Is it because I ate too close to bedtime?

Last night I dreamed that it was the day before the wedding and I hadn't chosen the music. For me, this qualifies as a nightmare. The (now) funniest part of it is that one of my bridesmaids, Gabby, was trying to convince me to use all sorts of music that was completely the opposite of what I want, and would have made Tim barf.

Not exactly what Gabby was suggesting, but close.

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I'll (grudgingly) admit it: we're music snobs. I'm terrified of the music I choose for our wedding saying something about me that isn't accurate. As performers, we both play a lot of new music, but I don't want to alienate our guests by choosing music that's hard to understand/enjoy on a first listening.* Tim, on the other hand, couldn't care less about alienating people... he thinks it would be funny. In fact, it's a running joke--rooted in reality, I'm afraid to say--that he wants our friend James to play at the wedding.

I adore James, and the theremin is awesome. However.

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It's the understatement of the century to say that we're incredibly lucky to have the Jupiter Quartet playing in our wedding. I mentioned Meg & Dan recently - they are a badass violinist and cellist, respectively, who play in one of the best young professional string quartets in the world. The violist is Meg's sister and my close friend Liz, and the first violinist is our good friend Nelson. The personal dynamic of the group is amazing. Playing in a quartet is often likened to being married to three other people (legally!), and somehow they make it work with one pair actually married to each other and another pair being siblings and best friends. Not only do they make it work (Tim Gunn-style) - they sound phenomenal.

They don't look bad, either. Here are the Jupiters caught in a rare moment of seriousness, though it does appear they're on the verge of laughter. source They usually look more like this.

The Quartet has an extremely demanding international tour schedule. As it happens, they're also playing at our very good friend Rebecca's wedding in September, and she went so far as to plan her wedding date around their schedule. I didn't think that far ahead! But I was on pins and needles while they waited to hear from their manager whether they'd be out of town for our wedding. I was ecstatic when I ran into them last month and they told me it was all good!

Some of the composers I've considered so far are Bartok, Britten, Debussy, Ives, and Ravel. I love their music and they all have string quartets, but I'm not sure it's appropriate for a wedding - even one with a less-than-traditional bride and groom.

What makes this less than traditional is that sadly, before our engagement pictures, almost all our photos together looked like this.

Do the two of you have differences in opinion over what music is appropriate for your wedding? Are you as petrified as I am about making the wrong choice?

*This kind of music is my favorite because it's thought-provoking and often (I hope) makes people want to hear it again, but guests at the wedding might not be inclined to take their program home and go buy a CD!