Archive for the ‘Reception’ Category

Best Wedding Songs of VH1′s Greatest Songs of the 2000s Part I

January 26th, 2012 | Rss Feed

Below you will find a list of the Greatest Songs of the 2000s as ranked by VH1.  We will offer our assessment the greatest songs of the 2000s for weddings.  Not every song is wedding appropriate.  However, many songs can be incorporated into weddings from father daughter songs to first dance songs.  Just for your wedding reception enjoyment, we’ll get started.

100 Thong Song - Sisqó Wedding guest won’t want to think about thongs even at beach weddings.
99 Before He Cheats - Carrie Underwood – Not the wedding appropriate theme – cheating.
98 Kryptonite - 3 Doors Down – A great rock song but we feel will not fill the dance floor.
97 It Wasn’t Me - Shaggy – Another song about cheating that is not a good theme.
96 Don’t Cha - Pussycat Dolls (Feat. Busta Rhymes) – If you are looking for a risqué song for the bouquet toss, this is your song.
95 You’re Beautiful - James Blunt – This is the first true wedding song on the list that would make a great first dance love song.

94 It’s Not Over - Daughtry – A great rock song be not a perfect wedding song.
93 Here It Goes Again - OK Go – This song wins our favorite video on the list.
92 Low - Flo Rida (Feat. T-Pain) – If you want to get a limbo line at your wedding reception, add this song to the list.
91 With Arms Wide Open - Creed – If you are looking for a father daughter song, the words of this song it would make a great slow dance song.
90 Shake Ya Ass - Mystikal – Well, lets just say we’re not fond of the lyrics.
89 Paper Planes - M.I.A. – Know your guests if this song will fill the dance floor.
88 Stacy’s Mom - Fountains of Wayne – Not really an appropriate theme song for weddings.  Great party song though.
87 I Believe in a Thing Called Love - The Darkness – It has the right theme but know your guests if this song will fill the dance floor.
86 Jaded - Aerosmith – We hope people are not jaded at a wedding.
85 I Try - Macy Gray – We’re not too fond of the lyrics for weddings.
84 In the End - Linkin Park – Not an appropriate subject for weddings.  However, it is a great rock anthem song on the list.
83 Untitled (How Does It Feel) - D’Angelo – If you are looking for a soulful, sensual slow song to fill the dance floor, this is it.
82 Unwell - Matchbox Twenty – We hope everyone is well on their wedding day.
81 The Rising - Bruce Springsteen – This song remembers 9/11.  We want to have good thoughts at a wedding.
80 Get Low - Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz (Feat. Ying Yang Twins) – This is a club hit but we will say know your guests if this song will fill the dance floor.
79 Hero - Enrique Iglesias – A very popular wedding love song to fill the dance floor for a slow song or as a first dance song.

78 Hey There Delilah - Plain White T’s – We really like this song and a great love story.
77 How You Remind Me - Nickelback – Not a song that will the dance floor.
76 Live Your Life - T.I. ft Rihanna – Depending on the song mix selected, this could be a great party anthem for the right party crowd to fill the dance floor.
77 I Don’t Want to Be - Gavin DeGraw – Know your guests if this song will fill the dance floor.
74 Ridin - Chamillionaire (Feat. Krayzie Bone) – Not one of our favorite songs to fill the dance floor at a wedding reception but know your guests.
73 Promiscuous - Nelly Furtado (Feat. Timbaland) – We’re not fond of the theme for a wedding reception.
72 Are You Gonna Be My Girl - Jet – We like the theme of this song and for the rocking’ guests is the perfect song.
71 Bubbly - Colbie Caillat – We like her unique voice and can fill the dance floor for its slow tempo.
70 Run It! - Chris Brown (Feat. Juelz Santana) – Can fill the dance floor for dancing attics.
69 Bring Me to Life - Evanescence – One of our favorite rock songs but not wedding appropriate.
68 Stand Up - Ludacris (Feat. Shawnna) – A great party theme to get people to stand up and dance.  Know your guests if it will get them to stand up and dance.
67 Bleeding Love - Leona Lewis – One of the most played songs on the radio.  Everyone will be familiar with this song and will fill the dance floor as a slow song.

