Fireworks, Caviar, and a 10-Tier Cake! All the Details of J. Lo’s ‘Epic’ 50th Birthday Bash
It’s J. Lo’s party — and she’ll do it up big if she wants to.
Jennifer Lopez commemorated her 50th birthday on Wednesday with an epic bash at Gloria and Emilio Estefan’s sprawling estate on Star Island in Miami.
With fiancé Alex Rodriguez and their blended family by her side the entire night, the “Medicine” singer shared the evening with many of the friends she’s made throughout her extensive career, including producer LA Reid, Ryan Seacrest, Fat Joe, DJ Khaled and Ashanti.
“It was actually epic—it was a real friends and family thing,” a source inside the party tells PEOPLE. “It was like the closest people in her life and you could tell by the way she said hello to everyone that it wasn’t work.”
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Dressed in a Versace metallic dress with a high slit up the leg, Lopez arrived to the gold-themed party around 9 p.m., according to the source, and a sit-down dinner with assigned seating kicked off the night. Décor included giant gold balls on the outskirts of the property, and most women wore gold, while the men were dressed in white.
The food was served buffet-style, and a huge caviar bar was open for the taking. “Right before the buffet stations opened, Alex made a toast,” says the source. “He thanked the Estefan’s for having them and said how proud he is of Jennifer on this tour.”
“After dinner everybody moved to the dance floor portion of the tent and encircled it,” continued the source. “The cast of her tour performed medleys and montages of her songs, and she watched with Alex and her kids and her mom. Then there was a fireworks show over the water.”
DJ Cassidy — who previously deejayed at Lopez’s 40th birthday party — and DJ Don Hot spun tunes for a dancing crowd, stopping only for the presentation of Lopez’s massive, gold and black birthday cake. Decorated with white and yellow flowers, sparklers, rhinestones and shiny fleur-de-lis, the 10-tier creation took four men to carry it out on the floor. “It must have been a 12-foot tall cake,” estimates the source.
Lopez and Rodriguez shared a sweet smooch in front of the cake, drinks in hand, before it was cut and served.
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After cake, the DJ started playing 50 Cent’s, “In Da Club.”
“Everyone started screaming ‘Go JLo, it’s your birthday! Party like it’s your birthday!’” says the source. Later the star and attendees got a solo performance from pal Pia Toscano who sang “Don’t Rain on My Parade”. Then Fat Joe, DJ Khaled and Ashanti all jumped on stage soon after, spontaneously performing some on their biggest hits, including “What’s Love,” “All the Way Up” and DJ Khaled’s “All I Do Is Win.”
According to the source, “That whole performance was when [Lopez] went crazy. And when they played her song that DJ Khaled is on, ‘Dinero,’ her dancers picked her up on their shoulders and she sang along. The DJ and all the music she loves was a major part of the party.”
Lopez and Rodriguez stayed at the party and danced until 3 a.m., says the source. Rodriguez refused to be out-danced by his dancing queen fiancé, taking his jacket off and opening his shirt to get a little extra wiggle room.
“They were some of the last to leave,” says the source.
Lopez is currently on her “It’s My Party” tour, which kicked off in Los Angeles in June in honor of her birthday and will end with three final performances on Thursday, Friday and Saturday night in Miami.
