Ahhh, wedding planning. I’m only three weeks in and already I’ve had one minor panic attack when calculating the cost, changed the wedding date twice, had three outbursts in which I said “let’s elope instead!”, bought four wedding magazines and made about five purchases (mainly decorations).

During this time I’ve come to realize that everyone in the developed world is under the impression that women want a big wedding with a princess dress and will spend nearly anything to get it—that’s not me. Before I go any further let me just say that there’s nothing wrong with women who want that.  I’m merely saying that as a bride, it feels as though there’s a built in pressure in the wedding industry to go big or go elope.  Lesson number one of wedding planning: Don’t fold under pressure if it’s not what you want.

I’ve just begun to get my feet wet in the wedding world, and that’s primarily because if I spend too much time on it at any given point I get frustrated and say “Let’s elope instead!” I’m hoping that’s a natural reaction that any couple experiences in the beginning stages of planning. The one thing that I have been able to fully embrace with excitement is the music.

While we haven’t decided what to do for the wedding ceremony or the reception, we have decided that we want a cocktail hour with an awesome musical selection playing in the background from our iPod. A few weeks ago we did our first date night in Chicago at The Red Canary in River West.  The ambiance was spectacular (beautiful outdoor space, candles, booze and great music) everything we want in our wedding, frankly.

While enjoying a bottle of wine, we started to zero in on the jazz music in the background. The playlist kept getting better and better. We shared our praises with the owner and told him how we’re getting married next year and have been searching for great music to play at the cocktail hour. He gladly emailed us the list and for the past week I’ve been sifting through 800+ songs from his excel list (which makes me feel a little bit like a judge on the X Factor). If you’ve made it to this point in the blog post you deserve to hear a sampling of what’s on our playlist.  With that I give you the Cocktail Hour Mix:

“This Magic Moment” by Lake Street Dive

“Jacqueline” by James Hunter

“Valerie” by Amy Winehouse

“Love Makes the World Go Round” by Deon Jackson

“Sweet Lorraine” by Stephanie Grappelli

“I Could Have Danced All Night” by Jamie Cullum

“I Surrender, Dear” by Helen Humes

“Exactly Like You” by Anita O’Day

“Dance me to the End of Love” by The Civil Wars

“Let’s Fall in Love” by Diana Krall

“Les etoiles” by Melody Gardot