Since those bloody Youtube showoffs upped the ante with their increasingly involved wedding dances, the first dance has become something of an enigma. Sticking to a three-minute sway to a traditional, tried-and-tested ballad now looks beyond dull, while going all out and copying the moves from some Dirty Dancing-esque favourite semms a little, well, 2008. What to do?
Everyone seems to agree that the first dance should define you as a couple and present you to the world in one perfect married-couple nutshell. But what exactly does that mean? It seems appropriate to have a song that "means something" to us but unfortunately everything that springs to mind is either a 90s chart hit or 80s wonder from our student days or one of those dance-floor-filling indie-pop tune we've all been stomping to since graduation. We don't have "our song".
But then who does? Most people fall back on something classic by Sinatra or Barry White or a more up-to-date ballad like Aerosmith's "I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing" or something awful by James Blunt. All of these are commonly to be found on websites listing "the top first dance songs of all time" or similar. I've visited the sites and scanned the lists and unfortunately nothing appeals.
This is partly because I just know that these have all been chosen hundreds of times before. Although I don't consider myself a "quirky" sort of person, especially not when it comes to music, I do want something a little unexpected, perhaps something nobody else at the wedding had thought of, or seen used by other couples.
But it's proving mighty difficult. So far we have a list of six contenders, but none have really jumped out at us as "the" song. For such an important moment we really want something we'll be 100% happy with - and that means both of us. We've argued over iTunes and bonded over Spotify but still the elusive perfect track escapes us. We need help, so feel free to make a suggestion, just nothing by James Blunt please....!
Friday, 16 April 2010
Friday, 9 April 2010
Weekday weddings - a good idea?
As the summer finally kicks off and wedding season gets underway, this year I've noticed something different. Instead of discussing with friends which Saturdays are out for BBQs, birthday celebrations and weekends away because of weddings, the discussion has focused on whether we all have enough annual leave left over after all the weekdays lost to the strongest emerging trend in nuptials - the weekday wedding.
With the average cost of a UK wedding now comfortably over £20,000 every saving counts and the easiest way to save some serious money without compromising on the wedding of the bride's dreams is to have it on a day other than Saturday. In the past a wedding in the week was a rarity but now, with it representing savings which can run into the thousands, it's becoming more and more popular to get married on a Friday or even a Thursday.
But can you expect friends and family to take a day off work to attend your ceremony? With accommodation, travel, the stag or hen night and the gift, it now costs several hundred pounds just to attend a wedding - and those free bars are a thing of the past too. So, is it asking too much to expect to cost them a day of their annual leave as well?
Personally I wouldn't have considered a weekday wedding. I want as many people to be able to make it to my ceremony as possible and can't bare the idea that anyone would be there begrudgingly or have to leave early to get home for work the next day. In fact, we've gone for a bank holiday Sunday to allow people a day both before and after the wedding to travel, recuperate and generally fit our big day into their lives. Of course close family and friends will gladly give up a day in the office for your wedding if they can but what about those who really can't, teachers for example? And what about those more distant friends and relatives who might not think it worth the effort?
Of course you could argue that anyone unwilling to take a day off work to celebrate with you isn't worth inviting in the first place. But what if your guests already have a handful of weekday weddings to fit into the office holiday schedule? What if they live far enough away to need to travel the day before and therefore take two days off work? What if you happen to coincide with your best friend's company's AGM or something unforeseen but ultimately unmissable?
In the end I decided that a weekday wedding presented more problems that it solved but I know many people who would vehemently disagree. Am I foolish to spend the extra on a weekend wedding? Or is a Saturday wedding ultimately the most sensible thing to do?
With the average cost of a UK wedding now comfortably over £20,000 every saving counts and the easiest way to save some serious money without compromising on the wedding of the bride's dreams is to have it on a day other than Saturday. In the past a wedding in the week was a rarity but now, with it representing savings which can run into the thousands, it's becoming more and more popular to get married on a Friday or even a Thursday.
But can you expect friends and family to take a day off work to attend your ceremony? With accommodation, travel, the stag or hen night and the gift, it now costs several hundred pounds just to attend a wedding - and those free bars are a thing of the past too. So, is it asking too much to expect to cost them a day of their annual leave as well?
Personally I wouldn't have considered a weekday wedding. I want as many people to be able to make it to my ceremony as possible and can't bare the idea that anyone would be there begrudgingly or have to leave early to get home for work the next day. In fact, we've gone for a bank holiday Sunday to allow people a day both before and after the wedding to travel, recuperate and generally fit our big day into their lives. Of course close family and friends will gladly give up a day in the office for your wedding if they can but what about those who really can't, teachers for example? And what about those more distant friends and relatives who might not think it worth the effort?
Of course you could argue that anyone unwilling to take a day off work to celebrate with you isn't worth inviting in the first place. But what if your guests already have a handful of weekday weddings to fit into the office holiday schedule? What if they live far enough away to need to travel the day before and therefore take two days off work? What if you happen to coincide with your best friend's company's AGM or something unforeseen but ultimately unmissable?
In the end I decided that a weekday wedding presented more problems that it solved but I know many people who would vehemently disagree. Am I foolish to spend the extra on a weekend wedding? Or is a Saturday wedding ultimately the most sensible thing to do?
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