I figure I should start with my own wedding since that is what started this whole ‘wedding obsession’ thing. You see, back in 2006, before the blog buzz was everywhere I didn’t really think about what other brides did. It’s not that I didn’t care, it’s just that information wasn’t all over the internet yet. However, coming up 4 years later, here I am…obsessed with the many ways you can celebrate two people being in love. Especially, what music tastes they share!

Music is what sparked the first conversation between me and my now husband, Andy…and since then we we spend every waking (and sleeping) moment together! We sealed the deal in May of 2006, and we’ve only grown more in love. I wanted our wedding to be a reflection of who we are so we hand chose all of the songs on our play list…in fact, putting together the 6 disc long mix took the most planning. But I wouldn’t have it any other way! Andy is a graphic designer and he put together a CD cover for the favors, which were copies of the 6 disc long mix. It was supposed to be a grab bag of sorts and you could swap with friends for each different disc, but when people found out, they tried to get one of each! I still have friends tell me they listen to their copies.

We didn’t have a “theme” for our wedding (honestly, I didn’t know people did this). Andy’s childhood friends, Franklin and William (and their parents), opened their lovely 20 foot, three tiered, sunken garden to host our wedding ceremony. I couldn’t have asked for more as it is still my favorite place in Huntsville! And Mrs. Sammons is quite the botanist and she always has such an elegant garden and home. Our reception was just down the road at a restaurant called 801 Franklin. They took care of everything, and it was such a pleasant atmosphere. They also provided fresh cut wildflowers on all of the tables, so between that and getting married in a lush garden, I really didn’t have to focus much on flowers.

So I get to have a little walk down memory lane as I share my wedding, and officially kick off this Hi-Fi Weddings site!

As guests were being seated in the garden, we had Christopher O’Riley’s “True Love Waits” album playing. I’m a HUGE Radiohead fan, so this was a nice way to incorporate them into the wedding without too much of Thom’s vocalization (he’s not for everyone, I understand).

I walked down the aisle, which was a stone staircase, to Israel Kamakawiwo’ole – Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What A Wonderful World.

We played a selection of instrumental songs for people to mingle with one another in the garden before making their way to 801 Franklin:
Mark Lanegan and Isobel Campbell – Dusty Wreath
Radiohead – Meeting in the Aisle
Air – Mike Millis
Sufjan Stevens – Tahquamenon Falls
Belle and Sebastian – Consuelo
Iron and Wine – Jason Loves Kentucky
Air – Alone in Kyoto
M. Ward – You Still Believe in Me
Belle and Sebastian – Fiction
Sufjan Stevens – Enjoy Your Rabbit

Oddly enough, 801 Franklin just so happened to have an 6-disc cd player, so we were able to just hand them all of the cds, and the music lasted well into the afternoon (that’s right, we had a 10am ceremony, with a brunch type menu at the reception). Luckily, Andy and I had saved ourselves a complete copy of the set of cds because ALL of the favors were gone, even the extras we burned “just in case.” We also handed out heart shaped flower paper with a little note attached, but we aren’t here to talk about flower favors – let’s get down to the music play list and design:

Love Songs DISC 1
The Ladybug Transistor – Vale of Cashmere
Antony and the Johnsons – Mysteries of Love
Feist – The Mast
The Velvet Underground – Guess I’m Falling in Love
Rufus Wainwright – Pretty Things
Elvis Costello – Can You Be True?
Neko Case – Tightly
Frank Sinatra – I Only Have Eyes for You
Bob Dylan – If Not For You
Winterpills – Found Weekend
The Flaming Lips – Do You Realize??
The Zombies – She Does Everything For Me
Nada Surf – Concrete Bed
n.Lannon – Turn Time Around
Ben Gibbard – The Dream of Evan and Chan
Emmylou Harris – Love Is
The Stills – Baby Blues
The Beatles – Lucy In the Sky With Diamonds
Al Green – Let’s Stay Together

