Falkner Winery Wedding of Roger and Angel

Roger and Angel chose Falkner Winery for their wedding ceremony and reception. Falkner has a really cool external ceremony site set up which allows for a dramatic entrance down a long mountainside path, which I’m sure was a factor in their decision. It’s an enjoyable Temecula wedding venue which I enjoy working at. I also got to work with Brian David Photography and really enjoyed that. Most of the photos in this blog are theirs, and I think you’ll see the quality that they can provide.

Wedding Ceremony

Wedding Reception

After the ceremony guests moved upstairs into the main ballroom for cocktail hour. For cocktails, I played jazz music according to their preferences, which the guests seemed to enjoy. Once cocktail hour was over, we began their grand entrance.

Grand Entrance

Wedding Toasts

We then began dinner. Once dinner was completed we began toasts. Although I don’t have photos of toasts being given, I do have a great one of Roger and Angel thanking their guests once the toasts were complete.

Wedding Video Montage

After toasts we played guests a wedding video montage that I helped them create. It was a hit, and we even got a photo of the happy couple enjoying their own montage.

Once the montage was over, we began formal dances, starting with the choreographed first dance!

Choreographed First Dance

Mother Son Dance

After formal dances were over, we opened the dance floor up for everyone!

Wedding Dancing

After a bit of dancing we took a break for some more formal activities.

Wedding Cake

Angel was such a playful tease with that cake!

Garter Toss

Bouquet Toss

Garter Replacement

Wedding Dancing Part II

We then opened the dance floor back up for another round of fun dancing.




After such a fun wedding night, I got a photo with the happy newlyweds, the Maid of Honor, and Falkner Winery staff.

Congratulations to Roger and Angel and their families, and thanks trusting me with your most special celebration!

Photos of DJ Dennis J

While I’m showcasing some amazing photos by Brian David Photography, here’s a couple great shots they got of yours truly. An extra special thanks for going the extra mile to get these and provide them to me. Not all photographers will!

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!

Sheraton Harbor Island Wedding - Matt and Dawn Dean

Client: Matt and Dawn Dean
Venue: Sheraton Harbor Island – Bay Tower – Fairbanks Ballroom (A,B,C,D) – Garden Terrace (Ceremony) – Shutters Room (Cocktails)
Venue Address: 1380 Harbor Island Drive · San Diego, California 92101
Number of guests: Approximately 115
Services Provided: Wedding DJ and Master of Ceremonies, Basic Dance Floor Lighting, Venue Uplighting, Additional Wireless Speakers

Catering: Sheraton Harbor Island
Photography: Arago Photography (Rodrigo Mendez)
Florist: Barliz Florists
Cake: Flour Power
Videographer: Jensen Studios (Tom Jensen)

In May of 2011 I met Dawn Brenner and Matt Dean at Islands Restaurant to discuss their wedding. We had a good meeting and I gave them a lot of good ideas and listened to them to get a feel for their style as well. To be honest, they had some apprehension over my pricing, but I think after our meeting they realized that my value outweighs my pricing because three days later they booked their date!

As typical when I do weddings at Sheraton Harbor Island, they had their ceremony at the

Ceremony Prelude (Guest Seating): Vitamin String Quartet
Ceremony Processional (Parents Seating): Bach – Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring
Ceremony Processional (Bridesmaids): Pachebel – Canon in D
Ceremony Processional (Bridal March): Here Comes The Bride Album – Bridal March
Ceremony Recessional: U2 – Beautiful Day (Dennis J Ceremony Remix)

After ceremony was over, guests were escorted outside of the venue to the Shutters Room for cocktail hour. In the cocktail room I had a separate wireless system set up since the room is well over 100′ from the main system. It worked perfectly and guests enjoyed cocktail songs until we were ready to open the ballroom doors and usher them inside.

Cocktail Songs: Hidden Beach

When photos were finished, we opened the ballroom doors and inviting guests into the room using the wireless system. I had my system set up in the center of the room against the wall, and had also set up 8 uplights along the edges of the room. It looked great, if I do say myself. As you can see, my system was clean and professional as usual.

