When did the Electric Slide get a bad rap? Why is it that it sits right under the Chicken Dance on the “Do Not Play” list? I personally LOVE the Electric slide. I can’t remember the last family wedding where we didn’t play it. Okay, so we call it “El Caballo Doroado” and it sounds a lot like “The Achy Breaky Heart”, but it involves the exact same dance moves, and people pump their fists in the air and jump onto the dance floor when it starts to play.

Latinos aren’t the only group that tend to love Electric Slidin’ though. Not to generalize, but I have rarely been to or planned an African American, Flipino, or Caribbean American wedding where we didn’t get Electric. Not only is it NOT uncool, it is a must have that brings young and old alike onto the dance floor.

Case in point, I helped plan a baby shower for one of my oldest friends this weekend and midway through they had to bust it out.

So if you like the Electric Slide, please don’t be ashamed to say it. Play it loud and proud at your event. I promise people will dance! Some people might even pump their fist in the air:)

If you follow my twitter feed, you’ll know that a couple of weeks ago I was HORRIFIED to hear this R & B song come up on the radio called “Girl You Make Me Wanna Get You Pregnant”.  I was already reeling from the lyrics to “I Don’t Wanna Be Disrespectful”, but at least that’s a dance song…the idea of a “love song” about impregnating someone… Let’s just say that would only sound romantic to me if my fictitious husband and I were in our 40′s and undergoing fertility treatments.

And so began the next few weeks of Mayra and I lamenting the love songs of our youth in the office, via text and over the phone. Sunday’s text exchange was:

Mayra: Remember Troop?  All I Do Is Think About You.  I was a young girl on the school bus and just dreamed of someone dedicating that song to me.

Xochitl: He was so into her, it made him excited to get to school!

Mayra: That’s RIGHT!  Not to get her pregnant, TO GO TO SCHOOL!

And so on and so forth.  I could go on and on about how confusing and possibly misguiding it must be to be young today and not be inspired by actual LOVE songs, but instead by these ridiculously crass takes on “Love”. But instead, I thought I’d put my energy towards good use and compile a list of songs that make us go “Now THAT’s a LOVE song!” or ” THAT would be a first dance song!”  Because I wanted this to be diverse I asked facebook and twitter friends to tell me their suggestions.   Special thanks to @TeamBride And so without further ado and in no particular order:

From the AAB (Very Heavily R & B) Jukebox:

Always by Atlantic Starr

Ain’t Nobody by Chaka Khan

I Wanna Be Your Man by Roger

Everytime I close My Eyes by BabyFace

Ready or Not by After 7

If This World Were Mine by Luther Vandross and Cheryl Lynn

You & I (The O’Brien Cover)

Better Together by Jack Johnson

By My Side by Sade

The Best Thing that Ever Happened by Gladys Knight

Knocks Me off My Feet by Stevie Wonder

I Love Every Little Thing About You by Syreeta

From our Twitter and Facebook Friends:

Always on My Mind by Willie Nelson

Dimming of the Day by Richard & Linda Thompson

Endless Love by Diana Ross

I Believe in You & Me by The Four Tops (via @babybodyguards)

Shelter by Ray Lamontagne (via @nina_shoes)

Take Care by Beach House (via @nina_shoes)

Here is another great list to check out if you are hunting down first dance songs.

I was in a bit of a funk this morning, worrying for my friends with families in Haiti…. (Growing up and living in New York, the world does indeed feel a small place and you watch the news and things that happen seemingly far away intimately effect people that right here near you)  Should you want to do something to help out, I’d like to direct you here.  Wyclef Jean has made it insanely easy to donate $5 by texting Yele to 510 510.

That said, I came in not sure what to blog about with these weighty things on my mind and found myself INSANELY cheered up by this….

It’s a time capsule!!!! It’s brilliant and I found it on Elizabeth Anne Designs “Trends for 2010″ post, which you MUST investigate! Instead of a guest book, your guests leave a little momento inside this box as a remembrance of the day you were married… SOO Much better! Oh, and I just love the idea of a time capsule.  This is the kind of idea that makes me feel like I’m totally NOT creative at all, because this is just a stroke of wedding genius! (Good Grief, I’m a freak.. this stuff really does get me THIS excited).

