The Mix Tape

When I was in middle school, one of my prized posessions was a CD/Tape Player with a radio that I won from selling a crapload of magazine subscriptions to my friends and family.  I used to sit by the radio, waiting for that one song to come on, and when I heard the opening chords, I'd hit record, and my very own custom mix tape was born. 

Jack's Mannequin is one of the best bands ever...just sayin'

I have dozens upon dozens of mix CD's (I've evolved) from college and beyond, and Mr. Goodlaff does too.  What better way to thank our wedding guests than to create the ultimate wedding mix tape favor?

We started large, each of us coming up with songs we thought could possibly make the cut.  They had to be love songs, or songs about love, or songs that we thought could represent Goodlaff love.  Sounds easy, right?


Not so much.  I had 70 songs I put forward for consideration.  Mr. Goodlaff?  He had about 80. Eventually we listened to the songs and realized that not all of them were love songs, and our combined list of contenders (once all the "fluff" was gone) was a whopping 90 songs.  This wasn't supposed to be an anthology of music--it was supposed to be a single CD. 

What followed was a brutal battle of bands and songs.  We made lists: must-have songs that we both agreed would go on the CD, separate lists of songs we each really wanted on there--dubbed the "I-will-fight-you-for-this-song" list, and finally the "I-like-these-but-won't-cry-if-they-don't-make-the-cut" lists.

The goal was 15 songs, but we realized it just wasn't meant to be.  Both Mr. Goodlaff and I pack our mix CD's so full of music that there really isn't much room left over for anything, so we did that with our wedding mix too.

In the end we had 22 songs, no leftover space, and a lot of CD's to burn.  We bought a CD label kit, clamshell CD cases from an online vendor, and our wedding favor was born:

Niki Ross Photography

The final playlist:

Come On Eileen--Save Ferris
Feeling Good--Michael Bublé
Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours / I Was Made to Love Her--Straight No Chaser
1,2,3,4--Plain White T's
Anything Anything--Something Corporate
Forever--Ben Harper
First Day of My Life--Bright Eyes
Falling In Love At a Coffee Shop--Landon Pigg
The Nearness Of You--Norah Jones
Who We've Become--Joey Cape
Perfect--Jon McLaughlin
You Picked Me--A Fine Frenzy
Bus Stop--Hollies
God Only Knows--Beach Boys
Bless the Broken Road--Rascal Flatts
Marry Me--Train
Happy As the Sun--Tyrone Wells
In My Life--Beatles
Now and Forever--Richard Marx
Table for Glasses--Jimmy Eat World
To Make You Feel My Love--Kelly Clarkson
The Luckiest--Ben Folds

 We loved how they came out, and I know that I listen to the wedding mix once every few weeks because I love it so much.  It represents us musically, and is a good blend of genres and styles.  Goodlaff wedding guests seemed to like it too, and we've had quite a few comments on how great the CD was. 

The last thing that either Mr. Goodlaff or myself wanted to do was pass out a box of jordan almonds and call it a day, so I'm so glad we were able to personalize our favors and make them a treasured keepsake for us and hopefully for our guests too!

What are you favoring your guests with?