San Diego Wedding (Priv Residence) – Wedding of Corey and Jennifer Currier

Venue: <Private Residence>
Venue Address: <withheld>
Number of guests: 130+
Services Provided: Wedding DJ and Master of Ceremonies, Dance Floor Lighting, External Wireless Speakers

Catering: Ranch Catering
Photography: Amy Wilson Photography
Photobooth: Rob Young

In February of 2010 Corey Currier and Jennifer Leslie contacted me to discuss the opportunity to DJ their wedding. We met at a coffee shop and discussed details. While showing them some options such as dance floor lighting and monograms, I ended up showing them a monogram picture from Billy and Amber Winter’s wedding and they recognized the photo! Corey told me his friends were at their wedding and said they had an amazing time, so that was pretty much the best referral I could have gotten, right? A few days after we met, they booked the date.

In order to supply music outside, they added my wireless speaker package. This is an addon package in which I use wireless signal to supply the same sound inside to the main sound system as well as outside to wireless speakers. It provides an elegant atmosphere because announcements can be heard from anywhere, and music stays the same as people move from the patio to the banquet room. Since their cocktail hour was on the back porch, it was pretty much a necessity if music was to be provided in a classy fashion.

On the day of their reception, I arrived at the venue and set up my main equipment, then set up the wireless speaker system outside. With an outdoor venue such as this, and their purchase of my enhanced dancefloor lighting, I put together quite a lighting tree. Here is a picture of the main system and the light tree.

Cocktail Hour: Songs by The Album Leaf, The Outer Banks, The American Dollar, Explosions In The Sky, The Beatles, Interpol

Notable mention during the cocktail hour– There was a Candy Table full of delicious treats. I personally ate way too many yogurt covered pretzels…

Grand Entrance song: Billy Squire – The Stroke

Right after their grand entrance, and another enthusiastic round of applause, I instructed the guests to be seated and we began a buffet dinner.

Following dinner and the making of their rounds, we began toasts. I had to interact quite a bit during toasts so there’s no pictures from them, however I did get a picture of the special thanks delivered by the bride and groom.

Following the toasts we began formal dances. Note the white dots swirling around the floor? That’s part of the Enhanced Dance Floor Lighting package which contains separate lights for slow dances as well as open dancing time.

First dance: Paramore – The Only Exception

Mother Daughter Dance: Moody Blues – Nights in White Satin

Mother Son Dance: Smashing Pumpkins – Landslide

Open dancing was a lot of fun, the first set was a lot of older disco and some rock.

Cake Cutting: Led Zeppelin – Whole Lotta Love

Cake cutting was so much fun! Corey and Jennifer are so playful. They obviously both had plans on a very messy cake cutting experience, and at one point there was a showdown with each daring the other person to make a move! haha. Here’s a pic of that classic moment.

After the cake cutting, we began the tosses.

Garter Toss: Waka Flocka – No Hands

Bouquet Toss: Rihanna – Only Girl In The World

After tosses we went back into open dancing. Corey, Jennifer, and many of their close friends have an affinity for nu-disco house. The end of the night I got the privilege to throw down a 40+ minute set of current and classic nu-disco tunes, starting with one of their favorite artists, Chromeo. I love being able to do non-wedding-type sets so I actually recorded it to review later. If I get enough requests, I may post the set for streaming and download. It went over really well, the dance floor stayed occupied and everyone really seemed to enjoy it.

For their last song, they kept it nu-disco/indie…

Last Dance: Feist – My Moon My Man (Boyz Noize Classic Mix)

After such a fun and highly successful night, there was no way I was leaving without getting a photo with the newlyweds.

