San Vicente Wedding – Jaime and Kelly

Venue: San Vicente Golf Resort
Venue Address: 24157 San Vicente Road, Ramona, CA 92065
Number of guests: Approximately 80
Services Provided: Wedding DJ and Master of Ceremonies, Basic Dance Floor Lighting, Ceremony DJ

Event Coordinator: Joyce Whehelon
Wedding Coordinator: Lindsey Smith [lrsmith31@yahoo.com, (760) 484-2767]
Photography: Photography By Shayna
Cake: Flour Power
Florist: Rene Engel
Officiant: Pastor Eric with Mountain View Church

Jaime and Kelly had their wedding at San Vicente Golf Resort in Ramona, CA. For those that have not visited this resort, it has a few interesting features. One is the location of the ceremony site. Unlike most golf resorts which have the site at the first hole or in a separate area altogether, San Vicente Golf Resort has their ceremony site at Hole 18. Take a look at this view to understand why!

On their wedding day  I arrived and set up equipment for the reception in their ballroom and their ceremony at Hole 18. I must let you know, the staff at San Vicente are some of the most accommodating I’ve ever worked with. Seriously… ever. No matter what I needed they were there to help with it, and for the setup of the ceremony they even handed me the keys to a golf cart and just let me do what I needed to and return it when I was done. I even kept it during my set up for the reception (I would rather work on setup and make sure everything is ready to go than take some time to return a cart, if it’s possible to do so) and there was not one complaint or request to return it quickly. Simply put, I love to work with the staff of this resort and want to thank them profusely for making me feel as welcome as they did.  Okay, enough gushing…

Guests were escorted to the ceremony area by golf cart. A number of them were commenting on how fun and exciting that experience was during the seating time. I can’t blame them for that… I think riding in a golf cart is pretty fun myself. Driving one alone is even more fun!

Ceremony Prelude (Guest Seating): Vitamin String Quartet
Ceremony Processional (Bridesmaids): Michael Soloway – Canon In D
Ceremony Processional (Bridal March): Jason Mraz & Colbie Caillet – Lucky
Ceremony Recessional: Jason Mraz – I’m Yours

You’ll notice the photographer Shayna was on the ground getting the perfect vertical shot of the moment. She contributed most of the photos I will showcase here which can be discerned by her watermark.

After ceremony was over, guests were escorted by golf cart to the reception area where they mingled about while the wedding party did group photos.

The reception room was on the small side, and really tested my audio tech experience. I asked the staff how the other DJs normally position equipment, but got answers that were rather well… incorrect. I heard of one DJ putting one speaker in the corner aimed at the dance floor, and another across the room facing inwards towards the first speaker. Anyone with sound technician knowledge will recognize this as a bad thing. The sound frequencies will collide with each other and cancel each other out, creating a ‘hole’ of sound in the center of the room. After hearing some stories, I opted for the one method I knew would work well… a single speaker on a subwoofer base. My single speakers are 1000 watts, plenty of sound for this size reception room. After I set it up and gave it a test run, even the staff were impressed with the sound I was able to deliver. “Use the right equipment for the right event.” Overkill may be impressive to some, but using the right gear and providing the right sound is impressive to most!

Cocktail hour music was a blend of Hidden Beach jazz and old school funk and jazz from my personal collection. One thing to note– During the cocktail hour the coordinator came over and remarked, “This is the perfect cocktail music!”. Admittedly, it’s one of my favorite genres to use for cocktail hour, but I can do wonders with lots of other genres as well.

After cocktail hour we of course started with the Grand Entrance. Sorry, I was too busy to take pics for this one, and didn’t get one from Shayna to display.

Grand Entrance: Beyonce – Halo

Immediately after Grand Entrance, we started their first dance.

First Dance: Lauryn Hill – Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You

They then did a combination Father Daughter and Mother Son dance (I like to call it the ‘Parents Dance’).

Parents’ Dance: Celine Dion – Because You Loved Me

Following the parents’ dances, we began toasts. Note that this is not the typical order of events, so I made sure all champagne was poured and even suggested to the guests to get something to toast with if they didn’t want to drink champagne.

We then went into dinner. After dinner, it was time to cut the cake.

Cake Cutting: Sixpence None The Richer – Kiss Me

After cake was cut, the caterers took it away and we began a set of open dancing.

After a while we stopped to do the Bouquet Toss. I’m so glad Shayna could supply these photos, because I can never get any of my own during the tosses… I’m too busy on the mic!