A few minutes later we began the Grand Entrance. The Grand Entrance was a lot of fun, and the parents even participated in the introductions.

Grand Entrance (Wedding Party): Black Eyed Peas – I Gotta Feeling (Instrumental)
Grand Entrance (Bride and Groom): Ja’net DuBois & Oren Waters - Movin’ On Up (Jeffersons Theme Song)

Immediately after Grand Entrance, we started their first dance.

First Dance: Bob Dylan – Never Say Goodbye

After their First Dance, Dawn’s father gave a blessing toast.

We then started dinner. After dinner, we began toasts.

We then started Dawn’s dance with her father.

Father Daughter Dance: Tim McGraw – My Little Girl

Mother Son Dance: Louis Armstrong – What A Wonderful World

And then some open dancing!

We took a break after a bit and did the cake cutting.

Cake Cutting Song: Beatles – In My Life / When I’m 64

And then got that dance floor going again. It was a crazy dance floor and I spent a lot of time mixing and less taking photos.

For the last dance, they chose to have all couples join them on the dance floor. I’m not sure why, but I don’t have a photo of this.

Last Dance: Van Morrison – Crazy Love

After the reception was over I made sure to get a photo with the happy newlyweds. Compliment of the night was from Matt: “Man, you’re an awesome DJ!”. Well, I’m hoping my talent is the thing that is getting me awesome clients like Matt and Dawn Dean!

Congratulations to the Deans and their families, and best wishes for many happy years to come!

Addendum:

Matt posted a review on Yelp and Bridal Insider (direct links are on those two keywords). I’ve pasted a copy of it below, verbatim. Thanks, Matt!

When I first met Dennis I was very impressed by his professionalism and knowledge of music. I knew I was going to book him as soon as the meeting was over. After my wife and I discussed it, I called him shortly after and booked him for our wedding. I know we made a great decision, most of the other DJ’s that I looked into just didn’t have that same personality or musical drive.

I am sure we weren’t the easiest couple to work with as my taste in music doesn’t translate very well on the dance floor. In fact, when I was filling out the paper work we mostly included the important songs of First dance, Father Daughter, and Mother son, everything else was left blank. He kept asking me what kind of music I would want to be played and I simply told him its up to him. I was a bit nervous that I didn’t give him much direction in what we wanted played, however, when we were at the ceremony as well as the reception everything was great. I was very impressed by the music and to see people that normally don’t dance on the dance floor, dancing the night away(some weren’t even drinking!). I am not a big dancer and neither are my friends but that didn’t matter the music was so good you just had to groove to it.

If you’re looking for a DJ for your wedding, Birthday, or any other type of get together, I would highly recommend Dennis. He can really read a crowd and will know what to play to please any and all crowds no matter how diverse their musical tastes are. I know that our wedding day wouldn’t and couldn’t have been as special if we didn’t decide to hire Dennis as our DJ. I haven’t really spoken with him since that day…….but Dennis,……….Thank You Very Much for everything that you have done. Your an amazing DJ and have a great passion for what you do. I really cannot thank you enough.

BEST DJ EVER!

Japanese Friendship Garden Wedding - Tom and Akiko Cleveland

Venue: Japanese Friendship Garden
Venue Address: 2215 Pan American Plaza, San Diego, CA 92101-1656
Number of guests: Approximately 90
Services Provided: Wedding DJ and Master of Ceremonies, Basic Dance Floor Lighting, Ceremony DJ

Event Coordinator: Swann Soirees
Photography: Love Art Photography
Flip Books: A Little Scene
Catering: Indulge Comtemporary Catering
Cake: Sumi’s Oven
Florist: ArtQuest
Officiant: Joe Cleveland

