The wedding ceremony and reception took place in the Garden Room of the Hilton Garden Inn overlooking historic Philadelphia, PA. The bride and groom collaborated on an absolutely stellar soundtrack with gentle guidance and encouragement from their wedding DJ. Highlights of the wedding included a 3-part Daddy/Daughter dance, a special song that didn’t seem to exist, custom artwork for centerpieces and a broken promise about the wedding cake.
The Reception
The Music
Daddy Daughter Dance – In 3 Parts!
Specially mixed three-part Daddy/Daughter Dance. The first part is from an actual jitterbug – Glenn Miller – In the Mood. Then it morphs into George Michael saying jitterbug at the beginning of Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go. The third part is Turn Down for What!
And that’s how we opened the dance floor!
Finding a Special Song That Doesn’t Exist
The couple had a history of seeing a band called Augstines, sometimes called We Are Augustines. They really wanted a song called Ballad of a Patient Man. There were multiple live versions of the song floating around YouTube, but they requested a studio version. There was no studio version available on iTunes or Amazon. Couldn’t even buy it on a disc.
The night before the wedding I managed to find it! In October of 2011, Augustines recorded a live session engineered at The Magic Shop. Paste magazine had the session posted on their website, and I was able to download it and surprise the bride and groom.
Here’s what the groom had to say about that
I am very particular about music and Adam put every song my wife and I requested in the playlist (and kept the songs we absolutely did not want OUT of the playlist).
He even went so far as to find a studio version of a VERY meaningful song to us that I thought only existed as a live version. It was incredible and meant almost as much as getting married to my wife!
Read the full review on Yelp!
Stream The Hilton Garden Inn Wedding Reception on Spotify
Hilton Garden Inn Wedding Playlist
- Electric Light Orchestra – Mr Blue Sky
- Frank Sinatra – The Way You Look Tonight
- Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga – Anything Goes
- Dean Martin – You’re Nobody Till Somebody Loves You
- Ray Charles – You Don’t Know Me
- Dean Martin – Sway
- Jimmy Buffett – Fruitcakes
- Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – Learning To Fly
- Queen – You’re My Best Friend (Remastered)
- Elvis Costello – Pump It Up
- Neal Hefti – Batman Theme
- The Lumineers – This Must Be the Place (Naïve Melody)
- The Beatles – I Will
- The 1975 – Chocolate
- Pharrell Williams – Happy (From “Despicable Me 2”)
- Neil Diamond – Cherry, Cherry
- Harry Belafonte – Jump in the Line
- Michael Franti & Spearhead – Say Hey (I Love You)
- Michael Jackson – Rock With You
- Imagine Dragons – On Top of the World
- Bombay Bicycle Club – Shuffle
- Divine Fits – Would That Not Be Nice
- The Beatles – Got to Get You Into My Life
- INXS – Mystify
- Kishi Bashi – This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody) [by Talking Heads]
- Lisztomania – Mozart in the Jungle
- Kings of Leon – Wait For Me
- Camper Van Beethoven – Sweethearts
- Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – No Reason to Cry
- Soul Coughing – True Dreams of Wichita
- Kodaline – All Comes Down
- The Postal Service – Such Great Heights
- Paul Westerberg – First Glimmer
- Ra Ra Riot – Can You Tell
- Pixies – Wave of Mutilation (UK Surf)
- Alabama Shakes – Rise to the Sun
- Reindeer Section – You Are My Joy
- Toad the Wet Sprocket – Nightingale Song
- Box Car Racer – There Is
- Bob Marley & The Wailers – Waiting In Vain
- Wilco – Heavy Metal Drummer
- Lily Allen – Somewhere Only We Know
- The Cars – You Are the Girl
- The Counting Crows – Accidentally In Love
- The Big Bopper – Chantilly Lace (Digitally Remastered)
- The Monkees – I’m A Believer
- Blue Swede – Hooked On a Feeling
- Daft Punk feat. Pharrell Williams – Get Lucky
- James Brown – Get Up Offa That Thing
- Earth, Wind & Fire – September
- Louis Armstrong – What A Wonderful World
- Philly Custom DJ – Daddy Daughter Dance
- Little Richard – Tutti Frutti
- Chubby Checker – The Twist
- Los Lobos – La Bamba
- Jerry Lee Lewis – Great Balls Of Fire
- a-ha – Take On Me
- The Human League – Don’t You Want Me (Remastered)
- Gloria Gaynor – I Will Survive
- Cee Lo Green – Forget You
- Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats – S.O.B.
- The Hooters – And We Danced
- The Buggles – Video Killed the Radio Star
- Kodaline – The One
- The Jackson 5 – ABC
- Young MC – Bust A Move
- LMFAO – Party Rock Anthem
- PSY – GANGNAM STYLE (강남스타일)
- Usher featuring Pitbull – DJ Got Us Fallin’ In Love
- Elvis Presley/The Jordanaires – Can’t Help Falling in Love
- Frank Sinatra – Somethin’ Stupid (with Nancy Sinatra)
- Death Cab for Cutie – I Will Follow You Into the Dark
- Lou Bega – Mambo No. 5 (A Little Bit Of…)
- Ricky Martin – Livin’ La Vida Loca
- Lloyd Williams – Shout
- Taylor Swift – Shake It Off
- Outkast – Hey Ya
- Michael Jackson – Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough
- Chris Deburgh – The Lady In Red
- George Thorogood & The Destroyers – One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer
- The Killers – Mr. Brightside
- Pitbull & Ne-Yo – Time of Our Lives
- The Weeknd – Can’t Feel My Face
- WALK THE MOON – Shut Up and Dance
- DNCE – Cake by the Ocean
- Far East Movement & Stereotypes – Girls On the Dance Floor (feat. Stereotypes)
- Daft Punk – One More Time
- Eric Prydz – Call On Me (Radio Edit)
- Cascada – Evacuate the Dancefloor (Radio Edit)
- Crowded House – Don’t Dream It’s Over
- We Are Augustines – Ballad of a Patient Man
See the original playlist at Serato.com
Stream the Hilton Garden Inn Cocktail Hour Mix
Photos by Mike Allebach
All of the great photos used in this post were graciously provided by Allebach Photography. He’s one of the best in the business. Book him early because his calendar is full!
Cake Cutting
The couple made a deal that they would not shove the cake into each other’s faces. That was the deal, at least. The groom had no idea that the bride would renege on the agreement. I had a feeling so I took a slow-motion video.
The Artwork
The couple commissioned an artist, DEDDRAWS, to make custom artwork that were used as centerpieces on the tables. Subjects included superheroes, and characters from science fiction. He even made custom coloring pages which were put on the tables along with crayons. Check out his site to purchase his artwork or commission custom pieces for your own collection.
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