Music to Eat and Drink To

Music to Eat and Drink To

September 26th, 2010 @ 2:30 pm by Ms. Sloth
Share

The music for the ceremony and for cocktails and dinner will be fairly easy peasy. But what I’m really nervous about is the party music.

You see, there will be no “Chicken Dance” or “Electric Slide” at our wedding. There will be no Lady Gaga or Justin Timberlake at our wedding. Most of the dance-y music that Mr. S and I like is obscure enough that our families and some of our friends would have no idea what it is. And people don’t dance to what they don’t know.

So our dance music has to be familiar and festive without being cheesy, and it has to be true to us. We both love Motown and like ’80s music and ’70s funk, so I think that the party music will be a little something like this:

But what I’m most excited for is the music that we’ll be playing during cocktail hour and dinner because it’s going to be the type of music that I like to listen to every day. I don’t often listen to slow instrumentals or to dance music, but I listen to slow-to-mid-tempo, pop-y rock every day of my life!

I’ve put together a playlist (Mr. S has yet to contribute his ideas), but it’s long, so I won’t bore you with all of it. But here are some of the songs I can’t wait to play at our wedding.

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes - “Home” I am so obsessed with this song. I love everything about it: Jade’s voice, the simple, heartfelt lyrics, the whistling, the trumpet, even the cheesy spoken part! LOVE. Reminds me of June and Johnny Cash.

Band of Horses - “Marry Song” OK, so maybe this one is a bit obvious, but I just love this band.

Au Revoir Simone - “Stars” This is just so damned cute.

DeVotchKa - “You Love Me” The gypsy-esque sound of this song makes me so, so happy.

Big Star - “Thirteen” I can’t believe this song is almost 40 years old! It’s so timeless that it sounds like it could’ve come out today.

A.A. Bondy - “Lovers’ Waltz” Soooo awesome!

What kind of music are you planning on playing during cocktails, dinner, and dancing?

Tags: music, philadelphia |

Share |

Latest Gallery Pics

Hot Pink and White with Zebra 36" Lighted Spandex Ostrich Feather Centerpiece

20 Responses to “Music to Eat and Drink To”

Member

crayfish (message) 4,844 posts, Honey bee

I was most excited about our rehearsal dinner, cocktail hour, and dinner mixes for the same reason as you! And the biggest perk of having an iPod wedding (other than cost) is that you get to keep the playlists and dance around to them afterward!

9/26/10 @ 2:39 pm (reply)

Member

Chillmer (message) 1,008 posts, Bumble bee

I definitely knew I didn’t want to hear jazz or instrumental or classical music during dinner! We figured dinner and cocktail hour was the only time we could get in some good indie rock, so we gave our DJ a list of bands we liked and he put together a great mix. It was lots of Arcade Fire, Vampire Weekend, Spoon, the Shins, Jenny Lewis, and Death Cab.

For dancing, we played a mix of pretty much everything. My only “do not plays” were bad, early 2000’s hip hop that I’m still sick of and not old enough to be nostalgic (Nelly, Sisqo, Luadcris, Tupac, etc.) Eminem (all rap, but specifially not him, even if someone requested it), and anyone who’s been on American Idol. I wanted to hear a lot of 80’s and motown and stuff I grew up listening to, and our DJ did an amazing job. The dance floor was packed all night long!

9/26/10 @ 2:57 pm (reply)

Member

JuneBride_26June2010 (message) 1,739 posts, Bumble bee

i think we did really well with our music selection. My husband and I - for the “main” music we both listen to - it’s completely opposite! He loves old school hip/hop and rap whereas I do not - I’m a country girl!
But we both do love classic rock, 80’s pop and jazz. During dinner we did my favorite - i LOVE crooners such as deano and frank - and then for the dancing part we agreed on some “classics” such as - for the money dance - we used “Make it Real” by the Jets and “I’ll Be Loving You Forever” by New Kids!!

Our DJ was soo awesome though - he had a video screen out and all of our songs were videos! But I’m not sure we had ANY current pop music - it was all old school rock, some old school hip-hop - he allowed a few country songs - but it was all around fun!

9/26/10 @ 3:13 pm (reply)

Bee

Miss Earrings (message) 2,477 posts, Buzzing bee

ooh i like your music taste Mr E is in charge of our music playlists and we’re planning on having a good mix of indie/ alternative rock, classic rock, and oldies as well. No Lady Gaga or (shudder) Justin Bieber for us!

9/26/10 @ 3:38 pm (reply)

Member

Kemi82JP (message) 749 posts, Busy bee

So you said one major thing that i would like to debunk: “People don’t dance to what they don’t know.” Well, we are huge music lovers, specifically jam band music, bluegrass, as well as a wide range of other genres (80’s, classic rock, Southern rock, etc). Our friends band played our wedding and they are AMAZING, they do a lot of Jam music (Phish, Dead, etc). Obviously this is not a type of music that a lot of people listen to or know. Well they played Phish at our wedding as well as The Grateful Dead, as well as some other tunes a lot of people know like Superstition and Sweet Home Alabama. Well, no matter what they were playing, EVERYONE was out there dancing, even my parents were dancing to Phish! We are huge Phish heads, and alot of our friends are too but not all of them, and definitely not our families. But everyone was getting down! So I just wanted to say that you shouldn’t be too afraid to play music that you love. If the atmosphere is right, everyone will be loving it!

