Weddingbee

One of the things I am most psyched about with the wedding is the music. While I have been thinking about all the songs I want to dance to at the reception, one of the things I have not really dealt with is the music that will be playing as I walk down the aisle.

For a while, I thought that I would walk down the aisle to one of the songs I like that did not end up being our first dance song (I am still working that one out), but the other day, when Mr. Hummingbird and I got to talking about it, he said that he would prefer that we do our respective aisle walks to instrumental songs since it would be less distracting. This is definitely not something worth arguing about and since he hasn’t asked for very much in terms of what he wants for the wedding, I decided to embrace this idea and got to researching possible musical options for the big walk. I’m not really a Pachebel’s Canon in D girl so I wanted something a little different and a little more contemporary . . . and happily I found it when I stumbled upon The Strung Out Series.

If you’re at all pop-culture obsessed like me, they’re the perfect compromise between new and old, taking modern pop and rock songs and translating them into arrangements for a string quartet (If you pay attention to the episode of Friends where Monica and Chandler get married, you can hear their version of Foo Fighter’s Everlong in the background).

Anyway, after perusing their catalogue and listening to song sample after song sample, I came up with a short list of songs . . . but first for fun, since wedding planning is so serious, I presented Mr. Hummingbird with a “joke list” of songs I could walk the aisle to. I don’t know how I kept from laughing as he incredulously read back the list of songs to me (which included instrumental versions of Lynard Skynard’s Freebird, The Offspring’s Want You Bad, ACDC’s You Shook Me All Night Long and Limp Bizket’s Nookie), but the look on his face was priceless and it gave us both a good laugh afterwards.

Anyway, here is the real list of Strung Out instrumental songs I think might work.

They are:

In Your Eyes – Peter Gabriel (Lloyd Dobler!)

Pretty Good Year – Tori Amos (Mr. Hummingbird loooves Tori Amos)

If I Ain’t Got You – Alicia Keys (I’m not a huge Alicia Keys fan but this song reminds me of soul era love songs)

All I Want Is You – U2 (This is a good song, but I worry overused)

Underneath It All – No Doubt (A sweet and simple song from Gwen)

All You Need Is Love – The Beatles (I like this but I worry about it being a little too Love, Actually)

Something – The Beatles (I like this song, but it isn’t hugely significant to me)

Do You Realize?? – The Flaming Lips (This actually sounds great and it’s a little funky which I really like)

Your Love Is King – Sade (My top choice would have been By Your Side, but sadly, that was not on the album)

Keep Me In Your Heart – Warren Zevon (Warren Zevon is just cool)

Hand To Hold On To – John Mellencamp (Again, sounds good but no emotional attachment)

You Make Loving Fun – Fleetwood Mac (Kind of peppy and fun, plus I love Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours)

Landslide – Fleetwood Mac (Same reasoning as the last one)

Bizarre Love Triangle – New Order (I know this isn’t really wedding-y but I love this song)

Wonderful Tonight – Eric Clapton (Like it, but might be too slow for the walk)

Into The Mystic – Van Morrison (For a kind of schlubby looking Irish guy, this is a pretty sexy song)

Yellow/Clocks – Coldplay (I like this but Mr. Hummingbird hates Coldplay because he insists they’re ripping off Catherine

 Wheel)

Like A Prayer – Madonna (Not only does this sound good, but this song was on the very first album I ever purchased. I still love you Madonna, you crazy fake British person!)

The Man Who Sold The World – David Bowie (This sounds great, but I probably had it more in my head for Mr. Hummingbird’s aisle walk than mine)

I Love You – Sarah McLachlin (Again, Mr. Hummingbird loves the Sarah, but I think it’s a bit slow)

Love Song/Just Like Heaven – The Cure (Love Song was playing on one of our first dates and Just Like Heaven is a very sweet song)

No Name #3/Say Yes - Elliott Smith (Love both of these songs and an instrumental version of Say Yes is awesome because it doesn’t have the swearing that would offend out older relatives)

Perfect/Today - Smashing Pumpkins (I really like both of these songs, but worry they might sound too melancoly)

Babylon - David Gray (I loved this song when it first came out and parts of it remind me of our relationship)

Your Song – Elton John (When I was little, we used to listen to Elton John on family car trips, so I thought it might be nice to encorporate something from the past into the festivities)

Chocolate – Snow Patrol (I just like the way this one sounds)

So ladies, my impartial listening audience, which of these songs do you like the best? Give me your top five picks.

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