There are so many visual elements I adore about Brooke and Sam’s wedding! Obviously, the two of them so in love is magical, but all the radtastic music details also make my heart flutter! With many of the wedding party and guests in bands or musicians, the love of music was widespread.

Processional: Welcome Home – Radical Face
Recessional: Thunder In Your Heart – John Farnham

Cocktails
Too Small To Fail – Forgetters
A Good Flying Bird – Guided By Voices
What We Had – Handsome Furs
Edmonton – The Rural Alberta Advantage
It’s Casual – Maritime
The Cave – Mumford And Sons
Welcome Home, Son – Radical Face
The Deadroads – The Rural Alberta Advantage
This Boy Is Exhausted – The Wrens
Under My Thumb – The Rolling Stones
Glory – Radical Face
Just For You – Sam Cooke
I Will Follow You Into The Dark – Death Cab For Cutie
Mansard Roof – Vampire Weekend
The World Has Turned and Left Me Here – Weezer
Burden of Tomorrow – The Tallest Man On Earth
Get Off Of My Cloud – The Rolling Stones
The Love Cats – Cure
Cowgirl in the Sand – Neil Young
The Weary Kind – Ryan Bingham
Album of the Year – The Good Life

Dinner
Troubles Will be Gone – The Tallest Man On Earth
Burden of Tomorrow – The Tallest Man On Earth
I Sing I Swim – Seabear
Sugar Dumpling – Sam Cooke
Sleep All Day – The Rural Alberta Advantage
Fake Plastic Trees – Radiohead
How We Breathe – Pinback
The First Days Of Spring – Noah And The Whale
Bloodbuzz Ohio – The National
Winter Winds – Mumford And Sons
We Are Not a Football Team – Minus The Bear
Perfect Day – Lou Reed
Disintegration – Jimmy Eat World
Sweet Avenue – Jets To Brazil
Forever Lost – God Is An Astronaut
Coming Up Roses – Elliott Smith
The 49th Day – El Ten Eleven
Mattresses Underwater – Colour Revolt
Moksha – Caspian
The Chandelier Swing – Braid
Skinny Love – Bon Iver
Blood Bank – Bon Iver
Hyper-ballad – Bjork

Dancing!
Optimist Vs. The Silent Alarm – Casiotone For The Painfully Alone
Safe and Sound – Electric President
All Things Ordinary – The Anniversary
Ready to Start – Arcade Fire
Shook – Emancipator
On Fire – Eminem
Dead + Rural – Handsome Furs
Younger Us – Japandroids
Shimmy Shimmy Ya – Ol’ Dirty Bastard
Bleeding Hearts Club (Mpls. Chapter) – P.O.S.
Hard To Explain – The Strokes
L.E.S Artistes – Santogold
Award Tour – A Tribe Called Quest
Danger Zone – Kenny Loggins
Stand By Me – Ben E. King
Break On Through (To The Other Side) – The Doors
Send Me An Angel – Real Life
Break The Ice – John Farnham
Thunder In Your Heart – John Farnham
Dirt Off Your Shoulder – Jay-Z
What Would I Say To You Now – Jimmy Eat World
Wagon Wheel – Old Crow Medicine Show
Take On Me – A Ha
Encore – Jay-Z
Thriller – Michael Jackson
The ’59 Sound – The Gaslight Anthem
Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood – The Animals
Dirty Diana – Michael Jackson
You Send Me – Sam Cooke
Rock Your Body – Justin Timberlake
Everybody Wants To Rule The World – Tears For Fears
Folsom Prison Blues (live) – Johnny Cash
What A Wonderful World – Louis Armstrong
Watching The Detectives – Elvis Costello
Girl, You’ll Be A Woman Soon – Urge Overkill
Just Like Heaven – The Cure
I’m the One – Descendents
Nothing Can Change This Love – Sam Cooke
In The Air Tonight – Phil Collins
Juicy – The Notorious B.I.G.
Hip-Hop – Dead Prez
Stronger – Kanye West
Runnin’ – The Pharcyde
Digital Bath – Deftones
Nuthin’ But A ‘G’ Thang – Dr. Dre
I’m On Fire – Bruce Springsteen
Gloria – Van Morrison

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Photos: W. Scott Chester Photography

I kinda feel like a zombie right now since my head didn’t hit the pillow until right before 4am this morning. We trekked to Birmingham last night for a show (The Spits, TV Ghost, Really Loud Hamburgers) and it was a blast! It’s always fun at the Bottletree and seeing ‘Ham friends…and of course there’s always Al’s afterwards. This probably sounds like a foreign language to some of you, I’m sure – but that’s ok – you’re here for Friday Favs, so BAM hereyaare!

ooooooooo-lala!!

what a GREAT capture – dontcha wonder what they are singing??

wheat bouquet is AMAZING!

la-la-love!

music-tastical Nashville wedding!