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

MCRD – Wedding of Karina and Jose Hernandez

Client: Karina (Cervantes) and Jose Hernandez

Venue: Marine Corp Recruit Depot (MCRD) – Bayview Room
Venue Address: West Washington Street, San Diego, CA. 92140
Number of guests: 130
Services Provided: Wedding DJ and Master of Ceremonies, Dance Floor Lighting, Event Uplighting (12 lights), External Wireless Speakers

Catering: Bayview Restaurant
Photography: AVW Photography (Amy Wilson)
Venue Coordinator: Susan
Florist: Angels U Flowers
Cake: Edelweiss Bakery

In July of 2010 Karina and Jose contacted me to discuss the opportunity to DJ their wedding at MCRD. We met at a coffee shop and talked about their wedding ideas and how I could accommodate them. They were particularly interested in uplighting and table underlighting, as you’ll see later. We had a great meeting and I could really feel that we communicated well with each other and there was a mutual excitement. I was correct, because the very next day Karina emailed me and said they wanted to book me.

Jose and Karina planned to have their cocktail hour outside on the Bayview Patio. The doors to the Bayview Room were to remain closed until it was time for Grand Entrance. In order to supply music outside, they added my wireless speaker package. This is an addon package in which I use wireless signal to supply the same sound inside to the main soundsystem as well as outside to wireless speakers. It provides an elegant atmosphere because announcements can be heard from anywhere, and music stays the same as people move from the patio to the banquet room.

On the day of their reception, I arrived at the venue and set up my equipment inside, then set up the wireless speaker system outside. For cocktail, they requested R&B and island music. Since R&B can be distracting during a time of much conversation, I went with an assortment of Hidden Beach tracks (90s hip-hop remade by jazz musicians) for the first half of the cocktail hour, then switched to some cocktail-appropriate reggae/island music for the second half. Jose came over during the Hidden Beach part and commented that his guests were really going to like it (he was inside the Bayview Room resting for a bit, which their guests were outside). Here’s a picture of the external wireless speakers.

Jose and Karina ordered 12 purple uplights, to be used on the walls and under the cake table and head table. With some clever manipulation, I was able to get a pretty cool effect from the combination of lights I used.

Head table lighting:

Cake table underlighting and walls:

Everything together:

Grand Entrance song: I Gotta Feeling – Black Eyed Peas

Right after their grand entrance, and another enthusiastic round of applause, I instructed the guests to be seated and we began a buffet dinner.

Following dinner and the making of their rounds, we began toasts, then proceeded into their first dance.

First dance: Edwin Mccain – I’ll Be

Father Daughter Dance: Heartland – I Loved Her First

Mother Son Dance: Boyz II Men – A Song For Mama

Cake Cutting: Candyman – Christina Aguilera

Garter Toss: Tone Loc – Wild Thing

Bouquet Toss: Single Ladies – Beyonce

And open dancing was happening tonight! Being a hispanic wedding, there were lots of requests for spanish music, mostly cumbias. I really got some good practice mixing cumbias tonight. Other than spanish music, the most dancing seemed to occur when I did a throwback 80s set. I got a lot of comments after the reception from guests about how they liked the 80s choices and one guest was excited about a Selena set I put together. He said he was from Texas and the music really took him back to some happy memories.

For their last song, Jose and Karina chose Sister Sledge – We Are Family.

Afterwards, I instructed the guests to form an ‘exit tunnel’ for the bride and groom to do their Grand Exit.

And off they went to begin the next chapter of their life!

But not before I caught up with them for a post-reception snapshot!

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

Coronado Community Center – Wedding of Phong and Anna Tu

Client: Phong and Anna Tu
Venue: Coronado Community Center – Nautilus Banquet Room
Venue Address: 1845 Strand Way · Coronado, California 92118
Number of guests: 164
Services Provided: Wedding DJ and Master of Ceremonies, Dance Floor Lighting, External Wireless Speakers

Catering: Encore Catering (Christine and Tress)
Photography: Trailbrook
Venue Coordinator: Coronado (Notable mention: Colleen Muldoon)
Wedding Coordinator: Ha Nguyen (Maid Of Honor)
Florist: Thuy
Linens: SD Linens
Cake: Edelweiss Bakery

In July of 2010 Phong Tu and Anna Chong contacted me to discuss the opportunity to DJ their wedding at Coronado Community Center. They were referred to me by Tress Balch of Encore Catering. For those that don’t know Tress… you’re missing out. He’s a great sushi chef and a pleasure to work with. The last time I worked with him was at Liberty Center during Jim Fitzgerald’s wife Rita’s birthday party. I was excited when I heard that Tress had recommended me because 1) this was the first time he had referred me and 2) I was going to get to enjoy some more of Tress’ delicious cooking!