Bouquet Toss: Beyonce – Single Ladies

We then went back into dancing. Kelly wanted the dancing to be the focal part of the night and have few interruptions. I’d have to say we pulled that off quite well, even getting a set of classic rock in there for the parents. Also to be noted.. I really like when photographers work with the lighting rather than trying to ‘fight it’. Shayna got some great photos using the lighting as a feature. Much kudos for that!

The night went really well, and not only were Kelly and Jaime pleased, but the San Vicente staff was impressed and I think they made sure to tell that to them. That’s got to be a nice thing to hear as a couple, right? So, I made sure to get a post-reception photo with the newlyweds…

… and also with the Wedding Coordinator, Lindsey Smith. I’m hoping to work with her again in the future. She was great to coordinate with. After the reception she came up and told me Joyce was also impressed with me and would be referring me to potential clients. I asked her if that meant I was on the preferred vendor list and she replied, “We don’t really have one, but everyone loved working with you and will be happy to recommend you.”

Congratulations to Jaime and Kelly, and thanks for trusting me with the entertainment duties on your special day!

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!

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.

German American Society – Wedding of Jason and Dina Clements

Client: Dina (Henderson) and Jason Clements
Venue: German American Society
Venue Address: 1017 S. Mollison Ave., El Cajon, CA 92020
Venue Coordinator: Heidi Williams

Number of guests: approximately 100
Services Provided: Wedding DJ and Master of Ceremonies, Dance Floor Lighting, Wedding Video Montage, Event song remixing
Photography: Acres of Hope Photography
Catering: German American Society

In July of this year, Dina contacted me and we agreed to meet at a bookstore/coffee shop to discuss details. During our meeting I found out that they were really into Irish punk and alternative rock, and since I spent years going to concerts and participating in mosh pits, it was easy to see that this was a good fit. After discussing options and packages, they decided to go with the basic package of wedding ceremony and reception and video montage projection with the option to upgrade later.

Dina and Jason chose are members of the German American Society and chose their clubhouse as their wedding venue. They set up on the side of the inside of the clubhouse for their ceremony. In typical ‘alternative’ format, both Dina and her father came down the aisle in sneakers (Chucks?).

The ceremony was short but entertaining, with both Jason and Dina saying their vows to each other.

Their wedding ceremony music:

Seating: String Quartet
Parents and bridemaids: Flogging Molly – Between a Man and a Woman
Bride’s entrance: Vitamin String Quartet – Green Day: American Idiot
Recessional: Dropkick Murphys – Famous for Nothing

For cocktails, the Heidi from the German American Society provided me with a German quartet CD (the wedding was Oktoberfest-themed): Schwartwald Quintet – Musik Erklingt.

For their Grand Entrance, I remixed a Green Day song and removed the cursing:

Wedding party: Green Day – Dammit (Clean edit by Dennis J)
Best Man and Best Boy: Star Wars – The Imperial March (Darth Vader’s Theme)
Bride and Groom: Dammit (Clean edit by Dennis J)

Dinner was served buffet-style, food provided by the German American Society. The wedding was Oktoberfest themed, and I can honestly say I have never seen so many glasses of beer during cocktail hour in my life! As I walked around, I say lots of beer-driven activities going on, including this one.

During dinner, we displayed a wedding video montage. The soundtrack was composed of two songs (Green Day – Boulevard of Broken Dreams & Flogging Molly – The Dirty Glass) which I had also edited in order to remove the few curse words contained within. Here’s a cool image from the montage, showing a cool wedding crest with an Oktoberfest theme.

Following the video montage and toasts, we began the formal dances.

First dance: Desi Arnez – Forever Darling

Father Daughter dance: The Beatles – The Long and Winding Road

We then began a set of open dancing. Dancing was sporatic, people were way more into drinking than dancing, but several times I was told that the music was great and that they really were enjoying it. We took a break from open dancing for cake cutting.

Cake Cutting: Cake – Short Skirt and Long Jacket

After cutting the cake, we began a German tradition known as the ‘stein-holding contest’ in lieu of a garter toss event. Because of the obvious propensity for major party fouls if the steins were filled with the traditional german beer, they were filled instead with water. Though they were not full of beer, they were just as heavy. The rules were simple– We invited single men to the dance floor, had them each hold a stein directly out with one straightened arm. The last one to remain with their stein held out was the winner. The whole event took two songs before these guys had met their match. And, it was a very smart idea to use water, as you can see in this during and after picture!

