Sorry Tina Turner, no dancing for money here. The title is actually in reference to a private last dance at our reception. I first learned about the private last dance at BM Aggie & Groomsman Runner's wedding. As the guests left to prepare for the grand exit from the reception, the bride and groom stayed behind in the reception room to have one last dance all alone.
The plan is to have all of the guests exit to prepare for our send off, the DJ will start our song and then leave the room as well. We won't be completely alone, one of our photographers will remain to take some shots as we enjoy the last minutes of our wedding day. I am so excited for this moment!
Mr. E and I narrowed it down to 2 potential songs for our private last dance: Jason Mraz "I'm Yours"
Or Eric Benet's "Spend My Life With You".
We decided that "I'm Yours" will be fun for all of our guests so it will be one of our last crowd dances, making "Spend My Life With You" our last private dance song.
Have you heard of the private last dance? Will you have one at your wedding?
Funny thing about our first dance song, I was originally introduced to it by my college roommate freshman year. She was in love with "Good Morning Beautiful" by Steve Holy, and I heard it more than a handful of times in our dorm room. The more I listened to it, the more it stuck in my head so I went ahead and download it. Take a listen!
As you may remember Mr E and I met on match.com. We emailed back and forth for about a month and a half before our first date, and due to distance and his crazy school/work schedule there were numerous text messages during the week between dates. So much so that I remember during one of my trips to Vegas we were texting to the point that I had to call and up my package before I went over. One of my favorite memories from all of that email/texting communication is that Mr. E would usually start the day off with "Good Morning Beautiful". I thought it was so sweet and it always put a smile on my face.
As our relationship grew and talks of marriage were a normal occurrence, we thought of possible first dance songs. We pulled up my iTunes playlist and this song stuck out, not only for title but also for the lyrics.
"I couldn't see the light I didn't know day from night I had no reason to care But since you came along I can face the dawn, 'Cause I know you'll be there"
Mr. E went through a pretty dark and depressing phase in his life prior to going online. I won't go into details since that is his personal story, but I can tell you that he was not satisfied with the path that his life had taken. Our talks of an initial meet up were actually postponed due to the "rut" that he felt he was in. Obviously words can't express how happy I am that he made the choice to take matters into his own hands and work towards the life that he wanted for himself and now for both of us.
This song spoke to us, and became our top pick. I can't wait to dance with him and remember that while life isn't always what you want, a change for the better might be right around the corner. Or in our case, a click away ;)
How did you and your fiancée decide on your first dance song? Do you remember where you were when you first heard it?
As I've mentioned once or twice, we want to have steel drums at our wedding as a nod to my dad's heritage. I was so excited when we started to put this surprise into action, but now I'm more upset than anything else. I first contacted the steel drum player back in December of last year and everything was great. We spoke on the phone, he was quick to respond via email, and we even drove to his home studio to hear him play. I probably would have booked him that day, but Mama E was wise and suggested that we go and see him in action during one of his spring or summer gigs so we could see a performance that was not hindered by his sleeping fiancée in the next room (as it was when we went to his house).
As the months passed, he continued to contact me about his gigs which unfortunately did not work with my schedule. Finally as June rolled around, I made the decision that I didn't want to lose this vendor so I asked to have the contract sent to me. That was 6 months, 6 emails, 2 phone calls and 1 voice message ago. I gave him the benefit of the doubt because the summer was his busy season and he had his own wedding and honeymoon at the end of September. Every time I emailed for a follow up, he would apologize and say that he would get it out as soon as possible.
If this was any other vendor I would have dropped them long ago, but unfortunately there is not a huge pool of steel drummers in the Dallas area. I keep holding out hope that he will get back to me, but in the mean time I have done some additional research and found one other steel drum duo in the area. I know that the holidays are busy, but I'm crossing my fingers that this one will work out quickly and I can just drop the first vendor. I don't want to write any "good riddance" emails until I have the 2nd vendor confirmed in writing.
Did you have any unresponsive vendors? How long would you give them before dropping them and continuing on your search?
Warning: Prepare yourself for possible music overload!
Once the ceremony music was nailed down, we moved onto the reception music. We'll be kicking it off with the bridal party dancing in to Brother E's favorite song, It Takes Two by Rob Base. (It's even his ringtone on my iPhone when he calls)
Mr. E and I will relive our first concert with an entrance to a little Fall Out Boy. Not your normal entrance song, but it means something to us and we can't wait to rock out a little.
I'll talk about our first dance in another post due to it's back story. I'm really looking forward to dancing with Daddy Elephant to Louis Armstrong's What A Wonderful World.