In February of 2011 I was at the Del Mar Wedding Event bridal bazaar and met Thomas (Tom) and Akiko. I really like the smaller bazaars because you get a chance to really chat with people. For instance, Tom came over and started asking questions and we ended up chatting for at least 20 minutes about his wedding. Akiko was nearby at another booth, and later joined him. Before I even packed up and got home after the bazaar, Tom and Akiko had already gotten online and submitted a quote request! We met, discussed details, and they booked their date. I met with them a second time down the road, and did a site walkthrough with them. We discussed optimal locations for equipment. Of particular interest to many may be my controversial preference of the DJ booth. While many DJs who work at the Japanese Friendship Garden like to have their table up on the porch, to me that was not preferable. You see, I like to ‘connect’ with the guests, and I firmly believe that being easily accessible to guests is a key factor to a successful event. When I’m on a stage or platform, I feel ‘disconnected’ from the dance floor. In the event industry it really is the little things that matter a lot, and I firmly believe that Thomas and Akiko’s trust in my location preference contributed to the degree of success of this wedding. More on that later.

Tom and Akiko had their ceremony at the Koi Pond. This location has it’s own set of challenges. The guest seating areas are divided into two areas. To work with this, I used two speakers on stands, and swiveled each to cover the proper areas. The photo below only barely shows the left speaker, but it was swiveled to the left to support the area you can see over there.

Ceremony Prelude (Guest Seating): Vitamin String Quartet
Ceremony Processional (Officiate, Groomsmen and Groom): Empire Brass / Music of Gabrieli - Canzon No. 16 for 12 Parts
Ceremony Processional (Bridesmaids): Bach – Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring
Ceremony Processional (Bridal March): Lumiere Quartet – Bridal March
Ceremony Recessional: U2 – Beautiful Day (Dennis J Ceremony Remix)

And the talented team of Love Art Photography were gracious enough to supply some more professional photos to commemorate the night.

For their ceremony interlude, Thomas and Akiko participated in a tree planting ceremony. This a cool ‘green’ idea for a ceremony. The idea is to water the tree together, then take it home and plant it in your garden. The tree is then always as old as your marriage is.

After ceremony was over, guests were escorted outside of the venue to take a group photo, then started cocktail hour at the Fujidana.

Cocktail Songs:

Stickshifts and Safety belts by Cake
Apartment Story by The National
Lovers in Japan by Coldplay
In the Waiting Line by Zero 7
All I Want Is You by U2
Let Go by Frou Frou
Marry Me by Train
Somewhere over the Rainbow by Israel Kamakawiwo Ole’
Steady As We Go by Dave Matthews Band
Somebody by Depeche Mode
Songs from the Garden State Soundtrack
Hey There Delilah / Plain White T’s
You and Me / Lifehouse

When photos were finished, I got the guests seated, and worked with Brenda and Ania from Swann Soirees to coordinate the perfect Grand Entrance.

Grand Entrance: Novelle Vague – Just Cant Get Enough

Immediately after Grand Entrance, we started their first dance.

First Dance: Dave Matthews – You and Me Together

We then started dinner. After dinner, we began toasts. I’m starting to see this trend more and more– Toasts being given with cues/speeches read from their iPhones!

We then started Akiko’s dance with her father.

Father Daughter Dance: The Beatles – Blackbird

And then some open dancing!

We took a break after a bit and did the cake cutting.

Cake Cutting Song: Cake – Love You Madly

And then got that dance floor going again. Note that we had all ages on that dance floor until the very end!

Here’s a fun occurrence– Unbeknownst to me until later, Brenda Swann came up behind me while I had everyone dancing up a storm, and snapped the following photo which she posted to Twitter with the comment, “Good DJs really make the party!”. Pretty cool, huh? Here’s the photo she took. I swear it’s me. LOL

For the last dance, I had Tom and Akiko dance in the center with all the guests holding hands in a circle around them.

And all the guests gave them a big goodbye hug, at my direction!

This wedding was so much fun! Working with Swann Soirees was a delight and together with the other vendors we made a night full of memories that will last a lifetime, and that’s what it is all about, right?

