The Wedding Singer...

I may have mentioned previously that some friends of ours are getting married in April next year. Apart from the fact that it's cool that these particular friends are getting married, it's also cool because Tom and I are are both involved in the wedding, as usher and bridesmaid respectively. The third thing that is cool about this wedding is that our friends are not the most typical of couples in many ways; they are both into gaming in a big way, so computer games are going to be a predominant theme, and they are also not really into chart music, so they've managed to get hold of a band that will play all sorts of rock music that we all really like. Neither of them is fussed about fancy food either, so it's going to be either fish and chips, or burger and chips for the meal. Much as I occasionally enjoy fancy food, the overall feel I get about this wedding is that it's going be a hell of a lot of fun, as it will be a real reflection of their unique personalities.

Kevin Costner's window entrance http://www.moviedeaths.com

When we celebrated their engagement several months ago, Steve (the groom) was so excited, that he came up with about 12 over-the-top options for HIS fantasy church entrance, which included a tank, smashing through the stained-glass window a la Robin Hood, and an electric guitar playing clergyman. They, strangely enough, have actually secured the latter, although they won't be calling on his musical prowess on this occasion, and neither will he be on fire as Steve had hoped. In general it's safe to say that I am extremely excited about this wedding.

Jemma, the bride to be, is one of the few women in my friend circle who is even less girly than I am. Before finding The Dress (which was in turns an exciting, frustrating, funny, emotional, but eventually hugely rewarding experience) she hasn't worn a dress since Halloween 2009. She lives in jeans and trainers, and is not a fan of high heels, and has promised me and the maid of honour Cassie that we don't have to wear anything we're not comfortable with - so high heels are out. Winner. For a ridiculously clumsy person like myself flat shoes are a sure-fire way to gain my approval.

Companion cube from Portal

 I can just picture the horror on everybody's faces as I trip over Jemma's train and either rip a great big hole in expensive dress (not that expensive Steve honestly!), or fall over my own feet and knock them both into their bespoke Portal 2 companion cube cake, or something similarly mortifying. So flat shoes are just fine and dandy for me.

So far being a bridesmaid is turning out to be really good fun, not stressful at all, and I'm really enjoying the opportunity to get to know Jemma and Cassie more, as before the engagement announcement we only really ever hung out as part of the larger group of lad friends. But so far, the extent of my involvement has been to help pick out a dress at the Wedding Show (which we did, so that's a success rate of 100% right there).

So I was pleasantly surprised when, at the end of The Wedding Show at the NEC, while we were relishing in our success of finally finding and putting a deposit down for The Dress, Jemma asked me if I wanted to sing something during the ceremony while her and Steve were signing the paperwork. I was really flattered that Jemma thought to ask, and also really thrilled with the idea of having something additional to do on the day. Plus as Tom plays guitar and will be up at the front of the church already doing whatever it is that ushers do when they're not actively ushering, I suggested he accompany me as well, which gives us a fun project to work on together in our free time.

Now, I haven't sung anything publicly in years but I used to all the time when I was at school and confidence was never really an issue back then, and people were often quite complimentary about my singing abilities. But between daydreaming about what the best song would be and how cool it would be to sing at Jem and Steve's wedding, doubt has started to creep in. I've never thought of myself as a 'Singer', and now that I've had time to think about it I'm starting to worry that I'm just going to humiliate myself, X-Factor style, in front of a large group of people, most of whom I won't know. It's all very well listening to Bon Jovi songs and imagining how awesome it will sound, but if in reality it sounds like a big pile of poo, well that would be pretty embarrassing.

My High School singing days are ten years in the past, plus five years as a mildly raucous student have done a fair bit of damage to my voice. I can't reach the same notes I used to be able to and I genuinely don't know how long I can maintain notes anymore, as the only singing practice I get these days is when I'm on my own in the car (see my previous post, Les Passantes). On top of this, when I'm starting to feel run down, one of the first things to go is my voice, so I'm also worried about the possibility of sounding more like Tom Waits than Charlotte Church. Or, if we choose a song whose lyrics need altering to be more 'wedding-friendly', what if I forget and sing the wrong words... I could go on and on, but I don't want to give my paranoia any more opportunity to ruin a perfectly nice opportunity.

Tom and I just need to focus on finding a handful of songs that could be appropriate for the ceremony, learn them, put them to Steve and Jem for final approval, and then just practise them until they're spot on. So, this is the real purpose of this particular post, to help me narrow down the search for good songs for the interval.

At the moment my list of Potentials (like Buffy's trainee Slayers in the final season) is this (in no order of preference):

Bon Jovi - In These Arms
Bon Jovi - I'll Be There For You (lyrics need changing)
Lifehouse - Hanging By a Moment
Lifehouse - Breathing
Goo Goo Dolls - Iris (words would need changing)
Aerosmith - I don't Wanna Miss a Thing
Adam Sandler - I wanna Grow Old With You (from the Wedding Singer, which I watched for the first time with Jem and Cassie the night before The Wedding Show)
Ben Folds - Luckiest (not sure if it's within my vocal range but can give it a go anyway)
Nico Stai - One October Song (was on the Chuck soundtrack, and I've already amended the lyrics)
Something by Avril Lavigne (Steve really likes her)
Something by Jimmy Eat World (Tom really likes them and apparently Steve does to)

During a period of insomnia I also started working on a translation of another french song I really like, but it might be a bit too 'poetic' for Jem and Steve's taste. I'll probably post it up on here once I've had a chance to work on the translation as it sounds quite awkward in places at the moment.

So anyway, progress-wise, we're not very far into it. Tom had a look at the guitar chords for In These Arms today but we didn't get very far to be honest (it's been a bit of a lazy day in general). I had a look at the lyrics and watched a couple of acoustic versions on Youtube and think I could work it out to fit in with my vocal range without too much difficulty.

I shall most certainly write more as we progress, but in the meantime, any suggestions would be very welcome!

Bye for  now!