So my sister is getting married in May, and I’m playing music. (I’m very happy about this, because I HATE being in the wedding party. I let it be known that if I didn’t have to rent a tuxedo it would be reflected in the wedding gift.)
Any suggestions? I’d like them to fit in reasonably well with the other two, but I’d like them not to suck. I’d like to avoid anything cliched, and stay away from the Billy Joel/Elton John canon because I’ve kind of done it to death in the past. (I know, I’m threading a lot of needles here.) All genres welcome, piano or guitar OK, left-field choices especially welcome.
One idea I had considered: “To Love Somebody” by the Bee Gees. Sullied a bit by its extreme early-90s overdoing by Michael Bolton, but largely redeemed in my mind by this Damien Rice/Ray Lamontagne version. I also considered Nick Cave’s “The Ship Song”.
I handed out CDs as wedding favors. Here is the playlist: (it’s similar to your sister’s tastes, we had Sister Hazel and I considered The Luckiest).
I wanted something that most people at my party could enjoy, so it’s got a mix of modern and stuff my parents/aunts/uncles might like.
Butterflies - Saving Jane
See Me Beautiful - Sister Hazel
Where You Are - Marc Broussard
Bless the Broken Road - Rascal Flatts
After All - Cher & Peter Cetera
Smile - Uncle Kracker (we danced to this at our wedding)
I’m Yours - Jason Mraz
You Got Me - Tristan Prettyman
Better Together - Jack Johnson
Another Day in Love - TJ McCloud (he’s awesome, highly recommend)
Have I Told You Lately - Van Morrison
Everything - Michael Buble
When You Say Nothing At All - Ronan Keating
Your Love - Jim Brickman
This Kind of Love - Sister Hazel
Lovely Tonight - Joshua Radin
Give Me Forever (I Do) - John Tesh & James Ingram
Always Will Be Yours - TJ McCloud (played while we list the unity candle)
Rest of Your Life - Na Leo
Beautiful in My Eyes - Joshua Kadin
Today Was a Fairytale - Taylor Swift
I fell in love with Tyrone Wells Happy As The Sun after we got married, would have loved to include it on the CD.
Happy as the sun, lighter than a feather
Walking on the clouds when we are together
Every day with you just keeps getting better
The world’s as it should be, when are you here
“God Only Knows” by the Beach Boys. Perhaps the most perfect, beautiful love song ever written. Although, some of that greatness is in the orchestration. The only competition, for me, is The Beatles’ “Something.”
“Such Great Heights” by the Postal Service (or check out the cover by Iron & Wine).
“This Will Be Our Year” by the Zombies. (That was the first dance song at my wedding.)
For an instrumental, Ode to Joy from Beethovan’s Ninth Symphony works well on both piano and guitar. It’s always been one of my favorites to use as a recessional.
My favorite wedding song is In My Life by the Beatles. If we’d had a dance floor and a band or a DJ at our wedding that would have been our first dance and now I sing it to our baby.
Our wedding song was “Suddenly” by Billy Ocean. Our second choice was “Follow You, Follow Me” by Genesis. It was important to us to not use songs that were overdone for weddings, were appropriate (so no “Every Breath You Take” by the Police), and had lovely, romantic lyrics and music.
I think my sister will be going with two great Beatles songs by George Harrison: “Something” (first dance) and “Here Comes the Sun” for her processional. I think HCtS will be a gorgeous instrumental for guitar and alto flute (or even just guitar).
I’ll be singing a solo version of Make Our Garden Grow from “Candide,” which is an incredibly touching song for two people who’ve travelled a long way to find happiness and start a life together.
Final verse/chorus says it all:
Let dreamers dream what worlds they please;
those Edens can’t be found.
The sweetest flowers, the fairest trees,
are grown in solid ground.
We’re neither pure, nor wise, nor good;
we’ll do the best we know.
We’ll build our house and chop our wood
and make our garden grow;
We’ll make our garden grow."
But you’re probably more into rock/pop than the classical/musical genre. Still, it’s freakin’ gorgeous and very meaningful (again, especially for couples who’ve experienced a lot of rough patches in their lives yet managed to discover joy with each other).
I consider any day that contains a Shania Twain song a bad day, so you can imagine how I felt about the wedding that played this song as the processional, recessional, arrival of the couple at the reception and first dance. Thanks for reminding me
