In October of 2010 Eve and Lori of Bridal Insider contacted me to discuss the opportunity to provide lighting for their upcoming event, “An Evening At Mt. Woodson.” As many know, this year I was a featured vendor on Bridal Insider’s blogs, and they also featured one of my blogs on their ‘Real Weddings’ listings. Knowing that I’m knowledgeable with lighting, they asked if I could demonstrate lighting ideas, and I was happy to oblige.
The event took place on November 17th, 2010. To be able to effective demonstrate the flexibility of modern state-of-the-art lighting techniques, I set up 12 uplights in the Castle’s front patio area. For my more technical readers, they were all connected via DMX cable which then fed into a laptop. From the laptop, I was able to control the lights in many different ways. I spent days before the event creating different creative color patterns which changed with a click of a button. When I wasn’t consulting with a guest, I would pick a random ‘scene’ that I had set up and let the lights do their thing. When guests came over to talk, I would show them my ability to change the color of the lights instantly.
Here’s a couple pictures and some video from the event.
For those considering Mt Woodson Castle for their venue, I highly recommend good use of lighting. As you can see, it can really change the way the venue looks.
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
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.
