Jasmine Seafood Restaurant – Perez Wedding

Client: Danny and Nancy Perez
Venue: Jasmine Seafood Restaurant
Venue Address: 4609 Convoy Street, San Diego, CA 92111

Number of guests: 230+
Services Provided: Wedding DJ and Master of Ceremonies

Photography: ABM Photography (Nick Mantzel)
Videography: Hong Vo

Danilo (Danny) Perez and Nancy Trieu contacted me in March to inquire about wedding services. They were getting married at Jasmine Seafood Restaurant, and wanted someone who could DJ but more importantly they were looking for someone comfortable on a mic that could keep their guests entertained without resorting to cheesy techniques or dialogue. We met at Jamba Juice in Mira Mesa to discuss details. Three days later, they emailed me and were ready to book their wedding with me.

The second time I met with Danny and Nancy, they presented me with a few surprises. In typical Chinese wedding fashion, they wanted to play games. However, what I wasn’t ready for was the fact that they wanted to play a BUNCH of games! So, we sat together and they explained to me the games they wanted to play and the details behind them. They wanted me to manage the games from beginning to end, creating teams, keeping the guests excited about each activity, and of course conducting the games and announcing the winners. I’m always up for a challenge, so I made sure to clarify all the details and began to prepare for the event on my own by doing research into Chinese wedding game traditions.

For those unaware, the tradition of playing games during Chinese weddings extends all the way back to ancient times. In those times, the bride and groom often were paired together by their parents and as such were strangers to one another. In order to ease anxiety and tension between them, they played games on their wedding night to become acquainted with one another. Even though most Chinese weddings today occur after courting, the Chinese wedding games tradition continues to exist. In ancient times the games were played mostly between the bride and groom but nowadays they can include the wedding party, and even guests. Danny and Nancy planned their games to pit them and their wedding party against their guests!

On the day of their wedding, I arrived at Jasmine Seafood Restaurant and set up. For this particular layout I went with a set of JBL speakers containing two 15″ speakers and a horn in each enclosure. This venue was known for loud events and I wanted to make sure I had enough sound to compare with their expectations. Here’s a picture of my setup. You’ll notice that even though this is my secondary system, it remains as clean and professional looking as my primary system.

The reception began with cocktail hour, during which the song selection was ‘DJ choice’. I played some classic swing/rat-pack mixed with a bit of smooth jazz and a few adult contemporary tracks.

Introductions at Chinese weddings are done differently than American weddings. The family is introduced before the bridal party, though not as part of the entrance. Instead, to begin introductions I acknowledged the family of both Danny and Nancy and had them rise from their seats as their names were called:

Mother and Father of the Bride: Mai Huynh and Chen Trieu
Mother and Father of the Groom: Fe and Vicente Perez
Brother of the Bride: Minh Trieu
Brothers of the Groom: Eric and Frankie Perez
Sister-In-Laws of the Groom: Marlene and Christine Perez

Once the family was introduced, we did bridal party introductions to Pink – Get The Party Started:

Sister of the bride and Maid Of Honor: Kim Trieu
The Best Man: Robert Helsel
Bridesmaid: Cece Ngan
Groomsman: Joe Benitez

And then introduced “Mr. and Mrs. Danny and Nancy Perez” to Israeli Philharmonic cond. Lalo Schifrin -Mission: Impossible Theme

In traditional fashion, dinner was composed of a multiple course meal. This particular meal contained 10 courses. Sauces and bowls were set out beforehand at each table in a stylish fashion as you can see here.

During dinner, guests enjoyed a silent video montage created by their videographer, Hong Vo. Once the main courses were complete, we began games. Per Danny’s request, I started by informing all guests of the tradition of chinese wedding games, and letting them know that we were going to observe that tradition tonight.

For their first game, we did the Shoe game. When Danny first mentioned this to me, I simply told him, “Say no more. I’ll take care of it.” Unbeknownst to them, I do the ‘shoe game’ often, and it is one of my favorite wedding games to perform since it is tasteful, interactive and in all my years of performing it, it has never failed to entertain! Also, it cannot be planned by the bride and groom or it loses its edge. Both the bride and groom are asked questions about one another and if they knew the questions, it wouldn’t be much of a game would it? I hit them with fun questions that had them as well as their guests laughing and having a good time. It went over well, and was a good icebreaker into the gaming portion of the night.

Without going into excessive detail, I managed several more games in succession– The Card-Kissing Game (also known as Suck & Blow) which was done in a ‘sanitary’ method by using cut boba straws to pass the cards rather than each other’s lips, Pass The Ball (pass a ball under your neck to the next person’s neck), The Lemon Roll (hilarious! involves pantyhose, two lemons per team, and some coordination between your legs…), and The Sumo Struggle (blow up several balloons and pop them between you and your partner without using your hands, and instead pressing hard against each other until the balloon explodes).

Once games were done, guests enjoyed the remainder of their courses (10-course meal, remember?) and then we began cake cutting. Danny and his Best Man, Robbie, had practiced a samurai performance, and I began by playing the Kill Bill Theme Song, Tomoyasu Hotei – Battle Without Honor or Humanity. Robbie stepped onto the dance floor prepared to battle Danny but then presented the sword to him instead and exited the floor. I then switched to Frank Sinatra – Love & Marriage while Danny and Nancy cut the cake using the samurai sword! Pretty cool, huh? Proper planning and coordination with a DJ can make all the difference in pulling off unique creative ideas like this. Unfortunately since I was busy changing music and such I was not able to get a picture of it, but hopefully I’ll have one soon to include here. I do have a picture of the cake, pre-samurai slicing.

After cake cutting, it was time for Danny and Nancy’s first dance. They danced to Sunny Hilden – Together (from Robotech) .

Afterwards, we began open dance with a slow song, Bangles – Eternal Flame.

And then broke into a fun dance set comprised of some line dancing, classic 70s and 80s, and even some swing music. My video camera battery ran out shortly after the set began, but I managed to capture a few shots of the dancers getting into the groove.

For their second to last dance, Danny and Nancy danced to Frank Sinatra – Nancy (With The Laughing Face), and for their last song, Natalie Cole – This Will Be An Everlasting Love.

Afterwards, they came over to thank me for my performance and I took the opportunity to get my souvenir post-event shot:

Congratulations to Danny and Nancy Perez, and best wishes for a life together full of happiness. From the little amount I’ve seen the two of them together, I don’t think that’s going to be a problem. And of course, thanks to both of them for choosing me to help make their wedding night unforgettable for themselves, their guests, and even ME. I’ll never forget the first time I got to explain and execute the Lemon Roll Game!