The Crosby Wedding – Brandon and Stephanie Hammermeister

Before I begin the recap of this wedding, have any of my readers heard of Wedding Wars? For those not familiar, it was a show on VH1 where 11 couples competed ‘Survivor-style’ for the ‘Ultimate Wedding’ (a $100,000 wedding with a $25,000 nest-egg). Each contest during the show had a prize of it’s own, from a complete set of outfits for the entire wedding party, to a $10,000 gift registry.

Brandon Hammermeister and Stephanie Houghton were one of the couples chosen to compete on Wedding Wars. They did an amazing job, but that was probably part of their downfall. They are both very athletic and in the beginning of the show they won several episode contests:

Episode #2 – The guys had to throw bouquets over their heads to the women, who had to catch as many as they could and get them to a finish line. But that’s kind of where the rules ended. It was a knock-down drag-out fight to get those bouquets across the finish line. Stephanie and Brandon won the prize of $5000 worth of floral arrangements.

Episode #3 – Each couple had a three-tier cake placed in front on them, and the first couple to eat the entire cake won the challenge. Sounds easy, right? Well, here’s the catch. The first layer was frosting over … blue cheese! The second layer was frosting over … pigs feet (yes, nails and such too). And if that wasn’t enough the third and largest layer was frosting over … dog food! If you have to watch one episode of Wedding Wars, I recommend it is this episode! Each couple started diving into the cake, and several didn’t make it past the first layer before vomiting and giving up. So how did Brandon and Stephanie win? They proved they are not only athletic, they are also ingenious! Instead of tackling the layers one by one, they made a smart decision and mashed all the layers together, creating a glob of disgusting stuff, but a glob without any one strong flavor! This allowed them to eat the cake slowly but effectively and they won. Their prize was a cake package worth $2500.

They made it to Episode #5, where they were cast off the island by elimination vote. The general consensus is that the other contestants realized how strong of a couple they were and that they stood a good chance of winning if allowed to remain.

Lucky for me, they didn’t make it to Episode #7 where they could have won a DJ for their wedding! Also lucky for me that Stephanie and Brandon chose to have their wedding at The Crosby Club at Rancho Santa Fe, a gorgeous venue that looks like this from the outside.

Wedding Ceremony

Wedding Lighting

The elegant look of The Crosby was enhanced even further by the use of uplighting, a cake pinspot, and a giant monogram to cover the curtain where they made their grand entrance.

Note the cake topper used on their cake. If you watched any of the episodes of Wedding Wars, you’ll recognize the topper as the same one used for the elimination rounds!

And here’s a classy shot Jared Bauman got of the cake topper ‘watching’ the guests.

The size of the monogram required precise projector placement, but I made sure to cover all of the stand to give the most classy event look possible.

Wedding Reception

Cocktail hour was held in the center of the building, which on The Crosby’s website is called, “Private Dining Room”.

Cocktail Hour

Dining

Once cocktails were over, I invited guests into the ballroom began the Grand Entrance. Brandon and Stephanie used the curtain to create a theatrical entrance. As I announced each group of the wedding party, they came bursting out of the curtains to thunderous applause. It was a great way to set the mood for the rest of the night. Sorry, no photos yet, but hopefully soon!

Immediately after the Grand Entrance, we went into dinner.

First Dance

When dinner was drawing to a close, Stephanie and Brandon started their First Dance.

Wedding Toasts

For the toast beverage, a distinguished guest of theirs that couldn’t appear in person donated a gigantic bottle of quality champagne for use during toasts. I announced this to the guests, and then the catering staff made a big show of opening the bottle for guests to enjoy. Stephanie and Brandon left me to my own devices for this presentation, so as the bottle was being popped, I chose to play Ron Brows – Pop Champagne. It seemed to be a good choice since the guests started singing along with the chorus as the champagne was being opened.

Brandon and Stephanie then gave a short speech and thanked their family and guests.

Father Daughter Dance

For their dances, I’d like to demonstrate an interesting effect I used that I can incorporate when a client has a white dance floor. If you’re willing to get a white dance floor for your event, I can make your dance floor appear to change colors under your feet!

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

Garter Toss

Bouquet Toss

Wedding Dancing Part II

Post-Reception

After another wonderful wedding reception, I got a photo with the newlyweds, Brandon and Stephanie Hammermeister.

Congratulations to Brandon and Stephanie and their families, and thanks for choosing The Creative Music DJ for your special day!

Additional Photos

Here’s some additional photos that are worth showing.

Wedding Wars winner and runner-up couples Joseph & Elsie, and Rich & Marina were guests at the Hammermeister’s wedding. From what I understand they’ve all become really good friends since the show. How cool is that, right? Here’s a photo of me with Joseph and Rich.

Jared also managed to get a cool shot of me behind the turntables.

As an afternote, I really like The Crosby Estates at Rancho Santa Fe. If anyone has any influence on getting me onto their preferred vendor list, please contact me!

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