Swails/Anderson wedding reception at The Cotton Room on July 27th, 2013

Katie & Scott are one of the nicest couples I have met! They picked The Cotton Room in Durham for their reception.  The room is on the 3^rd floor of the building and the 10 foot windows overlook downtown Durham.  Michelle Aldred from The Cotton Room was there to plan the event and she did a wonderful job, as always.  Hooman Bahrani was the photographer and 21 Films was there capture video.  The uplighting was done by Simpsound productions and it really helped the energy on the dance floor even though it really didn’t need any help.  The room was filled with white bouquets from Tre Bella.  It was absolutely beautiful! They danced all night!

The guests arrived for the cocktail hour in the front of the room and the rest of the room was blocked off with white linens until it was time for dinner.  The music for the cocktail hour was a mix of standards and classic soul.  The linens were opened and guests made their way to their tables for the family style dinner.  The wedding party danced into the room to “Stuck Like Glue” by Sugarland (Kate LOVES country, Scott not so much..)  Kate & Scott made their way to the dance floor for their first dance of Adele’s “Make You Feel My Love” and Katie’s Father and Grandfather gave a welcome and blessing respectively.  The dinner music was a mix of standards, indie rock and country.

After dinner were the toasts by the Maid Of Honor, Best Man & Katie’s Father and he escorted her to the dance floor for their dance to “ I Loved Her First” and Scott joined his Mother on the floor to “What A Wonderful World”.  I opened the floor with an oldies and Motown set and everyone jumped onto the floor.  There were literally 75% of the guests dancing by the 2^nd song. We stopped for the Danielle Baker made cake cutting to “How Sweet It Is” and opened the amazing desert station.  I LOVED the cake topper.  It was so sweet.

I opened the floor back up with “Brick House” and some 70’s and 80’s and Katie was having the time of her life!  I think I saw her acting out “Jessie’s Girl” with all her girlfriends surrounding her.  So great!! Scott had a huge grin on his face the whole night!  I made it to some current music a little before the bouquet toss to “Man, I Feel Like A Woman” and I can’t remember ever seeing that many single girls up to catch the bouquet. Katie threw the bouquet so high it went up and over the rafters in the ceiling.  Classic! Back to dancing and I ended with a bunch of sing along songs before the last song of the night “Shout” from Animal House.  They made their exit to Sparklers from the front of the building.  It was so great to see so many people dancing for that long!  I had a blast and loved getting to know their friends and family.

Barreto/Sutton wedding reception at Prestonwood Country Club on July 26th, 2013

Michelle & Jason had their wedding reception in Cary NC at Prestonwood Country Club  with photographers Melissa & Paul from Wake Forest Portraite Shoppe handling the pictures and Island Sounds capturing video.  Tre Bella had beautiful centerpieces everywhere and the cake by Prestonwood was fantastic. They had a live pianist for the cocktail hour, so I only provided music for the dinner and reception.

The wedding party entered into the room from the side hall to “I Gotta Feelin’” and Michelle & Jason entered from the top of the stairs.  They came down the stairs and went to the dance floor for their first dance of “Fly Me To The Moon” by my man Frank Sinatra.  Michelle’s Father, Amos, gave a heartfelt welcome and Father Mike came up to say the blessing.

Michelle’s family is Venezuelan and Jason’s is American, so the music was a mix of both all night long and I loved the challenge of keeping both families out on the floor.  The dinner music was a mix of standards, soft rock and some classic salsa.  The 3 courses included shrimp cocktail, salad and the entrée’s.  After dinner was the cake cutting to “Viva La Vida” by Coldplay and then Michelle joined her Father on the floor for their dance to “Butterfly Kisses” and Jason escorted his Mother to the floor to dance to “You Are The Sunshine Of My Life”.  The toasts by Michelle’s Father, The Maid Of Honor and Jason’s Father followed and it was time to open the floor.

