[Insert Catchy Music Post Title Here]

Sorry, I couldn't think of a good title for my music post that hadn't already been used, so I'll just let you all use your imagination! :)

It's finally time for me to do the obligatory music playlist post, which I hope you all will enjoy. I know I read every one's playlists I could find before creating my own, to find the best reception music ideas out there. But then, I kind of a "Top 40" girl, so making the playlist wasn't that hard for me!

We aren't really doing much to appease the masses (read, the older guests) with our music selections. 'Sweet Caroline' or 'Brown Eyed Girl' will not be making appearances at our wedding, because, frankly, I'm just not that into dancing to a lot of older tunes. Don't get me wrong, I love classic rock, but I just feel that not a lot of the songs are that great to dance to. And we will have full control, because we're doing all the music ourselves!

Yep, we'll be doing an "iPod Wedding," or actually, using my laptop!
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Our ceremony musician (and also my MOH/Sister's boyfriend) will be monitoring my playlists throughout the night, making the transitions at the appropriate times, and of course, we will have a back up MP3 player on hand, just in case. This is a huge budget saver for us, and also, I'm happy I won't have to give up any control over the music, since I'm always in control of our party playlists at home!

I'm still tweaking our wedding playlists, and probably will for another couple months (you never know when a new song will come out that will be a perfect addition!), but here is my list so far, with song lengths. I tried really hard to find songs for the cocktail hour that are "lovey" but a little more upbeat, then "really lovey" slower songs for dinner, and good dance songs for the rest of the reception. We want everyone feeling energized and like partying for the dancing portion of the evening, which is why I've left slow songs off the last list.

I will need to reorganize these into a better mix at some point, since they're alphabetical right now, as well as weed out some of the less important songs and re-arrange them to fit in the allotted times. I've noted the song importance in my song list as:

Must Have = duh, it must be played
OK to Have = could be cut if needed to accommodate must have songs
Not a Must Have = will probably be cut unless I need it to fill the time

Cocktail Playlist - 70 mins - 5:20pm to 6:30pm
1, 2, 3, 4 - Plain White Ts - 3.18 - OK to Have
All You Need Is Love - Beatles - 3.47 - Must Have
Fell In Love With A Boy - Joss Stone - 3.39 - OK to Have
Free Fallin' - Tom Petty - 4.18 - OK to Have
I'm Yours - Jason Mraz - 4.3 - OK to Have
Jack & Diane - John Mellencamp - 4.17 - Not A Must Have
Kiss Me - Sixpence None The Richer - 3.17 - OK to Have
Lucky - Jason Mraz & Colbie Caillat - 3.1 - OK to Have
Marry Me - Train - 3.25 - OK to Have

Marry Me is such a sweet song, check it out if you haven't heard it before! "You wear white, and I'll wear out the words I love you...and you're beautiful."



(all videos in this post are from Youtube)

Smile - Uncle Kracker - 3.22 - OK to Have
Something Coming Over Me - OAR - 3.59 - OK to Have
Wonderful Day - OAR - 4.31 - OK to Have
Playlist total time: 43.33

Dinner Playlist - 60 mins - 6:30pm to 7:30pm
All My Life - K-Ci & Jo-Jo - 5.32 - OK to Have
Amazing - Josh Kelley - 3.46 - OK to Have
At Last - Etta James - 2.59 - OK to Have
Belief - Gavin Degraw - 4.27 - OK to Have
Better Together - Jack Johnson - 3.3 - OK to Have
Bubbly - Colbie Caillat - 3.16 - OK to Have
Collide - Howie Day - 4.09 - OK to Have
Come Away With Me - Nora Jones - 3.18 - OK to Have
Crazy Love - Van Morrison - 2.35 - OK to Have
Falling In Love At A Coffee Shop - Landon Pigg - 4.32 - OK to Have
I Do - 98 Degrees - 3.46 - OK to Have
I'll Be - Edwin McCain - 4.27 - OK to Have
Lets Get Married - Jagged Edge - 4.23 - OK to Have
Like A Star - Corinne Bailey Rae - 4.03 - OK to Have
Look After You - The Fray - 4.27 - OK to Have
Say (All I Need) - OneRepublic - 3.51 - OK to Have
The Book of Love - Peter Gabriel - 3.37 - OK to Have
The Way I Am - Ingrid Michaelson - 2.15 - Must Have
Truly Madly Deeply - Savage Garden - 4.37 - OK to Have
Wherever You Will Go - The Calling - 3.29 - OK to Have
Wonderful Tonight - Eric Clatpon - 3.45 - OK to Have
You and Me - Lifehouse - 3.15 - OK to Have
Playlist total time: 79.59

First Dance Song - 7:30pm
Can't Help Falling In Love - Ingrid Michaelson - 3.14 - Obviously a Must Have

One of the best songs of all time, made even better by my girl Ingrid! "So take my hand, and take my whole life too..."



