Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Sheppard/Bonnet wedding at the NC State Alumni Center on January 31st, 2014


Delaina & Juan had me play music for their ceremony, cocktail hour and reception all taking place at the NC State Alumni Center in Raleigh.  I was thrilled to play for them and work with the center’s Wendy Dorman, planner Kailey from A Southern Soiree, videographer Jill from Darling Jill Videography and photographer Christobal Perez from Azul Photography!  With this “dream team” of vendors I knew I was going to have a blast.

Their ceremony was held on the 2nd floor in the Chancellor’s Reception room with live trees arranged in both corners and floral arrangements by Blooms Artistry.  The prelude music they chose was country and soft rock to flow with their ceremony music.  Their Grandparents & Parents entered to Carrie Underwood’s “Mama’s Song”, The wedding party to “When I Say I Do” and Delaina to “Make You Feel My Love” by Garth Brooks.  Their recessional was “Kiss A Girl” after Juan kissed his Bride…. Get it??
 
The cocktail hour was held at the bottom of the  stairs in the lobby and I had a mix of standards and Salsa to represent Juan’s Puerto Rican heritage and get guests ready for the latin dance lessons after dinner. Not by me, thank god.  No one would have learned anything.

After pictures were taken, Delaina and Juan were ready to be introduced.  Guests made their way to their beautifully decorated tables.  Great job Kailey!  The wedding party entered to “Marry You” by Bruno Mars and Delaina and Juan had their first dance to “I Won’t Give Up” by Jason Mraz.  Delaina then had a dance with her father to “I Loved Her First” and Juan danced with his mother to “The Man You’ve Become” by Molly Pasutti.  Delaina’s father, Donny, welcomed everyone and Juan’s mother Iris said the blessing.  Dinner was individually served and I had a mix of country, soft rock and latin playing.

After dinner and some toasts by bridesmaids and a groomsman, we had the Sugarland cake cutting to James Taylor’s “How Sweet It Is”.  They had cake shooters and a gelato bar for guests to enjoy.  This led to a fun game, the “Shoe game” where Delaina and Juan sat in chairs with their backs against each other holding one of each shoes in their hands.  I asked questions and they raised a shoe to signify if it was Juan or Delaina.  An example is “Who is a better cook?”.  This was a blast and really gave you an idea of each other’s perceptions of the relationship!  This lead to latin dance lessons by Mambo Dinamico that taught salsa, merengue and bachata dancing to the guests.  It was great to see their parents and grandparents learning these dances with their friends and them.
 
I opened the floor with a longest married couple dance to “The Way You Look Tonight” and Delaina knew her grandparents would win.  She gave her grandmother a bouquet and I played their favorite song, Celine Dion’s “The Power Of Love” as they sang it to each other.  I have to admit there was a tear in my eye!


I opened the floor with some Motown and current dance music and it took no time to fill.  I loved seeing Juan and a couple of his buddy’s acting out the Backstreet Boys “I Want It That Way”.  There was no way they hadn’t done this 100 times before. Ha ha..I ended the night with “Time Of My Life” from Dirty Dancing and Delaina and Juan made their way through a sparkler exit.  What a fun and unique wedding.

2 comments:

  1. Randy, you did an absolutely FABULOUS job at our wedding! We really did have the BEST combination of vendors! From the moment we met you it felt like we'd know you a long time. You understood us and our desires for the entire night. I left almost all of the music selection to you - including what I walked down the aisle to - and it was all woven together with perfection. Our guests haven't stopped commenting about how fun the entire night was - and we owe a lot of that to you! I can't thank you enough for the amazing job you did. We hope to see you soon!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Delaina! That means the world to me. Truly !

      Delete