your sky all hung with jewels

There seems to be an inevitable pattern at every wedding reception I've ever attended. Prior to the event, the prospective bride or groom promises that "our reception music won't suck, like so-and-so's did" and that they're going to have the DJ play this song and that song and so forth.

Two hours into the actual reception, however, the playlist has segued from "The Macarena Song" to Sinatra's "Summer Wind" to "My Humps", suggesting the guiding hand of some cosmic entity has once again taken control of the situation. (My guess would be Inebrius Spasmodicus, Lord of Drunken Gyrations.)

I'm proud to say that that did not happen at my own wedding back in October 2004. Thanks to affordable CD ripping/burning technology and the reception hall's excellent sound system, my wife and I were able to take direct control of our reception music destiny. Four CD-R's packed with only the songs we chose, no filler and none of the usual embarrassing DJ bullshit.

It kicked off with "Pretty Vacant" by the Sex Pistols and from there went through a killer selection of Irish rebel, punk, new wave, and classic 60's tracks. It's a mix CD box set chronicling our relationship as a whole, and it's 100% macarena-free.