Wedding Church Choir
Ah, music—the soul of any good party! Benjamin and I always agreed that we would hire a DJ rather than a band for our reception. This decision was made even easier when two different friends recommended Toast and Jam, a DJ company that bills itself as ?the antidote to the cheesy wedding DJ.? When we met with Rachel, one of the wonderful women who works with T&J, I was instantly at ease. She totally got our preferences (a lot of late ’90s for the dance floor; a little Rat Pack, a little Vince Guaraldi for cocktail hour), and I trust her intuition when reading the room. That?s one of the things Toast and Jam emphasizes—their skill in choosing the playlist based on the vibe of the party. Add to that the amazing pun in their company name, and we were sold! Of course, that still left the ceremony music. When Benjamin and I first started planning our liturgy, we assumed we would have the traditional church organ and cantor. But St. Clement does music exceptionally well, so when I saw that other instruments were an option, I asked Ben if he wouldn?t mind paying a little extra for a trumpet. I love trumpets—they are so associated with Christmas and images of angelic, heavenly music (art history major here) that I had to do it.

Great, that?s done. Except the more I thought about it, the more I realized that the music was really going to be our ceremony ?décor?—we were not doing flowers or an aisle runner or anything (even if ...