Those that follow me know that I’ve been putting out a live video Christmas mix annually. This year is no exception, so here’s my 2011 Live Christmas Mix, complete with Track IDs, and several live mashups including dubstep and some classic holiday favorites.

Happy Holidays from The Creative Music DJ!

I had an incredible wedding where the ending set was all house and top40 remixes by request from the bride and groom. I had a feeling it was going to be quite a mix so I hit record in Serato Scratch Live shortly after I began the set.

Since I planned to post an August Top40 Remix podcast and never got around to it, I decided to post this. This mix has sooo much energy, it is impossible not to want to move to this!

Note: This is NOT a typical example of what the end set of the night is at one of my weddings, however it is an example of what it could be if the client requested for me to go in that particular direction!

El Cajon Wedding – Derek and Katherine Marso

Venue: <Private Residence>
Venue Address: <withheld>
Number of guests: 200+
Services Provided: Wedding DJ and Master of Ceremonies, Basic Dance Floor Lighting, Ceremony DJ

Party Planner: Rita Boes
Photography: Stuart Guardner
Cake: Cake Lady
In March of 2010 Derek Marso posted a comment on his Facebook page asking his friends for a good DJ. Soon after, my good friend Andy messaged me via Facebook messages and asked me if the date was open. It was, and Andy let Derek know. Derek and I talked a bit over email, and then arranged to meet at person at their house.

Derek and his fiance, Katherine (Katie), and I discussed a lot of details during that meeting, but the one that really stood out was the fact that they liked that I had lots of suggestions for genres to use for ceremony music and cocktail music. Of course! How could I be THE Creative Music DJ without creative ideas, right? A few days later, they contacted me and booked the date.

On their wedding day, I arrived and set up equipment for the ceremony on the top pool deck, and their reception on the lower grass lawn.

The pool deck was large but divided, and they had guests on both sides of the pool. To compensate for this, I made sure to bring some really powerful speakers and placed one equidistant from both guest seating areas. After testing one speaker, there was no need for a second one!

Ceremony Prelude (Guest Seating): Vitamin String Quartet
Ceremony Processional (Bridesmaids): Israel Kamawawiwo’ole – Somewhere Over The Rainbow
Ceremony Processional (Bridal March): Christian Joseph – Just The Way You Are
Ceremony Recessional: MGMT – Kids (DJ Dennis J Ceremony Remix)

My view of this poolside ceremony was great, as you can see here. I really like this picture, it shows the look that a poolside wedding can have.

For cocktail hour, guests remained on the pool deck while the wedding party went out front for photos.

Cocktail Music: Hidden Beach – Assorted Selections

After pictures were finished, I instructed guests to move downstairs to prepare for the Grand Entrance. Since the stairway was narrow, it took a while for the guests to get seated, but they diligently made their way to the reception area.

Grand Entrance: Lil Wayne – A Milli (instrumental)

We started dinner after the Grand Entrance, which was a buffet. For dinner music, they wanted me to perform my ‘whosampled mix’. This is a fun live mix that I do where the tracklist consists of songs that are easily recognized as the original source for lots of modern hip-hop hits. Guests seemed to really enjoy the mix, and as always I enjoyed putting on the show for them.

Dinner Music: DJ Dennis J’s Old School Whosampled Collection

After dinner, we began toasts, starting with Katherine’s sister, Jen England.

We then transitioned into their formal dances.

First Dance: J.R.A. – Best I Ever Had

Father Daughter Dance: John Mayer – Daughters

Mother Son Dance: Barbara Mandrell – I Was Country When Country Wasn’t Cool

We then opened up the dance floor. I tried a lot of older music but only the disco seemed to work well. Music moved to current tunes rather quickly, but I kept bringing it back to older stuff for a while to let all ages enjoy some dancing. Can you say, “packed dance floor”?

After a bit of dancing we took a break and started the cake cutting.

Cake Cutting: The Turtles – Happy Together

Bouquet Toss: Beyonce – Single Ladies (sorry, no pics!)

