Lavender on the Lake in Orlando asks this question, “Who did it better?”
Music makes the world go round. Well. Music and the visual arts make the world go round in my humble opinion as a former art teacher and lover of music. Oh, also food. When the world is scary or heavy, it is art that many of us turn to. All of the arts speak stories that may otherwise go untold by giving images, sounds, and tastes to feelings, expressions or political and/or world angst. Through the arts, we have opportunities to escape reality and to simply enjoy beauty in and of itself. But MUSIC. Doesn’t it just sew a direct thread between space and time? Aren’t there certain songs that sling you back to a specific point in your life? Some songs can bring up a lot of pain or trauma so I am going to avoid those songs by putting them in a vessel with the lid on tight, and I am going to focus only on the songs that take me back to moments in time that bring back joy. Maybe you hear a song and it takes you back to when you were on the field hockey field practicing during high school- ok, wait. Maybe that’s just me right now. But I can be RIGHT THERE on that field hearing the crack of a ball on my wooden stick when I hear any Boyz II Men song. Even right now as I’m thinking of songs from my past, I hear Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin, and I am immediately scurrying in my mind to find that junior high crush of mine so that I don’t have to spend 7 minutes dancing awkwardly with the boy I don’t like. Music. It’s a lovely-and sometimes painful- push back to what oftentimes feels like a previous lifetime. And music. Doesn’t it just make life a little bit better?
Jason and I have created this place for people to gather together…whether it is family and friends celebrating the love between a couple getting married, someone working as a vendor crafting the gift that they hold in pursuit of creating/capturing moments, hosting painting workshops, holding flower/planting workshops, or simply hosting our own family and friends for casual get togethers. Whatever the gathering is here, there is always, ALWAYS music.
Since opening in June, Lavender on the Lake has already hosted 7 weddings and 3 events, and of the 7 weddings so far, I noticed not one of the couples has danced to the same song. I know this because during each wedding, I have stuck my head out to watch the dance with a smile feeling so grateful that we have been given the opportunity to provide this space for first dances and for celebration and for love. In fact here is a photo that we took with the catering staff after I realized that we were peeking through the nearly closed barn doors to watch a super fun couple have their dance, when I realized- wait! We are allowed to watch this moment! This is a reminder of our why.
So I got to thinking about what I was going to write about for this blog and then it came to me. I decided that what I wanted to write about is the Top 2 First Dance Songs For Couples By The Decade beginning with the 1960s. The best part? When I was researching this topic, I knew so many of the old songs and just seeing the list brought back sounds, smells and memories of all the New Year’s Eve parties that my parents hosted over the years. I could almost smell the boozy scent with traces of food and lingering sweat from all of the dancing that wafted up to my little childhood nose as I poked my head through the wooden slats of the loft above. Prior to one of the parties, as my mom made hors d’orvres, I remember my dad lifting me up while I was in my nightgown and taking me into the family room where they had cleared out the furniture to dance in his arms. I wish I could remember the song, but goodness, I sure do remember that feeling. I’m almost positive that it was a song by the Temptations and the Four Tops. Of course I am yet again getting off task. If you are following this blog you are getting more and more used to that. Back to my task at hand!
Here are the Top First Dance Songs by Decade.
1960s “At Last” by Etta James and “Can’t Help Falling in Love” by Elvis Presley
1970s “Your Song” by Elton John and “Let’s Stay Together” by Al Green
1980s “Take My Breath Away” by Berlin and ”Endless Love” by Lionel Richie and Dianna Ross
1990s “Truly, Madly, Deeply” by Savage Garden and “Everything I Do” by Bryan Adams
2000s “By Your Side” by Sade and “Everything” by Michael Buble
2010s “Just the Way You Are” by Bruno Mars and “All of Me” by John Legend
2020s (SO FAR!) “Speechless” by Dan + Shay and “Conversations in the Dark” by John Legend and Lindsey Stirling
Ok. So let me ask you this question. Which decade do you believe has done it better so far in regards to the Top First Dance Song? Please leave a comment below and then promise me that you will pick your favorite to jam out to on your way home from work. Better yet, choose any song that speaks to you TODAY as your theme song and play that now so that someday, you will look back on THIS day and remember that music surely does make life a little bit better.
Thanks so much for stopping by my blog! If you have been following you know that I am adding links to 5 locally owned venues to each blog in support of locally owned venues.
XO
Shelley