STUDS, amirite?!

From one music nerd to another, this session makes my heart swell and my mouth squeal with delight! Not only are the super cuties donned in fabulous attire, but their collection of items to personalize the session are some of my favorites. And it wouldn’t be Hi-Fi enough if we didn’t find out what their eardrums liked…

Kelly’s Favorites:
Nina Simone “I Put a Spell on You”
Etta James “At Last”
Ray Charles “What’d I Say”
Louis Prima “Wildest”
Zombies “Odessey and Oracle”
Brain Eno “Here Comes the Warm Jets”
The Jam “All Mod Cons”
Nouvelle Vague (self-titled)
Arcade Fire “Funeral”
Romance “The Divide”

Drew’s favs:
Zombies “Odessey & Oracle”
The Chameleons “Script of the Bridge”
Gang of Four “Entertainment”
The Kinks “Something Else”
Leonard Cohen “Songs of Leonard Cohen”
Pulp “Different Class”
Joy Division “Unknown Pleasures”
David Bowie “Hunky Dory”
Jaques Dutronc “Et Moi Et Moi Et Moi”
T. Rex “Electric Warrior”

Photos by: W. Scott Chester Photography

This lovely whimsical wedding is full of wonderful details and music galore! Ashley, the bride, chimes in with just how important the music was: Securing our church, our photographer and our band (The Booze) were the first items on our list. This is a band we heard on our 3rd date or so and they are awesome performers and incredible lyricists. They have the old school feel of rock and roll we both love. Having them play some of our favorite songs at our wedding was truly icing on the cake. Our guests continue to rave about the band and the music we chose.

The overarching musical theme was love ballads from the 1950’s to the 70’s, for the most part. We chose songs based on their lyrical content and message portrayed. There was no one genre of music. We felt that the music has to be good enough to dance to, lyrically related to marriage or love, and stylistically vintage. It had to bring back memories for most guests, while introducing a new generation to classic oldies, albeit some of which were never hits.

The band we chose, The Booze, is a local Atlanta group, who we saw perform on our third date. We both remember saying out loud that night, how cool and incredibly talented those men were and if we ever got married we would love for them to play our wedding. We asked them to play some of their original songs as well as oldies we have heard since childhood. The best part was hearing guests say how awesome the music was at our wedding.

Selecting the music for our wedding was a long process but one that we were passionate about. From the beginning of the wedding planning process we both agreed that we did not want a cookie cutter wedding. This is one of the best opportunities for us to express our style. We wanted our wedding to be unique and reflect what we love and who we are together. The music selection was one of the best vehicles to demonstrate our personality, and give life to the vintage part of us that is special.

Bride & Groom’s First Dance: Let It Be Me – THE EVERLY BROTHERS
(Whitney made me a mixed cd when we first met and this song was one of the tracks. I remember driving around Atlanta listening to it over and over, and knowing I was in love.)

Bride and Brother’s Dance: What A Wonderful World – LOUIS ARMSTRONG
(This was hard to pick since I danced with my brother, who gave me away. It is hard to find the right song that does not have too suggestive of lyrics and does not feel too paternal. This song walked that fine line perfectly, is classic and will always remind me of him.)

Groom and Mother’s Dance: Stand By Me – BEN E. KING
(This song sends such a great message and is up beat and positive. A perfect fit for me and my mom. Rob Reiner’s Stand By Me, which features this song, is also a timeless coming of age movie, and this song fit this moment well.)

Departure Song: At Last – ETTA JAMES
(Some songs are just perfect. People may say it is cliché or a copout, but honestly, when the lyrics fit and the beat is right, sometimes there is no second choice. This is how we felt, that day, that moment. At last, my love has come along.)

List of cover songs by the band, The Booze:
Long Tall Sally – ELVIS PRESLEY
Whole Lotta Shaken – JERRY LEE LEWIS
Lodi – CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL
Maybellene – CHUCK BERRY
Shout – THE ISLEY BROTHERS
Bad Moon Rising – CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL
You Can’t Always Get What You Want – THE ROLLING STONES
That’s Alright Mama – ELVIS PRESLEY
Brown Eyed Girl – VAN MORRISON
Hello Mary Lou – CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL

List of original songs played by the band, The Booze:
Hard Luck Woman
Heartache
Next Train
Mississippi Line
Riot Girl
Over & Over
The List
All Made Up
Anytime You Leave
Ain’t It the Truth
Hey Amy
Lonesome Country Slide
Come On, Let the Good Times Roll
Trouble in Paradise
Callin’ Out to You

