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!

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!

San Diego Botanic Gardens – Blazevich Wedding

Client: Karen and John Blazevich
Venue: San Diego Botanic Gardens – Walled Garden and The Victorian Gazebo
Venue Address: 230 Quail Gardens Drive, Encinitas CA
Number of guests: Approximately 170
Services Provided: Wedding DJ and Master of Ceremonies, Dance Floor Lighting, Wedding Video Montage Creation, Wedding Video Montage Projection

Wedding Coordinator: InStyle Event Planning (Shellie Ferrer)
Invitations: InStyle Event Planning (Amanda Hallock)
Photographers: Debora Barreto and Debra Henry
Videography: Adam Bledsoe
Officiant: The Honorable Vincent J. Brown
Guitarist: Miles Moynier
Cake: VG Donuts and Bakery

In July, Karen and John Blazevich contacted me to DJ their wedding. We met to discuss details, and they were very excited that I knew the San Diego Botanic Gardens well so I could help them with ideas on how to best have a reception there. They also planned to use a live guitarist for ceremony and cocktail hour, but wanted my package of ceremony PA and microphone to use for their wedding ceremony.

The ceremony was held in the Walled Garden. I set up a wireless microphone and speaker which worked well for their needs.

Immediately after the ceremony, John and Karen left in a Rolls Royce to take pictures at the beach.

Cocktail hour was done in the Victorian Gazebo area, and the first hour was done by Miles Moynier.

Once Miles was finished, I took over for a bit since John and Karen were not back from the beach yet. For this venue, I used a JBL Eon speaker with my DJ Skirt equipment dressing. Due to venue sound restrictions, this was ample sound for their needs and conformed well with venue sound policies. I also set up a projector using a belly bar table in preparation for their wedding video montage.

Grand Entrance (Bridal Party): The Beatles – All You Need Is Love
Grand Entrance (Bride and Groom): James Brown – Get On Up

After a round of applause we began dinner. Following dinner, we started toasts.

Best man toast:

First Dance: Ben Harper – Forever

Video of the first dance (provided by Kristen Blazevich, John’s sister who also provided many of the pictures in this blog)

Father Daughter Dance: Temptations – My Girl

Mother Son: Barry Manilow – I Am Your Child
Stepmother Son: Frank Sinatra – The Way You Look Tonight

John and Karen took advantage of my video montage creation service, where they sent me digital pictures and I put them together into an incredibly vibrant montage video. Here’s a picture of them and their guests enjoying the montage. For some reason my clients who pick this venue always seem to want my montage creation service too, and it always goes over wonderfully!

And when we got to open dance… wow! Packed dance floor is an understatement. You can see in the pictures that people were dancing on the sides and off of the dance floor. That’s what I call a good dance floor!

After a while we took a break for cake cutting and tosses.

Cake Cutting: U2 – The Sweetest Thing

Bouquet toss: Beyonce – Single Ladies

<no picture of this yet>

Garter toss: Marvin Gaye – Let’s Get It On

Back to open dancing…

Great dance floor, huh?

After the reception was over, I got a picture with the wedding coordinators (Shellie Ferrer and Lacy Hunter) and myself. Shellie has since contacted me about some clients next year that are looking for a great DJ, so I know I’ll be seeing her and Lacy again soon.

And of course, my post-reception picture with the happy bride and groom. I asked John what him and his guests thought of my performance, his reply was, “I don’t think there was a single song that we didn’t enjoy. We gave you what? 12 songs? And you nailed it with the rest of them!”

I thought maybe one of my song choices wasn’t the best, but I’ll happily go with ‘the customer is always right’ especially when the customer’s claim is better than my own!

Congratulations to the Blazevichs’ and their families. I truly had a blast being a part of your most special day.

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.