By this time, the newlyweds and their guests had decided that they wanted to keep me an extra two hours! We had fun with some more dancing, but since they had extended their time I really wanted to give them some more special memories, so I surprised them with the ‘shoe game’. For those not in the know, this is a fun activity where I put the bride and groom in chairs facing away from each other, then have them remove their shoes, and hand one of their shoes to the other person. I then ask questions to which the answer is either the bride or the groom, and they raise the shoe of the person they think is the answer. It is a lot of fun because the bride and groom can’t see each other’s answer, but all the guests can! The questions have to be chosen carefully to make the game fun. To give an (tame) example, a question like “who was the most nervous about tonight?” is a good starter.

It was a big hit, and they as well as their guests had a lot of fun with it. See the laughter on the guests’ faces? That’s memories that will keep for a long time.

This one was actually posted on Facebook by one of the guests, Tiffany Nelson.

And the party continued!

For their last song, they liked my mashup remix of Cheers with Tipsy. I’m not a big fan of mashups unless they are done live, but every once in a while a good one comes along!

Last Dance: DJ Deville – Cheers I’m Tipsy

After such a great night, I made sure to get my post-reception photo with the happy newlyweds, Derek and Katherine Marso.

Congratulations to Derek and Katherine, and best wishes for a wonderful life together!

LDS Wedding (Morman) – Adan and Arwen Martinez

Venue: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Cultural Hall)
Venue Address: 2255 Felicita Road, Escondido, CA
Number of guests: 150-160
Services Provided: Wedding DJ and Master of Ceremonies, Monogram Lighting

Venue Coordinator: Jacqueline Thompson
Officiant: Bishop Shaffer
Photography: Doyle Terry Photo

In March of 2010 Jacqueline Thompson contacted me to discuss the opportunity to DJ her clients’ (Adan Martinez and Arwen Lott) wedding. Being on the Church of Latter Day Saints’ preferred vendor list got her attention, and she thought that I would be a good fit for their style. We spent some time on the phone discussing LDS standards, especially when it came to music selection. I actually learned a few tips from her that will assist me in future LDS weddings I’m sure.

Adan and Arwen and I met at a bookstore and discussed details. I showed them some examples of lighting, genres for cocktail and dinner, and monograms. Adan was particularly interested in the monograms. We had a great meeting with plenty of chemistry, and they decided to book right away. They also made sure to add the monogram lighting to their package.

On the day of their reception, I arrived at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Escondido and set up my main equipment on the stage. Adan chose to put the monogram on the rear wall of the stage, so I pulled the rear curtain shut, taped it as well I could, and used it as the background for the monogram.

For the ceremony, Adan and Arwen had one standard to LDS, consisting of stadium circular seating. This arrangement is very unusual to those not familiar with the customs, but here’s a picture of how it looks.

And the actual ceremony…

Seating Music: Vitamin String Quartet

Processional (Parents and Bridesmaids): Robin Spielberg – Canon in D

Processional (Bride’s Entrance): Vitamin String Quartet – Your Guardian Angel

Recessional: John Williams – Imperial March (Darth Vader’s Theme)

Appetizer Hour (No drinking, so this wasn’t a cocktail hour!): Cocktail Jazz cover bands

Grand Entrance song: Olé- Bouncing Souls

Dinner was taking a little longer than anticipated, so we moved into their first dance.

First Dance: Time In a Bottle – Jim Croce

Father Daughter Dance: Rascal Flatts – I Won’t Let Go

Mother Son Dance: Juanes – Para Tu Amor

We then began a buffet-style dinner. During dinner, I got to chat a lot with the photographer, Doyle. Doyle was great to talk to, very professional and friendly.

After dinner, we kicked open dancing off with a hispanic traditional dance known as the La Vibora De La Mar. It can be done a lot of ways, but typically the bride and groom stand on chairs holding a veil between them. Since Arwen didn’t have a veil, they used a linen instead. While the song played, I sped it up and the challenge was for the dancers to keep up with tempo. We pitted the girls against the guys. The girls won. Easily.

I didn’t get many pictures of dancing, there were a lot of requests (I always welcome requests) so I spent lots of time interacting with guests. The hit genres for tonight were cumbias and spanish pop.

