Phillips/Marino wedding reception at The Cardinal Club on September 21st, 2013

Becky and Tommy had their reception on the top floor of The Cardinal Club in Raleigh overlooking downtown with floor to ceiling windows.  It really is one of the best views in Raleigh and I’m sure photographers Brian Mullins and Jenn Aan got some great pics!  They always do.  Wedding planner Shawn Schindler from Your Special Day was there to make sure everything went off without a hitch and the room looked awesome with lights by Simpsound Productions and floral arrangements by Expressions Of Love.

When the cocktail hour was over guests made their way into the room and I went to line up the wedding party with Shawn.  I was so glad she was there to help.  They were very excited to get into the room and get things started!  Each of the 10 couples had their own entrance song custom picked by Becky and Tommy.  Everything from Harry Connick to MGMT and WWE wrestler Shawn Michael’s theme were used for the introductions.  So funny !!  Becky and Tommy finally made their way into the room to a roar of applause and had their first dance to “This Years Love” by David Gray.  Becky’s Father welcomed everyone and salads and entrées were served.  For dinner music I played a custom mix of standards, soft rock and some classic soul.

The champagne was poured after dinner and the 3 toasts made way to the Cinda’s cake cutting to “How Sweet It Is”.  Becky then danced with her Father to “Daughters” by Loudon Wainwright and Tommy escorted his Mother to the floor to dance to “Forever Young” by Rod Stewart.  Rod re-recorded it in the 90’s with a slower version, so I used that one.  I opened the floor after that with a short Motown set, then mixed into “Blurred Lines” and the floor filled !  We stopped briefly for the bouquet toss and garter toss then back to dancing.

The night ended way too early for this rowdy crowd!  For their last song, I had the guests make a huge circle around Becky and Tommy and Shawn passed out bubbles for a bubble shower during their last song, “Book Of Love” by The Magnetic Fields.

What a fun and crazy group of friends and family!

Connolly/Schantz wedding reception at The Umstead on September 20th, 2013

Jeanne and Marc chose the beautiful Umstead Hotel for both ceremony and reception. It was a little rainy, so Kelley Ann and the staff at The Umstead quickly changed one of the banquet rooms into a beautiful ceremony space with gorgeous floral arrangements by Fleurtations Weddings.  They had a live harpist for their ceremony music.  Photographer Susan Leggette was there getting some great pics.  As the ceremony concluded, the guests made their way across the hall for the cocktail hour in the pre-function area and I had a mix of jazz standards playing with Frank, Dean and Ella included.  Jeanne and Marc joined the guests for the last half as their pictures were done being taken.

The doors of the ballroom opened and the 130 guests made their way to their seats.  I introduced the wedding party to “Dancing In The Moonlight” by Toploader and Jeanne & Marc went directly to the dance floor for their first dance, “It’s Impossible” by Perry Como.  Marc welcomed everyone to the wedding reception, I opened the 4 food stations and went back to a jazz standards playlist.

After dinner the staff poured the champagne and 3 toasts were given. The cake cutting to “How Sweet It Is” opened the cupcake station and Jeanne made her way to the floor to dance with her Father to “What A Wonderful World” by Louis Armstrong.  I couldn’t believe he was out there dancing most of the night since he is a Great-Grandfather!!  What a great guy.  I opened the floor with some oldies and the guests followed.  I switched to some current dance music and 80’s and Jeanne’s co-workers ate it up!

The evening came to an end with their last song “Last Dance” by Donna Summer and guests stuffed to- go bags with candy from the awesome candy bar.  What a fun group and I was so happy to be a part of it.

Sharpe/Thomas wedding at The Fearrington Barn on September 14th, 2013

Whitney & Mat are from NY City, but decided to have their ceremony and reception here since they both went to UNC.  It could not have been a better afternoon for a wedding at The Fearrington!  75 degrees and not a cloud in the sky.  The ceremony was outside and I provided both mic’s and music.  Their minister actually married Whitney’s parents when they got married. Prelude music was piano hymns.  Their Parents and Grandparents entered to “Amazing Grace”, the wedding party to “Angus Dei” and Whitney to “Canon in D”.  Their recessional was Penguin Café Orchestra’s “Perpetuum Mobile”.  Sfter the ceremony guests were invited to the Barn patio for the indie rock cocktail hour while pictures were taken by Jamie & Richie from Jagg Photography and video by McKenzie & Philip from Inkspot Crow.

After the cocktail hour guests found their seats in the barn for dinner and the reception and I introduced the wedding party to “I Wanna Dance With Somebody”.  Whitney and Mat came into the room to a loud roar and went into their first dance of Cee-Lo Green’s cover of “No One’s Gonna Love You” originally done by Band Of Horses. After their dance Whitney’s Father welcomed everyone and Mat’s Father said the blessing.  The food stations opened and I played another indie rock mix.

After dinner Whitney danced with her Father to Frank Sinatra’s “The Way You Look Tonight” and Mat escorted his Mother to an instrumental of “Sunrise, Sunset” from Fiddler On The Roof.  I opened the floor while they had some group photo’s done with some Motown and oldies and guests started t the floor.  I shortly went to some current since most of the guests were young and they had a lot of current music on their request list and their friends filled the floor.