Sheraton Carlsbad – Wedding of Matt and Pamela

Client: Pamela and Matt
Venue: Sheraton Carlsbad
Venue Address: 5480 Grand Pacific Drive, Carlsbad, CA 92008
Number of guests: Approximately 135
Services Provided: Wedding DJ and Master of Ceremonies, Event Uplighting

Venue Coordinator: Sarah Sargent
Wedding Coordinator: La Belle Vie (Aimee-Marie Betz) (949) 378-4934
Catering: Twenty/20 Bar & Grill (Sheraton Hotel)
Photography: Luminaire Images (Molly and Matt)
Flowers: Moments in Bloom
Makeup: Gale Alexander
Hair: Penny Anderson
Cake: Vi Pham
Stationary designs: Fab Unique Designs

In December of 2009 Matt and Pamela contacted me and after a bit of discussion we arranged to meet at their wedding venue (Sheraton Carlsbad) to discuss details. I’ve worked at the Sheraton Carlsbad many times, but I had never done a wedding reception in the Palm Courtyard, so it was a good opportunity to review the site and offer suggestions based on what I saw. Since the Palm Courtyard has several palm trees, my first suggestion was that they utilize these trees to add ambiance to their reception through the use of uplighting. I also suggested rope lighting for the entire courtyard in order to give the guests enough light to enjoy their meals properly. They also planned to use a live band for ceremony, but I showed them a couple alternative ceremony ideas in case they changed their mind.

They took a while to make their decision, but in January 2010 they contacted me and booked me for their reception AND their ceremony!

The ceremony was beautiful. It was held on the Ocean Blue Lawn with the seating arranged in a semi-circle. I personally thought it was a very elegant look, but you be the judge.

And here’s a picture provided by Luminaire Images, who graciously provided many of the photos you’ll see in this post.

Their wedding ceremony music:

Seating: String Quartet
Parents and bridemaids: John Mayer – The Heart of Life
Bride’s entrance: David Gray – This Year’s Love (instrumental)
Recessional: U2 – Beautiful Day

Cocktail hour was done in the Palms Courtyard, and consisted of ‘Rat Pack’ swing tunes. For this venue, I used my new JBL Eon speaker set with the equipment dressing that Creative Music DJs is known for using to create that clean, professional look.

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. Here’s a picture of their amazing sweethearts table.

A close up of the flowers provided by Moments In Bloom.

Stationery provided by Fab Unique Designs.

And the tables…

Following dinner, we began toasts.

Here’s a photo of the Best Man getting a hug after his speech.

First dance: Michael Buble – Feeling Good

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

Mother Son Dance: Ben E. King – Stand By Me

<Pictures removed at the request of the Bride and Groom>

Right about the time that open dancing started, the sun went down and the photographers got a great shot of the venue and my uplighting.

Cake Cutting: Bob Marley – Is This Love

As for the dancing at this event… well let’s just let the pictures describe it.

and…

We paused dancing for a bit to do bouquet and garter tosses. Luminaire Images provided pics for these which I greatly appreciate because I never am able to use a camera when I’m on the microphone managing these tosses!

Bouquet Toss: Beyonce – Single Ladies

Garter Toss: The Commodores – Brick House

Matt before tossing the garter…

Dancing continued at full swing until the end of the reception. As I ended the last song there were chants of “one more song!” over and over, but because it was an outdoor reception, the management wouldn’t allow it and we had to respect that. Matt and Pamela had me announce that the party was moving to the bar, and we ended the reception. But, not until after I caught up with them for my signature post-reception picture!

Congratulations to Matt and Pamela Brothers and their families. Thanks for inviting me along on one of the most important days of your life. Best wishes for years to come!

Villa De Flores – Tiffany and Pierre Heremans Wedding

Client: Tiffany (Athie) and Pierre Heremans
Venue: Villa De Flores
Venue Address: <withheld by request of venue owner>
Venue Coordinator: Shellene

Number of guests: approximately 110
Services Provided: Wedding DJ and Master of Ceremonies, Dance Floor Lighting, Additional Wireless Speakers
Wedding Coordination: Jenna
Photography: Creative Photography
Catering: Chef DK Catering

In February of this year, Tiffany Athie contacted me via referral and asked me some questions about DJing their wedding. After some brief correspondence we agreed to meet and further discuss details. During this meeting, it was disclosed that they and their guests were into club and electronic music and we ended up talking for a half-hour alone on our favorite techno tracks (both current and 90s)! Our meeting was very enjoyable, and after discussing options and packages, they decided to go with dancefloor lighting, and a secondary set of wireless speakers for their cocktail hour. Interestingly enough, they were planning on using a live band for ceremony, but once I showed them some creative ideas for their ceremony, they decided to discuss it more. A few days later they made the decision to use my services for ceremony as well.

Tiffany and Pierre chose Villa De Flores as their wedding venue. Villa De Flores is a beautiful garden venue in Rancho Santa Fe with several areas of lovely landscapes, and makes a wonderful wedding location.