Stein-holding contest songs: “Drink” From the Musical “The Student Prince” and Street Dogs: Tobe’s Got a Drinking Problem

The whole event was quite enjoyable, I’m now the number one DJ on the German American Society’s vendor list, and everyone had a great time. During the second set of open dance I got to play some really fun tunes such as punk remixes and bmore versions of rock classics.

For their last dance, Dina and Jason danced to The Pogues – The Fairytale of New York.

And of course, I got my signature post-reception snapshot.

Sheraton San Diego Hotel & Marina – McKay Wedding

Client: Colin and Michele McKay
Venue: Sheraton San Diego Hotel & Marina – Bay Tower – Catalina Ballroom and Terrace
Venue Address: 1380 Harbor Island Drive, San Diego California, 92101

Number of guests: approximately 130
Services Provided: Wedding DJ and Master of Ceremonies, Event Uplighting (8 lights), Enhanced Dance Floor Lighting, Monogram Lighting, Wedding Video Montage

Wedding Coordination: Stephanie
Photography: SoCalSunshine Productions
Caterer: Sheraton Hotel

Wow, we had ourselves quite a time this weekend! But before I get ahead of myself, let’s backtrack a bit…

Colin and Michele contacted me in February to inquire about wedding services. Coincidentally, this was right after I had just booked another wedding at the Sheraton with Adam and Kela Karlsgodt! We met at a nice brewery restaurant and discussed details. They were particularly interested in my lighting expertise, and my ability to design a monogram personally, using whatever styles and designs that a couple can invent in their minds! Our initial meeting was very productive. Soon after, they contacted me and booked their date. A few months after they contacted me and asked if we could meet again. Since their wedding package was quite extensive it made sense to me. We met a second time and worked out most of the details, even taking the time to let them sample music personally while we sat together. At the end of our second meeting, I could tell we were both comfortable with each other, and it felt good.

Colin and Michele chose Sheraton San Diego’s Garden Terrace for their ceremony and the Catalina Ballroom for their reception location.

Like the last time that I worked at the Sheraton, I placed the speakers behind the guests and taped the wires down almost invisibly. The speakers you see in the front of this picture are not mine, they belong to the Sheraton.

During the ceremony, Michele carried on conversations with the officiant, and was found laughing several times, and making others laugh at other times. That pretty much set the mood for the night. I think everyone had the same thought– With a ceremony as entertaining as that, this night was going to be something else!

This is priceless!

Once the ceremony was over, the guests were shown to the Catalina Ballroom. Three sides of this fourth-story room have windows on them. The center windowed wall goes out onto a large outdoor patio. Their wedding colors were purple and silver, so they chose to include the uplighting package and I complemented the room with 8 purple uplights. Eight seems to be the magical number when I provide my services at the Sheraton!

I proudly displayed their custom-made wedding monogram on the wall above the bridal party table… which looked brilliant as it went through the sheer curtains they used.

Here’s a first for me. I took video of the room, and then made still shots to create a panoramic image for you to really see how the room looked. Click on the picture below to see it in more detail.

Introductions were incredible entertaining as well. When I went out into the hallway to line up the bridal party and instruct them on how to enter, it was obvious that this was not the group that wanted to do a simple classic entrance. So, I gave them cues to head to the dance floor, do a fun little dance, then step to the edge and form a circle around the dance floor in anticipation of the bride and groom. The bridal party was introduced to Living On A Prayer (Bon Jovi) and the bride and group came out dancing to Panama (Van Halen). Each pair of the introduced bridal party did their own little dance/routine as they hit the dance floor. And yes, I got it on film! Here’s a little collage I made of the McKay’s introductions.

After introductions, the father of the bride gave a welcome speech.

After the toast, salad was served while guests enjoyed a dinner playlist mixed with rat pack, swing, ballroom, classic rock, adult contemporary, and even some newer songs that work well for dinner playlists.

Following salad, toasts began, and then we started the video montage. I have two pictures here. One is of the video being shown in a decently lit room. I include this one so you can see just how powerful the projector I use is. Even in a nicely lit room, the whites are white, and the picture is bright and vibrant. The projector retails for $4000, and it will outperform any typical home projector or even the projectors used in corporate offices.

Oh and I also used a new wireless transmission to get the sound to the main speakers. No wires were needed, nothing to trip over or have to tape down to keep guests from tripping!

Following dinner and toasts, Colin and Michele had their first dance. They danced to All We Ever Find (Tim McGraw).