Of course, after the reception was over I made sure to get a photo with the happy newlyweds. Remember that I mentioned I was going to talk more about the placement of my DJ table? During our photo, Akiko mentioned that while she wasn’t on the dance floor and was greeting guests and engaging in conversation with them, she was really enjoying watching me do my thing with the turntables and vinyl. She loved ‘the show’. Tom remarked, “That’s why we hired him!” I just said, “I appreciate that!”

And then one with Brenda Swann… the first of many, I’m betting. I made her promise that we’d get a photo together after every event we do together. She was down with that.

Congratulations to Thomas and Akiko Cleveland and their families, and best wishes for many happy years to come!

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!

Hilton San Diego – Sherwood-Tyson Wedding

Client: Adrienne Sherwood and Denise Tyson
Venue: Hilton San Diego Resort & Spa
Venue Address: 1775 East Mission Bay Drive, San Diego, California 92109
Number of guests: Approximately 66

Services Provided: Wedding DJ and Master of Ceremonies, Wedding Ceremony
Florist: Whimsy Florals
Cake: Flour Power
Officiant: George Nevitt
Photography: Angelika of Creative Photography
Venue Coordinator: Hilton San Diego

While DJing the Hopkin’s wedding last year at the Hilton San Diego Resort and Spa, I was overheard by Adrienne and Denise, who were there reviewing the venue for their own wedding. According to them, they were just relaxing at the pool and kept hearing songs they liked so they came up and got a card, and then contacted me later to discuss doing their own wedding. We met and discussed details. I believe their basic request was, “Do what you did at that wedding at our wedding!” This was a same-sex wedding (I believe the correct term is LGBT) so there were some interesting tweaks to take into consideration. We had a good meeting, and a few days later they contacted me ready to book me as the DJ for their wedding.

On their big day, I arrived at the Hilton and set up my equipment. The ceremony was held on the beach, and as I’ve mentioned before, beach ceremonies were only added to Hilton’s services a few years ago, and as such there’s no provisions for power. When I got there the ceremony was set up exactly as it had been for the Hopkin’s wedding, but shortly after that I was told that Denise and Adrienne were having it changed to face the room they were staying in. Thinking quickly, I ran power from their room down to my equipment, and was able to accommodate this new setup quickly. I actually preferred this, as the other location requires me running cable across the boardwalk (taped down of course), and this one allowed me to put my equipment on the bank behind the boardwalk, leaving no cables in the way of passerbys.

Ceremony seating: Vitamin String Quartet
MOH Entrance: Pachebel – Canon in D
Bride’s Entrance: Bridal March from the album Here comes the Bride (enya-esque version) [Played twice – one for each bride]
Handfasting Ceremony: Shania Twain – From This Moment On
Recessional: Katy Perry – California Gurls (Special chorus-first Dennis J ceremony remix)

And here’s a photo from Angelika of Creative Photography. Her watermarked photos definitely helped enhance the descriptions in this blog.

Note the interlude ceremony– A ‘handfasting’ ceremony. The term is originally from Old Norse hand-festa which means “to strike a bargain by joining hands”. We have all heard the expressions “tied the knot” or “given one’s hand in marriage”. But did you know both those sayings came from the handfasting ritual?  Handfasting is the non-denominational tradition of lightly binding the hands of a couple together using a cord, rope, ribbons, a scarf, tartan or strips of fabric. It symbolizes becoming one, and being forever linked. It is a great addition to a ceremony, and works well for all religions also.

After the ceremony, guests went to the Frescos Bar for cocktail hour.

Cocktail Music: Hidden Beach

Grand Entrance: Katy Perry – Teenage Dream

Immediately after the Grand Entrance, Denise gave a welcome speech and thanked everyone for coming.

After the special thanks, we started toasts.

We then began dinner. Following dinner, Adrienne and Denise danced with their fathers.

Father/Daughter (Denise): Bob Carlisle – Butterfly Kisses

Father/Daughter (Adrienne): Ben E. King – Stand By Me

We then opened the dance floor up. No problems getting this group dancing!