Tiffany and Pierre’s ceremony was beautiful.It was held in the lower area of Villa De Flores. The areas are not named, as far as I know, but I would call this the lower patio.

Their music:

Seating: Vitamin String Quartet
Parents and bridemaids: Bach – Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring
Bride’s entrance: Wagner – Bridal March (Strings version)
Recessional: Bob Marley – Is This Love

After their ceremony, guests were directed to the upper area of Villa De Flores for cocktails. Per their request, an additional speaker was wirelessly receiving audio from my main system, so guests enjoyed the same cocktail music that was being played in the main reception area. It was a very elite effect, having the same music being played everywhere you went, even though the speakers were well over 100 feet away!

After cocktail hour, we invited everyone down to the main reception area where they were able to enjoy some more dining music while relaxing in comfortable chairs or luxurious white leather couches. The decor was fabulous and very tasteful.

And of course, my equipment was set up clean and tasteful as well, even going so far as to match the colors with my white vinyl.

Introductions went well. The wedding party entered from the cocktail area, and since the wireless speaker was still set up, they had no problem hearing the cues and knowing when to make their entrance. In retrospect, this was another advantage to the secondary speaker idea.

Wedding Party Introductions: JXL vs. Elvis Presley – A little less conversation
Bride And Groom Introduction: Right Said Fred – I’m Too Sexy

Immediately after introductions Pierre and Tiffany had their first dance.

First Dance: Norah Jones – Come away with me

Following their first dance, toasts began. Speeches were short and sweet, first by Tiffany’s Maid of Honor, Margoux, then by the team of groomsmen who delivered one short phrase in spanish with each groomsman saying one word of the phrase.

Catering was provided by Chef DK (Dave Krohn). Tiffany is quite a chef herself and since their guests were from all over the globe she wanted food of all types for her wedding. The variety was amazing, and I took pictures just to give my readers an idea of Chef DK’s offerings.

Chef DK’s asian station. Stir fry, sushi, and fortune cookies. And to top it off, centerpieces with live fish in them!

Chef DK’s Italian station. Lasagna (both vegetarian and meat-filled), salad, pastas, and fresh pizza.

Chef DK’s mexican station. Several types of salsas, tortillas, several meats.

After dinner, we did more formal dances.

Father (Vicente)/Daughter: T. Carter Music – Daddy’s Angel

Mother (Annette)/Son Dance: Stevie Wonder – You are the sunshine of my life

And a special brother & sister (Cathy) dance: The Pretenders – I’ll stand by you

After formal dances, we opened the dance floor. These guests really loved to dance! The dance floor was full all night long. There were props to hand out such as glow sticks, wrestler masks, and joker hats, and certain songs that complemented the props. For instance, I played No Rompas Mi Corazon while everyone donned cowboy hats.

Even when I announced cake cutting, one group of guests didn’t leave the floor. When I asked them what they were doing, they replied, “Reserving our spot! You keep playing songs like the ones you’ve been playing, and this is where we are going to dance all night!”

After a while, we took a break for cake cutting, bouquet toss, and garter toss. I wish I had pictures for these events, but I have to run them so I can never get pictures! One fun thing to note: For the bouquet toss, we gave out light-up rings and veils for the single ladies to wear. Man, I need an assistant to capture moments like those!

Once tosses were done and guests were enjoying cake, donuts, rolls, and other assorted pastries and candy, I surprised the bride and groom with the ‘shoe game’. It seemed like a good opportunity to get everyone excited again, and it went over really well! I’ll have to hit them up and get their review. Once the shoe game was done we opened the dance floor again. This time, I took the music to a different level, playing songs from their request list along with songs that complemented their guests tastes. It was a very fun set, consisting of house, club, electro, 90s techno, and a lot of rock. Some artists that got played were Benny Benassi, Venga Boys, ATB, Scorpions, Eddie Money, and Global Deejays. Since the guest list was largely hispanic, many spanish tunes and club reggaeton found their way to the speakers, and there was also a cumbias set with Kumbias Kings, Cumbias Del Mileno, Juanes, and La Onda.

Dancing ended at 10pm on the dot, per venue rules. Guests were yelling encore and “one more song!” but due to venue regulations I knew it would be a breach of contract for Pierre and Tiffany if I obliged, so I politely declined. Shortly after, a party bus arrived to take everyone to their hotels, and before they left I took an opportunity to get one last picture with the bride and groom.

