Loews Hotel Wedding – Nick and Brigitte Schwob

Client: Nick and Brigitte Schwob
Venue: Loews Coronado Bay Resort & Spa – Constellation Rooms A & B (combined)

Venue Address: 4000 Coronado Bay Road, San Diego, California, 92118
Number of guests: 161+
Services Provided: Wedding DJ and Master of Ceremonies, Dance Floor Lighting, External Wireless Speakers, Monogram Gobo Creation, Wedding Video Montage, Event Uplighting

Catering: Loews (Trese Bernier)
Photography: Garret Photography
Wedding Coordinator: Maha Adamo
Florist: Allens Flowers & Plants
Linens: Loews & Lovely Chair Covers
Cake: Flour Power
Photo Booth: Good Time Photo Booth

In August of 2010 Brigitte Fox (now Schwob) contacted me via email to discuss her wedding. Being that her and her fiancee are in the military, they were unavailable to meet but instead arranged a meeting with her parents. We met at a cafe in La Mesa, and discussed creative ideas and concepts that would fit well into the wedding. They were interested in a lot of my add-on services, as well as a DJ that could really read a crowd and keep a dance floor full. A few days later, Brigitte contacted me and was excited about booking. According to her, her parents were really impressed and were sure I was the one they wanted. I sent her a copy of my contract, and her reply was, “Based on my parents’ feedback, it seems that there will be little left that we won’t be using!” How right she was.

The months that transpired before the wedding we worked on details. I sent over some ideas for monogram styles, and Brigitte and Nick found a style they liked pretty quickly and we were able to get that ordered. When Brigitte was in town, we found a time to meet in-person (for the first time!) and discuss more details such as music and timing of events, and also arrange to get me a copy of their wedding video montage pictures. Due to conflicting schedules, I was never actually able to meet Nick before the wedding, but Brigitte’s parents had showed me a website that Nick has put together at http://nicklovesthebrigmeister.com which pretty much told me all I really needed to know– which was that Nick was a guy that loved to have fun and rock out. Check out their webpage (especially the ‘audio and video’ link) and you’ll see what I mean. I do actually take offense to the wording on the page though. “DJ? Who needs a DJ?” Hahaha!

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 in the main hall. For cocktail, they chose ‘rat pack’ genre, which worked well. I then set up a group of 12 purple uplights around the room’s perimeter and in the cake table.

With a nice large dance floor, it was only natural to place the monogram right in the center of it.

The projector screen location was a bit tricky due to the layout of the room and tables. We found the best location for it to be close to the center of the room width-wise.

Working with their coordinator, Maha Adamo, we lined the wedding party up and prepared everyone for introductions. Actually, Maha did most of the lining up. She was great to work with, and really took an interest in being ‘hands-on’ with the coordination, which worked well for both of us.

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 dinner. Tables were dismissed by Loews staff, and the photographers (Garrett Photography) and myself went and had dinner in an adjacent room. I’ve worked with Garrett Photography before, and we both recognized each other but couldn’t pinpoint where from! Nevertheless, we had an enjoyable meal and shared experiences and stories. Great guys, highly talented as well as good conversationalists.

Toward the end of dinner and after Nick and Brigitte had made approximately half of their rounds, we projected the video montage for the guests to enjoy.

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.

After the video montage, and the completion of the other half of their rounds, we began toasts. After toasts, we gave away the centerpieces using the “Pass the Bill” game, which was a lot of fun. Then, it was time for the First Dance.

First Dance: Starship – Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now (watch the video to understand the picture)

Father Daughter Dance: The Temptations – My Girl

Mother Son Dance: Billy Joel – New York State of Mind

After formal dances, I made sure guests knew that there was a photobooth on the back patio (Good Time Photo Booth) and that the bride and groom would receive one copy of all pictures, so they should make sure to visit the booth. We then did a bit of open dancing, and then took a break for a cake cutting ceremony with a sword. The sword was first used to cut the cake, and then afterwards as an air guitar! haha

Cake Cutting: Rolling Stones – Sympathy for the Devil

Bouquet Toss: Beyonce – Single Ladies

We then opened the dance floor back up. They had one packed dance floor! Here’s a couple pics, but for more detail, see the video.

The Video:

Last Song: Journey – Faithfully

After the reception was over, Nick and Brigitte took the party downstairs to the bar, but not before I was able to get my post-reception snapshot.

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

Post-notes:

After the wedding, the Wedding Coordinator, Maha Adamo, was kind enough to post a review of my services on Bridal Insider (here) and Google (here):

DJ Dennis Jones is the best you can get. I had the pleasure of coordinating a wedding on Thanksgiving weekend and I’m so happy the family hired Creative Music – Dennis was an awesome DJ and MC. From all aspects of planning and execution, working with him has been an excellent experience for the bride and groom as well as for the other vendors. Dennis displays a high degree of professionalism, he is well organized and communicative, he’s flexible (even with last-minute changes to the program and some of the bridal party’s zanier requests) – and, very importantly, he’s fun! He knows how to read a crowd and keeps the party moving with fluid mixes all evening. And he did an exceptional job with the specialty services he features, like custom lighting and production of a video montage. Booking with Creative Music gets you so much more than a great DJ. Thanks, Dennis, for your stellar services.

I also received a post from Brigitte on Facebook which stated:

Hey Dennis! Thank you so much for posting the awesome pictures and video…and for being the best dj we could ask for! Nick says, “you made America proud!”