Cake Cutting: Jack Johnson – Better Together

Cake cutting got a bit messy…

After the cake cutting, we began the tosses.

Garter Toss: Flight Of The Conchords – Business Time

Bouquet Toss: Roy Orbison – Pretty Woman

After tosses we went back into open dancing. I ended up doing another 45 minute cumbia set.. Lots of good hispanic music!

Last Dance: <We just kept it upbeat>

Adan and Arwen left quickly after the reception was over, but I did get a chance to get my signature post-reception photo!

Congratulations to Adan and Arwen Martinez, and thank you for giving me the honor of being your Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS) Wedding DJ!

Thursday Club – San Diego Psychiatric Society Presidential Installation

Venue: Thursday Club (1224 Santa Barbara Street, San Diego, CA 92107)
Number of guests: 100
Services Provided: Corporate DJ

Human Resources Contact: Shannon Bartlett
Client: San Diego Psychiatric Society (president: Steven Ornish)

In September of 2010, Steven Ornish placed a quote request for a DJ for his installation in May 2011. Steven had been elected to President, and was to have his Installation Party in 2011. Being a true vinyl enthusiast, Steven went looking for a professional event DJ that used vinyl. Not only did he want one that used, vinyl, but he wanted one that would use HIS vinyl. Yes, Steve wanted to supply vinyl for the night. He had a good collection of songs on vinyl that he wanted to hear, and needed a DJ who really knew how to work with vinyl in order to make the event a success. He also wanted a DJ who used quality equipment and really knew his equipment, who could guarantee that Steven’s precious vinyl would not be harmed by the backcueing that occurs when a DJ uses records. We talked a bit more about his musical preferences and afterwards he was ready to book on the spot. After a couple of calls from his HR department, I had a contract in hand and they were booked and ready.

Thursday club is a nice venue with many areas which can be used for different things at an event. Being a historic building, there’s no requirement for wheelchair access though, so if you are disabled, be prepared! Historic buildings also make DJs’ jobs more difficult. I had quite a time bringing equipment up and down the small flight of stairs that allows entry into Thursday Club. Them’s the breaks…

I set up my main equipment in front of the stage. As anyone who knows me can tell you, I really prefer to not be on a stage at a small, intimate gathering. Sure, proms and large dances work fine with a stage, but for smaller events, I feel that I can connect more with guests if I am nearer to them, and what’s more– It gives them easier access to me to be able to make requests, talk about things, and even just watch the turntable show! Here’s my set up.

Steve arrived early and brought me some vinyl albums and singles to work with.

Did I mention that Steve was a turntable/vinyl enthusiast? Yeah, I don’t think you fully understand the level of his devotion, but this will help clarify that. Here’s his placemats. I took a couple of plates off to give you the full effect.

Note: These are real albums. He found a vinyl shop that had a stock of these and purchased them all. I played one to hear what was on them. MMmm… not good music. Better to eat off of, than listen to, in my opinion.

For cocktail and dinner, I played a variety of Rat Pack era music, mostly from Steve’s records, but I did end up complementing them with a few of my own because dinner ran long and his dinner songs were depleted. Here’s a shot of both turntables being used for dinner music, with records on them.

I did sets of a few genres once open dancing began. The main genre that got everyone dancing was definitely disco, but I played some 80′s synth-pop also because that was Steven’s favorite music and got him out on the floor.

Unfortunately, mixing real vinyl takes more concentration than using Serato, so I really didn’t have time to capture photos of dancing. But, the guests did dance, had a good time, and afterwards Steve came over and thanked me, but was a bit busy with guests so I didn’t want to bother him with getting a post-event snapshot.

Congrats to Steven Ornish, newest president of the San Diego Psychiatric Society. I know you’ll do great things. Thanks for letting me be a part of your installation party, and I hope you enjoyed seeing your vinyl used to make people dance!

