GUEST BLOGGER | Ashley of Hi-Fi Weddings | Her Wedding Day Revealed!

by guest blogger

Hello Knotties! My name is Ashley and I created a site called Hi-Fi Weddings, which is all about your music at your wedding. Perhaps you’ve heard of it, but if not then I’m even more ecstatic that Alison has asked me to share my own wedding with you all today! I’m a music lover. And I married a music lover (in fact, that’s what got us talking in the first place!) so you can bet that the music played at our wedding was the most important thing to us… next to starting our lives together, of course! Andy proposed to me on December 21st, 2005 and we were married on May 20th, 2006. That was about 4.5 months of planning, and most of it was spent composing our Big Day Mix.

We were lucky in the fact that so many elements seemed to fall right into place. Our dear friends opened up their home and garden (there is a botanist in their family, so you can bet everything looked lovely) to host the ceremony of our wedding. We said our “eff yeah I do’s” in a 20 foot sunken, tiered garden full of lush plant life. Our reception was held at a New Orleans inspired restaurant down the street called 801 Franklin. They provided the yummy food, tasty drinks, and comfortable environment we were looking for. Not to mention fresh wild flowers all over, so that was one thing on “the list” we didn’t have to worry about.

Andy is a graphic designer and he put together a CD cover for the favors, which were copies of the 6 disc long mix. It was supposed to be a grab bag of sorts and you could swap with friends for each different disc, but when people found out, they tried to get one of each! I still have friends tell me they listen to their copies.

The room I got ready in was located right off their screen porch and was apparently haunted! We’ve spent many-a-night on their screen porch drinking beers and hanging out, and it’s wonderful to be able to re-visit the wedding site every time our friends come home for a visit!

My dad and I were waiting on the cue of Israel Kamakawiwo’ole’s “Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What A Wonderful World” before we began our descend down the 20-foot stone steps. And although we didn’t do the official dad/daughter dance, my father thinks of this as our dance….and he was certainly a trooper as he had a broken toe!

We played a selection of instrumental songs for people to mingle with one another in the garden before making their way to 801 Franklin:

Mark Lanegan and Isobel Campbell – Dusty Wreath
Radiohead – Meeting in the Aisle
Air – Mike Millis
Sufjan Stevens – Tahquamenon Falls
Belle and Sebastian – Consuelo
Iron and Wine – Jason Loves Kentucky
Air – Alone in Kyoto
M. Ward – You Still Believe in Me
Belle and Sebastian – Fiction
Sufjan Stevens – Enjoy Your Rabbit

Even though Andy is a huge music lover, he’s not really a fan of dancing. Plus, the venue didn’t really have a spot for dancing, so we didn’t do any of the “first dance” traditions. However, we did take this moment in the front entryway to sway together to a favorite song. Sneaky photog caught us!

We had a 10am ceremony with a brunch afterward, so the entire day was over by 2pm. Instead of a send-off we released balloons in the air with a little note for anyone that found it!

And here’s the track list that echoed through our day:

GARDEN BEGINNING (played as guests are being sat)

Christopher O’Riley :: True Love Waits

GARDEN CEREMONY

Israel Kamakawiwo’ole – Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What A Wonderful World (what I walked down the aisle to)
Mark Lanegan and Isobel Campbell – Dusty Wreath
Radiohead – Meeting in the Aisle
Air – Mike Millis
Sufjan Stevens – Tahquamenon Falls
Belle and Sebastian – Consuelo
Iron and Wine – Jason Loves Kentucky
Air – Alone in Kyoto
M. Ward – You Still Believe in Me
Belle and Sebastian – Fiction
Sufjan Stevens – Enjoy Your Rabbit

May Twentieth Disc 1

The Ladybug Transistor – Vale of Cashmere
Antony and the Johnsons – Mysteries of Love
Feist – The Mast
The Velvet Underground – Guess I’m Falling in Love
Rufus Wainwright – Pretty Things
Elvis Costello – Can You Be True?
Neko Case – Tightly
Frank Sinatra – I Only Have Eyes for You
Bob Dylan – If Not For You
Winterpills – Found Weekend
The Flaming Lips – Do You Realize??
The Zombies – She Does Everything For Me
Nada Surf – Concrete Bed
n.Lannon – Turn Time Around
Ben Gibbard – The Dream of Evan and Chan
Emmylou Harris – Love Is
The Stills – Baby Blues
The Beatles – Lucy In the Sky With Diamonds
Al Green – Let’s Stay Together

