Tony’s stepsister Steph and her husband Steve are both beautiful humans and musicians, and they have generously offered to share their talents for our wedding. I am so excited, especially because we had such an amazing time at their perfect wedding in Idaho this summer. They’ll be playing for the 30 minutes of guest arrivals, as well as the processional, and bride’s entrance. They can play pretty much anything, but Steve suggested we narrow things down to the acoustic guitar and, possibly, the banjo.

To say my dad is thrilled is an understatement. He’s obsessed with the banjo. He’ll tell you he can even play it, but I haven’t seen evidence of that… Although he says he played for me when I was a kid, I must have been too young to remember. But anything with the banjo really touches his soul.

{I asked my dad to prove he plays the banjo. My mom sent a few stills from their impromptu photo shoot.}

He loves music, and so I called him up to see if he had any ideas of what songs we should ask Steph and Steve to play. I told him we should also probably decide what song our Father Daughter Dance will be to, so they don’t accidentally learn that one and have overlap. And man, he was just bubbling over with ideas.

First, he (genuinely) suggested that Steph and Steve play the Banjo Duel theme song from Deliverance.

Why? He loves how it sounds. Didn’t occur to him it might not be wedding appropriate… Especially for our black tie, elegant evening affair. It just moves him.

It should also be noted that for our Father Daughter Dance, he suggested “Tubthumping” by Chumbawamba. He forgot he already suggested this months ago, and I nixed it for the same reason of being “not wedding appropriate.” For some reason, the song he most associates with his little girl growing up is her love for the song Tubthumping. He wants to dance with me to the lyrics “pissing the night away:”

So, TBD. Part of me wants to incorporate these songs because it’s hilarious to me that my lawyer-Texan-dad actually wants them played, and I love the idea of having song choices be meaningful, and not selected because they’re traditionally “weddingy.” But then, the other part of me is like, “Deliverance and Tubthumping? At a wedding? No.” So… A little help. What are a few of your favorite *wedding appropriate* songs on the acoustic guitar or banjo? And if you have any better suggestions for a Father Daughter Dance than “Tubthumping,” please sound off. What did you – or will you – dance to with your dad at your wedding?