Cake cutting was actually done by the hotel on the side, and Denise and Adrienne didn’t want to do a ritual with it, so they just passed it out about an hour after dancing started.

Oh did I mention these guests liked to dance?

We closed out the night with a slow then fast disco hit.

Last Dance: Donna Summer – Last Dance

And of course, my post-reception picture with two very happy brides. Denise and Adrian said if I needed any recommendations they would be happy to give them, so I’ll probably hit hem up shortly after publishing this, and will paste their review when it comes.

Congratulations to Denise and Adrienne their families, and thanks for eavesdropping on that fateful night of 2010 and then putting your trust in me to make your special night amazing! Best wishes to you both for a long life of happiness together.

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!

Admiral Kidd Wedding – Lili and Gabriel Apgar

Client: Lili and Gabriel Apgar

Venue: Admiral Kidd Catering & Conference Center – Harbor Lounge Room and Patio
Venue Address: 33050 Acoustic Ave Ste 300, San Diego, CA 92136
Venue Coordinator: Tess Hall
Number of guests: 130

Services: Wedding DJ and Master of Ceremonies, Dance Floor Lighting, Event Uplighting

Catering: Admiral Kidd
Photography/Videography: Stephina Photography (Stephanie Cutler & Tina Noel)
Wedding Coordinator: Epiphany Events (Melissa Abeyta)
Florist: San Diego Wholesale Flowers & Bouquets
Linens: A&C Linen Rentals
Hair and Makeup: Glam Dolls Hair & Makeup Artistry

In October of 2010 Lilián Rosas (now Apgar) contacted me via email to discuss her wedding. I met with her and her fiancee, Gabriel Apgar, at Coffee Bean in Mission Valley, and discussed creative ideas and concepts that would fit well into the wedding. It was a good meeting, and a few days later, they emailed to let me know the contract and check were in the mail.

On the day of their reception, I arrived at Admiral Kidd and set up my equipment and lighting inside, between the dance floor and bar, and my ceremony system outside.

I’ve done quite a few weddings at Admiral Kidd so setup was easy and smooth. Their primary color was a soft blue, as you can see by the linens from A&C Linen Rentals and floral by San Diego Wholesale Flowers & Bouquets, and the uplighting complemented this perfectly.

Prelude: Vitamin String
Processional (Parents Seating): Robert Ziegler, Tony Hymas, Patrick Doyle (Sense & Sensibility Soundtrack) – Grant Me An Interview
Processional (Bridesmaids Entrance): Bach – Air On The G String
Processional (Bridal March): Pachebel – Canon in D
Recessional: U2 – A Beautiful Day (DJ Dennis J Ceremony Remix)

They had their cocktail hour on the front patio as is typical for this venue.

Cocktail Hour: ballads, soft rock, “Mariachi Serenade” A Walk in the Clouds Soundtrack ,“Bizarre Love Triangle” New Order, “More Than Words” Extreme, “Eres” Café Tacvba

During their cocktail hour, I took some pictures of the cake with the spotlighting on, to show you what a difference the cake spotlight can make.

Grand Entrance (Wedding Party): Black Eyed Peas – I Gotta Feeling
Grand Entrance (Bride and Groom): Frank Sinatra – Fly Me To The Moon

Immediately after their Grand Entrance, and another enthusiastic round of applause, we started dinner. After dinner, we began toasts, starting with an enthusiastic Maid Of Honor.

And they thanked their guests for coming…

Immediately after toasts, I invited Lili and Gabe onto the dance floor for their first dance.

First Dance: Lady Antebellum – When You Got A Good Thing

Grandfather Granddaughter Dance: Maná – “Bendita La Luz” (Bachata version)

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

We also did an anniversary dance, per the couple’s request. The winning couple ended up being Lili’s grandparents who had been married 52 years!

We then opened the dance floor up! Here’s a good pic of the guests and the groom getting his groove on!

After a bit of dancing, we took a break and began the cake cutting.