Colin and Michele's First Dance

Followed by parent dances:

Father/Daughter Dance: Hole Hearted (Extreme)
Mother/Son Dance: My Wish (Rascal Flatts)

And then it was time for open dancing! And these guests loved to dance! Unfortunately, my video camera had just about run out of power so I saved it for the end. But to give you an idea of how well the night went, here’s a picture of the dance floor about 15 minutes before the end of the night (ABOUT 12:15 AM!)

The McKays purchased my enhanced dance floor lighting package as well. This looked surprisingly well with the uplighting.

Cake cutting was done to Pour Some Sugar On Me (Def Leppard), and then we did a bouquet toss to Single Ladies (Beyonce) and a garter toss to Legs (ZZ Top).

Since it is my job to pay attention to details and keep in mind ideas to make the night memorable, I caught on to the fact that Colin and Michele had been together a long while (seven years). As such, I surprised them with a little activity called the Shoe Game which tests their knowledge of one another, and it went over really well. All the guests seemed to enjoy it as much as they did!

The end of the night we surprised guests with a few sing-alongs that Colin and Michele had planned for the remaining guests:

Second to last song: Total Eclipse of the Heart (Dan Band)

Last song: I’m On A Boat! (The Lonely Island)

After these, the guests were yelling “encore” and “one more song” so after checking with the hotel staff to make sure it was OK, I gave them one more song– The Way You Move (Outkast).

They yelled one more song again after that, but I wanted to be respectful of the hotel staff (it was 12:40AM, after all!) so I shut down.

Since guests were mingling about afterwards, I took the opportunity to get a picture with Colin and Michele.

I asked Michele what she thought and her response was, “Dude this party was all you! You realize that right? You totally killed it”! She then stated (complete with hand gestures) that they expected this much (hand raised decently high) but I gave them THIS much (hand raised as high as possible). I replied that although I have a decent part in it, it is a combination of their family and guests, the vendors, and the venue that made up their wonderful experience. She argued the point, but really… although I like to believe I’m good at what I do… I couldn’t do it without all of them and their guests, and other quality wedding vendors! And I wouldn’t continue to do it and be successful at it if there weren’t more “Colins” and “Micheles” with wonderful family and friends who make me feel good about what I do, and understand that if you take the time to invest in me, I will take the time and invest in you!

Congratulations to Colin and Michele and their families, and thanks to both for inviting me to help plan and execute a wonderfully special night!

The Wood House at Woodland Park in San Marcos – Evan and Natasha’s Wedding

Client: Susan Dewindt on behalf of Evan Dewindt
Venue: The Historic Wood House at Woodland Park
Venue Address: 1148 Rock Springs Rd., San Marcos, CA, 92079
Number of guests: 115
Services Provided: DJ and Master of Ceremonies, Dance Floor Lighting, Video Montage, Wedding Ceremony

Wedding Coordination: Opal Martin of Allie’s Party Equipment Rental
Photography: Sage Taylor Photography
Catering: Allie’s Party Equipment Rental

Earlier this year Susan Dewindt contacted me for her son’s wedding. We met at the wedding venue to discuss details, and worked out the details. The Wood House is a historic building located at the top of Woodland Park in San Marcos, directly below the public pool area. I wish I could supply more information than that about this venue, but the history of it seems to be rather secret, and I haven’t found a single website that elaborates on it.

The Historic Wood House in San Marcos

We sat down at the venue to discuss additional enhancements for the wedding (we are a full-service entertainment company, after all) and Susan decided to add the video montage package after viewing some of the recent slideshows that I have created for clients.

The ceremony was a lot of fun. Natasha and Evan were not looking for a traditional ceremony with traditional music, and to make sure that happened they spent time with their bridal party choreographing a bridal party introduction routine to Black Eyed Peas’ “Alive”. Although my camera wasn’t in a good spot to get some of the details, I did manage to get a decent amount of the routine on video. Enjoy!

The reception area at the Wood House is nice and large and guests enjoyed great appetizers from Allie’s Party Rentals while I played a customized playlist well-tailored for this particular crowd. Song choices included Reasons to Love You by Meiko and You Look Wonderful by Slightly Stoopid. As you can tell, this wasn’t your ordinary cocktail playlist. It was many of the couple’s requests, complemented by similar songs with similar themes. Truly a challenge, with a rewarding outcome.

Since this was an outdoor wedding and it was a bit sunny and hot, precautions had to be taken to protect my equipment (and me!) from the elements, all the while keeping the clean and professional set up I’m known for.

