Weddingbee Blog

The planning of our ceremony has been a bit piecemeal. A little bit here. A little bit there. So far, we’ve nailed down the box idea (no pun intended) and are on the hunt for the perfect box, wine, and stationery for our love letters. I know exactly what song I want to walk down the aisle to (more on that later) and who will play it. Besides that, I only have one other detail figured out.

But, a little background first to explain why it’s important to us: I come from an extremely musical family. My grandfather was a composer who moved to the states from Austria during World War II and won the Oscar for the soundtrack to the 1960s film Exodus. My grandmother was the singing voice for many a movie actress in quite a few classic movies (Natalie Wood in West Side Story, Deborah Kerr in The King and I, Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady), but she was also an actress in her own right; She played Sister Sophia in The Sound of Music. Here’s a quick clip of my grandmother’s accomplishments. You might recognize a few:

At my parents wedding, my grandmother sang Ave Maria from a balcony high in the church. She did it a capella and my parents loved it. While I’d love for my grandmother to sing at my wedding, she doesn’t have the voice capacity she once did. Sure, she still performs on Broadway occasionally and she was touring with her one-woman show based on her life a few years ago, but her voice is starting to age and she often takes parts of older characters.

Of the three kids that set of grandparents had, my mom (the middle child) did not receive the musical talent of the other two. That said, she was courageous enough to sing You Light Up My Life to my father at their reception. The two other kids–my uncle and my aunt–both have musical talent bursting out of them. My uncle wrote the theme to Golden Girls, while my aunt can sing gospel like nobody’s business. Thus, we’re trying to find a song for my aunt to serenade us with at the ceremony. It will be a capella as well.

Here’s what we’ve come up with so far. Keep in mind that my friend can accompany her on guitar.

I’m kind of loving the Patty Griffin Heavenly Day song. Not only is it already accompanied by a guitar, but it’s so sweet. Alicia Keys’ Lovin’ You might be too hard a capella, Tracy Chapman’s I Am Yours is a bit depressing, and Wild Is The Wind is a song I’m not familiar with. My aunt suggested it but it’s not striking me.

What do you think? Any other suggestions?