Colleen & Dave’s wedding at The Cotton Room in Durham on October 2nd

Colleen and Dave chose Durham’s Cotton Room for their reception and what turned out to be their ceremony location as well.  Planner Nicole from Erin McLean Events helped move everything to the Cotton Room with no problems.  The ceremony was held on the side of the room with live musicians playing classical music and officiated by Minister Ed Sansbury.  After the ceremony that included a beautiful reading by Colleen’s Aunt from Ireland, the 150 guests made their way to the bar area while the staff got the room ready for dinner and dancing.

During the cocktail hour I had a special mix of music for Colleen and Dave that included bluegrass and Irish “punk” like Dropkick Murphy’s, The Pogues & Flogging Molly.  I actually loved it myself!  After photographer Rebecca Ames got some shots and the room was ready, the white linens opened and guests found their tables.  I only introduced Colleen and Dave and they entered to “Groove Me” by King James.  They came right to the floor and had their first dance to “Last Leaf” by OK Go followed by a welcome by Colleen & Dave and blessing by Dave’s father, Jeff.  The buffet opened and I played a mix of standards, soft rock and Irish punk during dinner.

After dinner we had a few toasts and Colleen joined her father on the floor for their dance to “In My Life” by The Beatles and Dave escorted his mother to the floor to dance to “Forever Young” by Rod Stewart.  Before opening the floor to everyone we had a longest married couple dance to “Make Someone Happy” by Jimmy Durante with the ”winners” being married 59 years!  I opened the floor to everyone with “Build Me Up Buttercup” and it filled with young and old for the next 2 hours.  The star of the show, however, was their sweet red headed flower girl that may have danced more than anyone all night.  She was even out there dancing to “Shout” in her pajamas!

We paused briefly for the Simply Cake cutting to “First Day Of My Life” by Bright Eyes, then back to dancing.  We ended the night with ”Wagon Wheel” and a sparkler exit from the front of the building.