 

I opened the floor with a short Motown set and mixed into some latin dance and merengue.  It was great to see both groups having a blast dancing to both american and latin music!  The highlights for me were seeing a HUGE circle made to “We Are Family” and doing a Rockettes kick that was only topped by Michelle and her bridesmaids leading a choreographed dance to Michael Jackson’s “Beat It”.

The only bad part of the night was that it had to end.  What a fun group and Michelle and Jason could not have been nicer. The night ended with Chris Brown’s “Forever”.  

Mattocks/Riley Wedding reception at The Carolina Inn on July 20, 2013

Brooke Riley and Peter Mattocks had their ceremony and reception both at Chapel Hill’s historic Carolina Inn on a steamy 94 degree day.  Wedding planner Tracy Adams from Adams & Events was there to make sure everything was perfect and Carolyn & Geoff from Carolyn Scott Photography were there photographing it all.  Only their ceremony was outside and guests were given their program on paper fans and were passed champagne and water as they arrived. After the ceremony, Brooke & Peter went to have pictures taken and guests made their way around to the shaded front porch for the cocktail hour.

The cocktail hour ended and guests made their way inside to the air conditioning and the old well room for the reception.  The room looked beautiful with floral arrangements by Fresh Affairs.  Brooke and Peter and their parents entered to an instrumental of “It Had To Be You” by Harry Connick and they went directly into their first dance of “Fade Into You” by Mazzy Star.  Love that song and can’t wait til their first CD in 17 years comes out in September!  Both sets of parents welcomed everyone and the food stations opened.

Towards the end of dinner, the guests could not wait any longer to dance so started dancing even before I opened the floor.  I think Brooke dancing with her Grandfather to Sinatra’s “The Way You Look Tonight” helped.  What a great moment!  I went into a short beach music set to keep them out there before the toasts and cake cutting.  For the toasts, Brooke & Peter toasted their guests for coming to the celebration and the Cinda’s cake cutting followed to “How Sweet It Is”.

The floor opened, again, with Brooke & Peter dancing with their parents at the same time to “Somewhere Over The Rainbow” by Judy Garland.  “My Girl” brought everyone back out to the floor for a short Motown/oldies set with a few ballads and then I went with some 70’s and 80’s to bring everyone to some current dance music.  Brooke, Peter and their friends danced the rest of the night and had a blast!  I got a big “YAY” when I played “Umbrella” for “The Yellow House Girls”. 

The last song came way too early and they danced to “We’ve Got Tonight” by Bob Seger and made their way to the front of the Inn for a pom-pom exit as I played the UNC fight song.  What a great couple and their guests could not have been nicer.  Thank you Brooke & Peter for a wonderful wedding reception!

All pictures courtesy of Carolyn Scott Photography

Kerwin/Justus wedding reception at Highgrove on July 13th, 2013

Jordie and Patrick had been dating forever and finally made it to the alter at the beautiful Highgrove Estates in Fuquat-Varina NC.  Although we had to wait a little while for a rain shower to pass, it couldn’t have been a more beautiful ceremony.  I’m sure photographer Greg Mills from The Image Mill and videographer John Hayes of Southern Video Design got some great pics!

The ceremony was overlooking a pond and Jodie (who is a 1^st grade teacher) had her whole class right up front to see her get married.  She is one of the sweetest Brides I have played for!  The Grandparents came down the isle to “My Wonderful One”, the parents to an instrumental of “Annie’s Song”, the wedding party to “Canon in D” and Jordie came town to “Trumpet Tune” by John Stanley. During the ceremony a groomsman sang Edwin McCain’s “I’ll Be” and their recessional was “Water Music”. The minister, Pastor Nate Davis, was a friend of Patrick’s and has one of the best voices I have ever heard.

Music for the outdoor cocktail hour was standards and everyone was loving some Sinatra and Dean Martin. After Greg took pictures, it was time for the reception and guests were invited into the ballroom for dinner and dancing.

