Wednesday Wedding Wrap-up is a weekly roundup of highlights from the past week, covering wedding blogs and websites, reality TV, even particularly hot scoop right here at AisleDash. Think we missed something? Leave your favorite highlight in the comments!

Manolo for the Brides evaluates the pros and cons of a destination wedding. What, you thought getting married in an exotic location was without its flaws?

Bridalwave tosses around some alternative first dance songs, none of which made the cut for the couple in question, but it might give you some ideas.

Hostess with the Mostess has a fabulous idea for centerpieces -- blumeboxes with ribbons. You can personalize them in lots of different ways to ensure they're perfect for your wedding (and they're affordable and reusable, so give them to guests or take them home at the end!).

We really appreciate couples who make sure their guests are entertained at their receptions, and we LOVE it when the bride and groom pull a fast one on their guests, like the Clay family's super first dance surprise -- involving kids, choreography, and a killer dance medley.

See for yourself:

Internet geeks are already familiar with the hilarious Evolution of Dance video (it's been watched over 85 MILLION times on YouTube), but believe it or not, last week was my first time watching it. And you know what? All I could think of was how many of those dance moves I had seen at weddings. A quick internet search revealed that many brides and grooms have thought the same thing to hilarious effect.

Brian and Katie's version has been viewed over 2 million times. I think it's because they put so much feeling into it. The intro is long, but it's worth it!

ROTFL!

(The original Evolution of Dance is after the jump.)

All you have to do is take a look at Rina and Nick's first dance to know that they're crazy in love. Surprise first dance videos are a dime a dozen on YouTube, but this one caught our attention for three reasons:

1. Skills - these two can dance!
2. Creativity - creating a collage of "crazy" song? GENIUS.
3. Fashion - take a look at the wedding dress! Who doesn't love a pretty gown?

Wednesday Wedding Wrap-up is a weekly roundup of highlights from the past week, covering wedding blogs and websites, reality TV, even particularly hot scoop right here at AisleDash. Think we missed something? Leave your favorite highlight in the comments!

Did you miss out on something exciting before you got hitched? Manolo for the Brides discusses the importance (or lack of importance, as the case may be) of the "Do THIS before you get married" lists.

Decidedly Uncomplicated puts together a welcome bag ... and they come out to $37 each! Find out what she kept and what she nixed.

Weddingbee's Miss Tiramisu has chosen a wedding song, but not until she and her Mr. went through a long and arduous process of elimination, including dissecting the lyrics of every possible contender. However, they made a great choice, and her reasons for choosing or not choosing a song might just help you out.

Every couple has "their" song, but you know it's probably shared by hundreds of other romantic couples. If you want a song that is yours and yours only, you need one that's never been heard before. You need one, in short, that's been written just for the two of you.

If that's beyond your singing-in-the-shower musical capabilities, you can still have your very own song. Turns out there are songwriters for hire, who will compose a song on request. (For a fee, of course. Talent deserves reward!) Some require only email contact; others prefer a conversation.

Commission your very own song, and maybe you can even walk down the aisle to it! Perhaps you'd rather use it for the first dance at the reception. I can see an anniversary dance to "your" song becoming a tradition that will last down through many years.

Music plays a big part in your reception, and aside from determining the kind of music you'd like your guests to dance to, you'll need to select music for several different events. You've probably already thought about your first dance song, and maybe the father/daughter dance, but there are other opportunities to incorporate your favorite songs into your reception.

To give you a start, I'll list a number of different chances to play songs and some of my personal favorites, but I urge you to be creative. I personally don't go for the tear-jerkers, but everyone has their own preferences, and I'd love to hear your ideas! And don't forget, if you have a favorite song, you can find a way to work it in for some special part of your wedding -- just think outside the box.

• First dance
• The Way You Look Tonight, Frank Sinatra
• Unforgettable, Nat King Cole
• At Last, Etta James
• In Your Eyes, Peter Gabriel
  
• Father/daughter or mother/son dance
• Stand By Me, Ben E. King
• Isn't She Lovely, Stevie Wonder
• What a Wonderful World, Louis Armstrong
  
• Cake cutting
• When I'm 64, The Beatles
• Sugar, Sugar, The Archies
• I Got You, Babe, Sonny and Cher
  

Kristen showed us some cool first dance videos here, but she left out my personal favorite. This one:



Not only is it a fantastic song choice, but no one saw it coming. Kudos to the bride and groom!

