One of the details I could really get excited about during Wedding planning was the playlist for the reception. We didn't hire a DJ - I wanted each song to be selected by hand and for the order to be carefully planned exactly to my specifications. For the reception itself I rented a PA system and hooked up a laptop to the console. My brother Dan ran the PA during the event and did an awesome job - we didn't have even one squeal and the music sounded great for the whole time.
As with all things, the reality of the "dancing" part of the reception wasn't quite what I envisioned. My friends are a little more reserved and didn't all participate to the extent I thought they would. For the first few songs it was pretty much Jen and I plus a lot of kids. Also, the playlist is kind of long and we didn't quite get through the whole thing. Overall, I'm really proud of this playlist and its importance to us and our relationship.
Here's the playlist:
| Song # | Song Title | Artist | Purpose |
| 1 | Sweet Darlin' | She & Him | Perfect first song - fun and makes me feel like I do w/ Jen. |
| 2 | Say Hey (I Love You) | Michael Franti & Spearhead | Fun new song that's about love and great to dance to. |
| 3 | La La Love You | The Pixies | Jen's request - a favorite love song |
| 4 | In Case We Die | Architecture in Helsinki | Fun up-tempo dance song |
| 5 | Lloyd I'm Ready to Be Heartbroken | Camera Obscura | Nostalgic dance song |
| 6 | U-Mass | The Pixies | Get it rockin' |
| 7 | My Doorbell | The White Stripes | Keep it rockin' |
| 8 | I Feel It All | Feist | Easy to dance to, slowing things down |
| 9 | Love and Some Verses | Iron & Wine | Slow dance and extremely romantic |
| 10 | Sweetie | Josh Rouse | Jen and I used to listen to this song all the time. Has the lyric "We'll sleep on rooftops/We'll ride on Bicycles/Honey, we'll get married/Don't you want to sweetie?" Seems perfect for us. |
| 11 | Oregon Girl | Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin | I always tell Jen this is my song about her |
| 12 | Never Had Nobody Like You | M. Ward | Love song from M. Ward |
| 13 | Idioteque | Radiohead | At least one Radiohead song |
| 14 | Expectations | Belle & Sebastian | For a year I had this as the wake-up music on my alarm. We used to wake up to it every day. |
| 15 | Sweet Sweetheart Killer | Say Hi To Your Mom | Fun dance song |
| 16 | 1020 AM | Spoon | When we were very first together Jen and I used to stay up late listening to this song. |
| 17 | I'm the Man Who Loves You | Wilco | A song from me to Jen. |
| 18 | O' Valencia | The Decemberists | A favorite of the kids' |
| 19 | Absolutely Cuckoo | The Magnetic Tapes | Funny song - give people a break from dancing |
| 20 | LTWTMS | The Trouble with Sweeney | Groovy 70's sounding rock song |
| 21 | Mr. Tough | Yo La Tengo | Fun silly song to dance to |
| 22 | Simple X | Andrew Bird | This song makes me want to move every time I hear it. |
| 23 | Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye | AMFM | Slow-dance song, cover of a Leonard Cohen song. |
| 24 | No One's Gonna Love You | Band Of Horses | Slow song, one of Jen's favorites |
| 25 | 1234 | Feist | Pick things up a bit |
| 26 | Letter to Memphis | The Pixies | Rocking Pixies song, very romantic |
| 27 | Big Time Sensuality | Bjork | Sexy dance song |
| 28 | All My Friends | LCD Soundsystem | Up-tempo dance song for all my friends at the wedding |
| 29 | Chinese Translation | M. Ward | A little buddhist wisdom from one of my favorite artists |
| 30 | She's Losing It | Belle & Sebastian | Another favorite of Jen and mine from the past |
| 31 | The Navajo Know | The Pixies | One of my favorite Pixies songs |
| 32 | Eyes on the Prize | M. Ward | Great romantic love song for Jen. |
| 33 | Here Comes Your Man | The Pixies | Jen's song for me (her "Oregon Girl") |
