ra-ra-shish-koom-ba

School spirit, yes we do, or something along those lines.

Kirk and I are both IU grads. Since we're getting married on campus, it feels prudent, nay necessary, to tip our proverbial hats to our alma mater. I just don't know when or how!

There are three school songs: two fight songs and "Hail to Old IU," the song that makes me cry my eyes out for the glory days of Mother Bears pizza and Ballantine Hall.



My original idea was to have a mini pep rally at some point after the ceremony, since many of the guests are IU grads too. My problem of course is timing. Is this best suited for cocktail hour (we'll be able to make the second half of it) or some point during the reception? Should the DJ play a recording or should I conspire with the IU grads to burst out with an a cappella version? Opinions are requested on when and how!

Ceremony Muzak

For the ceremony music, we knew right away that we wanted to have Kirk's brother play. He's a jazz guitar student and insanely talented. So knowing there would be an electric guitar at our ceremony, it wasn't too hard picking out songs. Plus, our ceremony isn't in a church, so we've been free to be as secular as we want to be!

While people are being seated, Kirk's brother will play Jeff Buckley's version of "Hallelujah." I love Leonard Cohen, but this version of the song is unbelievable. Yes, I am trying to make people cry as soon as they sit down.


Then I'll walk down the aisle to "The Wind." I think this song is about a journey (I hate explication), so it's apt for a walk to the biggest commitment of my life.

"I listen to the wind
to the wind of my soul
Where I'll end up well I think,
only God really knows"


When our lovely ceremony finishes, we'll walk back to "Wouldn't It Be Nice." I'm really hoping people spontaneously start singing along. At least I will.

"Maybe if we think and wish and hope and pray it might come true
Baby then there wouldn't be a single thing we couldn't do
We could be married
And then we'd be happy"


I'm the type of person that associates music with moments. If I hear a specific song, it triggers my memory and I'm sent back to freshman year of college in my dorm or a family road trip to Florida. So I'm really, really happy to have some of our favorite songs playing during the ceremony, for this reason.

Are you picking ceremony songs with special meaning or are you hoping to create new meanings for them?

if this were socially acceptable...

I would totally have a dance with my mom.

For as much as I complain about her, I love her to pieces. We're very much alike, which is why we clash so much. We have a lot of opinions. We're both beyond stubborn. But we also get along famously when we're not planning a wedding.

Anyways, I did a diabolical thing and got her into Lily Allen. I burned her a disc a few years ago and she has taken quite a liking to Lily's mostly anti-male tunes. So whenever I hear the following song, I definitely think of my mom.

p.s. it's sung by an adorable children's choir here.


If you even entertained the thought of dancing with your mom, what would the song be?

non-lame first dance

I don't know how universal this experience is, but I once dated someone who read Pitchfork frequently. This is a site you read if you want to know about every obscure up and coming band and belittle others for their crappy musical choices. Basically.

The benefit of all of that is I have a decent music library now, filled with both standards and some indie stuff. And it's time to start thinking about first dance songs!

My fiance and I don't really have a song. There's a lot of songs we both like, but the closest thing to our song is probably Bitches Aint Shit. Oops.

So without further ado, a bunch of songs from our collections.







Here's one we found because of our DJ's monthly music lists.


And finally, a standard, with probably the best arrangement of this song.


We still haven't decided. I guess we should try dancing to some...

How are you choosing the first dance song?