66 Drop It Like It’s Hot - Snoop Dogg (Feat. Pharrell) – This song has an off beat so not our favorite to fill dance floors at most weddings.
65 Try Again - Aaliyah – Not a perfect theme for a wedding.
64 I’m Real - Jennifer Lopez (Feat. Ja Rule) – Another song that has a medium tempo beat that many may find hard to dance to.
63 Party Hard - Andrew W.K. – A little to heavy for most wedding receptions.
62 Complicated - Avril Lavigne – Weddings shouldn’t be complicated.
61 Milkshake - Kelis – A good song in its day but I think most are over it.
60 Tik Tok - Ke$ha – A great party dance songs to fill the dance floor.
59 Cry Me a River - Justin Timberlake – Another medium tempo song.
58 I’m Yours - Jason Mraz – This is a great love song and first dance song.

57 Family Affair - Mary J. Blige – This song makes a great family dance song.

56 Party Up (Up In Here) - DMX - Know your guests if this song will fill the dance floor.
55 Mr. Brightside - The Killers – A song about jealousy is not wedding appropriate.
54 Don’t Know Why - Norah Jones – A great slow tempo song that will fill the dance floor.

53 All the Small Things - Blink-182 – We feel this is a bit too heavy for weddings but is a great rocking’ party song.
52 Hips Don’t Lie - Shakira (Feat. Wyclef) - Know your guests if this song will fill the dance floor but most times will fill the dance floor to this great dance song.
51 Pocketful of Sunshine - Natasha Bedingfield – This song could go either way to fill the dance floor.  Know your guests.
50 You Belong With Me - Taylor Swift – Not an appropriate theme for a wedding.

 

Best Wedding Songs of VH1′s Greatest Songs of the 2000s Part II

January 26th, 2012 | Rss Feed

Part II Songs 49-1

Below you will find a list of the Greatest Songs of the 2000s as ranked by VH1.  We will offer our assessment the greatest songs of the 2000s for weddings.  Not every song is wedding appropriate.  However, many songs can be incorporated into weddings from father daughter songs to first dance songs.  Just for your wedding reception enjoyment, we’ll get started.

49 Bad Romance - Lady Gaga – Great dance song.  Terrible theme for a wedding.
48 Sex On Fire - Kings Of Leon – Great rock song but not the best song for most weddings for its suggestive words.
47 Lady Marmalade - Christina Aguilera, Lil’ Kim, Mya, Pink – A great dance tune that can be added to get girls to the dance floor or for a bouquet toss.
46 Picture - Kid Rock & Sheryl Crow – Great rock groove but not a great theme for a wedding.
45 Eve (Feat. Gwen Stefani) – “Let Me Blow Ya Mind”
44 Red Hot Chili Peppers – “Californication”
43 I Kissed A Girl - Katy Perry – A very popular pop song but know your guests if the song will fill the dance floor.
42 Drops Of Jupiter (Tell Me) - Train A great pop tune but really a sad song.
41 Trapped In The Closet - R. Kelly – This song or rhymes just don’t seem to stop.  Not our favorite as you only get so many songs at a wedding reception.
40 Sugar, We’re Goin Down - Fall Out Boy – Know your guests if they would dance to this song.
39 Chasing Pavements - Adele – A great love song addition to any wedding.

38 Party In The U.S.A. - Miley Cyrus – For the younger cord would fill the dance floor with this party hit.
37 Oops! … I Did It Again - Britney Spears – One of the biggest stars of the 2000s.  Know if your crowd would dance to this dance classic.
36 Bye Bye Bye - *NSYNC – Call me crazy but a good way to end the evening.
35 Daughters - John Mayer – A great father daughter dance song.

