August 28, 2006

"Are we going to get to a point in our culture where people have a hard time listening to a two-and-a-half minute pop song without channel surfing? I see people do this on their iPods all the time -- they'll listen to songs only through the first chorus and then they'll switch to another song, they'll jump around. And I wonder if we're going to get to the point where it's unreasonable to ask [for] somebody's attention for three minutes..."

Mark McAfee, owner of Barr Mansion, a reception hall in Austin, Texas, says about 20 weddings have used iPods at his venue in the past few years. Mr. McAfee says he's not surprised by the iPod wedding trend. Before the digital music player, couples burned their own CDs and played them on speakers, he says. "They don't talk to us about music selection so much," he says. "They just ask us if it can be hooked in or not."

Some wedding professionals think iPods are in poor taste. Claudia Hanlin, a partner at the Wedding Library, a wedding planning firm in New York, says couples should restrict iPods to rehearsal dinners or after-parties. iPod music at receptions may be off-putting. "The whole feeling is much less professional," she says.

Allison Emmerson, a 24-year-old graduate student at the University of Cincinnati, got married in July 2005 to Nate Emmerson, a 23-year-old paralegal. The couple's friends tried to talk them out of going the iPod route because they felt it would ruin the reception.

It didn't. Ms. Emmerson says guests hit the dance floor to the tunes that emanated from the iPod -- which included David Bowie and the White Stripes. "Playing music is not brain surgery," she says. "If you have good music and you have a fun atmosphere, you're going to have people dancing."