Love Songs DISC 2
Iron and Wine – Love and Some Versus
Talking Heads – Uh-Oh, Love Comes to Town
Sondre Lerche – Night and Day
Harland T. Bobo – Only Love
Margo Guryan – Don’t Go Away
New Buffalo – Recovery
Akron/Family – I’ll Be on the Water
Devendra Banhart – When the Sun Shone on Vetiver
Billy Bragg and Wilco – Secrets of the Sea
Interpol – Take You on a Cruise
Jason Collett – Fire
Decibully – We Belong on Rooftops
Devendra Banhart – Luna De Margarita
My Morning Jacket – It Beats for You
The Flaming Lips – One More Robot
The Magnetic Fields – Nothing Matters When We’re Dancing
Bright Eyes – First Day of My Life
Ben Folds – The Luckiest
Rogue Wave – You
The Velvet Underground – I Found a Reason
The Elected – Beautiful Rainbow

Love Songs DISC 3
The Zombies – This Will Be Our Year
Talking Heads – Heaven
Stars – The Aspidistra Files
Iron and Wine – Fever Dream
Jeff Mangum – I Love How You Love Me
Travis – Flowers in the Window
Kevin Devine – You are the Daybreak
Postal Service – Grow Old With Me
John Vanderslice – Lunar Landscapes
Starsailor – The Way Young Lovers Do
Little Wings – I am With You
Wilco – I Got You (At the End of the Century)
The Flaming Lips – When You Smile
Old 97’s – Question
Vetiver – Amour Fou
Ryan Adams – Wonderwall
Mark Kozelek – Love at First Feel
Margo Guryan – I Think A Lot About You
Feist – Tout Doucement

Love Songs DISC 4
Coldplay – ‘Til Kingdom Come
Elvis Costello – From Head to Toe
M. Ward – Here Comes the Sun Again
The Zombies – Walking in the Sun
John Vanderslice – Keep the Dream Alive
Gram Parsons – A Song For You
Decibully – Your Love is a Tempo
Iron and Wine – Such Great Heights
The Magnetic Fields – I’m Tongue-Tied
Pinback – Charborg
Radiohead – Arpeggi
Jason Collett – I’ll Bring the Sun
Devendra Banhart – It’s a Sight to Behold
Page France – Chariot
Interpol – Length of Love
Talking Heads – This Must Be the Place
My Morning Jacket – Golden
Stars – Sleep Tonight

Love Songs DISC 5
Pete Yorn – A Girl Like You
Emmylou Harris – A Love That Will Never Grow Old
Wilco – I’m the Man Who Loves You
The Flaming Lips – With You
Radiohead – Nobody Does it Better
Bob Dylan – Wedding Song
Smog – When You Walk
Talking Heads – Radio Head
Page France – All Things, All Right
The Magnetic Fields – It’s Only Time
Iron and Wine – The Sea and the Rhythm
Ben Gibbard – They Don’t Know
Stars – Theme From The Stars
The Zombies – You Make Me Feel So Good
Kevin Devine – Lullaby for a Snow-Faced Girl
Sufjan Stevens – The Dress Looks Nice On You
The Notwist – Pilot
The Dears – Lost in the Plot
Maritime – Lights

Love Songs DISC 6
Feist – Mushaboom
Nada Surf – Always Love
Death Cab For Cutie – Earth Angel
Neko Case – I Missed the Point
Bob Dylan – To Be Alone With You
The Flaming Lips – Sunship Balloons
Belle and Sebastian – Legal Man
The Magnetic Fields – The Book of Love
Elvis Costello – Let Me Tell You About Her
The Zombies – The Look of Love
Neil Young – Natural Beauty
Isobel Campbell – The Breeze Whispered Your Name
Maritime – King of Doves
Smog – Golden
Hubert Kah – Rosemarie
The Beatles – Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
Al Green – Light My Fire

The balloons had a message inside with our email in case anyone happened to find it once the balloon reached it’s final popping place. Never got an email…not yet anyway 😉