Mr. Jet and I LURVEEEEEEEEEEE music.  Mr. Jet's father was an award-winning Fado singer back in Portugual and Mr. Jet taught himself to play the guitar early in life, which led to him playing in several local bands, which led me to be like, "Wow, that is so hot."

I grew up in a largely musical family as well, my mother and two aunts all have great voices and have sung for their respective churches and have won karaoke competitions, two of my uncles were in local bands, two of my cousins are currently in national and world touring punk bands and my sister and I both sang in school choirs and I have always been active with musical theater.  It's just in my bones, I guess!

So needless to say, music is a VERY important part of our wedding.  We found our DJ over a year ago and snagged him up quickly, as he has received stellar reviews from other brides in our area for his knowledge of music and breadth of selections for ALL music lovers.  DJ Frank Baptista of FB Events will be our fabulous emcee for a night of pop, rock, standards, alternative and dance tunes and we absolutely cannot wait! 

To keep things fair for the both of us since our musical tastes only sometimes intersect, Mr. Jet will be in charge of cocktail hour/dinner music as his tastes fall into the more ambient, off-beat genres and I will be in charge of THE DANCE.  I'm talkin' Janet, Michael, Def Leppard, Britney, Bel Biv Devoe, Justin Timberlake, Stevie Wonder, Journey, Notorious B.I.G., Duran Duran, Eddie Money, MGMT, Earth Wind & Fire and soooooo much more!  I already have a 100 song playlist on my Spotify - a little somethin' somethin' for everyone!  Don't you just want to dance right now?!

Still, there are a few songs that Mr. Jet and I do have to see eye-to-eye on.  Here are our "Special Song Selections":

First up is our "Bridal Party Entrance" song.  We're still torn between a few choices, but I think this one's currently at the top of our list.  It's got a great hook from the start and legit brings a tear to my eye every time I hear it and think of all of our very best friends together on our wedding day!  Check out "You're My Best Friend" by Queen!
Next up is our "Grand Entrance" song!  Our venue has an L-shaped loft where some of our guests will be seated and we get to enter through the loft, down a main staircase, and finish in the middle of a dance floor.  We wanted something EPIC with a killer intro. that will get people laughing and singing along.  This isn't 100% set in stone yet as we tend to change our minds on music almost every day, and while not a true love song in lyric, it's one we both love to hate and hate to love.  A true guilty pleasure, here's "Owner Of A Lonely Heart" by Yes! (Close your eyes and picture this blaring through the venue with a dorky new bride and groom choreographing their way down a staircase!)
For our "First Dance" we chose "No One's Gonna Love You" by Band of Horses.  This band was our first concert together and we both absolutely adore this song.  It struck a chord with both of us from the moment we both heard it.  It's been "our song" ever since and we even talked about using this song for our First Dance before we got engaged!
My next selection has proven to be a much harder one - The "Father/Daughter Dance". I'm SUCH a daddy's girl.  Daddy Jet is the coolest.  We have so much in common and he's been an awesome dad AND friend to me my whole life, even more so after my parents' split when I moved in with him.  He's been an amazing support and a total rock when I needed one.  Trying to find a song that sums up our entire relationship in 3 minutes or less is CRAZY HARD! I've narrowed it down to three, but just can't seem to commit yet!  Your thoughts, hive?

First, here's "To Sir With Love" by LuLu (from the movie with the same name that Daddy Jet and I both love).
Next up, "In My Life" by The Beatles.  Who doesn't love this song and get a little weepy-eyed when they hear that opening chord?
Finally, the lesser known "The Best Things Happen While You're Dancing" from White Christmas.  White Christmas is not only my favorite holiday movie, but my favorite musical too!  It's just so classic and SO "my family".  We are the weirdos who've watched White Christmas every. single. year. for the 29 that I've been alive.  It may seem a-typical, but would make total sense for me and Daddy Jet.
We're still cooking up ideas for our Cake Cutting Song, Mother/Son Song and Ceremony Music - so stay tuned, I'll have a Part II up soon!
 
When I imagine Mr. Jet and I dancing at our reception, this image pops into my head:
Picture
Getting down and/or funky.
I LOVE to dance.  I have always thought there was a badass Latin dancer living inside my little white body.  I can bust many a move and do so anytime the situation arises.  I love to be the center of attention on the dance floor and will most certainly do that on my wedding day.  Mr. Jet doesn't exactly share my love of "the dance," but he's a big goofball and will indulge me on any dance floor.

That being said, it was important for us to find a DJ who fits our style.  I love all styles of music; pop, alternative, punk, classic rock, etc. while Mr. Jet's interests are far more eclectic and "indie."  We had to find a DJ that can compromise our two styles and find a great mix of ambient dinner music and dance music that isn't too exclusive of our diverse guests.

Our DJ, Frank Baptista, suggested that Mr. Jet tackle the cocktail and dinner music, since his style is a little less accessible to the mainstream guests we'll have and I take on the dance music since I seriously sing Janet Jackson's "Pleasure Principle" in my sleep.  This was a great compromise for the two of us, since music is such an important part of both of our lives. (Mr. Jet is a self-taught musician and and I come from a long line of singers and musicians as well).

My "Reception Boogie" playlist is already 100 songs long.  Time to edit?