34 All For You - Janet Jackson – A great pop song but a bit dirty lyrics for weddings.
33 Hurt - Johnny Cash – Not a wedding song.  Period.
32 This Love - Maroon 5 – Know your guests if they would dance to this pop song as it has a medium tempo.
31 Rehab - Amy Winehouse – Another non-wedding song.
30 Hollaback Girl - Gwen Stefani – Know your guests but this could play as a bouquet toss song.
29 Best Of You - Foo Fighters – We really like this song but not thought as a stereotypical wedding song.
28 Music - Madonna – Know your guests but can fill the dance floor.
27 Yeah! - Usher (Feat. Lil Jon and Ludacris) – This dance phenom will fill the dance floor.  Love it!

26 Seven Nation Army - The White Stripes – The tempo is all over and relatives will have a hard time dancing to at weddings.
25 Hot in Herre - Nelly – Not only a dance hit but can be used as a garter removal or garter placement song.
24 Get Ur Freak On - Missy Elliott – One of the most innovative videos.  Know your audience as it could fill the dance floor.
23 Get the Party Started – Pink – A great song as it states – for the grand entrance.
22 Fallin - Alicia Keys – A great love song for any wedding for any aspect.

21 99 Problems - Jay-Z  - Hopefully your wedding is not full of problems.
20 Toxic - Britney Spears – Know your audience but it was viewed more than 53 million times on YouTube.  Wow!
19 Bootylicious - Destiny’s Child – So popular they added it to the dictionary.  Can be added to wedding aspects for fun or to fill the dance floor with the ladies.
18 Beautiful - Christina Aguilera – Not a love song but a very powerful song.
17 Clocks - Coldplay  - This song is a great pop song but doesn’t have the best tempo for dancing.
16 Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It) - Beyoncé – What can we say.  This should be our #1 wedding song with so much wedding meaning.

15 Beautiful Day - U2 – Another popular wedding song.  It can be used in many facets of the wedding reception from the entrance to the closing song.
14 Crazy - Gnarls Barkley  - Know your audience or place in the song set as this could fill the dance floor or lose out as the tempo is a bit slow.
13 American Idiot - Green Day – Hopefully there’s no idiots at your wedding.
12 I Gotta Feeling - Black Eyed Peas  - A great dance anthem to fill the dance floor as as an entrance song.
11 Umbrella - Rihanna (Feat. Jay-Z)  - A great dance song and love song to incorporate into a wedding reception.
10 In Da Club - 50 Cent – A dance floor mega hit.
09 We Belong Together - Mariah Carey – A great slow song to fill dance floors.

08 Empire State Of Mind - Jay-Z (Feat. Alicia Keys) – If you are from NYC – must play, if not, you can leave off you playlist.
07 SexyBack - Justin Timberlake (Feat Timbaland) – A pop mega hit to get guests dancing.
06 Gold Digger - Kanye West (Feat. Jamie Foxx) – We hope the bride or the groom is not a gold digger.
05 Since U Been Gone - Kelly Clarkson – This is a great break-up song not a wedding song.
04 Lose Yourself - Eminem – An angst anthem from the 2000s.
03 Poker Face - Lady Gaga – Definitely a dance mega hit to fill dance floors.
02 Hey Ya! - OutKast – Another dance crazy song for wedding guests.
01 Crazy In Love - Beyoncé (Feat. Jay-Z) – Should describe every bridal couple on their wedding day.

 

Wedding Reception – What to do if no one is dancing?

January 17th, 2012 | Rss Feed

The day is finally here.  The day you have been dreaming of since your were little.  The day  you have planned for the past 12 months. With all stress, with all the pains, the day is finally here.  Your WEDDING DAY.  First thing you should do is relax and enjoy the day.

wedding dance floor

The wedding ceremony is beautiful and very heartfelt.  It transpires without any hitches.  The bridal couple enters the reception hall to a standing ovation.  Then, everyone eats and the formal dances are complete.  FINALLY, the part-e begins.  Thirty minutes transpire and no one is dancing.  This is not the reception party that you had envisioned.  You pictured everyone dancing the night away.  However, no one is dancing.  What can you do to get people on the dance floor to get the party started?  We offer the following recommendations to get the party started.

  • What guests are the most likely to dance?  Yes, it’s the young adults.  Therefore, play current music hits that are to on the charts now including Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, Black Eyed Peas, Rihanna, etc.  The younger crowd could get the party started.
  • Men typically will not get up to the dance floor to many high tempo songs.  Think about playing a couple slow songs consecutively to get couples to the dance floor.  Play well known songs by every age group such as Unchained Melody by the Righteous Brothers and What a Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong.
  • Play an anthem song that everyone knows that they can sing along to.  Rock – Don’t Stop Believin’ by Journey, R&B – Shout! by the Isley Brothers, Country – Friends In Low Places by Garth Brooks, Classic Rock – We are the Champions by Queen and much more.  Know your crowd and the type of music that get’s them excited.
  • Talk to the bride and groom beforehand and get an idea of their favorite music style.  Find out if they like group dances and which ones suit their fancy.  You can play a group dance but it must be headlines by the bride and groom leading the way.  Such dances include he conga, the train, the electric slide, the macarena and so on.  Reminder – keep the bride and groom in the forefront so that everyone joins in.
  • Finally, plan a group dance to get everyone on the dance floor.  This way it will be hard for them to leave!  One such planned dance is to invite all married couples to the dance floor.  Then, start removing married couples from newest to oldest until the longest married couple is remaining.  The, give a bride’s bouquet to them as a gift from the bride and groom.

Do you have any further suggestions to fill the dance floor when empty?  Please comment in!  Lastly, stay away from our list of songs not to play at weddings.

 

Wedding Colors by Season

January 3rd, 2012 | Rss Feed

Brides and grooms choose their wedding theme for many reasons.  Maybe they have favorite colors that they want to incorporate into their theme, like purple and teal.  Maybe they have a special time of year they prefer, like Halloween or Christmas.  They also may have a special theme in mind, like the roaring 20′s or antiques.  There are many way of incorporating these things into your wedding day.  You can incorporate them into your flowers, linens, centerpieces, invitations, etc.  If you are choosing a color, or colors, into your theme, why not choose colors that are associated with the season you are getting married?

wedding season colors

If you are getting married in springtime, you may want to choose pastel colors.  Think about pastel pink flowers, accented with yellow, wrapped in a baby blue ribbon.  You can choose white chair covers tied with large pastel green ribbons.  You can also select to have more than one color or you can stay with a single color within the color range.

Getting married in the summer?  We suggest to brighten up your color pallet.  Look for vibrant blues, purples, greens, pinks, etc.  Think about cream colored invitations with royal blue lettering.  Centerpieces are a good place to add color into your wedding also.  How about large white mums and deep greenery in a clear vase that is wrapped in a brightly colored ribbon.

Want to have a Halloween/Fall wedding?  The best colors for this time of year are deep reds, rust, orange and golden yellow.  Although there are plenty of flowers in those colors, don’t forget that fall foliage can be incorporated also.  Since the season is fall, which is when the leaves fall off the trees, think about using twigs and leaves.  Twigs in a large vase look very nice as a centerpiece.  Instead of sprinkling confetti or glitter on the table, try placing different colored leaves around.

Last but not least is a winter wedding.  This can be a very beautiful time of year.  There are two ways to look at winter weddings; look at it as winter, cold and snowy, or as Christmas themed.  If choosing the winter wonderland theme, go with blues, whites, silvers and crystals.  You can take bare branches painted white and place them into a vase.  Wrap the vase with a white ribbon with silver glitter throughout.  Now hang crystals from the branches.  You can also do this same option with snowflakes hanging from the twigs.  Another idea to incorporate winter wonderland into your wedding is by adding snowflakes to your wedding invitations.  If choosing Christmas as your theme, you may want to think of reds, greens and even black.  When thinking of flowers, think of poinsettias and holly.