The wedding party danced into the room to the 80’s classic “Walking On Sunshine” and Jordie and Patrick had their first dance to “When I Say I do” by Clint Black.  They were looking at each other like they were the only ones in the room.  So sweet!  The parents dances followed with Jordie and her Father dancing to “I Loved Her First” and Patrick and his Mother dancing to one of my favorite songs ever, “Lucky Man” by The Verve.  Jordie’s Father thanked everyone for coming and it was time for the family style dinner. I played a mix of soft rock and country during dinner.

After dinner, a few toasts and the cake cutting to “How Sweet It Is” by James Taylor, dancing opened to an longest married couple dance to “The Way You Look Tonight” by Steve Tyrell from Father Of The Bride Part 2.  A snowball dance followed to “My Girl” and the floor filled.

I kept them out there for an hour or so to some great Motown, oldies, 70’s and ever “Gangnam Style” for the ring bearer Carter Jarrel to show his moves.  He was awesome!  We stopped for the Krispy Kreme station to open with warm donuts and maple walnut ice cream inside (YUM!) and the bouquet toss to “Single Ladies” and garter toss to “Wild Thing” by The Troggs and it was back to the floor with some current club music.

They ended the evening with “Closing Time” by Semisonic and the made a sparkler exit from the front of the building.  I was so happy to play for this awesome couple and it was fantastic to meet and work with Jordie’s Aunt Joy Renner who was acting as their planner and was a dream to work with.



All photos courtesy of Greg Mills from The The Image Mill

Connelly/Beascoechea Wedding Reception at The Umstead in Cary on July 6th, 2013

Heather and Damian chose the beautiful five star hotel The Umstead in Cary NC for both their ceremony and reception.  The ceremony was outside and thankfully the rain held off for them and their guests.  I provided music for the ceremony.  Music is very important to Damian so we fine-tuned all the playlist to reflect his taste and it all worked great! The prelude music to the ceremony was indie rock. The parents entered to “Prelude” by Bonovo, The Bridal Party to a piano piece, “Planetary Suite” by Chris Lennertz, Heather entered to an instrumental song by Jefferson Airplane called “Embryonic Journey”.  Their recessional was Stevie Wonder’s “Signed, Sealed, Delivered”.  The floral arrangements for the ceremony and reception by Kelly Odom were beautiful!

Guests were invited to the cocktail hour by Kelley Ann from The Umstead and I had a mix of soft rock and indie rock playing.  Of course, I added some Sinatra for me J.  After the cocktail hour, the doors to the ballroom were opened and guests made way to their seats.  The wedding party was introduced to an instrumental of “Say Hey” by Michael Franti and went directly to their seats.  After a short welcome by Damian’s Groomsman Alex Gibb, the 3 course meal was served.

As dinner ended, the Best Man and Maid Of Honor made toasts and Heather and Damian had their first dance to “You Sexy Thing” by Hot Chocolate and everyone was clapping along. The combined Father/Daughter and Mother/Son dance followed to “Wildflowers” by Tom Petty.  I opened the floor with a “cut in” dance to “My Girl” and that got everyone out of their seats.  A long Motown/Oldies set kept them out there until the cake cutting to “Sugar,Sugar” by The Archies. Get it ? ha ha.. I kept hearing "This is my favorite song" at different times of the night.

Some 80’s and 90’s brought the guests back to the floor until the bouquet toss to “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” and the garter toss to “Let’s Get It On”.  There were many times that almost everyone was on the floor and Damian’s suggestions were a huge hit! I was thrilled to play for Heather and Damian and he introduced me to some great music that I had not heard yet.  Thanks Damian and Heather!

Click/Drewry Wedding at The Caroline Inn in Chapel Hill on July 5th, 2013

It was such a pleasure to play for Amanda and Josiah’s wedding reception at The Carolina Inn in Chapel Hill.  After meeting Josiah, we realized he was a customer of mine 15 years ago when I ran a record store.  We both have a true love for music, so I knew music was important to him for his wedding. For their ceremony they were having a couple musician friends play bluegrass, so we chose to play bluegrass during the cocktail hour outside the Old Well room.  Ashley and David from Story Photography were there to catch every shot and the beautiful floral arrangements by Trebella and working with Tia Jones from Erin McLean Events made everything a breeze for me.

