Jennifer Lopez called Bruno Mars’ wedding appearance fee “ridiculous,” says the former planner

There’s no way Jenny from the Block is overpaying for entertainment at her wedding – not even if that entertainer is Bruno Mars.

That’s what celebrity wedding planner Marcy Blum says, who recently appeared on The Skinny Confidential Him & Her Podcast and shared details about her time planning Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez’s failed wedding.

The legendary singer/songwriter/actress and the 14-time All-Star Yankees third baseman worked with Blum following their engagement in March 2019, and that process included a discussion of possible entertainers for their wedding.

Blum told podcast hosts Lauryn Evarts Bosstick and Michael Bosstick that Lopez asked if he wanted to hire Mars to perform. Blum said her response was, “We just worked with him, and he’s five.”

“Million?” asked Michael Bossstick. “Just to perform for the night?”

“The night?” said Blum. “You get 45 minutes, you get an hour.”

According to Blum, Lopez’s reaction to the “Marry You” singer’s fee was one of similar incredulity: “Don’t be ridiculous,” she recalled saying in a multi-hyphenated way.

Lopez, 55, and Rodriguez, 49, split in 2021, five years after publicly confirming their relationship. Lopez rekindled her romance with ex Ben Affleck later that year, and Jen and Ben tied the knot in July 2022. (Mars did not make an appearance.) The couple divorced in August.

Although J Lo and A-Rod never made it to the altar, Blum shared her advice for other couples considering a high-profile performer for their own wedding reception.

“If you had any sense, you would never have a headliner as regular entertainment. Nobody wants to do their first dance to Coldplay or something like that – or maybe they do, but they shouldn’t. That’s just stupid,” she said. “You want one band Band and maybe a DJ, and then you might want 45 minutes of Chris Martin or Elton John or whoever you want. Because otherwise everything revolves around them.”

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Representatives for Blum, Lopez, Mars and Rodriguez did not immediately respond to EW’s request for comment. Blum, the author of Wedding Planning for Dummiessaid she was able to share her memories of working on Lopez and Rodriguez’s wedding because she never signed an NDA.

You can catch Blum’s conversation on “The Skinny Confidential” here or watch a clip of her talking about Lopez, Rodriguez and Mars below: