#10: Music Makes the People Come Together, Yeah

Yeah, you know you were humming that song as you read the title. Don't lie. While I'm not a huge Madonna fan, you have to admit she has a point (or at least her songwriters do). I can't remember the last time I heard an upbeat song and not felt the urge to dance, sometimes in a room full of people I don't know. Our wedding reception is going to be one huge dance party.

Every time I think of weddings, I think of the movies 27 Dresses and The Wedding Planner. I love The Wedding Planner for Jennifer Lopez's character. She's so put together and organized when planning her clients' weddings, and I hope to be just as organized for mine (so far, so good). I love 27 Dresses for the overall story but also for 2 specific scenes. I love the upbeat beginning of it, with everybody dancing and Katherine Heigl's character, Jane, running back and forth between two different weddings she's in. The song is Michael Jackson's "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" and is just one of the those songs that makes you wanna dance, even though I know your dance moves don't really compare with Michael's.

The other scene I love is one that J laughs at me about. I'm ashamed to say when I saw this scene for the first time, I didn't even know who sang the song! So ashamed. Check it out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6MSlDoHJU4&feature=related

Yes, friends. That is THE Elton John's song. Like I said, so ashamed. But every time I hear this song, which is quite often since I just downloaded it onto my iPhone, I think of this scene and get the urge to sing along and dance on a bar. One day, I'll get to cross it off my bucket list. If you mention this to my parents, you can leave the "dance on a bar" part off. Unless you would like to accompany my dad to the ER for an anxiety attack.

I've been thinking a lot about the music for our wedding lately. I want to have a good mix of Motown, oldies, rock n' roll, and maybe a little of my country mixed in (nothing about dogs, shotguns, or mamas, but I can't guarantee nothing about beer or drinking). I'm not the kind of bride (as of yet) that doesn't want the Macarena or Chicken Dance at her wedding, I think they'd be kind of fun! (Side note: just googled "wedding dance songs" and those two were on most of the "Do Not Play" lists...oh well).

J and I are actually compiling all the music for the wedding ourselves. DJs are out of our budget and frankly, not a top priority for us. Good music is, just not the overpriced, loud-booming-voice-that-you-usually-can't-understand-because-they're-talking-so-loud-with-their-mouth-touching-the-microphone-so-what-you-hear-sounds-similar-to-an-adult-in-Peanuts. We will most likely have a friend man the iTunes playlist for us and act as our MC (the non-yelling kind) for the night. So what we need is your help!

Tell us the songs that make you want to get up and dance, and help us compile a good dance mix for the reception!