My view…

The wedding started a bit late so we had to adjust the timing of events to compensate. Luckily , I was not alone with the planning. I had the help of their day-of coordinator, Opal Martin, to work with. It’s always nice to work with a competent and friendly coordinator. Together, we were able to mitigate some of the scheduling issues and make everything work well. When we needed some extra time, I threw in the “Shoe Game” to entertain the party, and it went over really well. We also did the “Anniversary Dance” since there were a lot of married couples in the guest list. The winning couple had been together for 60 years!!!

Dances:

First dance – Can’t Help Falling In Love (UB40)
Father/Daughter – I Loved Her First (Heartland)
Mother/Son – Beautiful Boy (Celine Dion)

After the sun set, we were able to project the slideshow. I used my DaLite projector screen, which is 7′ wide and 7+’ tall. The projection was beautiful. My projector is extremely bright and as such doesn’t let me take pictures of the projection well, but here’s a shot of the set up and the guests and bride and groom enjoying the montage.

For open dancing, I was given a rather eclectic playlist of the bridal party’s favorite songs, largely centered around electronic dance music (EDM). I really enjoyed my set because it was definitely out of the typical wedding genre. I actually enjoyed it so much that I ended up hitting ‘record’ on my system, and after tossing some ‘drops’ in it, I’m posting it here for all readers to listen to and even download if they wish.

Creative Music DJs – July Live Wedding Clip

The reception ended with a fast dance, and the mother of the bride actually requested an encore song which I obliged with, and then the mother of the groom came up and wanted ANOTHER encore song. This group of guests just did not want to stop dancing!

After the reception, guests gathered around for a group picture, which I became a part of as well. It was pretty dark so I had to do some editing to make everyone visible.

And I just LOVE the happy expressions of both Natasha and Evan in this one.

Congratulations to Natasha and Evan, thanks for having me along for the celebration, and best wishes for continued years of happiness. You both have known each other since second grade, and you answered most of the questions the same during the Shoe Game. I’d say this one is going to last!

After the big day, I contacted Susan, the mother of the groom, who posted a review on InsiderPages (http://www.insiderpages.com/b/15253916392/creative-music-djs-san-diego) which says this:

“Dennis did such an incredible job at my son’s wedding. Even with some very last minute changes minutes before the wedding started, Dennis was able to pull it off. He is great with the crowd and kept everyone dancing up to the very end!”

Marriott Mission Valley – Cristina and Gerardo Rangel Wedding (Cabrillo 1 & 2 combined)

Client: Cristina and Gerardo Rangel
Venue: Marriott Mission Valley – Cabrillo Room
Venue Address: 8757 Rio San Diego Drive, San Diego, California 92108
Number of guests: 130
Services Provided: Wedding DJ and Master of Ceremonies, Dance floor lighting, Uplighting (8 lights)
Photography: Frank Papini Studios
Banquet Captain: Claudia

Cristina and Gerardo (“G”) were referred to me when the DJ that they had won a free wedding reception with was booked. Cristina contacted me and we decided to meet at their house to discuss details. While sitting with them, I found out that they were really into freestyle, and I got excited. For those that know me, I have always loved 80′s freestyle, as is evident by one of my lastest mixes which I’m now posting here for free download:

DJ Dennis J – Back In The Day We Called This Pop (12″ vinyl-only freestyle mix)

Since both Cristina and Gerardo are mexican, they wanted around 50% spanish music, and the rest 80s rock, freestyle, pop, with some top 40 included as well.

Arriving at the Marriott, I found the hotel staff to be extremely accommodating. From helping me navigate the narrow parking lot lanes, to finding me a place to park after I had unloaded, the staff was very helpful and it was appreciated. I got in, and set up quickly. Cristina and I had discussed with the Marriott that we didn’t want to use the table layout they are used to (DJ in the corner, sweethearts table in the other corner). Cristina was actually really adamant about this. “No one puts my DJ in the corner!” she stated firmly. Gotta love it when your client gets your back, right? So the final layout had me on the side wall, right next to the sweethearts table which was on a raised platform.

The Cabrillo room had four pillars in the center of the room, and these usually end up being the four corners of the dance floor. They lend themselves well to uplighting, and the Rangels were wise in opting to add uplighting to their package, because it completely enhanced the look of their reception, as you can see here. I put two uplights per pillar, making for 8 uplights total.