Dancing Playlist - 150 mins - 7:30pm to 10:00pm (I will save the less appropriate songs for later in the evening)
1-2-3-4 - Coolio - 3.34 - Not A Must Have
Ain't No Other Man - Christina Aguilera - 3.49 - OK to Have
Atomic Dog - George Clinton - 4.46 - OK to Have
Blister In the Sun - Violent Femmes - 2.25 - OK to Have
Boom Boom Pow - Black Eyed Peas - 4.12 - Must Have
California Love - 2Pac - 4.45 - Not A Must Have
Come On Eileen - Dexys Midnight Runners - 4.15 - OK to Have
Crazy In Love - Beyonce - 4 - OK to Have
Crazy Little Thing Called Love - Queen - 2.44 - OK to Have
Don't Stop Believing - Journey - 4.1 - Must Have
Don't Stop The Music - Rihanna - 4.27 - OK to Have
Feel Good Inc - Gorillaz - 3.41 - OK to Have
Float On - Modest Mouse - 3.28 - OK to Have
Forever - Chris Brown - 4.41 - OK to Have
Girls Just Want To Have Fun - Cyndi Lauper - 3.58 - Not A Must Have
Gold Digger - Kanye West - 3.28 - OK to Have
Good Life - Kanye West - 3.27 - OK to Have
Here I Come - Fergie - 3.21 - OK to Have
Hey Ya - OutKast - 3.59 - OK to Have
Hot In Here - Nelly - 3.48 - OK to Have
I Believe In A Thing Called Love - The Darkness - 3.36 - OK to Have
I Gotta Feeling - Black Eyed Peas - 4.49 - Must Have
Ignition (remix) - R. Kelly - 3.06 - Must Have

Ignition is a kind of silly/not-that-appropriate song to include, but it's the first song Mr. Cola and I ever danced to, so it has to be on our playlist! "Sippin' on coke and rum..."



I'm A Believer - Smash Mouth - 3.03 - Not A Must Have
Just Dance - Lady GaGa - 4.02 - Must Have
Let Me Clear My Throat - DJ Cool - 4.5 - Not A Must Have
Livin' On A Prayer - Bon Jovi - 4.13 - OK to Have
Low - Flo Rida - 3.51 - OK to Have
One More Time - Daft Punk - 5.21 - OK to Have
Play That Funky Music - Wild Cherry - 4.59 - Not A Must Have
Poker Face - Lady GaGa - 3.57 - Must Have
Pon de Replay - Rihanna - 4.09 - OK to Have
SexyBack - Justin Timberlake - 4.01 - OK to Have
Shake It - Metro Station - 3 - OK to Have
Shake Your Groove Thing - Peaches & Herb - 5.33 - Not A Must Have
Single Ladies - Beyonce - 3.13 - OK to Have
Smooth - Santana & Rob Thomas - 4.56 - OK to Have
So What - Pink - 3.35 - OK to Have
Starry Eyed Surprise - Paul Oakenfold - 3.26 - OK to Have
Surrender - Cheap Trick - 4.14 - OK to Have
Sweet Home Alabama - Lynyrd Skynyrd - 4.45 - OK to Have
That Was A Crazy Game Of Poker - OAR - 8.43 - Must Have

Admittedly, this OAR song isn't the best dance song, but it's one of our all time favorites by our favorite band! (Skip ahead to 1:05 in the video for when the song really gets going)



The Seed (2.0) - The Roots - 3.51 - OK to Have
The Sweet Escape - Gwen Stefani - 4.06 - OK to Have
They Don't Want Music - Black Eyed Peas - 6.47 - OK to Have
This D.J. (edited) - Warren G - 3.24 - Not A Must Have
This is How We Do It - Montell Jordan - 3.59 - Not A Must Have
Wake Me Up Before You Go - Wham! - 3.51 - Not A Must Have
What Is Love - Haddaway - 4.3 - OK to Have
Yeah! - Usher - 4.1 - OK to Have
You Got The Right Stuff - NKITB - 4.1 - OK to Have
Playlist total time: 200.68

And to help ensure we remain in full control of our music the whole night, we will have this sign I made on my laptop, with the screen closed. No chicken dance requests would be possible anyway, since that's not a song already on my computer!


How much control do you plan on having in your reception song selections? Anyone else going the iPod or laptop route?