Congratulations to Mr. and Mrs. Pierre and Tiffany Heremans and their families. It was an honor to be a part of your most special day!

E l Cortez – Barbolla Wedding

Client: Andrew and Carmen Barbolla
Venue: El Cortez – Don Room
Venue Address: 702 Ash Street, Suite A, San Diego, CA 92101

Number of guests: approximately 150
Services Provided: Wedding DJ and Master of Ceremonies, Enhanced Dance Floor Lighting, Wedding Video Montage

Wedding Coordination: Kelly Hath

This was the first of two weddings I had this week.

Carmen Mosley and Andrew Barbolla contacted me in May to inquire about wedding services. They were getting married at El Cortez, and wanted someone who could DJ and MC, knew their genres of music (70s disco & 80s funk, as well as current hits and some latin). Carmen was out of town but arranged a phone meeting with her fiancee. After talking with him, they decided to book with me.

Months later, Carmen returned to San Diego and arranged to meet in-person. At that time she learned about my wedding video montage creation service and decided to add it on to their package. For those that are not aware, I provide a service where clients can give me up to 100 pictures and I will create their montage for them, using professional video editing software to create eye-catching montages complete with custom transitions, including effects such as ken burns and book zoom. At the wedding I will then project the created montage using high-powered projectors and large projector screens.

When I arrived at El Cortez, the band that was scheduled to play had already taken up their spot. I set up my system next to theirs, and placed my speakers on either side of the stairs. Because of the shape of the room (octagonal, and rather round), bass has to be kept minimal or else you get an echo effect that ruins the sound. I set my subwoofer on “1″ and it seemed to work great.

Since I use vinyl, many times I like to ask my clients what their wedding colors are and try to match their decor with a similar shade of vinyl. They told me that their main color was purple so I brought my purple vinyl. What they didn’t mention was that their secondary color was a brownish orange. How fateful it was that the labels to my purple vinyls were almost the exact same shade! I couldn’t have planned it any better if I had tried. Check it out!

For ceremony, Carmen and Andrew went with a string quartet.

Seating Music: Brandenburg Concerto No. 3
Processional Bridal Party Music: Three Divertimenti
Bride’s Processional Music: Pachelbel’s Canon in D
Recessional Music: Eine Kleine Nachtmusik

After ceremony, guests went outside to enjoy a cocktail hour while I played some light listening music for anyone who might venture inside.

Introductions went well, as Carmen and Andrew chose to only have themselves introduced as “Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Barbolla”.

Dinner began, and afterwards we started toasts. This is when the rest of the bridal party was introduced. Toasts were done in the following order.

Best Man: Dennis Kavanagh
Matron of Honor: Vivian Boos
Father of Bride: Jerome Mosley
Mother of Groom: Diane Barbolla
Bridesmaid: Danielle Egan

After toasts, we began dances. Instead of using my camera, I let my video recorder run and recorded the dances. Here’s some frames from the video I captured.

First Dance Music: Adele – Make You Feel My Love

Father/Daughter Music: Frank Sinatra – The Way You Look Tonight

Mother/Son Music: Toby Lightman – Better 

 Halfway through the dance, the groom switched to dancing with his grandmother, and the Best Man graciously took over dancing with his mom.

..

After the dances it was time for open dancing, and this was a good dance group. They shuffled their feet to 70′s, 80′s, even some 50′s.

After about 45 minutes, it was time for their friend’s band to play. They were known as Bedford Grove, and had a blues/folk sound to them. They played for about 45 mins, and then turned the dance floor back over to me. They were actually really cool people, and when they weren’t playing they were on the dance floor getting their groove on. One of two of them even made some requests, and I was able to get one of their requests into my set.

I started my second set, but with a twist. The bride and groom had arranged a “crazy half hour” in which I brought a pre-planned bag of props to the dance floor, dumped them all out, and told guests to grab whatever they wanted because we were about to do a bunch of follow-along songs in the next “crazy half hour”. The guests loved it, and it was fun to watch them dance wearing masks, hats, and other assorted apparel. I mixed songs like a madman, weaving through all the classics (cheesy and non-cheesy), and watching the dancefloor with amusement. After the crazy half hour was up, I transitioned into some good dance music and kept the floor going with guests who were even more enthusiastic than the first set. So enthusiastic, in fact, that when it came time for cake cutting, bouquet toss, and garter toss, they asked if they could just do the cake cutting and then skip the rest so they could dance more. I had no problem honoring that request.