As a self-proclaimed music geek and connoisseur, I have to admit that there's one type of music I almost never like. I'm not talking about country or rap or punk, though -- I'm talking about love songs. There's very little original content in the world of love songs, and the stuff that is original is usually so personal that it's difficult to relate to.

I'm not saying love songs can't be pretty or fun to sing along or dance to -- you can find a list of popular first dance songs here -- but for those who want to think outside the box and dance to a love song that doesn't even have the word "love" in it, I'd like to share my favorite with you: "Outloud" by Dispatch. You can listen to the song for free on the band's MySpace page, or read the lyrics here.

I just love how this whole song says "I love you" without actually ever saying "I love you." The words are sweet, the music is beautiful, and the band has really nailed it with this truly creative love song. If you're still trying to find that perfect first dance song, give this one a listen. If you love it as much as I do, you won't have to look any further.

For the first time in my life, I WISH TO GOD that my husband and I didn't have a sweet and romantic song to call our very own. There's a long story behind it, but we danced to Lone Star's Amazed, and it was lovely. However, if we hadn't had a go-to song, we could have been this couple! What a fun surprise for your guests when, a minute into your first dance, you start breakdancing or popping and locking!

Couples have long taken dancing lessons to learn to waltz or foxtrot for their weddings, and the next trend is taking that idea to the power of AWESOME by incorporating choreography that's a little more in tune with the couple's personality. I mean, sure, I used some MC Hammer-esque moves at our reception, and my husband busted out the Sprinkler, but nothing was coordinated or in sync.

You could also take a cue from this wedding and get your entire wedding party involved. I don't know that I could've convinced our groomsmen to take part in a reenaction of Michael Jackson's Thriller, but I'm sure my girls would have been happy to be my back up dancers.

You can dance if you want to. You can leave your friends behind. But if you pick the wrong song to debut your moves as husband and wife, you may find yourself wistful for a rewind button.

Whether your preferences are modern, classic, or somewhere in between, here are a few songs suggestions that you can use to make the most of your musical moment:

1. This Will Be, by Natalie Cole

2. What a Wonderful World, by Louis Armstrong

For many couples, the moment of stepping on to the dance floor for that first waltz as husband and wife is the highlight of the wedding day. After all, you have spent hours dancing in your living room, practicing your foxtrot and listening to dozens -- perhaps hundreds -- of songs, looking for JUST the right one. Or maybe you've been together for years and you have A Song that you've always wanted to dance to.

Just be sure it's really a song about eternal love, and not something else. These five songs, for example, should NOT be on your short list for the first dance.

The thought of dancing so publicly can make even the most experienced couples a little nervous. If you've never danced together before, terror may be the better word! But that first dance is sort of expected. You can say no, but you might feel a lot of pressure. And who knows? You might even regret not having had that "first dance" together.

So. If you're going to do it, you may as well do it right! Here are some tips from the pros:

1. Take lessons! If you've never danced together before, start at least six weeks before your wedding (three or more months is better) to give you lots of time to practice and gain confidence.

They say that a couple's song is the first song they dance to together. Maybe you and your sweetie remember this special moment from early dating days and want to use the same song for your first married dance -- or maybe you met in a nightclub and the first song you ever danced to was "Da Butt," which probably won't go over so well with your grandparents.

If you're still trying to decide on a song for your traditional first dance, or you want to be sure to avoid something that's overdone, this list of the most popular first dance songs, compiled by the site titled "Wedding Songs," could help. Find the top ten below ...

How many times have you gone to a wedding reception only to suffer painfully through the first dance experience, where the newlyweds spend four monotonous minutes slowly tilting each other back and forth on the dance floor? It seems the art of ballroom dance is all but lost on today's youth.

But it's not hopeless. I was required to take ballroom dance as part of my freshman seminar in college, and though I dreaded the awkwardness at first, the class ended up being loads of fun, and I was able to use my skills on dance floors at friends' weddings and my own. I like to believe that my own first dance was slightly less boring for our guests than most other couples' first spin around the floor.

You can help a couple avoid a boring first dance, and give them something fun to do together, by giving them dance lessons as an engagement gift. Fred Astaire Dance Studio even offers specialized wedding packages. You could look for a studio near you, or search for something else in your area. Give the happy couple a chance to wow the guests -- instead of boring them.