Wedding Music

Today, February 20th, 2012, marks 6 months since Jon and I were married. I thought, since I haven't really written much about the wedding lately, I'd share our playlist for the reception.

We absolutely loved our DJ's, especially because they were so helpful with picking out songs. They sent us a huge list of recommended songs, and were also willing to use the songs WE recommended.

*All links on song titles lead to a youtube video, if you want to listen to the song.

Our first song was for the bridal party entrance. We chose Beautiful Day by U2, which was perfect because some couples walked in serenely, while some chose to make a flashier entrance. It was particularly memorable when my younger brother danced and boogied in with my friend K.

After we entered and posed for family to take some snapshots, we transitioned straight into our first dance together as husband and wife. (Side note - I am getting teary remembering it.) We had chosen our song shortly after we got engaged, but were able to keep it a secret from everyone up until then. We chose Never Gonna Be Alone by Nickelback because we both love the band, and this song has always been special for us. It truly vocalizes our relationship and how it developed over 3 years of dating.

For my dance with my dad, choosing a song was hard. Nothing seemed quite right... I was close with both of my parents when I was younger, but I was the only girl, so I am was the definition of Daddy's Little Princess, and I needed to find a song that portrayed that. I ended up doing a google search for "father daughter wedding songs," and I came across Always Be Your Baby by Natalie Grant. After listening to just the first verse, I was sobbing, which (to me) meant it was perfect. (And now I am crying again.)

For Jon's dance with his mother, he was originally going to use the same song that his brother used at his wedding. I wanted him to pick something that was more meaningful for him. He had an idea, but wasn't sure if it'd work... As soon as he told me, I knew it would be perfect! He chose Somewhere Out There from the Fievel movie because he used to sing it when he was little. So cute!

The next song on our playlist is our cake-cutting song. This was an easy choice for me; I just had to persuade Jon to agree with me. I wanted to use Sugar Sugar by the Archies. It is such a fun song! I might have been shaking my hips just a bit while I was smearing icing on Jon's face. (No cake on his face, just a dab of icing!)

When it was time to toss the bouquet, I knew exactly which song I wanted. See, I danced competitively when I was younger. 3 of my bridesmaids were in the same dance group as me, and we did the cutest little dance to Girls Just Wanna Have Fun by Cyndi Lauper. It was only natural for that song to be playing while I tossed the bouquet.

Jon turned to google to find a good song for the garter removal. We didn't want anything that was too raunchy, or even slightly sexy for that matter. That's just not our style. So when he happened upon a recommendation to use the Indiana Jones theme song, he ran with it. He loves the movies, and it made for a great laugh for anyone who knew what it was.

The same dilemma occurred when we were trying to pick a song for the garter toss. We knew ahead of time that the majority of the males in attendance were either under the age of 10, or already married. I think there was 4 guys who came up for the garter toss. We went with The Boys Are Back in Town by Thin Lizzy.

Besides these songs, our DJ's also asked us for a list of songs we wanted them to play while people were eating dinner and dancing. Jon contributed some, and I contributed some. Here is part of the list with links to youtube if you want to hear any of the songs:

Hang On Little Tomato by Pink Martini
When I'm 64 by the Beatles
Sweet Child of Mine by Guns N Roses
Somewhere Over the Rainbow by Jason Castro
Give A Little by Hanson
The Way You Look Tonight by Frank Sinatra
The Way I Am by Ingrid Michaelson
Just The Way You Are by Billy Joel
Something by the Beatles
Unforgettable by Nat King Cole

Color Splash Sunday - A Building

<center><a href="http://purple-hippie.blogspot.com/p/color-splash-sunday.html"><img src="http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y293/prin367cess/colorsplashsunday.jpg"></a></center>
Color splash photos are those that have been converted to black and white, but one object (or several small objects) has (have) been left colored. Sometimes, it's easy to just isolate your colored object and you're done. Other times, more editing is required, such as adjusting color levels/light/shadow/etc.

This week's theme is a building. I had a big green barn that I was planning on using for this theme, but it didn't look good as a color splash. So I skimmed through this year's photos, trying to find SOMETHING, anything, that would work. Luckily, I had a whole folder full of photos of buildings back from April. My mom and I had gone to celebrate the opening of the local dairy bar, and I had been snapping photos as we drove through town.

One of those photos included one of the local dance studio. My mom had danced there back in the 70's, and I danced there for 14 years. I loved dancing, just as much as I loved cheerleading. I danced with a small group of girls whose moms danced with my mom. And we are all still best friends.



This is such a distracting photo, what with all the cars, the power lines, and the street signs. It's a veritable cloning nightmare. This is the PERFECT photo for selective coloring, because now my eyes are drawn straight to the building. All the other details kinda blur into the background.

