Recap Most Requested Wedding Songs of 2009

I know it’s been 2010 for over 3 months now.  Still, with wedding season right around the corner I can’t think of a better time to recap the most requested wedding songs of 2009.  Let’s see how our Dutchess County, Ulster County, Orange County, Rockland and Westchester weddings stacked up against the national numbers, shall we?

These are based on reports of over 2 million requests through the DJ Intelligence system in 2009.  See the full most requested songs report here.  

Popular Classic First Dance Songs

1. “At Last” by Etta James
2. I Cross My Heart” by George Strait
3. "Can’t Help Falling In Love” by Elvis
4. “Someone Like You” by Van Morrison
5. “Wonderful Tonight” by Eric Clapton

Best New First Dance Songs

1. "Then" by Brad Paisley
2. "Lucky” by Jason Mraz & Colbie Collait
3. “You Are the Best Thing” by Ray Lamontagne
4. “Only You Can Love Me This Way” by Keith Urban
5. “Far Away” by Nickelback

Popular Father Daughter Dance Songs

1. “I Loved Her First” by Heartland
2. “My Little Girl” by Tim McGraw
3. “Butterfly Kisses” by Bob Carlisle
4. “My Girl” by The Temptations
5. “What A Wonderful World” by Louis Armstrong

Popular Mother Son Dance Songs

1. “My Wish” by Rascal Flatts
2. “What A Wonderful World” by Louis Armstrong
3. “A Song For Mama” by Boyz II Men
4. “In My Life” by The Beatles
5. “I Hope You Dance” by Leann Womack

Bouquet Toss Songs

1. “Single Ladies” by Beyonce
2. “Girls Just Want To Have Fun” by Cindy Lauper
3. “It’s Raining Men” by The Weather Girls“Hit Me With Your Best Shot” by Pat Benatar
4. "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" by Pat Benatar
5. “Ladies Night” by Kool and the Gang

 Garter Toss Songs

1. “Another One Bites the Dust” by Queen
2. “Let’s Get It On” by Marvin Gaye
3. “Legs” by ZZ Top
4. “Oh Yeah” by Yellow
5. “You Sexy Thing” by Hot Chocolate

Cake Cutting Songs

1. “Sugar, Sugar” by The Archies
2. “How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)” by James Taylor
3. “Pour Some Sugar On Me” by Def Leppard
4. “Sweetest Thing” by U2
5. “I’m Yours” by Jason Mraz

Introduction Songs

1. “I Gotta Feeling” by the Black Eyed Peas
2. “Let’s Get It Started” by the Black Eyes Peas
3. “Beautiful Day” by U2
4. “Eye Of the Tiger” by Survivor
5. “Forever” by Chris Brown

Last Songs

1. “Save the Last Dance For Me” by Michael Buble
2. “I’ve Had the Time Of My Life” by Bill Medley & Jennifer Warnes
3. “Last Dance” by Donna Summer
4. “Don’t Stop Believin” by Journey
5. “Closing Time” by Semisonic

Surprises

The biggest surprise about the 2009 most requested wedding songs was there really weren't any.  Our Hudson Valley weddings pretty much agreed with the most popular list, thanks to the homogenizing effect of Youtube and Google.

Well, maybe there were a few things that surprised me…

Fast First Dance Songs  I’ve noticed a trend toward “surprise” first dances with fast paced songs in the past few years, but seeing “I Gotta Feeling” and “Let’s Get It Started” on the top 50 most requested First Dance Songs was unexpected.

Ludacris Bouquet  “Move B*#%*h” for the Bouquet Toss?  Really?  Now that’s just asking for a cat fight! 

Introduction Songs  I’m giving away my age here, but I remember singing "Eye Of the Tiger" by Survivor in the car when I was a wee lass.  I was shocked to see it make the top 5 requested introduction songs because it almost never rears its head in our Hudson Valley weddings.  Not that I’m complaining or anything.  And "Let's Get It Started" is so OUT..."I Gotta Feeling" was the IT intro song of 2009.

What do you think about this list?  Will you use it to choose your wedding songs or as a list of songs NOT to choose? 

Leave me a comment.  I’d love to hear your thoughts!

As a bride-to-be you have a lot of correspondence to send. From formal wedding invitations, to bridal shower invites all the way to the thank-you cards that wrap things up, you and your Post Man should become bosom buds! Depending on your and your fiance's style as a couple, the mail that you send can be anything from formal to quirky.

The best thing about incorporating Do It Yourself into your wedding is that it allows for your personal style to shine through. And it terms of wedding correspondence, Save the Date cards are a great way to let that run wild. In scouring the web for some fun DIY Save the Date cards, the idea that I was most struck with was making magnets!

Let me tell you a little something about my darling boyfriend: he knows when Christmas and St. Patrick's Day are. He's fuzzy on his mother's birthday and we decided long ago to celebrate a spontaneous anniversary. So when his cousin sent him a Save the Date card for a wedding last spring, I immediately took the card and practically glued it to my fridge.
Why not save date-impaired people (and their girlfriends!) the extra step by sending that Save the Date card as a magnet already?

This is an extremely easy craft, and for those of you who are limited on time you can also have magnets made for you (more on that later).

Supplies:

 

• A cute photo of you and your fiance
• Paper
• Scissors
• Sheets of adhesive magnets (3.5" x 2" is a good size!)

Directions:

There are lots of ways to vary this one and have it come out with your personal mark it on. If you plan ahead, you can even have your engagement portraits photographer in on the craft!

Take a photo of you and your fiance. If you can find a location with a cute weathered or vintage sign that can be Photoshopped with your wedding info onto it, bonus (this is where your engagement portrait photographer could come in)! If not, just an adorable photo will do.

Stick the photo onto a piece of the adhesive magnet sheet. Now getting the wedding into onto the magnet is the fun part! I created some cutesy magnetic poetry-style words and glued them to the photo surface. For the words I used Times New Roman, size 19 font. After printing out the words, I cut them out and adhered them to appropriately sized pieces of magnets and voila!

If you don't dig on magnetic poetry, you can also find some very cute digital photo frames on the internet. Hp.com has a several cute ones you can use, and they will even print your photo in them!

Not feeling very crafty? Sites like Magnet.com let couples to create their own Save the Date magnets. You send your wedding information, photos, and any artwork and their graphic artists design your magnets. Pretty sweet!

The DIY Stats:

Cost – Expect to spend about $30 on 100 3.5" x 2" adhesive magnet sheets. Use that figure to calculate an approximate cost based on your guest list.

Difficulty – Another very easy one.

Time – Depending on how you decide to design your magnet, time spent could vary. Once you have a design ready, each magnet can be done in a few minutes.

Fiance Friendliness

- This could be a fun craft to do working as a team. If you wanted to go all out with the magnetic poetry theme, this could become a great afternoon of creating silly love poems together for your Save the Date magnets!

Jen Kiaba is a photographer and burgeoning crafter who lives in Rhinebeck, NY with her lovely boyfriend, two crazy cats and an adorable basset hound. When her hands aren't covered in tacky glue, she specializes in taking romantic portraits of happy couples in the Hudson Valley!