Athens Market – Lisa and Brian Brinig Birthday Party

Client: Lisa and Brian Brinig
Venue: Athens Market Taverna – Mary’s on First, John Pappas Room and Bar Room
Venue Address: 109 West F Street (1st and F), San Diego CA 92101
Number of guests: 300
Services Provided: Disc Jockey, Dance Floor Lighting, Cake Lighting

Venue Coordinator: Mary Pappas (Owner)

In November of 2010 Lisa Brinig contacted me to discuss a dual birthday party for both Lisa and her husband Brian. She was turning 50, while he was turning 60. She called it the 50/60 party, and said it would be themed. We discussed it a bit more, and she decided to book immediately.

Thru future discussions it was discovered that although the theme was 50/60, the music choices were more along the lines of 60s and early 70s. Lisa and Brian supplied a playlist of around 80 songs using my online song selection portal.

The day of the event I arrived at Athens Market Tavern and set up. To complement the theme I set up enhanced dance floor lighting, but also added an authentic mirror ball.

Lisa and Brian set up many cool tables of various nostalgic items. These ranged from Rubik’s Cubes, to Duncan yo-yos, and even to Slinkys.

As always, a clean setup. It doesn’t matter if it’s a wedding or private party, I just have to have my equipment looking nice!

They also had a large birthday cake, which I illuminated with a LED cake light, set to slowly change through different colors.

Before the cake light.

After the cake light.

There was also a sign-up poster for their 2021 birthday party.

For cocktail and dinner hours, I played a lot of their playlist, which was composed of many great classic songs that were great to listen to but not dance floor material. Songs such as:

Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds – Beatles
I Say A Little Prayer – Aretha Franklin
Scenes From An Italian Restaurant – Billy Joel

When it came time for dancing, I was asked to make no announcements, just change to some dance music and see how it went. Well, that’s pretty much my style anyway, so I complied and got the dance floor packed rather quickly. Since Lisa and Brian’s song requests were mostly non-danceable tunes, my plan was to play many of those artists, but play their more popular dance songs. For instance, with the list above, the selections I used for dance floor time were:

Twist and Shout – Beatles
Freeeway of Love – Aretha Franklin
We Didn’t Start The Fire – Billy Joel

As expected, it went over well and the dance floor was active all night long. A few guests came over with requests, but most seemed content to let me surprise them time and time again with great danceable tunes.

Some pictures of the dance floor at various times of the night:

There were so many more great dancing pictures, but I don’t want to overwhelm this posting with them.

Guests also had a lot of fun with the nostalgic props.

Lisa and Brian had their own special pair of glasses…

OK, I’ll admit it… I can be a fun guy sometimes too. Shh… Don’t tell anyone!

So to sum it up: An incredible night full of nostalgia, fun, and dancing. As always, I took an opportunity to get a post-event picture with my clients, Lisa and Brian.

Oh! I have to mention that the staff at Athens Market are great! They’re so much fun and nice and accommodating. After the guests left and we were all cleaning up, they actually grabbed all the props and were doing some silly poses with them for another employee to take photos of. I got my own picture.

Happy birthday to Lisa and Brian. Thanks for having me as your DJ for dual birthday party, and best wishes for many more happy birthdays!

MCRD – Wedding of Karina and Jose Hernandez

Client: Karina (Cervantes) and Jose Hernandez

Venue: Marine Corp Recruit Depot (MCRD) – Bayview Room
Venue Address: West Washington Street, San Diego, CA. 92140
Number of guests: 130
Services Provided: Wedding DJ and Master of Ceremonies, Dance Floor Lighting, Event Uplighting (12 lights), External Wireless Speakers

Catering: Bayview Restaurant
Photography: AVW Photography (Amy Wilson)
Venue Coordinator: Susan
Florist: Angels U Flowers
Cake: Edelweiss Bakery

In July of 2010 Karina and Jose contacted me to discuss the opportunity to DJ their wedding at MCRD. We met at a coffee shop and talked about their wedding ideas and how I could accommodate them. They were particularly interested in uplighting and table underlighting, as you’ll see later. We had a great meeting and I could really feel that we communicated well with each other and there was a mutual excitement. I was correct, because the very next day Karina emailed me and said they wanted to book me.