So, that made me smile, then, my age old dilemma was solved and I felt the need to share:  I always thought that Stevie Wonder’s “You and I” would be the most delightful first dance song.. except that it is just SOOOOOO slow that it would be awkward.  And then, BAM!, a cover by O’Bryan came on the radio and it is PERFECT! The tempo is just perfect! I can’t believe I wasn’t familiar with this version. Here is the audio- There isn’t a video, it’s just this creepy picture of O’Bryan.  (btw. I am working with a DJ friend on an ultimate wedding play list post… but these things don’t happen overnight).

Finally, I wanted to share something that I think is going to be a bit of a wedding trend this coming year- Fabric flowers for boutonniere’s, coursages, etc. They were in Martha Stewart last year, and some blogs have had great DIY, but for those of you who aren’t the DIY type and still want something beautiful, I just LOVE these from WritieLove! Here is a delicate coursage with vintage details. Check out her site for more!

Oh friends, not sure if any of you think about that “first dance”, how you are going to pull it off or how you wish you could forget it – or remember it, but I do. Allow me to backtrack a bit…

We chose the song “By Your Side” by Sade, incredibly beautiful but a bit slow and tricky to cut a rug to. Of course while wrapped up in a million other little details, a dance routine was something I just could not seem to check off my list. So with a week and a half to go before W-Day, I bugged the soon-2-b hubby enough that he agreed to take dance lessons. So we (I) did a little research and came up with a few great options. I made some calls and after much deliberation, we found a gentle and patient soul willing to teach us some fancy footwork.

We met Peter Jones of Ballroom Wedding Dance and pretty much threw ourselves at his mercy. I wanted something simple, classy & fun. My then fiancée just wanted to get through the next 2 weeks unscathed and with his manhood still in tact. Don’t get me wrong, we love to dance a jig or two, but it’s just a wee bit more nerve racking with 100 or so friends and fam watching your every move. For all the brides and grooms to-be, not trying to freak you out I SWEAR. After explaining our dilemma to Peter he made us feel much more at ease. We spent the next hour or so listening to the beat of our song, going over a few basics and amazingly enough, we weren’t too shabby! After a few lessons and sore muscles, we knew were not trying out for So You Think You Can Dance, but we were at peace.

Wedding day arrived, and right before we were about to begin our dance, we snuck away behind a tree (it was outdoor & tented remember) and reviewed our steps one last time. The music came on and we heard our cue to enter, after that, all I remember is smiling from ear to ear, quite possibly doing the miss america wave a few times and recalling how clutch that flask I had made my MOH stash in her purse was. ;-) There were a few laughs, tear jerking photo opps, some un-choreographed moves and I definitely remember thinking, screw the lessons – let’s just sway dahhhling. Come to think of it, I actually may have said that out loud to the poor kid, who was actually doing a fab job of keeping to the routine! I was too happy to care and it was awesome.

All I can tell you is do what you gotta do and whatever makes you feel comfortable, happy and prepared – or just wing it! But at the end of the day just have fun, remember it’s not a reality TV show – even though it totally feels like one, and don’t be afraid to laugh…if it comes to that.

Peter, thank you for teaching us how to gracefully take it all in “stride”. You were great & as soon as we (I) heal, we’ll be back.

xx,

Sal

I stayed out all night living my life off the wall in honor of Michael Jackson… I’m a music nut and the man was a musical genius and I was raised on his tunes.  I’m sure many of you out there feel that same way.  Here are my top 10 wedding appropriate Michael tunes that I think can ONLY make your wedding more lively… Holla at your DJ!

1) Butterflies (great for cocktail hour)

2) I Can’t Help It (First Dance?)

3) The Way You Make Me Feel (get the crowd up on the dancefloor)

4) It’s the Falling In Love (background music during dinner perhaps?)

5) Baby  Be Mine (if you MUST get your electric slide on, this is a fantastic tune to break it down to)

6) ABC (for an all-ages dance party)

7) I’ll Be There (for a little slow dancing/ drunken karaoke action towards the end of the night)

8) Rock With You (to groove on the dancefloor)

9) P.Y.T. (and who is more PYT than you, lovely bride!)

10) Thriller (What better way to end the night ith your friends and family than by having your 13-going-on-30 Thriller dance party?)

Did I miss your favorite Michael Song?  Add it below!