Cake Cutting Song: Michael Bublé – How Sweet It Is

To keep the celebration going and give the caterers an opportunity to cut the cake, we began the tosses. Sorry, there no pics. I was too busy managing the events! Maybe I will get some from Stephina Photography later…

Bouquet Toss: Cyndi Lauper – Girls Just Want to Have Fun

Garter Toss: Jimi Hendrix – Foxy Lady

We then went back into open dancing. It was amazing… just when we thought the dance floor was struggling, I hit them with some spanish cumbias and got it really going. I then transitioned to some non-typical 90s throwbacks, and the dance floor just took off and stayed full for the rest of the night!

As a bonus (for me!) of the night, the coordinator, Melissa Abeyta of Epiphany Events, was impressed enough to take the following picture and post it to Facebook with the caption, “You want this DJ to DJ your wedding!”. (Sorry, Melissa. I shameless stole your photo!)

And Stephina Photography posted a great photo of me on Facebook as well.

For last dance, we planned to have a good slow song to wind it down, but there was a bit of an issue with the hotel shuttle. The shuttle had mixed up their date and consequently never arrived. I heard from the bride that later they refunded our deposit and offered services free for a night. Unfortunately this meant the groom was left dealing with the problem so we ended up just keeping the music fast and fun until the end.

After the reception was over, I was able to get my post-reception snapshot.

Congratulations to Lili and Gabe and their families, and thanks for giving me the opportunity to be a part of your special night!

Manchester Grand Hyatt Wedding – David and Jena Beane

Client: Jena (Tran) and David Beane

Venue: Manchester Grand Hyatt – Randle Terrace Ballroom
Venue Address: One Market Place, San Diego, CA 92101
Number of guests: 215+

Services Provided: Wedding DJ and Master of Ceremonies, Dance Floor Lighting, Monogram Gobo Creation, Wedding Video Montage, Event Uplighting (16 uplights)

Catering: Manchester Grand Hyatt
Photography/Videography: Amore Wedding Photography
Photography for DJ: Kendra Trapp of A Little Bit Of Handmade
Wedding Coordinator: Reshma Singh
Florist: Wedding Flowers by Melissa
Linens: Lovely Chair Covers
Cake: Manchester Grand Hyatt

In November of 2010 Jena Tran (now Beane) contacted me via email to discuss her wedding. We met at Borders in Mission Valley, and discussed creative ideas and concepts that would fit well into the wedding. They were interested in a lot of my add-on services, stating interests in a “video montage with the DVD, dance floor lighting, monogram lighting, and the uplighting/underlighting”. A few days later, Jena contacted me and told me that her and David had talked it over and wanted me as their DJ because they appreciated me “sharing [my] knowledge about music and style, but also giving us plenty of options to work with”. They booked their date, and we discussed meeting later to assess the venue and discuss lighting for the event.

After they booked. I sent over some ideas for monogram styles, and Jena hit me up with a unique idea her and David had come up with– David was a big Red Sox fan, and since his last name started with a “B” they wanted to use the Red Sox’s trademark letter B as the center of their monogram. As I’ve mentioned before, most vendors/DJs who provide this service simply hand their client a catalog of templates and fonts and have them pick between them. On the other hand, I can actually custom design pretty much anything needed since I have an IT background and decent skills with Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator. Monogram images are fickle… they have to be done using a ‘vector format’ which is beyond the expertise of many. Needless to say, I got excited and set to work to make it happen.

Here’s the Red Sox image they sent me:

From this, I found a higher quality image on the web…

… threw it into Adobe Illustrator and used a few tools such as convert to vector …

Then added some layers to position the text around it.

Not bad, huh? It looks like this in actual use:

Jena and David (and most of their wedding party!) met with me at Manchester Grand Hyatt to discuss the lighting requirements as well as equipment setup. After reviewing their layout, we were both in agreement that their reception would look best with a minimum of 16 uplights.