Jose and Karina planned to have their cocktail hour outside on the Bayview Patio. The doors to the Bayview Room were to remain closed until it was time for Grand Entrance. In order to supply music outside, they added my wireless speaker package. This is an addon package in which I use wireless signal to supply the same sound inside to the main soundsystem as well as outside to wireless speakers. It provides an elegant atmosphere because announcements can be heard from anywhere, and music stays the same as people move from the patio to the banquet room.

On the day of their reception, I arrived at the venue and set up my equipment inside, then set up the wireless speaker system outside. For cocktail, they requested R&B and island music. Since R&B can be distracting during a time of much conversation, I went with an assortment of Hidden Beach tracks (90s hip-hop remade by jazz musicians) for the first half of the cocktail hour, then switched to some cocktail-appropriate reggae/island music for the second half. Jose came over during the Hidden Beach part and commented that his guests were really going to like it (he was inside the Bayview Room resting for a bit, which their guests were outside). Here’s a picture of the external wireless speakers.

Jose and Karina ordered 12 purple uplights, to be used on the walls and under the cake table and head table. With some clever manipulation, I was able to get a pretty cool effect from the combination of lights I used.

Head table lighting:

Cake table underlighting and walls:

Everything together:

Grand Entrance song: I Gotta Feeling – Black Eyed Peas

Right after their grand entrance, and another enthusiastic round of applause, I instructed the guests to be seated and we began a buffet dinner.

Following dinner and the making of their rounds, we began toasts, then proceeded into their first dance.

First dance: Edwin Mccain – I’ll Be

Father Daughter Dance: Heartland – I Loved Her First

Mother Son Dance: Boyz II Men – A Song For Mama

Cake Cutting: Candyman – Christina Aguilera

Garter Toss: Tone Loc – Wild Thing

Bouquet Toss: Single Ladies – Beyonce

And open dancing was happening tonight! Being a hispanic wedding, there were lots of requests for spanish music, mostly cumbias. I really got some good practice mixing cumbias tonight. Other than spanish music, the most dancing seemed to occur when I did a throwback 80s set. I got a lot of comments after the reception from guests about how they liked the 80s choices and one guest was excited about a Selena set I put together. He said he was from Texas and the music really took him back to some happy memories.

For their last song, Jose and Karina chose Sister Sledge – We Are Family.

Afterwards, I instructed the guests to form an ‘exit tunnel’ for the bride and groom to do their Grand Exit.

And off they went to begin the next chapter of their life!

But not before I caught up with them for a post-reception snapshot!

Congratulations to Jose, Karina and their families, and thanks for giving me the opportunity to be a part of your special night!

Coronado Community Center – Wedding of Phong and Anna Tu

Client: Phong and Anna Tu
Venue: Coronado Community Center – Nautilus Banquet Room
Venue Address: 1845 Strand Way · Coronado, California 92118
Number of guests: 164
Services Provided: Wedding DJ and Master of Ceremonies, Dance Floor Lighting, External Wireless Speakers

Catering: Encore Catering (Christine and Tress)
Photography: Trailbrook
Venue Coordinator: Coronado (Notable mention: Colleen Muldoon)
Wedding Coordinator: Ha Nguyen (Maid Of Honor)
Florist: Thuy
Linens: SD Linens
Cake: Edelweiss Bakery

In July of 2010 Phong Tu and Anna Chong contacted me to discuss the opportunity to DJ their wedding at Coronado Community Center. They were referred to me by Tress Balch of Encore Catering. For those that don’t know Tress… you’re missing out. He’s a great sushi chef and a pleasure to work with. The last time I worked with him was at Liberty Center during Jim Fitzgerald’s wife Rita’s birthday party. I was excited when I heard that Tress had recommended me because 1) this was the first time he had referred me and 2) I was going to get to enjoy some more of Tress’ delicious cooking!