Other Reception Music
Billie Jean – MICHAEL JACKSON
Please Mr. Postman – THE MARVELLETTES
Can’t Help Falling in Love – ELVIS PRESLEY
I Don’t Know What You Got – LITTLE RICHARD
Walking the Floor Over You – ERNEST TUBB
Working Day and Night – MICHAEL JACKSON
Mess Around – RAY CHARLES
Love Letters – ELVIS PRESLEY
Twist – CHUBBY CHECKER
Try Me – JAMES BROWN
P.Y.T. – MICHAEL JACKSON
That’s How Strong My Love Is – OTIS REDDING

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Photos: W. Scott Chester Photography

With the Winter season upon us, I thought it would be nice to visit a wedding that happened during a summer night! It’s FULL of awesome details and music, so there’s multiple reasons why you need to peep this. Marissa gushed about their awesome wedding, favors, and overall design:

Music has always been such a big aspect and love in Caleb and I’s relationship. We went to a show on our first date five years ago. We were so young back then and the most fun we could have was driving around in his old ’88 Camry, comparing our favorite bands. So when he finally popped the question and we began planning the wedding we both knew we wanted to do something special and musical with our invitations. And we only had 5 months to plan it all.

We decided we wanted to make 12″ vinyl record ‘mix tapes’ of our favorite love songs and have the actual invitation be on the back of the vinyl sleeve like a track listing. We are avid vinyl collectors and so are our friends so we thought our wedding vinyl would make an awesome addition to everyone’s collections. We picked our favorite songs and I started research on finding a pressing company. I soon realized this wasn’t going to work. There’s a lot of red tape when it comes to trying to press music on vinyl that isn’t yours (which is completely understandable). I begged and pleaded with pressing companies assuring them that I had no intention of selling the records. Eventually we decided to go with our back up plan that Caleb had devised, buy CDs that look like vinyl and put them in 7″ sleeves. I had my heart set on real vinyl but the end result so amazing too.

I worked with one of our best friends Daniel Bressette to design the sleeve. He’s an independent illustrator who has done band art for bands like Pearl Jam, Paramore, and New Found Glory. (He also did the “Weddingland” map and comic strip for us). He gave me the number to Dorado Music Packaging for the sleeve printing. I was worried they wouldn’t be helpful since I wasn’t a big band spending thousands of dollars. But I experienced quite the opposite. They were rad beyond belief and even rushed my order.

We wanted to use the songs from the invitation throughout the ceremony and reception to tie it all together.
Bride Processional: Dance On Our Graves – Paper Route
Recessional: We Could Be Looking For The Same Thing – Silver Jews
Reception Entrance: Home – Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeroes
First Dance: Johnny Cash’s cover of The Beatles song In My Life
Grand Exit: The Final Countdown – Europe

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Photography – W. Scott Chester Photography
Music – jb Jams
‘Weddingland’ map, finger print tree ‘guestbook’ & comic – Daniel Bressette
Venue & Catering – Kellum Valley Farm
Cake – Razzle Dazzle Bakery
Groom’s outfit – Ben Sherman, Urban Outfitters & TOMS shoes
Bride’s dress – Mori Lee
Groomsmen outfit – Levis, Urban Outfitters & TOMS shoes
Bridesmaid’s dresses – Anthropologie, Mod Cloth, & Dillards
Photobooth – The Majestic Photobooth Company
Bride, Groom & Bridal party hair done by Zach Blalock – TIGI
Wood wall entrance for the ceremony was made by my uncle Tyler (he’s kind of awesome)
Invitations – designed and assembled by me and Caleb. Sleeves printed through Dorado Music Packaging + mad lib RSVP postcards printed through Moo

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

Boy OH boy has this been a busy week! Friday Favs are a little bit shorter, but still super sweet! I hope you all have a terrific weekend – and if it’s YOUR wedding weekend then I hope you dance your ass off and have a wonderful wedding (and I hope to hear from you soon! wink wink!)

LET THEM EAT DONUTS!

inspired by Twin Peaks + shot by Feather Love = FUCKING BRILLIANCE!

dreamy dresses that make my mouth water!

la-la-la-loooooooovely! pair one of these with a gown above and SHABAM! style!

these two talented love birds played at their own wedding!

heads up if you love yellow and green!

omg so romantic! and what a cool name – jordan jordan!

such a good idea! I also love colored daisies!

of course I love this!

romance on a beach with a guitar?! yes please!

these two did it up right with a wedstock wedding!

gotta throw in a little self promotion now and then right?! Stephanie and I (and Andy!) re-launched our White Rabbit Studios site! YAY! endless thanks (and beejays) to my husband who helped behind the scenes when I was fighting with WP!

deadbeat summer mix!

