Besides asking me to marry him and telling me that I couldn't have a poufy dress, Tim's first contribution to the wedding planning was that he really wanted Jess to sing and Dhruv to play guitar at the ceremony. We are completely blessed by our musically talented friends. Jess was way more on the ball than we were. She sent us lists of songs that she thought could work. Her favourite was Alexei Murdoch's Orange Sky, but we were planning on going with Christina Perri's A Thousand Years until I bought the new Sara Bareilles album, The Blessed Unrest. I instantly fell in love with the whole album, especially I Choose You. It was the perfect song to walk down the aisle to. Even better, it's beautifully suited to Jess's voice.
Sara Bareilles singing I Choose You live
Tina's photo of Jess and Dhruv playing I Choose You at the wedding
We stumbled onto our musical act for the wine and cheese portion of the night. While we were down in Toronto with Tim's family for the Heart and Stroke Ride for Heart in May, we went out to eat at Sorento Mediterranean Cuisine and they had a mind-blowing Latin duo playing there called Farrucas. Literally, our minds were blown - we stayed extra-long just to listen to them. I don't know who initially suggested that it would be cool if they could play at the wedding, but Tim latched onto the idea immediately and went up to speak to them. We couldn't believe they were actually free for our wedding date and reasonably priced at $400 for an hour of play time. That amount included all of their travel from Markham to Cavan and all of their equipment and setup. We booked right away and then swore Chris, Wendy, and Dean all to secrecy. They were our little surprise for our guests.
Farrucas at the Markham Music Festival this summer
CFC Pix's photo of Chris and Elise dancing to Farrucas during the wine and cheese
We threw around a lot of suggestions for our first dance song, from country to Dave Matthews. Michael Buble's Close Your Eyes off of his new album was a frontrunner. Tim even wanted to make a mashup of Close Your Eyes and the song we did finally pick. We decided to go with the Glee cover of Fleetwood Mac's Songbird by Naya Rivera. I feel like this song is such a perfect representation of how I feel for Tim.
The lyrics version of Naya Rivera singing Fleetwood Mac's Songbird
CFC Pix's photo of Tim and I during our first dance to Songbird
For my song with Dad, it had to be country or old rock and roll. Some of my strongest and most touching memories from when I was young are listening to Dad's old records. He has such a love for music and he's an amazing dancer. I remember asking him to dance with me when I was in high school, after we had learned the two-step as part of dance week in phys ed. I don't know what two-step I was doing versus what he thought the two-step was, but we were four left feet! Mom and him even met back at the community dances they used to hold in Arkona, where he used to burn up the floor. I seriously considered Ernie Ford's Eighteen Tons, which holds such a strong association to Dad for me, but it isn't a good dancing song. I finally settled on George Strait's I Cross My Heart. While some people may consider that this song is mainly about romantic love, I couldn't help but apply the sentiment in the lyrics to my relationship with Dad. Romantic love is not unconditional, no matter what people want. My Dad's love for me is. I know - I've tested it in so many ways over the years! There is no one in my life who would ever give up as much for me as Dad would be willing to. I'm listening to the song as I write this and tearing up. Dancing with him at my wedding to this song was such a perfect moment for me. Plus he looked so handsome!
The lyrics video of George Strait's I Cross My Heart
Dad and I dancing together - look at how tall he looks!
Tim made finding his song to dance to with his Mom much easier - he asked Wendy! I had a sneaking suspicion that she would pick one of her favourite songs, and she did. Wendy and Tim both thought of this song as it reminded them of each other and bonding over it years before. They danced to Israel Kamakawiwo'ole's Somewhere Over The Rainbow (What a Wonderful World).
Israel Kamakawiwo'ole singing Somewhere Over The Rainbow
Tim and Wendy dancing to Somewhere Over the Rainbow
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