Phong, Anna, and I met at a coffee shop and discussed details. They planned to have a part of their ballroom sectioned off for a photobooth, and reception room doors were to remain closed until cocktail hour was over. In order to supply music outside, they added my wireless speaker package. This is an addon package in which I use wireless signal to supply the same sound inside to the main soundsystem as well as outside to wireless speakers. It provides an elegant atmosphere because announcements can be heard from anywhere, and music stays the same as people move from the patio to the banquet room. They originally were going to use string lighting for their dance floor, but after seeing some video samples of my lightshows, they decided to include that as well in their package.

On the day of their reception, I arrived at the venue and set up my equipment inside, then set up the wireless speaker system outside. For cocktail, they left it up to me with the simple instructions of “modern and upbeat please!” I went with an assortment of Hidden Beach tracks to meet this request. For those that haven’t experienced Hidden Beach, think fun 90s hip-hop remade by jazz musicians. I know that Phong and Anna must have received several comments about the cocktail music, because I got several myself! To top it off, I overheard the bartender telling guests, “OK, I’ll pour your drink but first you have to name this song.”

Tress Balch, in his natural habitat.

Grand Entrance song: I Gotta Feeling – Black Eyed Peas

Right after their grand entrance, and another enthusiastic round of applause, I instructed the guests to be seated and we began a buffet dinner. Tables were dismissed by number, two at a time.

Following dinner and the making of their rounds, we projected a video montage for the guests to enjoy. Note: This montage was original burned in a HD DVD format and could not be played on the venue’s projector. Why it was burned in HD DVD I’ll never know, but through quick thinking (a degree in IT probably didn’t hurt) I was able analyzing the cause, inform the groom of the issue and propose a solution involving acquisition of a Macbook. Phong took my advice and found a guest that had a Macbook in their car, and with my assistance we were able to convert the video and eventually display the montage!

Honorable mention: During the trials and tribulations with the projector I had the privilege to meet Colleen Muldoon, a wonderful employee of Coronado Community Center. Her pleasant demeanor and friendly attitude was noticed and appreciated. We talked a bit, and she definitely helped me to feel comfortable as a vendor at her venue.

Towards the end of dinner, we began toasts. Here’s a few pictures taken during the toasts.

After toasts, we gave away the centerpieces using the “Pass the Bill” game. It was a lot of fun and the guests really got into it. It was a blast hearing the “Awwww!”s and laughter after each round.

Following the centerpiece giveaway we began formal dances. Note the white dots swirling around the floor? That’s part of the Enhanced Dance Floor Lighting package which contains separate lights for slow dances as well as open dancing time.

First dance: 98 Degrees – I Do (Cherish You)

Cake Cutting: Blessed – Christina Aguilera

Garter Toss: Tie Me Down – New Boyz

Bouquet Toss: Single Ladies – Beyonce

For those that know Asian tradition, weddings usually incorporate games. See my blog of the Perez’s wedding for an explanation of the history and significance of Asian wedding games. Since Tu and Anna didn’t have any games planned out, I threw in one of own… the wedding-appropriate, entertaining, and always successful– Shoe Game!

After the Shoe Game, the dance floor was opened. Although dancing occurred to a lot of genres, I have to say the biggest hits of the night were the current club hits. Anna and her friends were all over that floor!

Phong and Anna chose to keep the energy high during the last song.

Last Song: DJ Got Us Fallin’ In Love – Usher

After such a successful wedding I always make sure to get a picture with the happy bride and groom, but this time I had it done by a professional using the photobooth!

Congratulations to Tu and Anna and their families, and thanks for giving me the opportunity to be a part of your special night!

Bali Hai – Little Wedding

Client: Sarah (Yslas) and Curtis Little
Venue: Bali Hai – South Pacific Room and Bayside Patio
Venue Address: 2230 Shelter Island Drive, San Diego, CA 92106
Number of guests: Approximately 50
Services Provided: Wedding DJ and Master of Ceremonies, Wedding Video Montage Projection, Uplighting, Monogram Creation and Projection
Photographers: RHS Photo (Richard)
Linens: All Seasons Party Rentals
Officiant: Reverend Renate Daversa
Florist: Point Loma Village Florist (Nancy)
Cake: Flour Power

In June, Sarah Yslas contacted me to DJ her wedding. We discussed details over email since she was stationed out of state at the time. She showed particular interest in the monogram and uplighting, which I think was the main attraction to my services in the first place. Being that she was unable to meet in person, I instead scheduled a meeting with her fiancee, Curtis Little. Curtis and I met and instantly hit it off. Besides similar music tastes, we shared conversations of iPhones, Camaros (we both own one), and numerous other similar interests. Of course, we also discussed several details of their wedding, and Curtis was able to give me a good insight into what they were looking for, as well as the things that Sarah would be interested in. After a great meeting, we parted ways and I hit up Sarah a day later to get her input.

