This is one of those weddings that really got me. I did multiple happy dances when reading about the music. The cocktail hour playlist is full of songs I personally love and that usually get played at parties with friends. Add the fact Stefanie and Gene’s friends performed several songs especially for them makes my heart warm and fuzzy. The whole shindig sounded amazing, and I’m so happy Elka suggested the feature for Hi-Fi Weddings! Elka is the lovely darling who has featured our house renovation room by (completed) room! She is friends with the lovely bride and dashing groom and actually featured the wedding on CasaSugar. Be sure to check it out to get an in-depth look at the details!

And now onto the musical hoopla celebration in the Redwoods!

(tiny records! squeal!)

We had three DJs who spun for 5 hours: Kris Lee started out with an oldies/Northern Soul set; Michael Henning played a varied set that included indie rock, Tropicalia, hip-hop, Madchester, and 60s soul; and Rob “The Duke of Windsor” Greenhill brought up the rear with 60s and 70s British rock and psych, some old-school hip-hop, and a little bit of classic punk.

Below is the track list from the cocktail “hour” (it was a little longer than an hour) which was a really great mix. Our dinner music was all by Cole Porter, who I love.

As for the ceremony, the processional began with originals by our friends The Moore Brothers, who then sang Frankie Valli’s “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” as I walked down the aisle.

Our first dance was to The Kinks’ “Ring the Bells,” and we danced with our parents to Frank Sinatra’s version of “The Way You Look Tonight.” Our wild, late-night hora was to a high-energy klezmer version of “Hava Negila” by a band called Zimmes.

Since we’re both musicians and so are a lot of our friends, we thought it would be a shame not to have some performances. We asked a handful to play us one song each of their choosing, in between two of the DJ sets: Greg Ashley did Leonard Cohen’s “True Love Leaves No Traces”; Anna and Yea-Ming (Dreamdate) played one of their originals; Jeff Kimmich did “Home” by the Talking Heads; Hiya played Neko Case’s “Holding Out for that Teenage Feeling” (which was a huge hit with a lot of the ladies in the audience); Greg Moore of the Moore Brothers did, I believe, a Syd Barrett song (I’m not really sure of this, though), and my maid of honor and her husband, Kristina and Ben Knight, closed with a rousing ukulele version of George Michael’s “Faith” that had the crowd singing enthusiastically along.

COCKTAIL HOUR MIX:
Little Bells – Rosie Flores & the Pine Valley Cosmonauts
Heaven Is My Woman’s Love – Lee Hazlewood
A Marriage Made In Heaven – Tindersticks
Hey Mama, You’ve Been On My Mind – Caravelles
Laisse Tomber Les Filles – France Gall
Heaven Only Knows – Shangri-Las
He’s A Rebel – The Crystals
Here I Am Baby – Al Brown
Keys to Your Heart – The 101’ers
Shake Some Action – The Flamin’ Groovies
Under The Milky Way – The Church
Cindy Tells Me – Brian Eno
A Minha Menina – Os Mutantes
I Put a Spell On You – Screamin’ Jay Hawkins
Be-Bop-A-Lula – Gene Vincent
You Belong To Me – Flat Duo Jets
My Girl – The Temptations
Since You’ve Been Gone (Sweet Sweet Baby) – Aretha Franklin
Theme De Yoyo – Art Ensemble of Chicago
Eaten By The Monster Of Love – Sparks
She’s Not There – The Zombies
Be My Baby – The Ronettes
Just Like Honey – Jesus & Mary Chain
Up the Junction – Squeeze
Gold Sounds – Pavement
Felicity – Orange Juice
Can’t Take My Eyes Off You – Frankie Valli
The Ship Song – Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds
Don’t Let Him Waste Your Time – Jarvis Cocker
The Girls And The Dogs – Scott Walker
Teenage Kicks – Nouvelle Vague
Needles & Pins – The Ramones
Kiss Me On The Bus – The Replacements
Heaven Only Knows – Mary Weiss with Reigning Sound
Underwater Moonlight – The Soft Boys
Armageddon Song – Richard Thompson
Can’t Seem to Make You Mine – The Seeds
Ring The Bells – The Kinks

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Photos: Sahar Shirazi, except the dance floor shot which was taken by Sefanie’s sister, Danielle Kalem