More of djnyc’s Favorite Indie Wedding Songs

Many clients we DJ for are first attracted to us because of our awareness that a wedding doesn’t have to feel like a wedding. While these couples still want some traditional elements, like a first dance and a cake cutting, and want an overall sentimental vibe, they also want songs played throughout the celebration – and especially during the early part of it – that aren’t they typical wedding fare like overplayed jazz standards, stale ’70s and ’80s lite rock, or more recent but often generic-sounding Top 40 hits.

The couples who want their weddings to have an unpredictable soundtrack often request many songs and artists that fall into the genre called "indie" rock or pop music. Because this label is a catch-all for so many different sounds – from the cerebral, melancholy pop of a band like Death Cab for Cutie to the ethereal guitars of M83 to the nervy symphonic electronica of the English duo Frou Frou (pictured is the cover of their album, Details) – it’s often hard to define what exactly unites all this music, besides it being the iPod of an East Village or Williamsburg hipster. From our perspective, though, it’s rather simple to know what qualifies as "indie" – any new-ish rock or pop sound that’s a bit under the radar, eclectic, unexpected, or sometimes all three.

Here’s a few more iTunes mixes of songs we’ve played for couples over the years, and some we haven’t but think would be quite appropriate for anyone looking for a more offbeat feel to their wedding music. (Also included are a few songs from artists that influenced today’s indie music, like The Pixies, R.E.M. and the Velvet Underground.) We posted Part 1 of these mixes last month, a list of acoustic indie first dance songs, which you can listen to here. The songs on these subsequent mixes are intended for the earlier parts of a wedding, but certainly not all are intended as first dance suggestions. Some of these tunes will strike you as excellent first dance songs, especially the Magnetic Fields’ funny and tender "The Book of Love," (on mix 5) but most others, like the alternating blissful and exhausted tone of Frou Frou’s "It’s Good to Be in Love" (on mix 3) are less custom-made for a first dance than they are simply songs that offer a more original perspective and/or sound to evoke a sentimental mood than most mainstream pop. Therefore, you’ll likely find you can fit these in anytime during the cocktail hour or dinner of a wedding.

Okay, enough introduction: For Part 2 of our favorite indie wedding songs, click here. For Part 3, here. Part 4, here. And Part 5 here. And coming soon: Our favorite indie wedding dancing songs, for when you’ve had a few drinks and your non-cliche music-lovin’ butt wants to get shakin’.

Alt-Country, Cocktail Hour, Electronica, Indie Music, Indie Rock & Pop First Dance Songs, Indie Wedding Music, Off the Beaten Track Wedding Songs, Weddings