Picking wedding music no song and dance

  

ERICA DREIJER

MUSIC sparks all kinds of emotions in people… it makes us happy, sad and can even be traced back to the root of a fight or two.

So on the day that I was swapping my identity as a single woman to become Mrs Hier (pronounced hire… or is that higher?) it was fitting for music to form a crucial part of the material that our dreams would be made of.

The first step in laying the foundation was to ensure that we selected music that personified two individuals and a merger for our new life together as Mrs and Mr Hier.

We piled hours into this occasion… trying to find a balance between what we love, what people can stomach and what makes for a memorable party.  It’s not every day you get married! And we were going to make sure that we were going to enjoy every moment.

We ended up with a list that we were told “is good stuff to play after 10pm, once the older and more respectable crew have settled down for the evening”.

Enough said.

Finally the big day arrived.

After keeping my now nervous groom waiting for 20 minutes, I strode down the aisle to the Wedding March. Although it is traditional, it provided familiarity in a moment of uncertainty as I crossed over from singledom into married life.

It also reminded me that this attractive man would be my husband within the hour.

Afterwards, lively piano mingled with the sound of chatter on the patio of the Laborie estate in the Cape winelands as we shared a drink with our guests and watched the sun go down on the beautiful Paarl Valley.

We entered the dining hall on U2’s It’s a beautiful day.

Our first dance was to the tune of Chasing Cars though we kept on thinking that we should have rather chosen I Want to Grow Old with You by Adam Sandler from the movie The Wedding Singer.

We partied to songs like Bitter Sweet Symphony, Blister in the Sun, Scar Tissue and Rock me Amadeus.

As everyone danced to the last song for the evening; Wonder Wall by Oasis, they were all in high spirits. 

But I convinced James (that’s Mr Hier) to allow one of our guests, who had come a long way, to play his choice as the last song, as a favour. So the Blue Bull song by Steve Hofmeyr filled the room and all dancing came to an abrupt halt.  It was the wrong song with which to end the night on a high note.

An inebriated guest stepped in and tried to save the day by fast-forwarding through the play list in search of a more inspirational last song.

Our unhappy Blue Bulls supporter (who was not even dancing to his own song) moved in with his fists and started throwing insults about.  The evening nearly ended on a low note… But once again, music came to the rescue as we were allowed to select another “new” last song.

U2 we salute you!  Emotions were soothed as Pride (In the name of Love) played out.