You could have the most gorgeous dress or most dapper suit, the most delicious food, and the sweetest cake for your wedding, but ultimately a wedding is a big party, and what's a party without awesome tunes? (Not a fun party!)
I've always had a lot of love for music– and I was happy to find my husband did too. We've bonded over bands and artists we both loved, he serenades me on guitar (and I torture him with my singing), and we discover new music to get excited about all the time.
Needless to say, when we were planning our wedding, the music was very important to us. We decided to go with a DJ partly because it was cost effective, but also because for us, the songs we wanted to hear were the original songs by the artists we loved, not interpretations of our favorite songs. We also liked the idea of letting the music do the work of getting people on the dance floor, not an emcee or super-chatty DJ. Plastic sunglasses, leis or fog machines were definitely not our style.
Luckily I read about DJ Colleen Crumbcake, a NYC area DJ who was the anti-cheesey DJ. I sent her a message right away and was bummed to discover she was already booked for our date– but she softened the blow with the news that she knew another DJ who may be a good fit and available. My husband and I met up with Erik Karff (aka DJ Go-Karff) and we knew instantly that he was the DJ for us! We clicked on exactly the types of music we enjoyed and did not want to hear at our wedding, and Erik was friendly, professional and fun. The day of our wedding Erik got everything right, and our dance floor was jammed all night long! Now Colleen Crumbcake has created Popshop! DJs, a whole group of cool, knowledgeable, amazing DJs that won't make your wedding feel like your Prom. Thanks Erik and Popshop! DJs– you rock!

Some songs from my wedding:
Prelude: We're Going to be Friends - The White Stripes
Bridesmaid's Processional: Alone in Kyoto - AIR
Bride's Processional: Lebanese Blonde - Thievery Corporation
Recessional: Prickly Thorn But Sweetly Worn - The White Stripes
Bridal Party / Parents Intros: Eye of the Tiger - Survivor
Bride & Groom Entrance: Gonna Fly Now - Bill Conti
First Dance: Be Mine - R.E.M.
Father / Daughter Dance: One Summer Night - The Danleers
Mother / Son Dance: What a Wonderful World - Louis Armstrong
Cake Cutting: You're the Best Around - Joe Esposito
Last Dance: Situation No Win - Bid Audio Dynamite

Hello! I'm going to use this blog to spotlight things I love. Maybe they'll be things that are applicable to your wedding, your home, your style, or maybe it'll just be stuff that's fun. To start, I'm going to showcase some things from my wedding, which was October 4, 2008. This may sound cheesy, but it really was one of, if not the happiest day of our lives, and I wish we could do it all over again. (minus some of the planning and snafus, of course ;)

I had a long engagement, and a lot of time to think about dresses. But I was also anxious to get a dress. I went shopping throughout the city numerous times with my best friends. Then one day I went to a sample sale by myself. The sales person was naturally anxious to sell the dress, and I wound up walking out with a sample sale dress, thinking I had saved myself some money and crossed something off my list. A few weeks later I was rethinking my hasty, made-alone decision. I longingly kept looking at my favorite designers dresses in magazines.

As tends to happen when you're in a certain age bracket and getting married, many of my friends were getting hitched as well. I was the maid-of-honor for one of my best friends while I was planning my own wedding. We went to look at dresses for me to wear to her wedding, but as soon as the elevator doors opened to the store showroom I gasped...there was the most gorgeous Jenny Packham dress I had ever seen. My friend of course insisted I try the dress on. I thought, "Sure! But you know, just for kicks."

I swooned over this dress. This had to be my dress! My friend agreed! Ahhhh! With some help from my dad, I put a deposit down that day. This time, I definitely did not regret it. Plus, I managed to sell the first dress, which really was lovely, but just not for me– I had found my true love at last...I mean, I had found the dress to marry my true love in.

Photos by Jeffrey Lau.