Amazingly enough, Curtis was spot-on when it came to Sarah’s tastes! If he said she wouldn’t care about it, she didn’t care about it. If he said she’d definitely be interested, she was absolutely interested. He really knows her well!

Sarah had distinct ideas about what she wanted for her monogram. Most DJ services only have the ability to get a monogram made from list of templates, but this wouldn’t do for Sarah. She was interested in a very unique monogram. She wanted Hawaiian flowers (Hibiscus) with butterflies of different sizes peppered throughout. Lucky for her I do monograms from scratch! I had her send me several pictures and ideas she liked, and we ended up finding one that fit the bill– A combination of butterfly made in the image of the hibiscus flower! Here’s the final design I sent off to be built. Note that it uses gradients, therefore cannot be done using laser-cut metal, so Sarah went with a glass gobo. I rarely have the opportunity to do glass gobos (they are twice as expensive as metal) so I was delighted at this opportunity.

On Nov 7th, 2010, I arrived early and set up the equipment and lighting.

My equipment. Clean and professional as always.

Table underlighting.

A unique method of displaying the monogram– I projected it through the linens of the cake table. It looked great, as you can see here.

The ceremony was held at Bali Hai’s Bayside Patio. I like to be as out-of-the-scene as possible, so I used a 50ft extension cord to position myself out of the picture.

I also positioned a speaker in the direct center of the ceremony site, hidden in the foilage. A very discrete setup, in my opinion.

The ceremony was short and sweet. Sarah and Curtis both had custom vows made to say to each other, which was nice.

Guests seating (Prelude): Various string quartet
Flower Girl and Ring Bearer (dog): “Kisses and Cake” by John Powell (from P.S. I Love You)
Bridesmaids/Groomsmen entrance: “Only Time” by Enya (from Sweet November)
Bride entrance: “To Get Me to You” by Lila McCann (from Hope Floats)
Recessional: “Forrest Gump Theme” by Alan Silvestri (from Forrest Gump)

Cocktail hour was done in the patio area. For this section, I played Hawaiian and island-themed music.

Grand Entrance: Black Eyed Peas – I Gotta Feeling

Directly after Grand Entrance we began lunch. Towards the end of lunch, Sarah gave a tribute to her mom, who had recently passed away. After her speech, I played a tribute song as well.

Tribute to Mom: Carrie Underwood – Mama’s Song

We then began a video montage that was created by one of Sarah’s bridesmaids. I used my projector and screen, and even though it was daytime, the power of the projector I used was able to display the images clear and vibrant. I combined some pictures to hopefully give an idea of the layout and interest of the guests.

After the montage was done, I did a “seated introduction” of the bridal party, asking each person to stand up as their name was called. The introductions ended with the best man, which segued nicely into toasts, beginning with him. After toasts, we began the First Dance.

First Dance: Edwin McCain – I’ll Be

Father Daughter Dance: Heartland – I Loved Her First

Following the Father Daughter dance, I invited Sarah and her bridesmaids to the floor to perform their version of the Evolution of Dance. Sarah and I had worked together to put together this megamix of popular line dance songs, which took about four versions of my remixes to get just right. She then got together with her bridesmaids and they practiced a choreographed routine to the mix. Here’s some pictures of their dance.

I set up a video recorder to capture the dance as well. It’s not perfect, but still manages to capture a lot of the energy.

We had a short amount of time for open dance, and unfortunately I didn’t get any pictures of it…

After the wedding I did manage to grab the bride and groom for a post-reception picture before they went out front for their grand exit in a limousine.

