(The) Blower's Daughter + other hip songs for your aisle

I live in the world of the ever chic bride + groom. Modern, imaginative, stylish. Those who want their signature on everything that has to do with their wedding. One of a kind people who crave originality yet want to create something completely meaningful & heartfelt. For a lot of them Mendelssohn's Wedding March, Pachelbel's Canon in D or Wagner's Bridal Chorus just wouldn't do for their more or less 60 second walk to wedded bliss. And of course being the music addict I am, none of the above would make it on my playlist either.

Here are my top faves, in no particular order, for your consideration.

Lovely processional melodies, many of which are covers of more upbeat and slightly less lilting originals:

[the top 3 here are nods to some of the afore referenced brides & grooms]

Sea of Love by Cat Power

How Deep is Your Love by The Bird & The Bee

The Blower's Daughter by Damien Rice

Such Great Heights by Iron & Wine ~ dreaming of hearing this with a solo guitar & no vocals

Yellow by Jem ~ Coldplay version would suffice, but I find Jem's cover much more romantic

Maybe I'm Amazed by Jem ~ again, the Paul McCartney original would do as well but Julie Cooper walked down the aisle to the Jem cover when she married Caleb on the O.C. so how can you deny?

She's Got A Way or She's Always a Woman by Billy Joel ~ I think Pink walked down the aisle to the latter - SO COOL!

Never Tear Us Apart by INXS

The Story by Brandi Carlisle ~ I only like if you can get down the aisle in less than 50 seconds because then the beat picks up and the whole mood of the song changes

Memories Are Made of This by Dean Martin ~ a little pep to it yes, but with the right dress in the right setting. Swoooooon.

Runner Up in this Category - Shelter From the Storm by Bob Dylan. I don't know why, but I think this is such a romantic song. It probably isn't.

Honorable Mention - Maps by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. You had to have seen it in action to really appreciate. But since you probably didn't I sum it up in one word - Awesome.


For Recessing, some of these choices are a little more out there but oh so fabulous:

No One by Alicia Keys

Happy Together by The Turtles ~ still is my all time favorite first dance song that I have heard

Lovely Day by Bill Whithers ~ just through about 1:50 then the "daaaaaaaaay" part gets a bit repetitive

Clocks by Coldplay

Whole Lotta Love or All My Love by Led Zeppelin

White Wedding by Queens of the Stone Age ~ no Billy Idol for me on this one, QOTSA version has much more sexy to it

Lovesong by The Cure ~ come on, did you think I would compile any list of songs that didn't include The Cure? Shame on you if you did.

For Once In My Life by Stevie Wonder

Cielito Lindo performed live by a Mariachi group ~ check out the translation though and you'll see why it made this list. So cute!

Ring of Fire by Johnny Cash

Runner up, my a little out there song that I couldn't resist - You Dropped a Bomb on Me by the Gap Band Fun, right?

Honorable mention - All You Need is Love by the Beatles. To make this work though, in my opinion, it really needs to be done live a la Love Actually. It could actually happen. I've seen it with my own two eyes. Honestly. Goosebumps.

I hope you enjoy my list. It isn't for everyone. Some people favor tradition and/or don't quite have my connection/obsession to music. For those I refer back to the songs at the top. They get the job done and do always sound lovely performed by a string quartet or a harpist. For the rest of you, most of these songs are on iTunes.

Or maybe if you're nice I'll let you borrow my iPod.