"Do Not Play" List

As you can see from the rest of this blog, we've gotten a pretty decent head start in the planning of this shindig. We've already got a place, a date, a photographer, and Erin even already has a dress. But as far as I'm concerned, this show will live and die with one thing: the music. As such, Erin has given me the task of organizing all of the music for both the ceremony and the reception.

We decided very early on that we absolutely do not want a DJ, as this would probably result in me getting in a physical altercation with this unfortunate individual by the end of the night. And while I've always thought it would be awesome to have a live karaoke band for the reception, the logistical and fiscal demands of such a plan make it ultimately more trouble than it's worth. If I had the technology I'd probably try to clone myself (a la Multiplicity) and just DJ my own wedding, but, barring any breakthroughs on that front in the next 8 months, I've resigned myself to just making a 5 hour playlist of all the songs I think will make for an awesome Jimmy and Erin-themed party. I'd like to have some fun surprises in there for everyone, so I don't want to give too much of a sense of what music will be played, I do want to do a quick rundown of some wedding standards that will not be played. . .

1) "Electric Slide" / "Achey Brakey Heart" / "Chicken Dance" / "Macarena"

The fact that any of these gimmicky one-off dance fads has endured decades after its initial popularity is as surprising as it is pathetic. There's frankly no way to not embarrass yourself while doing any of these these so called "dances." The ability to perform any of these with any grace or competence is just as sad and lame as any amateur attempt to keep up with those that can - especially since there will likely be both photographic and videographic evidence of your shame.*

2) "Celebration" Robert "Kool" Bell has written many brilliant pop tunes, and this is no exception, but c'mon, this is just lazy DJing. It's as if the DJ just admitted to the entire reception that he can't remember whether this is a wedding or a bris.

3) "Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)" The proliferation of this song by wedding DJs is just perverse. It's like a theme song for passive-aggressive brides that want to gloat over their single friends.

4) "White Wedding" This song is problematic for two reasons. If you happen to be naive to accept the chorus of this song on a literal level, it's incredibly trite. If not, it's just in poor taste to send off the new couple into wedded bliss with a song about going on a coke bender**

5) "Wonderful Tonight" I've just always hated this song. Can't really explain why.

*I've expressly omitted "YMCA" simply because I find the idea of conservative baby boomers getting down to a song that's expressly about gay cruising hilarious.

**I'm willing to make an exception here if your wedding reception happens to involve liberal cocaine use.

Meet the Wedding Party: Jessie & Christina

Name: Jessica "Jessie" Kravitz
Job: Bridesmaid
Relationship: Partner in Crime to Erin, Rap Battle Ally to Jimmy
How We Met: Erin and Jessie became friends while studying abroad in Dublin their junior year at NYU. They ended up directing 2 music videos together while there and spending most hours of most days together doing a combination of goofing around and working. That began a hilarious partnership that usually ended with someone in a wig. They've remained close friends despite being on two different coasts and can always be found talking about TV, watching hilarious movies or just chatting about nothing, on the computer.

Jimmy also met Jessie during the famed Junior year jaunt to the Emerald Isle. They bonded over their mutual appreciation of mid-90s hip hop and masochistic fandom for ursine Chicago sports franchises.


Name: Christina "Stina" Mar
Job: Bridesmaid
Relationship: Partner in Crime to Erin, Musical Moron Twin to Jimmy
How We Met: It was 2002 and the NYU Freshman Film Department was sent to the Poconos for "Camp Bug Byte." Stina and Erin spent some time paddle boating together while there, realized they had a lot of classes together, and the rest is history. Stina and Erin ended up having many many more classes together after that and Stina ended up in Dublin too! Their time together has been lots of silly movies, lots of TV and lots and lots of theme nights. Thank goodness for instant messaging so even when they're on opposite sides of the country, they are in constant contact.

Jimmy met Christina when they were living next door to one another in the NYU apartments on Fishamble Street in Dublin. While Jimmy often used this proximity to get closer to a certain criminal accomplice, they also found a shared interest in pretentious indie music and medieval fortresses-turned-hostels in Western Germany. Though they now live thousands of miles apart, they continue to discuss the overratedness of every band on Pitchforkmedia and talk shop about the cutthroat world of nonlinear video editing.

Here are some Jessie/Erin/Stina picture gems from the past (isn't it creepy that we're in the same order in all 3 pictures?!):




Besides the fact that Jessie and Stina happen to be two of our closest friends, we're also very excited for them to be in the wedding party because they were present at "the beginning." They are part of a very small number of people who remember when Jimmy and Erin weren't "Jimmy and Erin" and we're really excited for them to be there with us. And, also, we can't wait for the hilarious pictures that will ensue.