Cocktails were held outside, and towards the end of the cocktail hour, we invited guests into the main reception room. The introduction was done to Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing” and included a Marine Corp Sabre Arch ceremony which the couple passed under as they reached the dance floor.

For dinner, we started with Mariachi music, and after a good playlist of that, moved into 50′s oldies. It was a good combination for this particular guestlist, and several times I overheard guests singing along to songs such as Angel Baby by Rosie & The Originals.

Toasts went well, as well as their first dance. Instead of parent dances, I performed a new twist on a old classic– We began a money dance, but the beginning of the money dance was an announcement of parents while bringing them to the floor to dance before the other guests got their turn. It worked really well, and so did the money dance! The lines were so long that I ended up coaching the MOH and BM to shorten the duration between cut-ins, and we still went through 7 songs!

After the honeymoon/money dance, we did an Anniversary dance to Banda Limon’s “Y Sigues Siendo Tu” (A spanish version of Shania Twain’s “Still the One”). The winning couple had been married for 40 years! That’s quite an accomplishment, and we gave them an extra round of applause for this.

Cake cutting was next, using Sade’s “Your Love Is King” for music accompaniment. We then began the bouquet toss, but “Mexican style”! I invited all single ladies to the floor, but before the bouquet toss, we did a special version of “La Vibora De La Mar” done to Rednex’s “Cotton-eyed Joe”, led by the Maid Of Honor. After that, we did the bouquet toss, and then began the garter toss. With the same enthusiasm, the Best Man led the “La Vibora De La Mar” before the garter tosses. Although I didn’t manage to get pictures of the female La Vibora De La Mar , I caught a few of the men.

The male La Vibora ended with the groom being hoisted into the air and crowd surfed across the single men. What can I say? This was one enthusiastic and fun bunch of guests and family!

After tosses were complete, I began open dancing with some bandas and then some cumbias, and eventually some salsa. The dance floor was quickly filled, and guests danced to all forms of spanish music. After a bit of spanish music, I transitioned into some 80′s american music, and the rest of the night was a combination of spanish and american hits. The groom’s favorite band is Red Hot Chili Peppers, so during the middle of the night I transitioned into a mashup of “Give It Away Now” and Mim’s “This Is Why I’m Hot”. G instantly saw the connection and gave me a big smile showing he appreciated the consideration. That one event pretty much summed up the energy and excitement of the whole night. Smiles everywhere you looked, so much dancing that at the end of the night my speaker cables were stuck under the dance floor (seriously!), and just a really fun celebration.

After the reception was over, the guests gathered in the middle of the dance floor for a group picture. I thought I was going to a casual observer but started hearing everyone saying “Get Dennis in here!” and “We need Dennis in this picture!” so I became part of the last fun pictures of the reception!

Afterwards, the bride and groom posed with me for a post-reception picture.

So in summary, this was one fun celebration! G has informed me that I am now a permanent part of his life, and I’m sure I’ll see Christina and him again. Thanks to both of them for inviting me to participate in their night of celebration, and thanks to all the guests and family for making me feel so welcome and appreciated.

Oh and as an additional note, I had a chance to talk to Claudia, the Event Captain for the night. She took several of my business cards, and said she would be happy to recommend me to others. So, I may be back at the Marriott in Mission Valley soon!

Point Loma Naval Sub Base (NSB) – Oceanview Room (NSB) – Vicky and Aaron Smith Wedding

Client: Vicky and Aaron Smith
Venue: Admiral Kidd Club – Oceanview Room (Naval Sub Base in Point Loma)
Venue Address: 140 Sylvester Rd, San Diego, CA 92106, US (NSB)
Number of guests: 170
Services Provided:  Wedding DJ and Master of Ceremonies, Wedding Ceremony, Dance floor lighting
Photography: Corbin Kell Photography
Videography: Eagle Lion Video

Ahh the familiar sights and sounds of the Ocean View Room on the Point Loma Sub Base. I actually really like this venue. It’s remote, very festive, and the staff are great. Therefore, when Vicky and Aaron Smith booked me for their wedding at the NSB, I was pleased.

For their ceremony, they chose to have traditional classical seating music, and the traditional Bridal March, Wagner Lohengrin’s “Bridal Chorus”.

Since there was a large amount of guests, the cocktail and dinner were held outside on the deck. Tables were laid out evenly, with the head table being by the gazebo.

Now here’s the kicker– They opted not to have their dance floor outside, as is typically done at the Point Loma Naval Sub Base. Instead they put their dance floor inside, and placed my station inside as well. Different, but I welcome a challenge so I made the best of it.