On the day of their reception, I arrived at the venue and set up my equipment and lighting inside. Unlike a lot of my setups, you could actually see a wire or two on the right because the projector I set up was over 50 feet away and I decided to use wireless transmission to eliminate pesky wires. I’ll have to work on the concealment of this.

For cocktail hour, they had the Students of SCPA Quartet perform, so my part started at Grand Entrance. Working with their coordinator, Reshma Singh, we lined them up the wedding party, coached them on their roles, and started the Grand Entrance.

Grand Entrance (Wedding Party): Bill Medley & Jennifer Warnes – (I’ve Had) The Time of my Life

Grand Entrance (Bride and Groom): Eric Clapton – Wonderful Tonight

Immediately after their Grand Entrance, and another enthusiastic round of applause, I instructed the guests to be seated as David and Jena went into their First Dance.

First Dance: Otis Redding-These Arms Of Mine

After their dance, we began dinner. For music, I played songs from the ‘Rat Pack’ era. It was a nice change of routine for me, and seemed to go well with this group. What’s more, the banquet manager, Julie, came over and commented on how nice it was to hear this genre.

In the middle of dinner, I faded the music out and introduced the next event, a Vietnamese Lion Dance, which was performed by Hung Vuong Sports Club.

A brief synopsis of the Lion Dance taken from Wikipedia: The story goes that once upon a time a monk had a dream in which there were many sorrows and evils plaguing the land. The monk prayed and asked the gods how he could prevent these evils from occurring. The gods told him that a lion would protect them and fight back the evils. The Chinese people had never see a lion before, but had heard stories that the lion was the king of all the other animals, so the monk combined all the lucky or magical animals he could think of and so made a lion.

If you look closely at any lion, you can see a red sash tied on its horn. It is told that the lion was disrespectful to the Jade Emperor. This of course caused the Jade Emperor to get very angry, so as a punishment he chopped off his horn (The source of his life) and the lion died. The Goddess of Mercy (Guan Yin) felt bad for him so she tied his horn back on with a red sash with golden leaves and chanted to the lion and he came back to life.

After the Lion Dance was over, I announced their video montage and started it so guests could enjoy it while continuing to eat. The projector screen location was arranged in advance and worked well. We put it in a corner of the room and angled it diagonally.

And since I’ve been given permission to show their wedding montage on this post, here it is!

Following the montage, we began toasts, starting with the Best Man, Ryan Sharkey.

Next was Maid Of Honor (and little sister of the bride), Ursula Tran.

Then we heard from Jena’s best friend, Jacqueline Richardson.

And a special thanks from David and Jena to their guests…

We followed the toasts with a centerpiece giveaway game, involving each table in a game of pass the bill (think of it as hot potato with dollar bills). Guests really enjoyed this, as you can see by the following photos.

As you can see, guests really get into it and I highly recommend it if it fits the vibe of your wedding.

After the centerpiece game, we began parent dances.

Father (Hoang Kim Nguyen-Tran) & Daughter Dance: Frank Sinatra – The Way You Look Tonight

Mother (Kim Beane) & Son Dance: Boyz II Men – Mama’s Song

We then opened the dance floor up.

After a bit of dancing, we took a break and began the cake cutting. The cake was amazing looking, especially with the complementary underlighting and adjacent uplighting combined with spotlighting.

Cake Cutting Song: Marvin Gaye – How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)

To keep the celebration going and give the caterers an opportunity to cut the cake, we began the tosses. Sorry, there no pics. I was too busy managing the events!

Bouquet Toss: Beyonce – Single Ladies

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

Afterwards we went back into open dance!

Last Song: Ekolu – Honestly

After the reception was over, David and Jena took the party to a bar, but not before I was able to get my post-reception snapshot.

Congratulations to David and Jena Beane and their families, and thanks for giving me the opportunity to be a part of your special night!

A scan of thank you card I received a few days later:

No ‘formal review’ yet, but I’ll be sure to post one here if they write one.

Wild Animal Park – Wedding of Josie and Eugene Geroche Jr.

