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#298544 - 18/05/2007 21:32 Wedding songs...
canuckInOR
carpal tunnel

Registered: 13/02/2002
Posts: 3212
Loc: Portland, OR
Well, we've had a list of songs not to play at a wedding, and a list of songs that could be played (though you probably wouldn't want to) if the wedding is on Friday.

I can only think of one, maybe two, songs that I want to play at the reception, but that's not nearly enough to fill out the evening, and keep people on the dance floor. I think I'm looking mostly for jazz, swing, dance/pop, oldies, that sort of thing. I'll probably not be venturing into the realm of hard-core electronica (if you'll pardon my lumping it all into one genre), since the goal isn't to have a few E and rave the night away.

Suggestions? (Especially tunes with a Canadian flavour...)

Cheers,

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#298545 - 18/05/2007 23:38 Re: Wedding songs... [Re: canuckInOR]
tanstaafl.
carpal tunnel

Registered: 08/07/1999
Posts: 5549
Loc: Ajijic, Mexico
Quote:
Suggestions?


I can tell you what we played at my wedding last year, but these songs will probably not be to your taste. This was a small, intimate wedding (about 10 people plus five dogs running around like crazy -- it was fun!) held at a friend's lakeside home.

Before the ceremony: Beethoven, Symphony #7, 2nd movement. This is a somber piece, slow tempo, a little bit dark in a minor key, but melodious.

During the ceremony: Pachelbel Canon. Yes, I know -- talk about trite, traditional, overused, etc. But the Canon is one of the most beautiful pieces of music ever written -- that's why it is trite, traditional, overused, etc. We kept the volume very low, almost subliminal in the background during the exchange of the vows.

After the ceremony: Beethoven, Kreutzer Sonata for Violin and Piano, 3rd movement. This is a bright, up-tempo piece that practically defines the word "recessional". It's hard to listen to it without feeling happy. While it was playing we marched around the living room while the guests threw rose petals at us and cascaded us with soap bubbles.

All in all, a very low-key, informal, no-stress, lots of fun event.

tanstaafl.
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#298546 - 18/05/2007 23:49 Re: Wedding songs... [Re: canuckInOR]
cushman
veteran

Registered: 21/01/2002
Posts: 1380
Loc: Erie, CO
We played some of this CD at our wedding and a lot of people really liked it. It's remixes of some old classics, some swing, etc. Check out the samples on the linked page, you may like it (or not).
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#298547 - 19/05/2007 00:27 Re: Wedding songs... [Re: canuckInOR]
hybrid8
carpal tunnel

Registered: 12/11/2001
Posts: 7738
Loc: Toronto, CANADA
I can't say I agree with everything on that first list. I planned to have NIN's Closer as "our" song...
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#298548 - 19/05/2007 00:44 Re: Wedding songs... [Re: canuckInOR]
jimhogan
carpal tunnel

Registered: 06/10/1999
Posts: 2591
Loc: Seattle, WA, U.S.A.
Two slow and one fast:

At Last - Etta James
Sleepwalk - Santo and Johnny
Love Shack - B52s

one obscure non-dancer:

Haste to the Wedding - Guy Van Duser
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'Tis the exceptional fellow who lies awake at night thinking of his successes.

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#298549 - 19/05/2007 01:59 Re: Wedding songs... [Re: canuckInOR]
larry818
old hand

Registered: 01/10/2002
Posts: 1039
Loc: Fullerton, Calif.
I'll Dance At Your Wedding...

... Ray Noble version.

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#298550 - 19/05/2007 03:09 Re: Wedding songs... [Re: larry818]
lastdan
enthusiast

Registered: 31/05/2002
Posts: 352
Loc: santa cruz,ca
The Way You Look Tonight - Frank Sinatra

Fly Me To The Moon and I've Got You Under My Skin are a couple of other goodies, if it suits you.

look over the song list from the CD in the above link, ya might find a another song or two, tee hee.

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#298551 - 19/05/2007 04:36 Re: Wedding songs... [Re: canuckInOR]
Cybjorg
addict

Registered: 23/12/2002
Posts: 652
Loc: Winston Salem, NC
"White Wedding" by Billy Idol?

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#298552 - 19/05/2007 05:55 Re: Wedding songs... [Re: canuckInOR]
julf
veteran

Registered: 01/10/2001
Posts: 1307
Loc: Amsterdam, The Netherlands
From our wedding:

"That Final Mile" by Runrig
"You Make Me So Very Happy" by Blood, Sweat & Tears

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#298553 - 19/05/2007 12:19 Re: Wedding songs... [Re: canuckInOR]
DWallach
carpal tunnel

Registered: 30/04/2000
Posts: 3810
At our wedding, we had a bunch of my swing-dancing friends, and we also had a bunch of total non-dancers who all grew up with us, surrounded by 80's music. We gave up on any hope of a live band and just had a friend spinning a mix of swinging jazz and 80's pop.

Our wedding party (i.e., parents, grandparents, groom, and finally bride) entered the room to Oscar Peterson playing "Just a Sittin' and a Rockin'" (Amazon link). The Amazon preview starts at the beginning, so you can get a feel for how it works. The song briefly shifts to a minor key and gets back to a major key. That's about when the bride started walking out. After the ceremony was over, we walked out to Louis Armstrong's "Crazy 'Bout my Baby (And My Baby's Crazy 'Bout Me)" (Amazon link). Those worked remarkably well.

