Picking Wedding Music You Can Dance To

When picking out songs for our wedding, we started with what would be Gary and I's first dance. At first, we liked OAR's "Love & Memories," but its quick switch to an upbeat pace, might have made our dance fodder for YouTube fame. Then I learned the meaning of the song was about a girl who wanted nothing to do with him (not exactly our story).

Like an acorn falling out of the sky, it hit me that "You & Me" by Lifehouse, would be a good song for us. It's slow enough for a non-dancer like Gary to do the high-school sway (Seen Hitched? "You stay right here, you do not get creative with this.") And it's mushy enough to be considered romantic. Apparently I struggle with choosing romantic songs, so says my sister. When putting together the play list for our wedding CD, I played a draft version to give her a sneak preview. As I stood jamming out to Gwen Stefani and Social Distortion, my sister stared at me pale-faced as though I'd just started break dancing in the middle of CVS. "What?" I asked. "Where are all the sweet songs?" asks the girl who plays the "Juno" soundtrack repeatedly. I promised I would remake the collection, throwing in Peter Gabriel's "In Your Eyes," just to make her happy.






I heard Gary's mom has selected the song they will dance to but won't tell him what it is -- awesome. I hope it's something fun and cheesy like "Do the Hustle." Poor Gary would have no idea what to do.

Not that my dad is Fred Astaire or anything. We've never danced together. Other than seeing him joke around once with my mom, I've never seen him bust a move. In light of the wedding, however, he has agreed to take Ballroom Dancing lessons -- a true breakthrough, like Karl Rove rapping only without the side effects like nausea and shortness of breath.

My mom, all excited, called me several weeks ago to tell me that Steven Curtis Chapman (a Christian singer), had a song that would be perfect for me and my dad to dance to. That song was "Cinderella," a song Mr. Chapman wrote about his adopted daughter, who turned 5 about two weeks ago. Sadly, Maria Sue was killed in an accident on May 21st.


My prayers and condolences to the Chapman family. (sorry to end this on such a somber note, but I felt I wanted to address this tragedy.)