If you know us well, you know that music has been a cornerstone of our connection from the start. We first met at a show that Rut’s band was playing in downtown Los Angeles, and we have been playing, making, and listening to music together ever since. As such, we have put a lot of attention and care into the music that will be soundtracking our wedding weekend. Here is our music story for the weekend.

   Many of our welcome party guests will be traveling from different states and countries, so we want to give them a New York City welcome. The music for this evening will be a tribute to the golden era of hip-hop, which originated in New York City. Our neighborhood in particular is hallowed ground in hip-hop history, with Biggie, Ol’ Dirty Bastard, and Jay-Z all having grown up in the Bed-Stuy, Clinton Hill, and Fort Greene area.

   This wedding is like a dream for us, and we want it to be for you as well. As such, we are kicking off the wedding evening with an assortment of contemporary dream pop. Expect mellow synths, melodic guitars, lulling rhythms, and wistful melodies.

   We don’t want to give too much away, but the music selections here will be a bridge between the Welcome 30 and the Cocktail Hour.

   High life is a West African (primarily Ghanaian) mid-to-high tempo genre characterized by polyrhythmic jazz and funk instrumentation. Guitarists like Ebo Taylor and S.E. Rogie have been incredibly influential for Rut’s own playing. The name of the genre speaks for itself.

   Bringing it all together is a mid-tempo spectrum of vintage and contemporary R&B, soft rock, psych rock, and amapiano. Eclectic, sure, but pay attention to what elements from one track feed into the next.

   In Spanish, dale translates to something like “let’s go,” and it’s a common refrain in reggaeton. Enough said. DJ and MC Andrew Nguyen will be curating this portion of the evening.

In the spirit of Woodstock (sort of), we’ll throw it back to some classic soul, funk, and rock as we wrap up the long wedding weekend.