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!