Amanda and Josiah decided not to have the whole wedding party announced into the room for the reception, but just them.  The entered to the Caroline Mix of Lady Gaga’s “You and I” and it couldn’t have been more appropriate for them.  Amanda’s Father, Richard, made a short welcome and the food stations opened.  I chose indie rock for the dinner music to reflect some of Josiah’s musical taste. As guests were finishing eating, Amanda & Josiah had their first dance to The Avett Brothers “Swept Away (Sentimental Version)” and then came the best part of the night.  Amanda’s Father LOVES the 80's song “The Safety Dance”. He actually asked me if I had it the minute he met me that night. Amanda chose to surprise him with it during her dance with him.  I invited him to meet Amanda on the floor and played about a minute of “Stand By Me” then a record scratch sound lead into "The Safety Dance".  He got a huge grin on his face and went right into the robot dance that he does.  The wedding party instantly joined them and everyone else followed.  What a great way to open the floor!  Motown and oldies followed and the floor stayed filled.

We stopped after a while for the toasts by The Best Men (Amanda and Josiah both had one) and the opening of the gelato bar done by Sugarland. The floor opened back up and some 80’s music brought everyone back out to the floor.  Since they are world travelers, the last song was Toto’s “Africa”.  They said a farewell to everyone made their way to the front porch of the Inn for cigars. What a fun group and I hope to run into them again shortly!

Benson/Bowers wedding at The Carolina Inn on June 30th, 2013

Shelby & Adam chose the beautiful Carolina Inn in Chapel Hill for their ceremony and reception. Even though the rain didn’t cooperate, it was a beautiful and fun day with a lot of help from Melissa Sayre at The Inn, planner Tracy Adams, photographer Martha Manning and video by Heart Stone Films.  The rooms were filled with beautiful flowers by Tre bella and the cakes were by Sugarland including the groom's UNC Football field cake.

Their ceremony was held inside in the Chancellor’s ballroom and guests were seated to tracks off the Piano tribute to Relient K CD.  Their Grandparents and Parents came down the isle to “Joy” by Phil Whickham, the wedding party entered to “Stolen” by Dashboard Confessional and Shelby walked down the isle to “Garden” by NeedToBreathe.  After the ceremony, Shelby and Adam’s recessional was “On Top Of The World” by Imagine Dragons and guests were invited down the hall for the cocktail hour and reception.

The wedding party entered the reception to “Must Have Done Something Right” by Relient K and Shelby and Adam went right into their first dance, “Better Together” by Jack Johnson.  Shelby’s Father came out after the first dance for a wonderfully executed welcome and then a blessing by Adam’s Father, Alex made way to the dinner food stations.  For dinner I played a mix of soft rock and indie rock and got lots of compliments on the playlist, especially “Northern Sky” by Nick Drake.

After dinner were the toasts followed by the cake cutting to “When U Love Somebody” by The Fruit Bats.  Shelby then made her way to the floor for a dance with her Father to “The Way You Look Tonight” by Frank Sinatra and Adam met his Mother on the floor to dance to a great Christian rock song, “Find Your Wings” by Mark Harris.  An anniversary dance followed to “Fly Me To The Moon” by Frank Sinatra and I opened the floor to “My Girl”.  I played a short beach music / oldies set for the older guests, then current top 40 for Shelby and her friends and family.  Some of the groomsmen even got out there during “Call Me Maybe”!  Shelby and her family literally were on the dance floor for 2 hours straight.  They were so fun that I didn’t want it to end.

I ended the night with “Shout” from Animal House and they made their exit to bubbles from the front of The Inn and guests took tarheel shaped cookies on the way.  What a fun night and I couldn’t be happier for Shelby and Adam !


All photos courtesy of Martha Manning Photography