Weddingbee Blog

I’ve mentioned before that Mr. Cardigan and I aren’t going the traditional route when it comes to our wedding music. We knew from the beginning that we’d be skipping the traditional music, as did most of the people who know us well. In fact, one of the first things a friend of mine said to me upon finding out I was engaged was, “Oh, please tell me you’re not playing Canon in D!”

(Source)

Now, that’s not to say that there’s anything wrong with the traditional ceremony music.

It’s absolutely beautiful, and I love that anytime you hear those songs, you immediately think “wedding”. However, they’re just not us. Mr. Cardigan and I both love music, and we both feel that it’s an extremely personal thing – we want that to be reflected in the music that we select for our ceremony!

We have so many songs that are special to us, and we really wanted to be able to include them in the ceremony without getting too non-traditional. That is, we wanted the songs to still at least be just instrumentals. That’s where Vitamin String Quartet comes in. Oh, how I love VSQ! If for some crazy reason you’ve never heard of them, they’re an amazing quartet that covers mainstream songs and turns them into incredible instrumentals that make my heart happy. We plan to give our DJ a list of VSQ songs to play as the guests are coming in and getting seated, partially because we love them, and partially because I think it would be so much fun to sit there and try to figure out what each song is! Because I’m a dork like that.

Anyways, as far as the ceremony itself, most of our songs will come from the same artist (but performed by VSQ, of course): Dashboard Confessional.

Swoon!

Dashboard is hands down Mr. C’s and my favorite band ever. Mr. Cardigan first started listening to Dashboard Confessional through me, as I was obsessed with them in high school (and still am), and he wanted to impress me. Soon, he found that he loved them too, and we bonded over their music, a lot. So when it came time to decide on music for our ceremony, it seemed only natural that we would want to use Dashboard. So, as my bridesmaids walk down the aisle, this incredibly gorgeous song will be playing:

If you’ve never heard the original version of that song, you need to hear it! (Here, let me Google it for you)

For the song that will play as I walk down the aisle, there was never a second of doubt in either of our minds that it would be “Hands Down” by Dashboard Confessional. This song is so incredibly special to Mr. Cardigan and I, and we have so many memories tied to it. In fact, one of my favorite memories of Mr. C and I in high school was when I was on a media fast for a Bible study I was doing and couldn’t listen to the radio. We were in the car for a pretty long drive, and we randomly went into an a capella rendition of Hands Down – screaming at the top of our lungs with the windows rolled down. I know, I know, that was probably technically cheating on my media fast, but it was a really special moment, and one that I still think of and smile. Mr. Cardigan also has this song set as the ring tone for whenever I call him!

So, when the bridesmaids make it up to their place at the altar, the doors at the back of the room will open, and this song will begin playing. (I get chills just thinking about it!)

I wonder if our guests would mind if once I make it up to the altar, we just chill for a minute and let the song finish. It feels wrong to stop playing a song so beautiful.

And then, the recessional is where we have come to a standstill. There are SO MANY incredibly fun songs that we could play for the recessional, and it’s so hard to pick one! We’ve finally narrowed it down to three, and I’d love the hive’s opinion on which one we should use!

The choices are:

1) Where You Lead (I like the Faith Hill cover of Carol King’s original) – I’ll be honest: we thought of this song primarily because it’s the theme song to Gilmore Girls. I got Mr. C addicted to that show a few years back, and went on a crazy Gilmore Girls bender in which we watched at least two (usually more like 4) episodes every day until he had seen all 7 seasons. Plus, the lyrics of the song are just so perfect!

2) All I Want is You (Barry Louis Polisar) – I love, love, love this song and the lyrics are just so sweet! I think it would be really special surprise for my dad if we used this song, because he is a huge fan of bluegrass music and I am usually not. We’ve always teased one another about our tastes in music, and I think he would be pleasantly surprised to hear such a bluegrass-y song being played at our wedding.

3) Hands Down (Dashboard Confessional) – We also thought it might be cool to play the Dashboard version of this song as the recessional, mainly because we love it so much and can’t get enough of it! I also like that it would tie back to the beginning of the ceremony, and let those of our guests who haven’t heard the lyrics get to hear them.

So what do you think?