Brooke is a lovely designer and maintainer of her fabulous blog called Claremont Road. She is also part of the inspirational hive known as WeddingBee (alias: cupcake) and has appropriately titled her posts as Love is All About “We” and she has given Hi-Fi Weddings permission to feature her beautiful and full-of-dancing wedding fest!

Although we spent months planning “the party”, we all know that what truly matters on the wedding day is the ceremony. It felt so surreal to hear the organ playing as my bridesmaids walked down the aisle and I made my way to the door of the sanctuary, arms linked with my parents’ — my mom to my left and my dad to my right.

Then, it came time for our first dance — the song we chose is the namesake for all of my recap posts. The song is “We” by the one, the only — Neil Diamond. We had been torn for a while over what song to choose, but ultimately, Neil’s crooning won the prize. It is light-hearted, wouldn’t make us cry, isn’t too long, has a perfect slow-dance tempo without being dreadfully slow, and it is just very “us”! Old soul-ish, not-too-serious, goofy, schmoopy, madly in love “us”. (Or, shall I say, “we”?)

It was time for my dad and me to cut a rug! We chose to dance to “My Girl” by the Temptations. My dad is a big fan of Motown, and I remember him singing this song to me when I was a little girl.

…we dug in! Harry Connick Jr.’s A Wink and A Smile played as we took the knife to that glorious creation.

Choosing music has been a challenge, because a lot of the music that we like just won’t work for dancing. Currently, the six-disc rotation in my car consists of She & Him, Justin Timberlake, Regina Spektor, the Broadway soundtrack to Wicked, Ingrid Michaelson, and The Beatles White Album. Aside from Justin and some earlier Beatles songs, nothing is very danceable. We’ve had to get in touch with our inner dancing queens to compile a list that will (hopefully) have our dance floor packed all night with everyone from my 13-year-old cousin to Mr. Cupcake’s 70-something-year-old grandmother.

First, the “important songs”—entrances, first dance, parent dances, etc.:

Next up, we have the cocktail hour and dinner music, in no particular order:

When I first came across Brooke’s post and music list, I loved that she posted her DO NOT PLAY list…so much, that I’m sharing it with you here too!

All photos by The Wiebners

I add a lot of songs to the ‘master list’ everyday…this will be a long on-going (and exciting!) process. Sometimes there are songs I discover or remember that I feel the entire world needs to hear! Now I know the entire world doesn’t read this blog, but I’m hoping it will bring a smile to those of you who do read – and listen – to these songs!

So, that brings me to the introduction of Tuesday’s Tunes! Every Tuesday (universe willing) I will bring you a song that has been stuck in my head, or that is fun, flirty, love-dovey, or just an all around sweet song. Happy listening!!

Click here to download Best Coast – When I’m With You

Wahoo! Hi-Fi Weddings is featured on the lovely blog entitled, All Things Wedding: A Bride’s Confession to a Wedding Obsession! It’s especially exciting to fall into the “Marriage Monday Music” category and to read the kind words Amy wrote. It’s always nice to meet someone that likes this little idea…and especially wonderful when they pass it along. Thanks all who have supported me thus far and I look forward to the wonderful people I might meet because of you!

Love is still around even after the “holiday” is over! I love this photo by MangoRED found via Rock ‘n Roll Bride! What an adorable little record player! You can see more photos either here on RnRB or here on MangoRED’s blog. I love the use of all the props!

And speaking of tiny record players (and tiny tapes) I found these adorable rings and necklaces on etsy (via plastique). They would make cute gifts for those that help plan your music-centric wedding. Or even to have as favors.

Personal wedding sites…some people love ’em, some hate ’em. I like this idea of using a page on your site as a ‘song suggestion’ page. It can help ensure that all guests’ tastes are represented. I know this could be overwhelming for some, but it might also spark additional ideas or remind you of an “obvious” song you forgot to include. But I still say no to the chicken dance…unless every single guest requests that song. Wouldn’t that be insane?!

