Music Suggestions for a Gay Wedding in New York

On Sunday, July 24^th, the Marriage Equality Act went into effect and gay marriage officially became legal in New York State. Already, tons of gay couples have applied for their licenses and are blissfully preparing for their special day. As with any wedding there are many things to consider: venues, photographers, food, tuxes and/or gowns, and of course music. Whether going with a deejay or a band, the music that's played at a wedding is one of the most important aspects in determining how enjoyable it is for the guests, and the music that's played at same sex weddings needs to fit the bill for such an occassion.

Of course, traditional wedding songs are for traditional weddings and now that we've got this new thing all sewn up, I think it's time to start our own traditional wedding songs specifically chosen for a gay old wedding. So without further adieu, here are some suggestions to help get things started:

An Opening

I know, I know, most weddings don't really have a special "opening" song to start the big day, but this type of wedding, especially now, calls for a special tune to mark the occasion. CeCe Penniston's "Finally" is the only song that fits the bill here.

The Wedding Song

Of course, the most important song of a wedding day is the wedding song. The wedding song is a song that has a special meaning to the couple, and usually has something to do with love. For a gay wedding, there are plenty of divas and torch song singers out there to provide just what's needed for that first dance as well, um, husband and husband, or wife and wife -- oh, you know what I mean!

Bette Midler's "Wind Beneath My Wings" immediately comes to mind, but of course there are others, such as Mariah Carey's "Vision of Love" or Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You" or virtually any love song sung by any of the one-named divas like Christina, Diana, Barbra, Liza, Beyonce, Celine, Aretha, Cher, etc. Any of the others can be used for slow dancing later.

Dancing Queens

Of course for the gay wedding to be memorable there's got to be some great stuff to dance to. Virtually anything by either Madonna or Lady Gaga works, depending upon the predominant age of your guests. A little disco never hurt either, especially stuff by the Village People, ABBA, Michael Jackson or KC and the Sunshine Band and for some strange reason, Barry Manilow's "Copacabana" does well in such a setting. Throw in Olivia Newton John's "Xanadu" and you'll really get em' going. For an especially sexy disco song, Foxy's "Get Off" or Musique's "In the Bush" will have everybody getting down!

The Out n' Proud Anthems

For posterity's sake, there's plenty of out n' proud stuff out there, too, songs either by gay artists or ones that have a special appeal to gays of all stripes. Here are some of the Pride songs that should be interspersed with all the rest of the dancing stuff:

"I'm Coming Out" '" Diana Ross

"So Many Men"- Miquel Brown

"It's Raining Men" '" The Weather Girls

"Supermodel" - RuPaul

"Where is My Man?" '" Eartha Kitt

"Why?" '" Bronski Beat

"I Am What I Am" or "I Will Survive" '" Gloria Gaynor

"Believe" - Cher

"I'm Beautiful" '" Bette Midler

"I Want That Man" '" Deborah Harry

"Relax" '" Frankie Goes to Hollywood

"Wake Me Up Before You Go Go" - Wham

"Boom Boom" - Paul Lekakis

"Enough is Enough" '" Donna Summer and Barbra Streisand

There are plenty more anthems and such out there, but you get the idea!

The Closing

Traditionally here in New York, once the last dance has played, and by that I literally mean Donna Summer's "Last Dance," Frank Sinatra's old standby "New York, New York" closes out the party and sends everyone home happy. Well, since this is a gay wedding, I say we start a new tradition by playing one of the gayest of gay songs ever recorded: Judy Garland's version of "Over the Rainbow." What a perfect ending to a perfect evening, don't you think?

Clearly, music is one of the most important aspects of any party, especially a wedding. The music that is played at the wedding will help to gauge whether or not your guests have had the memorable experience you wanted them to have. Since gay people have always been on the cutting edge of trends and fads, I think that this could be the start of something big!

Places where I found some suggestions:

http://gayinfo.tripod.com/gaytop100.html

http://www.topgaysongs.com/top-songs/top-gay-songs