As usual, I kept my setup very clean and professional.

Events went well, here’s a picture of the first dance and the father/daughter dance.

As a highlight of the evening, I coordinated a special latin dance called “La Vibora Del Mar” (The Sea Snake). It’s a fun dance where the bride and groom stand on chairs facing each other with their arms raised and connected, and guests form a ‘snake’ and dance around them, going in and out of the tunnel created by the bride and groom. It went over well, and they seemed to really enjoy it. Thanks to Charlie Bradley for the helpful words and advice on how to properly execute this traditional dance.

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Dancing was plentiful and constant, with the majority of the requests being old school hip-hop. The guests had fun, and many gave compliments to me and the bride and groom.

Afterwards, the bride and groom posed with me for a post-reception picture.

Thanks to Aaron and Vicky for inviting me to participate in their amazing wedding ceremony and reception, and thanks to all guests for making the night a unique enjoyable experience. One can never forget the Sea Snake!

Sheraton San Diego Hotel & Marina – Karlsgodt Wedding

Client: Adam and Kela Karlsgodt
Venue: Sheraton San Diego Hotel & Marina – Bay Tower – Bel Aire Ballroom
Venue Address: 1380 Harbor Island Drive, San Diego California, 92101

Number of guests: approximately 110
Services Provided: Wedding DJ and Master of Ceremonies, Event Uplighting (8 lights), Enhanced Dance Floor Lighting

Wedding Coordination: Daphne
Photography: Dave & Sherry Gillespie
Caterer: Kimberly Miller

Adam and Kela contacted me in February to inquire about wedding services. After a productive meeting, we kept in touch for a bit. They wanted someone who could really mix, so I offered to get them VIP at one of the clubs I was performing at at the time. I invited them to come see me at Onyx, and they accepted (though never showed…). Nevertheless they contacted me and decided to book me for their wedding.

Adam and Kela chose the Bel Aire Ballroom at Sheraton San Diego as their reception location. One side of the room is composed of windows overlooking the ocean, and provide an amazing view to complement an event. Their wedding colors were red and black and silver, so they chose to include the uplighting package and I complemented the room with 8 red uplights.

Red Uplighting at the Sheraton Harbor Island

The ceremony was held at the Garden Terrace. The request was to arrange speakers to ensure that no wires or speakers would get into the pictures. To work with that, I placed the speakers behind the guests, and taped the wires down almost invisibly.

Sheraton Harbor Island Garden Terrace Wedding Ceremony

Although I’d love to show you lots of pictures, things went off schedule (the guitarist for the ceremony was stuck upstairs retuning his guitar after his son decided to tweak the strings!) and although my efforts to recoordinate were successful, it resulted in very little time for pictures! However, I did get a few pictures…

Here’s their candy table. Lots of candy here! I took home about 20 pumpkin cookies myself…

Sheraton Harbor Island Candy Table

A picture of some of the guests on the dance floor.

Bride and Groom and their guests danced all night long

And another…

Karlsgodt's Guests dancing

The bride and groom and their guests danced all night long. At the end of the night there were still at least 40 people remaining! Here’s a picture of the dance before the last dance. Look at how many guests remained all night!

Sheraton Harbor Island Guests remained until the end

At the end of the night the guests didn’t want to stop. They even started chanting ‘encore!’. Kela had talked to me a few days ago and asked if it was possible to get extra hours and I assured her that I would stay as long as they needed. However, when I went and asked her if I should continue (keep in mind the reception had been going for 6 hours and it was midnight!) she said she would love to but her feet were sore from dancing all night! Haha.

After the reception ended I took a moment to get a picture with the bride and groom.

DJ Dennis J with Adam and Kela Karlsgodt

Congratulations to both Adam and Kela Karlsgodt, the Karlsgodt and Miner families, and thanks to both for allowing me to be a part of their wonderful celebration!

