"Boom boom boom..."

A large part of my job at the Ritz-Carlton is preparing special occasions for visiting guests.

This typically means rose petal-covered beds for anniversary or honeymoon couples and chocolate covered strawberries for birthdays, champagne for proposals and infant gifts for "babymoons" (a HUGE new fad--have you guys heard of these???)

But sometimes it's more fun than that.

A couple came to the hotel this week to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary.

50 years! Of being married! 50 years of being married! That's a long-ass time and to me, certainly deserving of all the bells and whistles the Ritz can produce.

So in addition to the regular flowers and a cake, we made a CD of Billboard's Top 10 Hits from the year they were married.

I put it in their room and set the CD player to repeat, ensuring that one such ditty will be playing upon the happy couple's entrance into the room (Only took me 10 minutes to figure out--I totally rule at technology.)

So romantic, right?

But, alas, here's why:

The songs are from 1959.

It's Frankie Avalon singing "Venus," The Platters with "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes," and "Lonely Boy" by Paul Anka.

Say what you will about music from the 1950s and early 1960s--that stuff's charming, if a bit saccharine and overly sentimental.

And this got me to thinking:

In the year I get married, what will be the top 10 hits of the year?

What are/will be the top 10 hits from your wedding year?

I guarantee you it won't be as romantic as if you were married in 1959.

For example, if you were married last year, some of the songs on your CD would be "Love in This Club"(Usher,) "Touch my Body" (Mariah Cary,) and "I Kissed a Girl" (Katy Perry.)

2007?

It's "Buy You a Drank" (T-Payne), "Crank That" (Soulja Boy) and "Kiss Kiss" (Chris Brown.)

Totally not the same effect.

It's "a lovely girl with sunlight in her hair" versus "Got me wantin' to give it to you all night."

It's "I'll make her happy just wait and see" versus "I know the club closes at 3 what's the chances of you rollin' wit me?"

So even though I know my work enhances the Ritz Carlton brand, I can't help but smile knowing that these little things will make a couple's anniversary that much more memorable.

Even if they're in their $700/night room, bumpin' to "Boom Boom Pow" and "Poker Face."