Thanks to Mr. E's love of gaming, his groom's cake with be shaped like his favorite system. I thought it would be only too perfect to add a little humor into our cake cutting!
We're still debating on what to end the party with, but our front runner right now is Journey's Don't Stop Believin'.
What type of songs are you planning on for your reception? Will you have a mix of music genres?
As a nod to my dad's home country Trinidad and Tobago, we will be having a steel drum duo for the ceremony music. The seating of the parents will be to "Jesu, Joy Of Man's Desiring"
Followed by the bridal party to my favorite traditional wedding song, Pachelbel's Canon in D
I had a hard time picking the song that I wanted to walk down to. Both Mr. E and I love Somewhere Over the Rainbow by Israel Kamakawiwo’ole and wanted to work it into the wedding day one way or another. When I found this clip, we knew that was it!
I can not wait to walk down the aisle to this song. I tear up just thinking about it right now. Want to know a secret? After we selected this song, we were watching last season's finale of Glee, where they sing it at the end. Mr. E and I both shed a couple tears. I was so happy to see that it affected him the same way it affected me.
Once our first kiss as husband and wife has ended, we'll head off to Bob Marley's One Love.
Stay tuned for Part 2 with our reception music selections!
Did you work with your FI to select the ceremony music? Do you have a mix of traditional and non traditional wedding songs?
Last year my family and Mr. E took a trip to my dad's home country of Trinidad and Tobago, which is a set of 2 main islands (and several smaller landforms) in the Caribbean off the coast of Venezuela. This was the first trip ever for Brother Elephant, me and of course Mr. E.
The Whole Elephant Family
Arriving in T&T
We had some quality relaxation time on the beach.
We were able to try regional drinks (Sol) and food (like Roti and Conch & Dumplings). It may look weird, but that Roti tasted so good!!! You may be able to see the awesomeness of Roti from that pic of Brother Elephant and Mr. E chowing down.
We toured both islands learning so much about Daddy Elephant's childhood and culture while enjoying family time together.
While we were there, we heard a lot of steel drum music which originated in Trinidad and Tobago.
Little kids practicing the steel drums
I thought that it would be awesome to somehow incorporate the steel drums into our wedding as a nod to Daddy Elephant's heritage. Early in the game I requested a quote to have a local group play at the cocktail hour, which ended up being a little out of our price range. So I tabled that idea for a later discussion.
As the months rolled by, I thought more and more about it, and thought that having the steel drums for the ceremony would be something that all of our guests would remember and could be a surprise to my dad (a small token of thanks for all of his monetary help for this wedding). So I reached out to Island Boogie and found out that their price was very reasonable! Here is a you tube video of some common wedding songs played on the steel pan.
I am so excited to work this into the budget and surprise my dad on the big day... let's hope I can keep this secret better than I do with most of Mr. E's Christmas gifts! Last year was a major fail as I couldn't keep the secret and gave him his gift the day after Thanksgiving.
Are you planning any music forms for your wedding that incorporate your heritage?
Last year my family and Mr. E took a trip to my dad's home country of Trinidad and Tobago. This was the first trip ever for Brother Elephant, me and of course Mr. E.
The Whole Family
Arriving in T&T
We had some quality relaxation time on the beach.
We were able to try regional drinks (Sol) and food (like Roti and Conch & Dumplings). It may look weird, but that Roti tasted so good!!! You may be able to see the awesomeness of Roti from that pic of Brother Elephant and Mr. E chowing down.
We toured both islands learning so much about Daddy Elephant's childhood and culture while enjoying family time together.
While there we heard a lot of steel drum music which originated in Trinidad and Tobago.
Little kids practicing the steel drums
I thought that it would be awesome to somehow incorporate the steel drums into our wedding as a nod to Daddy Elephant's heritage. Early in the game I requested a quote to have a local group play at the cocktail hour, which ended up being a little out of our price range. So I tabled that idea for a later discussion.
As the months rolled by, I thought more and more about it, and thought that having the steel drums for the ceremony would be something that all of our guests would remember and could be a surprise to my dad (a small token of thanks for all of his monetary help for this wedding). So I reached back out to Island Boogie and found out that their price was very reasonable! Here is a you tube video of some common wedding songs played on the steel pan.
I am so excited to work this into the budget and surprise my dad on the big day... let's hope I can keep this secret better than I do with most of Mr. E's Christmas gifts!
Are you planning any music forms for your wedding that incorporate your heritage?