Oh boy you can tell summer is here in Alabama! As I’m typing this I can feel the humidity creeping in. But you know what? I love it! Know what else I love? The stuff I found this week! It’s all so sweet my teeth hurt just looking. But hey – it’s Friday – this day can only get sweeter! Hope everyone has a fabulous weekend…and Happy Wedding to any brides and grooms that tie the knot!

loving this enchanted masquerade wedding!

such BEAUTIFUL garden art…and couple. and photos. and everything!

This beauty bride walked down the aisle to the Twin Peaks theme song! How effin’ awesome!!!

summer lovin’ happened so faaaast!!

this magic happened in a fountain in Paris, underneath the Eiffel Tower…how romantic can you get?!

just lookit all the cute props!

wow…fierce and intense!

I love every single image from this shoot…especially the make your own s’mores! GENIUS!

what a perfect location!

too much yummy eye candy!

everything at this wedding screams FUN!

way to rock those rain boots cutie!

wahooo! a playlist by everyone’s favorite ban.do over on flashdance’s blahg! boy oh boy “milkshake” takes me back lol!

last week after I passed along the link to Music Philosophy I emailed the talented artist and sent him one of my favorite Radiohead lines…and now look! Wahoo!

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gah! Do yourself a favor and watch this surprise proposal!

Big Boi released his awesome video for “Shutterbug” which is always groove-able!

This video is rad and features sleevefaces galore! A nice tune to make the head bob!

Oh happy day! This is a first for Hi-Fi Weddings! An engagement session with a playlist! How fun! Jake and Laurel are set to be married in the sunny locale of Florida, but had their e-session in their home in New York. I LOVE getting to take a peek at where such a lovely couple resides. I’m also a Realtor, so you can add houses to my list of “porns”. Of course it totally helps that this couple has a sweet vinyl collection…and such wonderful trinkets all around their abode! Thanks to Cristen for sending over the shots, and to Jake and Laurel for composing such an awesome playlist!

Push play and then scroll on!

Bill Callahan – Diamond Dancer
Captain Beefheart – I’m Glad
Dan Auerbach – When the Night Comes
David Bowie – Fill Your Heart
Deerhunter – Fluorescent Grey
Handsome Furs – All We Want, Baby, Is Everything
Hans Chew – The Heart Is Deceitful
Le Seigneur Rochereau – Laisse-Toi Aime
Leonard Cohen – I’m Your Man
Liars – Protection
Nick Cave – (Are You) The One That I’ve Been
Percy Mayfield – Nightless Lover

(omg hello heel click masters!)

Photos by: W. Scott Chester Photography

Ooooooh man…this week is a doosy! There’s so much inspiration among the world wide web this week! Here are some of my personal favs:

Beyond Beyond’s Mixtape Love…six sweet songs!

garden romance

oh my my what a beautiful bride!!

Grizzly Bear Modern’s 7th mix…awesome!

could it get any more romantic?

how can you say no to big red hearts?!!!

totally diggin’ these uber sultry and romantic shots

I agree with Emilia – I’d do just about anything to work with this venue!

This would be such a fun project! Bury it on your wedding day and open it up on the 10 year anniversary!

cupcake in a jar?! must…make…now…

such a cute bridesmaid gift idea!

decoupaged comic book shoes sahweeeet!

love.this.shot

what a lovely way to spend the day

i just want to lick this color palette!!! is that weird? it just looks sweet as candy!

this is the cutest idea ever – a video game proposal!

Vintage, antique flea market? I want to go to there!

WANNA WIN A WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY PACKAGE?! Duh, who wouldn’t?!

This would be one helluva invite to receive! Thanks to Rachel for emailing me about this…I agree with her when she suggests adapting to a wedding invite. Holy moly, I’d be all over that wedding!

circle of love!

kitschy kute! I especially love the shots of the couple dancing by the Victrola!

is this fairytale land???

it doesn’t get much sweeter than this…yuk yuk

Neutral Milk Hotel + Explosions in the Sky = cute couple with good taste

I don’t think I’ll ever tire of writing on records…as long as they aren’t playable, of course!

Beatles inspired invites

A Cash inspired e-sesh…dreamy!

this whole 50’s inspired engagement shoot is SO cute…but this photo just about knocked me out of my seat!

Friday wouldn’t be complete without some music…and I’m totally loving this playlist! Lots of favorites!

such a great idea! but this entire session is pretty effin’ badass…

hah!