoever to the radio waves this year. Justin Timberlake’s Can’t Stop the Feeling from the 2016 animated film Trolls. Guys, I know it was a kids’ movie. But the song is so catchy, lively, and FUN. That is what your wedding should be. The entrance sets the celebratory tone for the revelry to follow. Enjoy your entrance. It is probably the last time people are going to clap for you because your name changed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KAZX8i_RPQ
First Dance: I know I just said I’m an atrociously bad dancer (and I am), but the first dance is so wonderful. Even now, ten (what?! TEN?!) years later, every time I slow dance with my husband, I remember our first dance as a married couple. We swayed, we smiled, my headpiece poked him in the face (this is the kind of stuff that happens when you marry a tall guy). This is an important thing to keep in mind. You will remember your first dance forever. So choose wisely when you select your first dance song. I’ve been on a country kick lately, and I appreciate a gifted lyricist, so my pick for First Dance Song is More of You, by Chris Stapleton (and shameless plug for Chris Stapleton…if you haven’t listened to his album Traveller, you are missing some outrageously great music). The song is slow, but not too slow. It is country (and therefore warm and cuddly), but not so much that you worry about tractors popping up in the next verse. I wouldn’t change the songs from my wedding, because they helped make it the magical night that it was. But if pressed, I think this song would take first place on the dancefloor.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RweZO3orQz8
The music you pick is quite literally the soundtrack of your wedding. Well-chosen songs further enhance the experience – for you, your spouse, and your guests. With so much music out there, you won’t have a hard time finding the right songs for your nuptials.
Until next time,
Rebecca
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