Your Love Story Music is always an important part of every story. Your wedding is a celebration of your love story, the pages past and the ones yet to come, so your music should accompany that. Was there a song playing in the background somewhere on your first date? Are there songs that you shared with each other when you first met? What songs have you realized together that you both really like? What songs do you associate with your love? Start writing down that list and hold on to it. As you start to plan the soundtrack to your night's itinerary, notice where each song might fit best. It is important to place the right song at the right time to maximize the emotional support music offers to each moment. Bridal Party Entrance The processional is enhanced by beautiful melodies, elegant and joyous songs. You can choose an uplifting song that represents the family members as they enter and then pause and switch to a song to signify the bride’s entrance. Sometimes even a bit of humor in the music is a great way to help the bridal party and guests relax into the ceremony time a bit. Ceremony The ceremony is a very intimate part of a wedding, so you’ll want to choose songs that set the right tone and support the emotions of your ceremony. An acoustic guitarist, vocalist, string section of cello and violin, a singer/acoustic guitarist, perhaps an elegant harpist or a combination of any of those types of musicians will deliver non-obtrusive,heartwarming and pleasing melodies to weave around your vows and officiant’s words. If you have special meaningful songs for your ceremony, you can have a singer/guitarist perform a rendition. Another option, if you want to go without live musicians, is to ask your DJ to arrange a pre-recorded set of your song selections. Often, ceremonies have special moments, like sand ceremonies, where there are no words spoken and music can weave in and out of these to support the moment and fill the silence. Recessional Here's a moment to turn it up a notch, it's time to celebrate! This should be a fun, positive song, meaningful to you as your first song walking forward, hand in hand as a married couple. Cocktail Hour Music Often you can use the musicians from your ceremony for this time before dinner. A string quartet makes for nice mingling music and a singer/songwriter is a great way to entertain guests. They often come with their own love song based repertoire to blend in with your requests. Dinner Dinner music is about creating a comfortable ambiance, a soft background soundtrack for social conversations. Find some mellow (but not boring) music and create your own playlist, or have your live musicians or DJ provide this light dinner music. Often this music fades in and out with various stories being told and speeches being made in honor of the newly married couple. First Dance This song should have a special meaning to you as a couple, and be a slower, sweet and intimate song. Perhaps you will have danced to it many times before and have choreographed your moves. Reception If you can find one that can deliver the right music for your reception’s dancing and celebration, a live band is always a great option. Your other option is recorded music, either you or a family member can have that run a playlist through the PA or you can hire a DJ. DJs arrive on the scene to create a solid beat to keep all the guests moving but the dance floor tunes don’t have to be an hour-long mega-mix, you can pull together your own playlist that the DJ can be inspired from. A week before the ceremony you can jot down a list of your ‘must play’ songs, or even your ‘must not play’ songs. A DJ will only need about 7 tracks here to get an idea of the vibe you’re going for. What else would you include in this guide to selecting the perfect soundtrack to
your special wedding day?
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early morning I am hollow, a silence still not yet filled with sounds or sights just a running blur or a smiling champ to greet the day. the uncharted hours expand the day’s lungs with crisp air while the kick drum of my running shoes on the forest trail set the beat for a sprint in the park then fountain and creek breeze and birds, the simple symphony awakens. thoughts come and go like leaves riding the creek water some falling into hollow pockets with a bubbling voice trapped and swirled in the puddling pools before they drop down the next cascade and soon my own hollowness is inhabited with a memory so thick it coats my heart like fresh paint: when I was a kid during the fall, in New England when leaves swirled around in the air time would slow down like I was dropped inside a snow globe or sealed in a strong and secure sound envelope where I would play, quite seriously, a game where I would try to catch a falling leaf before it reached the ground, if I caught the leaf it was good luck, I would celebrate this victory like I won an Olympic event and howl at the sky. so on this morning’s familiar trail run my empty boat of a heart starts to rock on the waves of this memory, I hear a shift in my hollow breath I feel the morning air hint at the familiar scent and temperature of fall’s arrival and time slows the sound against the tempo of my racing heart, suddenly a large yellow leaf falls in front of me and wraps around my face like a feisty starfish, I stop in my tracks I remove the leaf from my face tears flood my eyes like the creek’s puddling pools backed up with late summer fallen leaves, I take in my surroundings through a kaleidoscope of teardrop lenses first to see if anyone witnessed the leaf attack, no, I was alone, secondly, to catch my breath marveling at the fact that I am standing under a memorable tree, standing in a memory sparks shot through my body. two months prior to this moment I sat under this tree with you feeling grateful to be in your presence a big yellow leaf fell towards us, I picked it up and twirled it in my hands we smiled and talked and then time stopped. I have carried that moment with me through the months of being without you it is a memory that shines in the hollow’s shadows the memory stops me in my tracks like a big yellow leaf in the face now, as I collapse below the tree, I imagine you there with me as the salty sting of sweat and tears mix these memories collide as I clear my eyes and look up into the hollowed out crest I mutter thanks and help me to the tree and there in the silent core I see an owl shutter its’ feathers turn a dreamy eye toward me then tuck its’ head back in. It is then when I hear the sound to fill my hollow day like a radio wave from the tree I receive the medicine code the owl makes it clear: you can trust discovering these moments, the sounds that echo in hollow places, like you trust the changes in the seasons after all, the owl had seen it all: the leaf + the smiles a trail runner fascinated with what love sounds like, another leaf + the memory pools and the ever forward motions to reside in gratitude for the creative way it all comes together.
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AuthorMike Caruso Archives
February 2024
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