Client: Josie and Eugene Geroche Jr.
Venue: Wild Animal Park (Now known as San Diego Zoo Safari Park) – Mombasa Island Pavilion and Hunte Nairobi Pavilion
Venue Address: 15500 San Pasqual Valley Road, Escondido, CA 92027
Number of guests: 125
Services Provided: Wedding DJ and Master of Ceremonies, Dance Floor Lighting, Wedding Montage Projection

Catering: San Diego Zoo Safari Park
Photography: Brian Blue Photography
Venue Coordinator: Keely East

In September of 2010 Eugene and Josie contacted me to discuss the opportunity to DJ their wedding at the Wild Animal Park. After talking on the phone, I ended up talking to his mother who was highly cautious about finding the right DJ (nobody can blame someone for that!). After a bit more discussion via email, we made plans to meet at a restaurant to go over more details. Gene and Josie brought several relatives also, and we had a good meeting with everyone.

Once their reception was close, they contacted me to discuss their choices and seeing what details were still needed. We met again at a coffee shop and went over every detail to make sure there were no questions between any of us. Meanwhile, the Maid of Honor contacted me because she had designed a video montage as a wedding gift to them, and appropriately we added the wedding montage projection package to their order.

On the day of their reception, it had been raining on and off for a week. Keely East contacted me and let me know that there would be a change in venue plans to account for the rain, and we ended up doing their ceremony at the Mombasa Island Pavilion and their reception at Hunte Nairobi Pavilion. Just for the record, Keely is absolute pleasure to work with, and really helped with making everything run smoothly. I recommend her highly.

I arrived at the venue and loaded my equipment onto their golf carts, where I was transported into the park. I set up my equipment inside the Hunte, and then was taken to the Mombasa to prepare for the ceremony. Not my favorite order to do things but under these circumstances it was necessary.

The ceremony went great and their song selections fit them perfectly.

Guests seating (Prelude): Wedding Piano Music
Parents seating: Joy – Tim O’Neill Brothers
Bridesmaids entrance: An Improvisation on Canon D – Robin Spielberg
Bride entrance: Butterfly Waltz – Twilight Piano Series (Piano and Cello Duet)
Recessional: Need You Now –Wedding Day Music (Piano)

After their reception was over, guests were escorted to the Hunte Pavilion for the reception.

Grand Entrance song (wedding party): Creedence Clearwater Revival – Run Through The Jungle
Grand Entrance song (bride and groom): Carmen Twillie – Circle Of Life

Right after their grand entrance, and another enthusiastic round of applause, I instructed the guests to be seated and we began a buffet dinner. Before we ate though, the mother of the bride, Jacqueline Ray, said the Blessing.

During dinner, we showed the montage that her Maid of Honor, Stacia Glenn, had created.

For the Centerpiece Giveaway activity, we did the Pass The Bill game, which went over really well.

After giving away centerpieces, we began toasts. Toasts concluded with a special thanks to their guests, given by the Gene and Josie.

We then began dances, starting with the first dance. 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: What a Wonderful World – Louis Armstrong

Father Daughter Dance: My Little Girl – Tim McGraw

Mother Son Dance: My Wish – Rascal Flatts

Cake Cutting: Sweet Thing – Keith Urban

(sorry, no pics. This was a busy event for me, I was unable to use my camera much!)

Bouquet Toss: Man I Feel Like A Woman – Shania Twain

Open dancing was fun, and I would say the biggest hits of the night were 80s rock. We ended the night with Unforgettable – Nat King Cole and Natalie Cole.

Following the last dance, I caught Gene and Josie and got my picture with the happy groom and bride.

Congratulations to Gene and Josie and their families. Thanks for trusting me to be your DJ and entertainment on your special night!

Review:

After the night, I received the following post on my Facebook wall from the groom’s mother, Charlotte Geroche:

“Thank you Dennis for the great job you did for us yesterday.  I know the circumstances were challenging, but you made it all work.  Everyone had a great time.”