May Twentieth Disc 2

Iron and Wine – Love and Some Versus
Talking Heads – Uh-Oh, Love Comes to Town
Sondre Lerche – Night and Day
Harland T. Bobo – Only Love
Margo Guryan – Don’t Go Away
New Buffalo – Recovery
Akron/Family – I’ll Be on the Water
Devendra Banhart – When the Sun Shone on Vetiver
Billy Bragg and Wilco – Secrets of the Sea
Interpol – Take You on a Cruise
Jason Collett – Fire
Decibully – We Belong on Rooftops
Devendra Banhart – Luna De Margarita
My Morning Jacket – It Beats for You
The Flaming Lips – One More Robot
The Magnetic Fields – Nothing Matters When We’re Dancing
Bright Eyes – First Day of My Life
Ben Folds – The Luckiest
Rogue Wave – You
The Velvet Underground – I Found a Reason
The Elected – Beautiful Rainbow

May Twentieth Disc 3

The Zombies – This Will Be Our Year
Talking Heads – Heaven
Stars – The Aspidistra Files
Iron and Wine – Fever Dream
Jeff Mangum – I Love How You Love Me
Travis – Flowers in the Window
Kevin Devine – You are the Daybreak
Postal Service – Grow Old With Me
John Vanderslice – Lunar Landscapes
Starsailor – The Way Young Lovers Do
Little Wings – I am With You
Wilco – I Got You (At the End of the Century)
The Flaming Lips – When You Smile
Old 97’s – Question
Vetiver – Amour Fou
Ryan Adams – Wonderwall
Mark Kozelek – Love at First Feel
Margo Guryan – I Think A Lot About You
Feist – Tout Doucement

May Twentieth Disc 4

Coldplay – ‘Til Kingdom Come
Elvis Costello – From Head to Toe
M. Ward – Here Comes the Sun Again
The Zombies – Walking in the Sun
John Vanderslice – Keep the Dream Alive
Gram Parsons – A Song For You
Decibully – Your Love is a Tempo
Iron and Wine – Such Great Heights
The Magnetic Fields – I’m Tongue-Tied
Pinback – Charborg
Radiohead – Arpeggi
Jason Collett – I’ll Bring the Sun
Devendra Banhart – It’s a Sight to Behold
Page France – Chariot
Interpol – Length of Love
Talking Heads – This Must Be the Place
My Morning Jacket – Golden
Stars – Sleep Tonight

May Twentieth Disc 5

Pete Yorn – A Girl Like You
Emmylou Harris – A Love That Will Never Grow Old
Wilco – I’m the Man Who Loves You
The Flaming Lips – With You
Radiohead – Nobody Does it Better
Bob Dylan – Wedding Song
Smog – When You Walk
Talking Heads – Radio Head
Page France – All Things, All Right
The Magnetic Fields – It’s Only Time
Iron and Wine – The Sea and the Rhythm
Ben Gibbard – They Don’t Know
Stars – Theme From The Stars
The Zombies – You Make Me Feel So Good
Kevin Devine – Lullaby for a Snow-Faced Girl
Sufjan Stevens – The Dress Looks Nice On You
The Notwist – Pilot
The Dears – Lost in the Plot
Maritime – Lights

May Twentieth Disc 6

Feist – Mushaboom
Nada Surf – Always Love
Death Cab For Cutie – Earth Angel
Neko Case – I Missed the Point
Bob Dylan – To Be Alone With You
The Flaming Lips – Sunship Balloons
Belle and Sebastian – Legal Man
The Magnetic Fields – The Book of Love
Elvis Costello – Let Me Tell You About Her
The Zombies – The Look of Love
Neil Young – Natural Beauty
Isobel Campbell – The Breeze Whispered Your Name
Maritime – King of Doves
Smog – Golden
Hubert Kah – Rosemarie
The Beatles – Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
Al Green – Light My Fire