There are many reasons why people get married, and many ways of celebrating this commitment, but nearly all wedding celebrations involve some form of music. How could we rejoice without song? It scarcely seems possible. Music in the Wedding Ceremony For our wedding ceremony itself, we asked my friend and old college roommate Jordan to play the guitar as people were entering and leaving the reception hall, and asked my sister Camille to sing The Magnetic Fields’ song “The Book of Love” with Jordan accompanying her on guitar. These were all excellent choices and enriched our wedding. Music at the Reception Music figured in our wedding reception in a major way, primarily because we wanted people to dance as soon as we had finished eating and sharing their toasts. We used the Goodman Community Center’s sound system (and dance floor), and had a musician friend DJ the actual dance party from an iPod or a phone (I think?). We mapped out a couple of songs to play at the onset: Laurel and my first dance: Patty Griffin’s “You Are Not Alone”; Laurel and her father’s first dance: ; and my mother and I’s first dance: "".