A Marines Wedding At Bay 7 in Durham

I always feel honored to DJ a military wedding!  There is nothing we can do to come close to the service they do for us, but helping to make one of the most important days of their life fun is what I can do.

Emilie & James were married at Durham’s Bay 7 in front of 175 guests.  The room looked beautiful with floral arrangements by Tre Bella. The ceremony was officiated over by longtime family friend Reverend Drake who performed a beautiful ceremony!  Emilie’s mother came down the aisle to “Hallelujah” by Brooklyn Duo, James & his groomsmen to “No One” by Alicia Keys, the bridesmaids to “A Thousand Years” and finally Emilie & her father to “Canon In D”.  After the ceremony that included hand written vows they recessed under the sword arch to “Home” by Phillip Phillips.

While the Sarah and the staff at Bay 7 flipped the room for dinner, I invited the guests upstairs for the cocktail hour.  The wedding party stayed downstairs to get pics taken by Photographer Jamie Blow & videographer Elijah from Morgan Scott Films.  During the cocktail hour Emilie & James requested classic Punk and alternative rock.  Awesome!!!  I LOVED playing The Ramones, Clash, White Stripes and The Strokes at a wedding!  When the downstairs was ready I invited guests back down to their seats.

I introduced the wedding party down the longs stairway to “End Of Time” by Beyonce and Emilie & James came down to thunderous applause.  They had their first dance to “Stay With You” by John Legend.  Emilie danced with her father to “I Loved Her First” and her parents then welcomed everyone followed by the blessing by Reverend Drake.  The food stations opened and I had a mix of indie rock, classic soul and standards playing.

After dinner we had toasts and a thank you by Emilie before the cake cutting to “Like I’m Gonna Lose You”.  I opened the floor with some Motown and top 40 that filled it with young and old for the next 3 hours.  What a great dance floor and group to play for!  The last couple hours were mostly top 40 and hip-hop with some 2000’s mixed in.  I even saw James’ brother and best man shed his shirt on the dance floor during a Jay Z song!!  So great!  Of course, Peter Pablo “Raise Up” was played shortly after.

We ended the night with “Dock Of The Bay” and sparkler exit that had guests grabbed Krispy Kreme donuts on the way out.  What a fun wedding and thank you for your service to our country James!

DJ Randy Bennett  www.bunndjcompany.com/RandyB

Photo courtesy of Jamie Blow Photography

A New Years Eve Wedding at Merrimon-Wynne

I met Elizabeth a few years ago when she was an excited bouquet catcher at Emily Sexton’s wedding that I DJd.  I was thrilled and honored to be her DJ and watch her throw the bouquet for a change (She has caught 9 that I know of).

Elizabeth and Joe chose downtown Raleigh’s Merrimon-Wynne house for both ceremony and reception on New Years Eve 2016.  They had the ceremony in the carriage house for the 225 guests with a guitarist and singer that provided music.  I ran mics for the singers, minister and Joe.  After the ceremony that included a couple readings, they recessed to “Multiplied” by Needtobreathe.  The guests made their way inside the house for cocktails while the staff flipped the room for the reception.

After the room was set the guests were invited back to the carriage house for dinner and dancing by planner Becca from C and D Events.  I introduced the wedding party to “Now That We Found Love” by Heavy D and Elizabeth & Joe to “Lose Yourself” by Eminem.  They had their first dance to “Photograph” by Ed Sheeran.  Joe’s father welcomed everyone and chef Beau from Beau Catering described the 3 food stations. During dinner I had a mix of standards, soft rock and classic soul playing.

Towards the end of dinner guests started dancing so I went into “dancing mode” for the music that filled the floor for 30 minutes.  We stopped for the toasts and Hayes Barton Cake cutting to LOVE by Nat King Cole.  The past brides also presented Elizabeth with pics of each of her bouquet catches at their weddings and a retired personalized jersey.  So great!!  Elizabeth then danced with her father to Matt Johnson’s cover of “Brown Eyed Girl” and Joe danced with his sisters to “The Dance” by Garth Brooks.  I can’t wait to see pics of all of this from photographer Ashley with Story Photographers and Chris from Eden Anne Films! 

I opened the floor again with some top 40 and 2000’s dance hits for the rest of the night.  We paused for the bouquet toss to “Empire State Of Mind” then back to dancing until after midnight and the New Years countdown.  They had a sparkler exit from the front of the Merrimon-Wynne house.  What a fun night and great way to celebrate New Years!  Congratulations Elizabeth and Joe.

DJ Randy Bennett  www.bunndjcompany.com/RandyB

Photo courtesy of Story Photography

Chantal & Alex’s Wedding at Bay 7

Chantal & Alex had a wonderful wedding ceremony and reception at Bay 7 in Durham NC on December 30th!  I provided sound for the ceremony and music for the reception.

The ceremony was held on the first floor of Bay 7 and officiated over by Rabbi Gruber.  The room looked beautiful with floral arrangements by Tre Bella.  Music was performed live by Save The Date Music.  After a short ceremony that included reading and signing of the marriage contract, the 100 guests made their way upstairs for cocktail and live music by a pianist.

After some pictures were taken by photographer James from Walters & Walters, planners Amanda & Katherine from A Swanky Affair invited guests back downstairs for dinner and dancing.  I introduced Chantal & Alex and they came down the stairs to their sweetheart table.  Both their parents welcomed everyone including all the guests from Russia and the salads and entrees came out.   During dinner I had a mix of standards, soft rock and classic soul playing. 

After dinner the Shutterbooth photo booth opened, we had the Ashley Cake Cutting to “Sugar, Sugar” and the toasts.  They made the way to the dance floor for their first dance to “Zichiti L’Ahov” (A Hebrew song) and I invited everyone to join them after a couple minutes, and they did.  Chantal danced with her Father after that and Alex with his Mother.  I opened the floor with “Hava Nagila” and it filled very shortly.  For the next 2.5 hours the floor was filled to 80’s, 90’s and early 2000’s hits as well as some oldies thrown in.  I ended the night with Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” that turned into a big sing a long before everyone left for the after party at Tyler’s next door.

What a fun night and great couple!  Congratulations Chantal & Alex.

DJ Randy Bennett  www.bunndjcompany.com/RandyB

Photo courtesy of Walters & Walters