Since I lost my pse, I tried experimenting with GIMP for this photo. I know several people who solely use free programs like GIMP and Picasa for photo editing, but apparently I'm a photoshop girl. I was so confused using GIMP, and it took me at least 20 minutes longer than it should have for such a simple edit.

I wonder if I can add pse to my wedding registry....

We are not doing CSS, as I'll be in Orlando, FL!

Award Appreciation

I don't have hundreds of followers or thousands of hits. I have something better. I have a small group of faithful followers who comment regularly and extend their friendship from all over the world. I very much prefer this small group of friends over anything else.

Another nice thing about my group of blogger friends: They are very generous with sharing awards!

Mama Hen over at Mama's Little Chick gave me the Beautiful Blogger Award. This is the 2nd time I've received this award, but it's just as special. I'm passing this on to B* (Beka) over at Confessions of a New Mom.




Neel over at Being Zara & Zidan gave me the Sunshine Award. Again, my 2nd time receiving this particular one, but I am still so grateful. (Especially because it looks different than the one I already have!) I am passing this award on to Christina over at Pooh's Corner.



I was so thoughtfully given the Outstanding Blogger award by 2 bloggers! Marlis over at Mars Pics and Sam over at Raising Rida. I am going to pass this one over to Melissa over at The Zookeeper's Diary and Keely at MannLand5.
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RAW(e) is starting up again! Sami has been too busy to run challenges, what with a baby in her belly, 5 kids to take care of, and family issues. But she finally gave us a new theme! It's animals. I took this picture of a friend's dog a few weeks ago. He has such beautiful brown eyes.




RAW(e) is run by Sami.
The only photos allowed are those that are
COMPLETELY UNEDITED. ___________________________________________________
The Movie Dirty Dozen Blogfest

My first blogfest! It's run by Alex J. Cavanaugh and I am supposed to make up a list of my 12 favorite movies. This could be either really hard, or really easy.

Here they are, in no particular order:

-The Little Mermaid - Yes, the Disney version. It was, and always will be, my favorite princess movie. I understand all the things WRONG with the movie, since I wrote a paper about it for my Fairy Tales course in junior year of college. But I just don't care.

-The Princess Bride - I had a delayed love for this movie. All my friends knew about it and liked it, but I didn't see it until later in my life (teen years). It's such a great story! INCONCEIVABLE.

-Memoirs of a Geisha - The makeup and the costumes are just gorgeous. It's actually a twisted love story, if you've read the book, but I like the way they turned it into a movie.

-Dirty Dancing - I danced for 16 years, so I have a special place in my heart for all dancing movies, regardless of how cheesy or girly they are. This one is the best, by and far; I also love Step Up and Center Stage.

-The Terminal - I love Tom Hanks. More than anyone. I would leave Jon if Tom Hanks came up to me and said he wanted to marry me. This movie is my favorite out of all of his movies because it makes me cry, laugh, and cheer.

-Happy Feet - The cutest little love story I have ever seen. With an important global conservation message thrown in.

-Wall-E - Ditto above. And yes, I love children's movies.

-Harry Potter - All 6 movies so far. Despite the gross inaccuracies, seeing the magic and the friendship really brings the books to life.

-It's A Wonderful Life - My dad raised me to watch this movie at every Christmas. I know all the lines and I anxiously await that moment when I finally get to watch it again. We always watch it while we put the tree up on the day after Thanksgiving. It's a tradition.

-Avatar - This movie has stunning special effects and computer animation. It's just an amazing movie. A love story that isn't too icky sweet, action and fighting without being too bloody or disorienting, and a beautiful setting.

-Karate Kid - I saw the remake with Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan, and WOW! I loved it! I knew Jaden had talent when I saw Pursuit of Happyness, but this really blew me away.

-The 40 Year Old Virgin - I know this movie is ripe with crude language and innuendos, but it's hilarious. It really is. And I love Steve Carell. Ever since Bruce Almighty, I've thought Steve Carell is one of the funniest men alive. (Jim Carrey is THE funniest man alive, IMO.)

i heart faces Challenge - Dancing

I had the perfect picture for this Challenge, so I am really excited to enter!



This is Jon's dad, Kevin, and his friend, Sarah, at her wedding. Jon and Kevin wore matching kilts; it was so cute! I had Anthony's camera the whole night, but this shot taken during the Dollar Dance is easily one of the best from the entire event.

I hate the flash from the photographer's camera, so I darkened it alot. But I guess it's my own fault for sitting right across from him. Other than that, I darkened out the background and tried to brighten up the green of the kilt.

Such a fun photo.