I hope your day is filled with love.
I hope it has a perfect soundtrack.
I hope you and yours have a wonderful Valentine’s Day.

xoxo

Photo by: White Rabbit Studios

Sometimes being a new blog in this crazy blog-o-sphere feels like being the new kid at the playground. Some people brush you aside as you try to wave hello, but that just leaves more room for the folks that embrace you and want to be friends. Makes it all worthwhile! Liv, of Blushless, is one of the latter…a person that sent warm wishes in our emails back and forth. And of course the ultimate compliment for any blogger is being featured…and that’s just what she did for little ol’ Hi-Fi Weddings! Thanks Liv!

You can read the feature {HERE}

I’m all about new music. I know when I’m tired of everything I have it’s nice to turn to someone for more more more suggestions! I understand some people are content listening to their same favorite bands over and over – but not me (or my husband) – we find pure joy in discovering new melodies, meeting new bands, seeing shows…all of it! I’m thankful we have a record store so we are constantly surrounded by music…and I’m really excited about sharing the passion of music and love through this blog. And I look forward to meeting all the happy people that feel the same way! So, introduce yourself! Make yourself known…and let’s be friends!

And because I can’t just talk about music without sharing some…and because this record FINALLY came into our shop yesterday, here’s one of my favorite Sparks song, Eaten by the Monster of Love for your listening pleasure. (Just push the tiny play button)

It seems like the music bug is going around! Green Wedding Shoes posted a playlist as well, and you can find it here! It would be awesome if we could collaborate on some music posts, but so far no word back on what they think of that suggestion…I’ll keep my fingers crossed though!

I was going to post this mix on Valentine’s Day but I decided to go ahead and give it to you all early…so you can share it with YOUR loved one ON Valentine’s Day! You can download the entire mix here!

Here is the playlist:

The Cherry People – And Suddenly
Billy Bragg and Wilco – Secret of the Sea
Diamond Rings – All Yr Songs
Beach Boys – Wouldn’t it be Nice
Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazlewood – Lady Bird
David Bowie – Love You Til Tuesday
Animal Collective – My Girls
Beck – Think I’m In Love
Outkast – I Love the Way You Move
The Feelies – Dancing Barefoot
Nick Lowe – I Knew The Bride When She Used To Rock And Roll
Pulp – Common People
The Troggs – Love Is All Around
M. Ward – Here Comes The Sun Again
The Zombies – This Will Be Our Year
Katrina And The Waves – Walking On Sunshine
Talking Heads – Road To Nowhere

And if you want to listen to it before downloading, here ya are:

Happy Valentine’s Day from Hi-Fi Weddings!

Meet Emily. She is a cutie, a vegan, a wife, and a music lover. Emily and Emory celebrated their love for each other with a fantastic mix of music that spanned over 7 hours! When I asked Emily about why music is important to her and how did they incorporate it into their wedding, she came up with an answer that sounds similar to my own reasoning. Thanks Emily for letting Hi-Fi Weddings share your day (and music selection) with readers!

Music is something I’ve been passionate about for as long as I can remember. I’m actually taking classes to learn more about music psychology because I’m so interested in why music affects people the way it does. I grew up in a small town with terrible pop crap radio stations and I had to really work at finding good music. So making mixes of music I loved was something I started doing early on. And haven’t stopped! So, making a mix for the wedding was like the mix of all mixes. One, because it’s the longest mix I’ve ever made (by far) and two, because it needed to represent us as a couple. I couldn’t just have any wedding music. It wouldn’t have been us. And I knew it would be hard to find a DJ willing to play the kind of music we wanted, and willing to stay away from crap like the “Electric Slide.” Sounds a bit snooty, but when it comes to music, I don’t mind be called a snob. A listener of the “gourmet” variety, if you will.

So what exactly captures the essence of Emily and Emory’s love music wise? A whole lotta great tunes, that’s for sure. See for yourself:

*Sorry if this is hard to read…if you’re interested, shoot me an email and I’ll send you the readable lists!

Photos by: Erol Reyal

I’m loving these romantic and sweet “love notes” that Ruffled featured today by the talented and inspirational Lollipop Events & Designs. I adore all of the elements, but incorporating the music aspect sings to my heart the most!

As seen on Ruffled, photography by John Schnack Photography and event styling, coordination, bride styling, stationery by Lollipop Events & Designs.