9/26/10 @ 5:05 pm (reply)

Member

gill84 (message) 725 posts, Busy bee

I love ‘home’ - it was number one on my playlist while preparing for the wedding. I love that I have a whole bunch of songs that make me swoon just because they are associated with ‘wedding planning’. Great choices, and I’m sure your crowd will love them.

9/26/10 @ 6:22 pm (reply)

Member

Rayean516 (message) 10 posts, Newbee

I agree with not having the chicken dance. I really don’t want “celebration” either. Don’t forget your Bowie!!! And you can’t go wrong with Michael Jackson or Madonna. Grand Funk’s “locomotion” should get everyone on the dance floor, and ABBA is fun, if you’re not in the 50 percentile that hates them. If you guys are into 80’s, you have A LOT of choices for dancing popular dancing music, but yea, some might be too cheesy. I’d love to see your song lists so far.

9/26/10 @ 7:15 pm (reply)

Member

lindsd16 (message) 121 posts, Blushing bee

I’ll be honest, I’ve never heard most of those songs for the cocktail hour. BUT I’m in love with ‘Home’. I heard it for the first time watching some sample videos from a videographer! I’m trying to figure out how or where I can use that song in our wedding!

9/26/10 @ 9:29 pm (reply)

Member

isthataham (message) 9 posts, Newbee

This is fantastic - and exactly the direction we are taking for our upcoming wedding in a few weeks! I’m working on my playlist now and literally went to iTunes and added these songs! I would LOVE to know your entire playlist so I can play copycat

9/26/10 @ 10:59 pm (reply)

10.

Member

futuremrse (message) 444 posts, Helper bee

We’re doing lots of Motown and kinda funky stuff too. Our last dance with be Michael Jackson “Rock with You” and I’m walking down the aisle to “My Girl” (Temptations). I’m all for using music that you really like and listen to!

9/26/10 @ 11:22 pm (reply)

11.

Member

peachplum09 (message) 648 posts, Busy bee

I…LOVE…LOVERS’ WALTZ! I live under a rock, so it wasn’t until just recent that I came across the song. But it is most DEFINITELY going to be on our playlist as well

9/27/10 @ 12:00 am (reply)

12.

Member

Violet Violet (message) 985 posts, Busy bee

Love your taste in music. I’m trying to figure out how to balance the Mowtown/Soul Music with more modern stuff, and still keep people dancing. Can’t wait to see more! Ps–just the mention of “Home” and the song gets stuck in my head, not a bad way to start my day!

9/27/10 @ 9:15 am (reply)

13.

Member

cassied (message) 65 posts, Worker bee

I’m in the same boat…there will be no electric slide, no macarena, none of any of these tired, boring songs. My problem is that I’m having a hard time not writing up a 9 page list of songs for the dj to play. I really can’t just give him artists because my inner perfectionist won’t let me. On the other hand, if I end up writing up the whole playlist, there’s really no reason for me to have hired a dj in the first place. Decisions, decisions…

9/27/10 @ 10:02 am (reply)

14.

Guest

Some really beautiful songs.
Make sure you tell your DJ no matter who requests anything to stick to the list you gave them. I was so glad that ours listened to us, as my teen cousins were requesting every JT song under the sun. I also think if you dane others will dance with you!

9/27/10 @ 10:11 am (reply)

15.

Member

mjchexum (message) 485 posts, Helper bee

I am also currently obesessed with the Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes “Home”- like you said it’s such a simple song, but the lyrics and the music, it’s just pure awesomeness.

9/27/10 @ 10:53 am (reply)

16.

Member

AnamCara (message) 1,135 posts, Bumble bee

I love love love ‘Home’ - it is fantabulous…if only I’d known about it back in April, I would have had it on our ‘must play’ list…

9/27/10 @ 11:12 am (reply)

17.

Member

jordynrose (message) 6,351 posts, Bee Keeper

I LOVE “HOME”!!! I seriously listen to it 30 times in a row. Jade’s voice is amazing…have you heard her solo song? I wish I could find a copy of it somewhere. They need to let that girl take the lead on more songs!

9/27/10 @ 9:56 pm (reply)

18.

Guest

Regarding the Recessional | Weddingbee

[...] 29th, 2010 @ 2:18 pm by Miss Sloth Share I’ve given a ton of thought to cocktail music and reception music, but just a little bit of thought to the ceremony music. We agreed that we’d play some pretty [...]

10/29/10 @ 2:30 pm (reply)

19.

Member

KBerg0326 (message) 31 posts, Newbee

I’ve gotta say that I’m in love with your music choices! Have to agree with a lot of other people though…Home is addicting! I swear I listen to it five times a day and it just doesn’t get old!!!

10/29/10 @ 2:45 pm (reply)

20.

Guest

Audience Participation: Reception Music | Weddingbee

[...] not too worried about the ceremony music, and our cocktail and dinner music is pretty much picked [...]

11/9/10 @ 2:30 pm (reply)