I actually have video of the dancing, including the “crazy half hour”. I will post it up as soon as I go through it.

Cake cutting was done to a combination of Rathergood’s “Cake” and Eileen Barton’s “If I knew you were coming (I’d have baked a cake)”.

Open dancing commenced and they danced right up til the very end, after which Carmen and Andrew were happy to pose with me for a post-reception picture. I love the fact that she still has on her mask from the crazy half hour! As a matter of fact, she never took it off during the whole time after that half hour. I think she even has it on in her cake cutting photos, but I haven’t received any to verify that yet!

Morgan Run – Hanssen Wedding

Client: Laura [maiden name: Healey] and Greg Hanssen
Venue: Morgan Run – French Country Ballroom and Morgan Patio
Venue Address: 5690 Cancha de Golf, Rancho Santa Fe, CA 92091

Number of guests: approximately 112
Services Provided: Wedding DJ and Master of Ceremonies, Enhanced Dance Floor Lighting, Wedding Video Montage, Additional Wireless Speaker System

Wedding Coordination: Creative Music DJs
Photography: Katie Carney Photography
Caterer: Morgan Run

Teresa Healey contacted me in February to inquire about wedding services. I responded, and a few days later Laura sent me an e-mail. The inquiry was actually for her wedding, and her sister was helping find the right DJ. What I found most interesting about Laura’s response is that along with asking me if I was still available, she had already gone ahead and filled out a decent portion of my wedding planning worksheet! Then and there I knew that this was going to be a good fit, since I like order and detail, and this showed both!

Laura doesn’t live in San Diego any more, though this is her ‘home’. Because of this, a physical meeting was not possible until much later, but we met over the phone and determine that we were a good fit for each other. They booked, and then Laura contacted me in June to meet in person and go over finer details. It was at this time I learned that due to the capacity of the room vs. the number of guests (they were over capacity) they were going to have the dance floor outside. In cases like this, I recommend my additional wireless speaker option, which allows me to transmit the same sound from my main speaker to a second set of speaker far away, all wirelessly. Since my main system was going to be outside, yet dinner, toasts and cake cutting were going to be inside, it really just made sense to have it. Laura agreed and we added the option to her package. Oh also, she had a special request on her worksheet– No hip-hop or rap. Later I found out why. Their families were very Christian! No problem, I welcomed the challenge.

On the day of Laura and Greg’s wedding, I arrived early and set up outside and inside.

The Hanssens’ placeholders were cork and their belly bar centerpieces were clear, so I went with the clear Serato ScratchLive vinyl to complement it.

The wireless speaker system worked great. Announcements were heard loud and clean, including bridal party and the bride and groom. In this shot, you can see toasts being done, and to the right a speaker receiving a wireless signal. Keep in mind that my main system is beyond the far wall that you can see, and past the patio!

Announcements went well. The bridal party was announced in the following order:

Teresa Healey / Jason Langley
Zeynep Eroglu / Zack Crafton
Lei Liew / John Searby
Marie Paschal / Jack Hanssen
Megan Tocci / Mark Hanssen
Jade Nguyen/Tom Gabriel
Lisa Fiegenschue / Joe Fiegenschue
Charlie Tarone

After dinner, toasts, and cake cutting, guests moved outside where the rest of the activities took place.

First dance (Can’t Help Falling In Love – Elvis Presley)

Father/Daughter Dance – Butterfly Kisses (Bob Carlisle)

Mother/Son Dance – What A Wonderful World (Louis Armstrong)

Afterwards we did a bit of open dancing, then an Anniversary dance. The winning couple (Laura’s grandparents) have been married for 55 years! In tribute of this accomplishment we did another slow dance to the same song they danced to on their wedding night: La Vie En Rose (Louis Armstrong)

Afterwards, we went back to open dancing and everyone danced the night away. During the last dance, I took a picture of the remaining guests, as I like to use the amount to gauge my success. To my surprise, I’m able to count over 70 people in this picture! How’s that for a good night?

Afterwards, I took the opportunity to get a picture with Laura and Greg.

Congratulations to Laura and Greg and their families, and thanks to both for selecting me to help them plan and coordinate their special night!

Addendum: I received an email from Laura about a week and a half after their wedding:

Hi Dennis,