Phong, Anna, and I met at a coffee shop and discussed details. They planned to have a part of their ballroom sectioned off for a photobooth, and reception room doors were to remain closed until cocktail hour was over. In order to supply music outside, they added my wireless speaker package. This is an addon package in which I use wireless signal to supply the same sound inside to the main soundsystem as well as outside to wireless speakers. It provides an elegant atmosphere because announcements can be heard from anywhere, and music stays the same as people move from the patio to the banquet room. They originally were going to use string lighting for their dance floor, but after seeing some video samples of my lightshows, they decided to include that as well in their package.

On the day of their reception, I arrived at the venue and set up my equipment inside, then set up the wireless speaker system outside. For cocktail, they left it up to me with the simple instructions of “modern and upbeat please!” I went with an assortment of Hidden Beach tracks to meet this request. For those that haven’t experienced Hidden Beach, think fun 90s hip-hop remade by jazz musicians. I know that Phong and Anna must have received several comments about the cocktail music, because I got several myself! To top it off, I overheard the bartender telling guests, “OK, I’ll pour your drink but first you have to name this song.”

Tress Balch, in his natural habitat.

Grand Entrance song: I Gotta Feeling – Black Eyed Peas

Right after their grand entrance, and another enthusiastic round of applause, I instructed the guests to be seated and we began a buffet dinner. Tables were dismissed by number, two at a time.

Following dinner and the making of their rounds, we projected a video montage for the guests to enjoy. Note: This montage was original burned in a HD DVD format and could not be played on the venue’s projector. Why it was burned in HD DVD I’ll never know, but through quick thinking (a degree in IT probably didn’t hurt) I was able analyzing the cause, inform the groom of the issue and propose a solution involving acquisition of a Macbook. Phong took my advice and found a guest that had a Macbook in their car, and with my assistance we were able to convert the video and eventually display the montage!

Honorable mention: During the trials and tribulations with the projector I had the privilege to meet Colleen Muldoon, a wonderful employee of Coronado Community Center. Her pleasant demeanor and friendly attitude was noticed and appreciated. We talked a bit, and she definitely helped me to feel comfortable as a vendor at her venue.

Towards the end of dinner, we began toasts. Here’s a few pictures taken during the toasts.

After toasts, we gave away the centerpieces using the “Pass the Bill” game. It was a lot of fun and the guests really got into it. It was a blast hearing the “Awwww!”s and laughter after each round.

Following the centerpiece giveaway we began formal dances. Note the white dots swirling around the floor? That’s part of the Enhanced Dance Floor Lighting package which contains separate lights for slow dances as well as open dancing time.

First dance: 98 Degrees – I Do (Cherish You)

Cake Cutting: Blessed – Christina Aguilera

Garter Toss: Tie Me Down – New Boyz

Bouquet Toss: Single Ladies – Beyonce

For those that know Asian tradition, weddings usually incorporate games. See my blog of the Perez’s wedding for an explanation of the history and significance of Asian wedding games. Since Tu and Anna didn’t have any games planned out, I threw in one of own… the wedding-appropriate, entertaining, and always successful– Shoe Game!

After the Shoe Game, the dance floor was opened. Although dancing occurred to a lot of genres, I have to say the biggest hits of the night were the current club hits. Anna and her friends were all over that floor!

Phong and Anna chose to keep the energy high during the last song.

Last Song: DJ Got Us Fallin’ In Love – Usher

After such a successful wedding I always make sure to get a picture with the happy bride and groom, but this time I had it done by a professional using the photobooth!

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