Lomas Santa Fe Solana Beach Wedding DJ – Pearce and Danielle Tucker

Client: Pearce and Danielle Tucker
Venue: Lomas Santa Fe Country Club
Venue Address: 1505 Lomas Santa Fe Drive, Solana Beach, CA 92075

Number of guests: 200+
Services Provided: Wedding DJ and Master of Ceremonies, Enhanced Dance Floor Lighting, Monogram Gobo Lighting, Event Uplighting, Underlighting

On-site Coordinator: Michelle and David from Lomas Santa Fe Country Club
Photobooth: Mobile Photobooth (Francisco)
Officiant: Ceremonies by Bethel
Photography: Aaron Willcox Photography
Florist: Posy Peddler
Bakery: Flour Power

Here’s an interesting origins tale. I received a call from a preschool called, “La Jolla Children’s Learning Lab.” They needed someone to DJ an after-school dance for their school. We negotiated rates and I DJ’d the event. I really had no idea what to expect going in, so I started off playing some more ‘listening music’ and gradually moved into dance tunes when people started dancing. There were a lot of dance and game activities that they asked me to emcee, and I had a good time getting everyone active and energetic!

Before I even got home from the event that night, an email was waiting for me, which I’ll only show an excerpt of.

“My name is Danielle and we just met at the Preschool where you were DJing. I think you did a great job of playing music that really got people involved and dancing and I was wondering if you could send me a little more information on your services for weddings.”

Wow, talk about a quick inquiry! We made arrangements to meet and discussed the details of their wedding. It was nice to not really have to try to demonstrate knowledge of music because Danielle had already watched me perform and Pearce of course trusted Danielle. So, we just worked on ideas for the finer details, and then parted ways. They booked, and we didn’t meet again until a few weeks before their big day.

Pearce and Danielle wanted a monogram gobo projected on the dance floor so I sent them a few catalogs of my trusted vendors and they chose a nice style, which looked like this before putting their names into it:

Ceremony

On the day of their wedding, I arrived at Lomas Santa Fe and set up my equipment. The staff on-hand was extremely helpful. I would like to especially thank David, the banquet captain, for his efforts in helping me with reception room setup. They really do a lot to make the vendors feel welcome at Lomas Santa Fe.

Typically ceremonies at Lomas Santa Fe are held on the putting green, but Danielle and Pearce’s was at the first hole. This made for a fun series of events including the wedding party and bride being introduced as they rode golf carts which stopped at the beginning of the altar walkway.

Wedding party introduction:

Bride’s march:

Ceremonies By Bethel:

A handfasting ceremony! I love these fun touches, and the handfasting ceremony especially.  When they pulled their hands free, the bindings formed a knot symbolizing their commitment entwined.

Ceremony music:

Seating (Prelude): Vitamin & Tallywood String Quartet
Parents Seating: Pachebel – Canon in D
Bridal Party Entrance: Jason Mraz – I’m Yours
Bride Entrance: Israel Kamakawiwo’ole – Somewhere Over The Rainbow
Recessional: Chris Brown – Forever

Reception Setup

As mentioned above, Pearce and Danielle’s monogram was placed on the dance floor. Their particular one was set to rotate slowly creating a really nice effect.

I did underlighting on their tables to create a beautiful underglow effect. Note that this is only recommended with LED uplighting. I’m using some of the newest state-of-the-art uplighting with 4x the brightness of standard uplights, and they really do a great job with underlighting as you can see here.

Being hockey fans, their cake topper definitely was branded to their personality.

Events

A welcome toast was given by the father of the bride, Dave.

First dance: Alan Jackson – Like Red On A Rose

Toasts:

Father Daughter Dance: Frank Sinatra – The Way You Look Tonight

Mother Son Dance: Louis Armstrong – What A Wonderful World

Dancing

To begin our open dancing, Danielle herself got on the mic, dedicated a song to two couples who were having their anniversaries on their same date, and invited all couples to join them for a slow dance.

Dual anniversary tribute dance: Alan Jackson – Remember When

And then they danced…

…and danced…

And kept on dancing!

Post-Reception

We had a great night full of events and dancing. I did sets of 90s, 80s, 70s, and some top40 as well. I honestly didn’t find the top40 going as well as the 90s and early 2000s throwbacks though!

A post-reception photo of the happy newlyweds with myself:

Congratulations to Pearce and Danielle Tucker, and thanks for trusting in The Creative Music DJ to provide the entertainment and event management for your special day!

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!

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!