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#298554 - 19/05/2007 17:37 Re: Wedding songs... [Re: canuckInOR]
andy
carpal tunnel

Registered: 10/06/1999
Posts: 5916
Loc: Wivenhoe, Essex, UK
Anything from Pink Martini, they are from Oregon, which is nearly in Canada...
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#298555 - 20/05/2007 02:38 Re: Wedding songs... [Re: canuckInOR]
Dignan
carpal tunnel

Registered: 08/03/2000
Posts: 12341
Loc: Sterling, VA
Thanks for posting this! My fiancee and I are working on the same issue. We have a good DJ, though, so I'm not too worried. I'm a big fan of Motown and soul for dancing (if I have to dance to something - which I avoid as much as possible). But there's also some recent pop songs that my friends and I like (songs by The Pipettes, for instance) which will make it in there. It should be interesting: we'll have a mix of Motown and Persian music

The tough part for my fiancee and I is that we don't know what to do for a first dance song. We don't even have a song that's "our song," let alone one that's dance-able. The closest we come is a song called "Wither" by Unified Theory that I was listening to when we first started dating, but that song's about drug addiction. And isn't very dance-able
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#298556 - 20/05/2007 12:34 Re: Wedding songs... [Re: hybrid8]
frog51
pooh-bah

Registered: 09/08/2000
Posts: 2091
Loc: Edinburgh, Scotland
Hahahahaha hybrid8 - we did! We had to slightly change the lyrics in the chorus... and on the day it didn't go as we'd hoped so we ended up with More Human than Human by White Zombie (minus the intro)
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#298557 - 21/05/2007 16:21 Re: Wedding songs... [Re: andy]
canuckInOR
carpal tunnel

Registered: 13/02/2002
Posts: 3212
Loc: Portland, OR
Quote:
Anything from Pink Martini, they are from Oregon, which is nearly in Canada...

There was a big spread about them in the Oregonian, just this week, too. I'll have to give them a listen...

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#298558 - 21/05/2007 16:24 Re: Wedding songs... [Re: DWallach]
canuckInOR
carpal tunnel

Registered: 13/02/2002
Posts: 3212
Loc: Portland, OR
Quote:
Our wedding party (i.e., parents, grandparents, groom, and finally bride) entered the room to Oscar Peterson playing "Just a Sittin' and a Rockin'" (Amazon link). [...] After the ceremony was over, we walked out to Louis Armstrong's "Crazy 'Bout my Baby (And My Baby's Crazy 'Bout Me)" (Amazon link). Those worked remarkably well.

I like the first, but found the brass a little distracting for a recessional -- it would be good for the reception. Sadly, the lyrics didn't start until a second before the clip ended...

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#298559 - 21/05/2007 16:36 Re: Wedding songs... [Re: lastdan]
canuckInOR
carpal tunnel

Registered: 13/02/2002
Posts: 3212
Loc: Portland, OR
Quote:
The Way You Look Tonight - Frank Sinatra

/me applies dope-slap to self.

How could I have forgotten Sinatra?

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#298560 - 21/05/2007 16:55 Re: Wedding songs... [Re: Dignan]
canuckInOR
carpal tunnel

Registered: 13/02/2002
Posts: 3212
Loc: Portland, OR
Quote:
The tough part for my fiancee and I is that we don't know what to do for a first dance song. We don't even have a song that's "our song," let alone one that's dance-able.

We're in the same boat.

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#298561 - 21/05/2007 19:19 Re: Wedding songs... [Re: canuckInOR]
Robotic
pooh-bah

Registered: 06/04/2005
Posts: 2026
Loc: Seattle transplant
Quote:
/me applies dope-slap to self.

How could I have forgotten Sinatra?

/me doubts that 'My Way' would be appropriate.
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#298562 - 21/05/2007 20:03 Re: Wedding songs... [Re: Robotic]
wfaulk
carpal tunnel

Registered: 25/12/2000
Posts: 16706
Loc: Raleigh, NC US
Probably not "The Lady Is a Tramp", either.
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#298563 - 21/05/2007 20:29 Re: Wedding songs... [Re: wfaulk]
canuckInOR
carpal tunnel

Registered: 13/02/2002
Posts: 3212
Loc: Portland, OR
No, but "Last Dance" seems like it might come in handy.

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#298564 - 22/05/2007 12:48 Re: Wedding songs... [Re: canuckInOR]
mlord
carpal tunnel

Registered: 29/08/2000
Posts: 14496
Loc: Canada
No Canadian after-the-wedding dance party is complete without some Doug and The Slugs music, along with pretty much anything that Randy Bachman has had a hand in (The Guess Who, BTO, Trooper, and his newer stuff with Burton C.).

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#298565 - 22/05/2007 15:57 Re: Wedding songs... [Re: mlord]
canuckInOR
carpal tunnel

Registered: 13/02/2002
Posts: 3212
Loc: Portland, OR
Quote:
No Canadian after-the-wedding dance party is complete without some Doug and The Slugs music, along with pretty much anything that Randy Bachman has had a hand in (The Guess Who, BTO, Trooper, and his newer stuff with Burton C.).

Ah, thanks!

That also jogged a niggling memory that conjured up Great Big Sea -- in particular, their old standby "Mari Mac".

edit: changed link to point to the band's website, rather than Amazon.

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#298566 - 22/05/2007 17:25 Re: Wedding songs... [Re: canuckInOR]
Ezekiel
pooh-bah

Registered: 25/08/2000
Posts: 2413
Loc: NH USA
500 Miles by the Proclaimers.

-Zeke
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