I’m actually jammin’ out to my wedding playlist on my iPod as I write this post (at work, shhh! don’t tell). Yep, I’m at work the day before Thanksgiving, but I will be taking Friday off so it’s all good. I’m lucky to have a job where I can listen to my iPod for the majority of the work day, with the exceptions of meetings and conference calls here and there. So after getting engaged...scratch that, let’s not lie, I created this playlist months before Chris proposed. It contains some songs that are must plays at the weddings, and some other songs that just make me think of love (but don’t need to be played at the wedding). Our next vendor search will be the DJ so I thought a post about wedding music would be appropriate.
I’ve read that it’s best to not give your DJ a long list of songs that need to be played. That they, if they are a good, quality DJ, will know what to play to get the crowd on the dance floor. We will create a short list of songs that we DO NOT want played (which we haven’t’ thought of yet) just to make sure that songs like the chicken dance don’t make it into our reception. Not that I have anything against the chicken dance, but I think it’s better suited for a younger (much younger) crowd.
Although we won’t have a full list of songs to give our DJ, I think a sample set of songs would be wise when meeting with potential vendors. This way the DJ can get an idea of the types of songs/genres that we like and base the reception music around that.
What is currently on my wedding playlist you ask? Well it starts out with first dance song “Good Morning Beautiful” by Steve Holy.
This song came to mind when we first began dating. Since Chris and I lived in different cities, we communicated mainly through emails and texts. It would always make my day when Chris would start the day off with “good morning beautiful”, and after listening to the words of the song I knew it would be perfect for our first dance as husband and wife.
Some other songs on the playlist include songs that we will be using for certain parts of the reception: - It Takes Two by Rob Base (for the bridal party entrance) - The Take Over, the Breaks Over by Fall Out Boy (for the bride and groom entrance) - Unforgettable by Nat King Cole and Natalie Cole (for the father /daughter dance) - Your Still the One by Shania Twain (for the anniversary dance)
Some songs that we want played randomly during the dancing: - Dollar Wine by Colin Lucas (for my dad who was born in Trinidad and Tobago where steel drums were originated) - Get Low by Lil Jon & the Eastside Boyz (a shout out to my college roomies who are both in the bridal party) - September by Earth, Wind & Fire (who doesn’t love that song?) - Baby Got Back by Sir Mix A Lot (cause, it’s true, I got back) - Celebration by Kool & The Gang (these types of songs will get the older crowd out on the dance floor)
And other songs that just make me think of love: - I’m Yours by Jason Marz (which may be our last private dance while the guest line up for the send off) - Kiss From A Rose by Seal - Real Love by Regina Spektor - Baby Love by Nicole Scherzinger - 1,2,3,4 by the Plain White Ts - Somewhere Over the Rainbow by Israel Kamakawiwo’ole - Love You I Do by Jennifer Hudson - Spend My Life With You by Eric Benet - Everything by Michle Buble
I can’t wait to party it up on the dance floor!
What type of music are you planning on having played at your wedding?
The title of this post can actually refer to 2 wedding related points for us.
The first is in reference to the Fall Out Boy song “The Take Over, the Breaks Over” which Chris and I are highly considering for our entrance into the reception.
We went out to eat at a great seafood restaurant and then to the Fall Out Boy concert on our 6 month dating anniversary. I know, I know a little cheesy that we celebrated that, but that was a pretty big deal for me seeing that my longest relationship before Chris was only 4 months. We both really like this song, and that beginning just makes me wanna rock out. I know it’s not a very traditional entrance song, but it’s us and I think that’s more important then going with some generic “Let’s get the party started” type of song, don’t you think?
The second reference is to the current status of our dinning room. I feel as though the wedding DIY stuff has taken over our dinning room and I’m not sure when we’ll get it back!
As you can see in the picture the table is covered with cut scrapbook paper (for the invitations and save the dates), stamping and embossing material, hot glue gun, my planning binder, wedding magazines, & signage while the floor houses baskets (for flip flops, programs and the send off bubbles), frames for the card box that Chris is going to make, and more! In the event that we actually want to host a dinner (which we have a couple of times in the past), we would need to stash this stuff in the guest room. While I love looking at all of these wedding goodies, I think my next move is to clean out some space in the guest room closet, which currently holds a bunch of my clothes that wouldn’t fit in our closest. In all honesty, I haven’t worn those clothes in forever, so it would probably be best to just pack it up and give it to the Salvation Army.
Where are you storing all of your DIY goodness before the wedding?
Little kids practicing the steel drums