Tom Ham’s Lighthouse Wedding – Willie and Johanna Asaro

Client: Willie and Johanna Asaro
Venue: Tom Ham’s Lighthouse – California Room
Venue Address: 2150 Harbor Island Drive, San Diego, CA 92101-1084
Number of guests: approximately 218
Services Provided: Wedding DJ and Master of Ceremonies, Event Uplighting (10 lights), Video Montage, Enhanced Dance Floor Lighting

Wedding Coordination: Nanette Jimenez
Photography: Xavier Bailey
Videography: NR3 Video Productions

William (Willie) and Johanna Asaro contacted me around the end of last year to discuss their wedding. We met and talked about ideas that they both had, and by the end of the meeting we both had an ideal vision of what wil his has to be one of the most eventful weddings I have done in a long time. However, they had some meetings with other DJs planned, so they didn’t sign up right away (hey, it happens!).  A week later, I received an email from Willie to the effect of “We knew almost instantly that you were THE GUY to host our wedding, and we would be very happy to hire for the evening of our wedding. (May 1st, 2010 – Just as a reminder ) We really appreciate your time, knowledge, and interest in our wedding and are looking forward to working with you!” It was an exciting e-mail, because Willie and Johanna are a very energetic and electric couple, and I knew their wedding was going to be incredible.

Willie and Johanna chose the California Room at Tom Ham’s Lighthouse as their reception location. Two sides of the room are composed of windows overlooking the ocean, and provide an amazing view to complement an event.The California Room is 3000 square feet, and is stated to hold up to 600 people. In reality, it was pretty packed and we had a little over 200.

Tom Ham's Lighthouse Wedding Guests

The reception began well. The ceremony had ended much earlier than planned, so guests had been milling in for a while. Introductions were done to “Black Eyed Peas – I Gotta Feeling”, and while the bridesmaids helped Johanna get her train removed for their first dance, I let the song continue to play and then invited everyone to enthusiastically sing the last verse together. There’s something about 200 people smiling, clapping, and all singing BEP loudly that just set the mood instantly to “party”!

For the first dance, a live number was sung. The song was called, “Then”, and was sung by Rick Ryan while being accompanied on guitar by the best man and brother of the groom, Charlie Asaro. It was a beautiful and inspiring song, and I believe it was written just for the Asaros. It was captured on video by an incredibly talented duo of Norma and John, more commonly known as NR3 Video Productions, while the photographer, Xavier Bailey, captured some amazing photographs as well.

Willie decided he wanted to do the video montage about 2/3 of the way through dinner, with the original plan to continue rounds while it was playing. Anyone want to guess how well that plan went? Not well! The wedding montage was a record-breaking 25 minutes(!) and once people were enjoying it, the round-making pretty much halted. That’s what happens when you have an amazing video for your guests to watch though, right? The video was an overwhelming success, and luckily I was able to capture a few seconds of guests as well as the bride and groom enjoying it.

At the end of the dinner, NR3 and Xavier got into position and we began toasts, followed by parent dances, a honeymoon dance, and bouquet/garter tosses.  We then opened the dance floor for some dancing. But, we had another surprise in store for everyone… Tom Ham’s actually allowed the use of fog! Using a special hazer, I started spreading a light level of haze over the dance floor and soon it was like “Club Asaro” in there! Maybe that’s one of the reasons why so many guests were still present at the end of the night, but I like to think it had something to do with my mixes and song selection as well.

Cake cutting went well. The cake was huge, and included a unique touch in the form of a cake-topper. Instead of figures of a bride and groom, it was a hot air balloon. This topper symbolized the location where Willie proposed to Johanna– while they were getting onto a hot air balloon! Originally we planned to display the montage after the cake cutting, to provide an atmosphere for guests to enjoy cake. Since the video had already been shown, I improvised and took the bride and groom through a journey of the Shoe Game. Which Willie won, I may add, if for no other reason than the fact that Johanna got caught cheating twice! haha

The rest of the night was full of open dancing with song selections consisting of several of Willie and Johanna’s favorites, a set of 90′s hip-hop, 80′s rock and alternative, and of course today’s chart-topping hits! I was a bit busy mixing so I didn’t get to get video of most of it, but towards the end I captured two clips, one of everyone doing a train (notice there’s not a single chair occupied!) and another of the bride and groom and friends dancing their hearts out to their introduction song. The video captures the energy pretty well, wouldn’t you say?

The night ended with a last dance song to Abba – The Winner Takes It All.

Last Dance at Tom Ham's Lighthouse

Afterwards, Willie and Johanna stuck around and said goodbye to their guests. Willie came over and thanked me for my service, and mentioned that he would “recommend me to anyone, any time”. I took the opportunity to get a post-event picture with them and Johanna’s mother, Nanette Jimenez.

DJ Dennis J with Willie and Johanna Asaro

DJ Dennis J with Johanna's mother, Nanette Jimenez

Congratulations to Willie and Johanna Asaro, and thanks once again for inviting me to be a part of their special night!