No matter what you choose, use any opportunity you can to add your own touch of personality to your wedding.  Keep in mind that if you get plants and flowers in season, it will be less expensive to buy them at that time they are in season.

 

Wedding Timeline Countdown

December 21st, 2011 | Rss Feed

There is a timeline tradition for any wedding.  This is a suggestion of when you should have particular details of your wedding completed (or at least started) by month.  Here is a guideline for your consideration:

wedding timeline

12 Months – Announce your engagement, choose a wedding theme, work out a budget, research wedding professionals (caterer, florist, DJ or band, photographer and videographer) and venues.  You can also set appointments with the wedding pros at this time.

11 Months – Select a wedding consultant (if you are using one), meet with caterers and arrange tastings, select and book the caterer, select and book the music entertainment (band/DJ), decide on music selections, select and reserve your venue, (ceremony and reception), start thinking about your wedding dress.  If you are choosing a destination wedding, now would be the best time to send save the date cards.

10 Months – Choose and purchase your wedding dress and veil.  Choose attendants and discuss with them their duties and what you expect of them.  If choosing a park or recreational area for the venue, secure the proper permits.

9 Months – Register for your wedding gifts, decide on food for the reception, choose whether you will have an open bar, limited bar or no alcohol at your reception, make a playlist for your music, research places for guests to stay, reserve blocks of rooms at a local hotel for guests.

8 Months – Go to your first gown fitting, order bridesmaid dresses and accessories, look at wedding rings, confirm florist and discuss wedding theme and flower arrangements, start making a decision regarding invitations (style, color, font, etc),

7 Months – Review and finalize your wedding details with your consultant, set fittings for bridesmaids’ dresses, choose tux styles for groomsmen,  select a flower girl and ring bearer, choose and purchase wedding rings, finalize invitations.

6 Months – Review invitation proofs and make changes if needed, finalize invitations, discuss honeymoon ideas, meet with travel agent, work on wedding decorations (table decorations, favors, etc).

5 Months – Order place cards and programs, finalize honeymoon arrangements, make reservations for rehearsal dinner and menu.

4 Months – Get groom to try on tuxedos and purchase accessories, work on vow’s, make appoint with stylist regarding hair and makeup, address wedding invitations.

3 Months – Approve anything that is being printed for the wedding (programs, place cards, etc), decide about rehearsal dinner, next day brunch and reserve restaurants, discuss bachelorette party, review registry and make any adjustments.

2 Months – Mail invitations, purchase wedding gifts for wedding party members, go to second (possibly final) gown fitting, have groom make final decision regarding tux and reserve, arrange transportation for bride and groom to reception from ceremony site, purchase ceremony accessories (unity candle, wine glasses, etc).

6 Weeks – Send rehearsal dinner invitations, write thank you notes as you receive gifts, confirm music playlist with music entertainment, purchase any remaining wedding favors or table decorations, purchase a gift for your spouse-to-be, meet with stylist again for a practice run (take veil with you).

4 Weeks – Confirm with florist and arrange delivery times, meet with officiant to discuss details, determine any seating arrangements and reception layout, placement of cake table, placement of DJ or band, schedule an appointment for a mani/pedi  just before the wedding, schedule pick up of grooms tux, finalize photographer and videographer.

3 Weeks – Go over RSVP’s and finalize head count with caterer, call anyone who has not responded to get accurate count.

1 Week – Confirm honeymoon arrangements and start packing, pick up wedding dress and tux.

WEDDING DAY – Eat a good breakfast, attend hairstyle appointment and make up appointment.  RELAX and ENJOY  yourself!!