Congratulations to Sarah and Curtis Little, and thanks for having me along on your special day. And special thanks to Curtis for introducing me to a very cool way to display monograms that I will be demonstrating to future clients!

Winter Residence – Wedding of Amber and Billy Winter Brothers

Client: Amber (Morgan) and Billy Winter
Venue: <Private Residence>
Venue Address: <withheld>
Number of guests: Approximately 135
Services Provided: Wedding DJ and Master of Ceremonies, Monogram Lighting, Dance Floor Lighting

Catering: Personal Touch Dining
Photography: Aaron Shintaku
Photo booth: Rob Young
Makeup: Gale Alexander
Flowers: Allens Flowers
Cake: Flour Power

In August of 2010 Amber Morgan contacted me through a referral and after talking for a bit on the phone we arranged to meet at her parents’ house, which also served as the wedding venue. While there, we surveyed the property and determined information like where power would come from and where the ceremony system should be set up. They were interested in venue lighting, and since they had palm trees I suggested that they use uplighting on these to complement their wedding colors. I also showed them alternate string quartet ideas for their wedding ceremony. A few days later they contacted me and were booked their date.

An interesting thing occurred during the time that they booked and their wedding– They had some landscaping done to the backyard, and because of this they didn’t think the uplighting idea was the best way to go. They contact me and asked if they could change their contract and use the money they had contracted towards uplighting to get a monogram gobo instead. Being flexible I had no problem with this, but we were only a week and a few days away from the wedding so we had to move fast. I sent them some ideas, they chose a template and a font, and I designed their monogram within a day and had it sent off to my vendors (Inlight gobos) with a rush shipping order. I was of course a bit worried it wouldn’t arrive on time, but sure enough it arrived a few days before their wedding and everything worked out well. Phew!

The ceremony area was the front yard and it was spacious and lovely. I was especially excited about my set up for the ceremony because they had a patio walkway up near the house which I was able to set up at. I always enjoy being able to set up in a spot where my equipment won’t ruin any of the ceremony photos and still can deliver great sound.

Their wedding ceremony music:

Seating: String Quartet
Parents and bridemaids: Yiruma – River Flows In You
Bride’s entrance: Michelle Featherstone – We are man and wife
Recessional: Coldplay – Clocks

For the cocktails and reception, guests were directed to the backyard, which was also really spacious and perfect for an outdoor wedding reception.

Along with dance floor lighting I also set up their monogram, and when the sun went down it looked great on the side wall.

For their Grand Entrance, we used a combination of Black Eyed Peas – I Got A Feeling instrumental and vocal version.

After a round of applause we began dinner.

Following dinner, we began toasts.

First dance: DJ Sammy and Yanou- Heaven (candlelight version)

Father Daughter dance: Tim McGraw- My little girl

Mother Son Dance: Rascal Flatts- My wish

After the formal dances, we began open dancing. After a short set, we took a break for some more formal events.

Cake cutting song: Def Leppard – Pour Some Sugar on Me

Bouquet Toss: Beyonce – Single Ladies
Garter Toss: Flo-rida- Right Round

I then surprised them with a little game called the ‘Shoe Game’. It was a total hit, and the guests loved it as well.

After the game, we went back to the dancing. My sets were a lot of fun, I did sets of everything from top4o and 90s hip-hop to 80s electropop (Talk Talk and Depeche Mode). Amber, Billy, and guests enjoyed the music so much that they extended the contract and had me play for an extra two hours!

Some pictures from the night:

At the end of the night (this ended up being an 8-hour wedding!) I made sure to hit up Amber and Billy for a post-reception picture. Some parents and friends got involved as well…

And here’s one with just Amber and Billy. It was kind of funny… seems my clients are starting to pay attention to my style and techniques, because Billy came over to me at the end of the night and said, “You like to take a picture at the end of the night, right? Well, I can now say I will allow you to take that picture!”

Congratulations to Billy and Amber Winter and their families. I hope you and your guests had as good of a night as I did! Best wishes for years of happiness to come.