Creating a Wedding that’s YOU

We believe that weddings are the best opportunity to showcase you and your fiance, your interests, and your love for each other. Please, please make your wedding unique! Don’t do things because you think you’re “supposed to.”  Or because you’ve seen them before. Blaze your own path. Incorporate details that scream “YOU” and cherish every moment of a day you’ve created to celebrate your love! One great way to do this is with your wedding music choices.

All Wedding Photos by Tessa June Photography

Music for Your Wedding

While we tried to make our entire day extremely personal and unique, a big way we did this was through our music selections. Music creates such an atmosphere and conveys feelings so accurately. We wanted our day to feel intimate and raw with joy bursting from its seams. So we chose songs that we’ve loved for a long time (mostly, see below) but that made you just want to smile the biggest toothy grin. Take a look (and listen below) to see what we chose.

Processional

So first off, know that we didn’t want to have music just played at our ceremony. We wanted live music that felt real and filled the room. But we also didn’t want a string quartet or piano, which were way too formal for the affair we were planning. So instead, I reached out to the high school local to our venue. Out of luck, the choir direction connected me to two sweet high school girls who were not only gorgeous singers, but also played guitar and ukulele. And if ukulele didn’t convey that joyful, quirky feel we were looking for, nothing would! So two seventeen-year-olds, Taylor Drinkman and Kaylie Scalze, rocked out our ceremony.

For our processional, it was an easy choice. We chose Home by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. Home has been a favorite of both of ours for such a long time. And the quirkiness paired with sweet, intentional lyrics was perfect to set scene for us walking down the aisle. Our entire bridal party walked down the aisle to it (versus a separate song for my dad and I). We timed each pairing walking down to a certain part of the music (yes, the dancer in me) so that it flowed. As the chorus was sung near the end, the instruments pulled out and the lyrics began softer and sweeter, my dad and I walked down. Every time we hear Home on the radio, we are brought back to this moment.

Our actual musicians practicing Home

Some of our favorite lyrics:

“Alabama, Arkansas
I do love my ma and pa
Not that way that I do love you”

“Man, oh man, you’re my best friend
I scream it to the nothingness
There ain’t nothing that I need”

And of course our favorite is the chorus, which also closed our personal vows:

“Ah, home, let me go home
Home is wherever I’m with you
Ah, home, let me go home
Home is where I’m alone with you”

Fun Fact: Two of our  2018 couples had “Home” in their ceremonies. It was so fun to get to catch each others’ eyes as it started playing and have those feelings wash over you all over again.

Recessional

We chose our first dances and processional songs first, easily, and then got a bit stuck on our recessional. It needed to be the most joyful, but also still carry that whimsy and quirkiness. So I texted my bridesmaids for ideas and Cam’s sister, Shelby, got right on it. Her first suggestion was “Movie Loves a Screen” by April Smith and the Great Picture Show and that’s what we ended up going with. We had never heard of the artist or the song (and every time we went to look it up again, we kept forgetting what it was called to find it) but we loved the feel of it. Again, Kaylie and Taylor sang this. They even changed some of the lyrics to fit our wedding and the feeling we wanted.

Our actual musicians practicing Movie Loves a Screen

First Dance

We went between two songs for a while but ultimately ended up choosing “First Day of My Life” by Bright Eyes. “Better Together” by Jack Johnson was runner-up, which was probably what we would consider our first “song.” But in the end, we liked “First Day of My Life” more as a dancing song. “First Day of My Life” was introduced to us by our good friend, Dom (who stood next to Cam as we got married) back in high school driving around in his beat up car. We really chose the song for the second verse:

“Yours was the first face that I saw
I think I was blind before I met you
I don’t know where I am, I don’t know where I’ve been
But I know where I want to go”

We love how it feels like nothing truly mattered until we were together and from there, we know exactly what this whole thing is all about and where we’re going to go, together, from here. It seemed like a perfect first dance song, as we were on the cusp of forever in that moment.

Father/Mother Dance

For our Father/Mother Dance, it started as a sweet Father/Daughter dance and then transitioned into a crazy, choreographed dance with the four of us. For this, we made a custom mix featuring “Hot in Here,” “Footloose,” “Wannabe,” and many other short clips of songs. You can catch a glimpse of this in our wedding video by Laura Sukowatey.

Music to your Ears

So what’s takeaway? Does your music have to be intentional or personal? Not necessarily. But instead, just make sure you make personal choices. Don’t follow what you’re told. Or what the norm is. Choose what’s right for you guys. And that is how you’ll get a memorable day that is truly the best day ever. For us, music was a little choice that we made that proved to be a big impact. Happy wedding planning!