First Dance

[San Diego Bride]

i'm having a hard time coming up with a song for our first dance. one of our main criteria is that it be short- the shorter the better- since neither one of us likes being the center of attention. our absolute max is 3 and a half minutes. the time constraint takes away many of the popular choices. so i've been searching for first dance songs on itunes based on length (romantic, isn't it?).

so far i've come up with 2 possibilities: "she's got a way" by billy joel (3:02) and "faithfully" by peter cetera (3:22). i'd never heard "faithfully" before. the lyrics are very pretty, but i'm afraid the music is a little 80's. then again, so is billy joel.

any thoughts? suggestions?

thanks for your help!

 

[plantationcatt]

We don''t really have "our song"...every year he makes me a cd (or two) of love songs entitled "Love 4 One: Vol 7" or whatnot. Started off corny and fun, but it''s really sweet.
So...for our first dance he''s going to write a little poem or something and his brother in law is going to put music and sing and play the guitar. We thought that would make it ever so special. Perhaps something like that?
That way you could control the length of the song and whatnot.

 

[ChargerGrrl]

Are you a Frank Sinatra fan? Check out "Fly Me to the Moon" It''s only 2:32!
Dad and I may be dancing to it. We need a veeery short song. He''s 89 years old, and want to make the dance as painless as possible for him.

GOOD LUCK!

 

[chickflick]

We''re doing Adam Sandler''s song "Grow Old with You" from the Wedding Singer and it clocks in at 1:55! We were excited about that because like you, we just want to do something short and get it over with.

 

[flutterby]

you can always fade or cut a longer song as well. keep that in mind.

we dont have ''a song'', but fiance picked our first dance song. I only have eyes for you by the flamingos.

 

[IrishAngel7982]

The Way You Look Tonight? There are a few different versions of it...Sinatra, Tony Bennett, a few others I''m sure. I think most of them are under 3.30. Check out songs by any of the guys in the Rat Pack. Most of them are approximately 3 minutes. Good luck!

 

[jesterjigger]

Well, df and I have a kind of Wizard of Oz themed relationship, so if we get the band I love we might do our first dance to Over the Rainbow. I''m not sure how long that is. Otherwise, I''ve been looking at Keith Urban''s "Making Memories of Us". It brings tears to my eyes everytime I listen to it, and I don''t normally like country music. It''s 4:11 but you could probably fade it out or cut it sooner...

 

[Gypsy]

Oh I love She''s Got a Way. It''s not a song that''s dated for me at all. That one gets my vote.

Will look through my list of music and see what else pops up.

 

[larussel03]

oops, double post

 

[larussel03]

FI and I are dancing to faith hill''s breathe. It''s about 4 min long, but if he''s too nervous to be out ourselves (which hopefully he will not be, its less than 5 min out of his life to be self conscious) at the 2 min mark, we''ll have the BMs and their pre-paired up GM''s come and dance with each other around us. That would make for a cute picture anyways and we could make sure that the bms and gms were ready for it ahead of time!

 

[San Diego Bride]

thanks for all of your suggestions!

plantation, it sounds like your first dance will be quite special! our guests don't have that kind of talent.

chargergrrl, i downloaded the frank sinatra song from itunes (2:30). the lyrics are really nice, but it seems like you need a little bit of rhythm to carry that off. we need more of a stand-and-sway type of song.

chickflick, msflutter, irishangel, jester i'll have to check those out.

any ideas on how to "cut" a song to make it shorter? is there a way to do this without making it seem like someone just turned it off too early. we'll be using an ipod.

sweetpea, i like your idea of bringing in the bridal party. it will take the attention off you and make the moment a little more "fun". my bridal party is only 1 person so this won't really work for us though.

gypsy, i'm leaning toward the billy joel song (and i found a version that's 2:14), but we'll see.

thanks for your help. keep the ideas coming!

oh, and i have to say, we're not really as lame as this post is making us seem... dancing just isn't our thing.

 

[tina sparkle]

i like al green''s "let''s stay together", don''t know how long it is though.

 

[njc]

We danced to the Beatles "I Will". It was under 2 minutes and perfect for us!

 

[JCJD]

Our first dance was Nat King Cole''s "I Love You for Sentimental Reasons," don''t know how long it was exactly but probably 3 mins or so.
NKC''s "Almost Like Being In Love" is only 1:52!

 

[IrishAngel7982]

Novia~
I don't think you're lame at all. As for fading the song early...if you're using an ipod could you have someone slowly turn the volume down so it fades out? I'm guessing you'll hook the ipod up to some bigger speakers...would that work?

ETA: You might want to check out your local radio stations. In college (dance team) we used to take our music to a local station and they would mix/cut it for us. Some stations asked for a fee, others did it free of charge if we agreed to plug their station right before our performance.

This was a few years ago, but they would put it on a cd for us. If you had the shortened version on a cd, you could easily rip the song from the cd to your ipod. It's just an idea...what you're asking isn't that complicated so I'm sure you could find some help. Good luck!

 

[selflove]

Gosh, our first dance seemed so short, but I actually have no idea if it was under 3:30. Etta James'' "At Last"...I know, it''s pretty common, maybe even cliche, but we loved it and it worked for doing the foxtrot (which is way easier than I ever thought it could be).

 

[sumbride]

It''s rather modern, but Sarah McLachlan''s "Ice Cream" clocks in at 2:44 and is quite sweet. Ha, sorry for the pun!

I have Kathy Matea''s version of "I Will" and it''s also 2:44.

Al Green''s Let''s Stay Together is 3:17.

The Beatles'' In my Life is only 2:28.

She by Elvis Costello (I''m using this as Father-Daughter I think) is only 3:08.

I have a U2 version of Everlasting Love that is 3:22.

Avoid Amazed by Lonestar... 4:00 minutes!!! and The Luckiest by Ben Folds is 4:24!!! Those are two very popular songs but WOW that''s a long dance!

Since you only have a small bridal party, maybe you can invite your parents or other couples up to dance with you if you''re uncomfortable. I''ve seen that done at small weddings and it sort of takes the focus of you if you''re truly uncomfortable with it.

 

[sadie123]

I love this song by Jim Croce, Time In A Bottle, it clocks in under 3 minutes

If I could save time in a bottle
The first thing that Id like to do
Is to save every day
Till eternity passes away
Just to spend them with you
If I could make days last forever
If words could make wishes come true
Id save every day like a treasure and then,
Again, I would spend them with you
But there never seems to be enough time
To do the things you want to do
Once you find them
Ive looked around enough to know
That youre the one I want to go
Through time with
If I had a box just for wishes
And dreams that had never come true
The box would be empty
Except for the memory
Of how they were answered by you
But there never seems to be enough time
To do the things you want to do
Once you find them
Ive looked around enough to know
That youre the one I want to go
Through time with

 

[nytemist]

We are using Billie Holiday''s "Come Rain or Come Shine". It''s about 4 minutes and we also are using the idea of having other couples dance with us if they like. One BM is married, but the other two are single, so we will have other couples there who can dance with us if they like. My mother will hate it that since two of the couples are gay. It''s a nice way to not be in the spotlight for a long time, especially if it''s a small wedding like ours will be- 43 people.

 

[MelissaSue]

Our first dance song was 4:36!!! I THINK the DJ faded it off early at the end though.. I mean it was definitey long but I didn''t mind having the time with my baby.