10 - The Luckiest - Ben Folds

If you haven't heard this song, please listen NOW. Here.

I'll just write exactly what we put in the liner notes to this, our final song, in the wedding album:

We would have danced to this one if it didn't make us cry so much. Enjoy.

09 - Earth Angel - Death Cab for Cutie

Jesse and I chose this as "our song" to dance to at the wedding - well, it was Jesse's idea and I agreed. It's really romantic, and it went really well with our theme of 50s and 60s music, too. With a twist. And the week before the wedding, literally ten days before, the following comic was published, which Erica brought to my attention --

Click to englarge! Via Dinosaur Comics.

Hahahaha! I had completely forgotten about any Back to the Future references of the song, but I think we all know that any film references at my wedding are a-ok. And this comic is HILARIOUS. Those coincidences just keep coming!

Listen to Death Cab's rendition of "Earth Angel" on my tumblr. It's pretty rad.

08 - My Only Sunshine - Pete Seeger

Jesse chose this has the song he would dance to his mother with at the reception. He remembers his mother singing this song to him a lot growing up; when he told his mother that, she was a little emotional about it, because she had no idea he would remember - he was so young! They led a lovely dance to it. You can here the version they played here.

And, also, I'd just like to remark here, that I now have two more people I can call "Mom" and "Dad" and I love that fact, and them. Jesse's mother Sandi is truly generous and loving, and I'm so happy that we are now family. Everyone always asks about the "in laws" and there's that negative societal myth of the newly entwined bride and mother-in-law. Well, part of the reason it's so great to be married to Jesse is that now Sandi is like a mom, and his father Dan is like a dad. I couldn't be happier!

07 - God Only Knows - The Beach Boys

My father and I chose this as our father/daughter dance song at the reception. There were a few reasons. Firstly, my dad is the reason I listen to and love "oldies" as I called them growing up. We made some really long trips across the country with our family when we moved every two years, and oldies were usually on the station. Until I got some musical tastes of my own, but that's another story.

Secondly, my father and I share a great affinity for movies. Any kind of movies, he's always been my movie-going buddy and he's the guy who introduced me to Hitchcock in middle school and told me his stories about working on a Francis Ford Coppola film. (Again, that's another story!) We both loved the movie Love, Actually, no matter how corny, it was dear to our hearts from the moment we saw it. That Colin Firth storyline is basically the story of my parents, by the way. Have I told that story yet? I will...another time. In the ending montage to the film, "God Only Knows" plays as everyone is reuniting and hugging at the airport. It's a sweet scene, and it's exactly what I imagined feeling as I danced with my father.

He, and my mother, definitely made me into the woman I am today and I can't thank them enough. God only knows what I'd be without him...

Enjoy!

06 - Everlong - Foo Fighters

The wedding party walked into this classic (yes, to me, total classic) at the reception - or at least to the beginning intro. When Jesse walked in, our superb DJ JJ Surma blasted out the crescendo and, much like the song, it was epic. Regardless what it's really about, we just love the music and those lines are true - If everything could ever feel this real forever / If anything could ever be this good again - rather, we know it will feel this real, it will always be this good. We kind of promised that to each other and ourselves. There will be trials and tribulations, but I know we're in this thing forever.

If you've never heard this song, I might cry. If you need to hear it or be reminded of how hard it rules - check my tumblr!

05 - I Was Made For You - She & Him

You all remember my obsession with She & Him last year? I mean. I was legitimately listening to Volume One every single day, several times a day, for months in 2008. And I think this song made me smile so much because it reminded me of Jesse. Because he was all I've been waiting for (a long, long time) and I knew, I really did, that I was made for him. And he for me. So, you know, we got married.

Listen on my tumblr! And really, just go ahead and buy the whole sweet album!!

04 - Rock 'N' Roll - Ryan Adams

If you read this blog, you know I'm a huge Ryan Adams fan. During those first swooning days, as you may recall, Jesse got me an iPod with a lyric engraved. That lyric -

"There's this girl, I can't get out of my head..."

Is from this song, and it can be sad. It's about playing shows, not feeling cool, and wanting to be back home, I guess. It fits us though, as Jesse tours most of the time, and when we first got together I was dreading him going away...it's always a test, that first time. But we survived it, and the many that came after, and we'll survive those that come in the future.

Hear it on my tumblr!

03 - Pyscho Killer - Talking Heads

You are so surprised. I know. Well, here's the thing. Remember when I wrote about hanging out with Jesse in Alligator Lounge with Erica and friends before we really got into a relationship? Well, once we were actually dating, we still frequented the place (I mean, you buy a beer and get a free pizza - you can't look that place over!) and every time we went, "Psycho Killer" by the Talking Heads was playing.

There's also some resonance in the fact that we tend to spend really romantic times seeing horrifying movies we had no idea were so horrifying. Kind of. Like, on our first date we went to dinner and then went to see "The First King of Scotland" - which, if you've seen it, you know how damn gory it is. I believe it was Valentine's Day last year we decided the only thing worth seeing in the theater was "Funny Games," that movie that starred a couple of psychos holding a family hostage. No romance in this film, either. I don't know why, but we always laugh about it.

And now whenever we hear this song, we think about Alligator Lounge, about our sideways glances at each other during those days trying to figure out why this one was different. We'd look, and then we'd laugh.

Ba ba ba ba ba ba bet-ter......

Hear it on my tumblr!

02 - Bleeding Hearts Club (MPLS Chapter) - P.O.S.

For some reason, Jesse would sing the line "I like the way you comb your hair/I like them stylish clothes you wear" a lot when we first started going out. However, he could never remember what song he was singing - I guess I just subconsciously reminded him of it all the time. Ha.

He finally figured it out, and then he sent me the song. It's pretty damn fun and though Jesse hardly ever dances, we would get down to this song. Hear it on my tumblr or last.fm !

01 - Real Love - Regina Spektor

If you don't know where this image comes from, I will probably want to do some schoolin' on you. Jesse and I had Jason, the co-Best Man and wonderful graphic designer, take a try at superimposing our faces on the photo for our wedding mix cd, which we gave out as favors. Don't you think he did a great job?!

There are ten days in my honeymoon, and ten songs on our mix. I think you see what's coming at you.

01 Real Love - Regina Spektor

We picked Regina Spektor first, because she was somebody we were both listening to at the time we met. Her, and Lily Allen. I remember sitting on a subway train with Jesse, within the first month of us dating. My iPod was on the fritz, and I was trying to play him a song. I mentioned something about Regina Spektor and how much I loved her latest album, and Jesse agreed and had this weird look to his face. I can't remember exactly what it was, but I remember thinking it was a little strange.

A couple of weeks later, Jesse gave me a gift - the first in our relationship. He had ordered me an iPod, had it engraved, and loaded a playlist onto it. Apparently, he had made the playlist around the time we had the conversation about Regina Spektor, and he had included one of her songs, "On the Radio." I loved the playlist dearly, as well as the iPod, which I still have. (By the way, it's engraved with the Ryan Adams lyric: "There's this girl I can't get out of my head...") Last year he made another playlist for me with this song, a cover of a John Lennon song, and I loved the beauty of its words and her voice. You can hear it here at Last.fm or, I've also uploaded it on my tumblr!



From this moment on I know
Exactly where my life will go
Seems that all I really was doing
Was waiting for love

Don't need to be afraid
No need to be afraid

It's real love
It's real, yes it's real love
It's real

Thought I'd been in love before,
But in my heart I wanted more
Seems like all I really was doing
Was waiting for you

Don't need to be alone
No need to be alone

It's real love.