We stopped to do the cake cutting to “Autumn Sweater” by Yo La Tengo and the toasts by the Best Man and Matron Of Honor.  Dancing opened again with some current music that took us to the bouquet toss to “Fantasy” by Mariah Carey and garter toss to the theme from the video game Halo. 

The end of the night came too early for this crowd and the last song was a great choice for them, “Carolina In My Mind”.  The guest made their way out side for the sparkler exit.

Sarullo/Shumaker wedding at Ruth’s Chris on September 13, 2013

Andrea and I met in November last year with her Father and hit it off immediately.  We have the same taste in music, movies and humor.  We have gotten to be close Facebook friends in the last year so the pressure was on to make her wedding dreams come true especially since she has become my biggest fan even though she had not heard me DJ yet. Ha ha..  I had the pleasure to work with photographer Cara Galati from F8 Photo studios again on this one.

For their pre-ceremony music Andrea & Wayne had indie rock and some 80’s playing for the 36 guests.  They had 1 bridesmaid and 2 groomsmen that came down the isle to “Praise You” by Fatboy Slim and Andrea entered to Cat Power’s cover of “Sea Of Love”.  The ceremony held at Ruth’s Chris in Cary on the second floor by Rev. Robin Renteria was over shortly and the wedding party exited to “Just Like Heaven” by The Cure.  I heard a couple guests say “OMG I love this song!” The cocktail hour followed in the hall outside of the banquet room and music was Itailian-American singers & standards. 

It was time for dinner and guests made their way to their seats.  The wedding party was introduced to “Home” by Edward Sharpe and Andrea & Wayne entered the room and went straight to the dance floor for their first dance “Fix You” by Coldplay.  Andrea then danced with her Father to “Brucia La Terra” from The Godfather 3 and her Father and Aunt welcomed everyone afterwords.  I started the dinner music with a surprise song for Andrea from her Father Bob, “Hey Daddy” by Sammy Kaye that he hit me with literally right before the ceremony started.  Ha ha..  She got a huge grin on her face and they had another dance together.  It was such a sweet moment!  Dinner music was soft rock and indie rock with a little Motown mixed in.

After dinner Andrea’s Sister, the Maid Of Honor Lorraine, said a toast and Andrea & Wayne made way to the cake cutting as I played “Pure Imagination” from Willy Wonka.  The old good one, not the terrible new one.  I invited Andrea’s parents to the floor to open the dancing portion and played Sade’s “By Your Side” to celebrate their 40^th anniversary.  Another very sweet moment.  I invited everyone to join them ½ way though and almost all the 36 guests joined them.

Andrea’s Aunt said another welcome and I opened the floor to everyone with “Glad You Came” from The Wanted. Get it?? Haha..I went into some Motown and Oldies white Andrea changed into a more comfortable dancing dress. After some oldies and current music we stopped for the bouquet toss to “Stupid Girl” by Garbage and Andrea’s Aunt caught it with a huge grin on her face!

It was so great to play for Andrea and Wayne and get to know their friends and families.  Andrea and Wayne had the time of their lives and I was glad I was there to help make their day!

Redding/McEachran Wedding at Down 2 Earth Farm on September 7th, 2013

Jamey and Christopher had their wedding ceremony and reception at Jamey’s parents beautiful Down 2 Earth farm in Rougemont NC on a perfect 80 degree day.  Guest walked through the gardens to get to the ceremony location and they had an acoustic guitarist providing music for the ceremony and cocktail hour.  Photographer Michelle Gunton was on hand all night long and I’m sure she got some crazy pics!

The dinner and reception were in the open air pavilion and inside a covered portion of the side lawn.  Guests arrived to the cocktail hour and received their own mason jar for refreshments all night and got to keep the jar after.  Each jar had it’s own tag to write your name on.  Loved it!  Guests enjoyed refreshments and played corn hole.

The wedding party were introduced to “(This Will Be) An Everlasting Love” that included a previous Bride I played for a couple years earlier, Jenna Gasperson.  It was great to see her and her husband Sean again!  After the wedding party came into the pavilion, Jamey & Chris drove down the driveway in a classic red Porsche 918 to “The Immigrant Song” by Led Zeppelin.  He came around the car and held the door open for Jamey.  They entered the pavilion to “All I Want Is You” by Barry Louis Pollard and Jamey’s parents welcomed everyone to their farm and Chris’s Mother blessed the food. 

 

It was then time for diner and guests made their way to their seats for the buffet.  The Tables were covered in white linens and burlap giving it more of a farm feel.  It was so beautiful!  Dinner music was a mix of soft rock and indie rock.  As dinner wound down, we had the toasts by Jamey’s Sister Caitlin and Chris’s Brother Andrew and both did a fantastic job!  I invited everyone into the pavilion for the remainder of the reception and Jamey & Chris made way to their first dance of “You Are The Best Thing” by Ray Lamontagne.  Jamey’s Father joined her on the floor for their dance of Jimmy Buffett’s “Banana Wind” and Chris danced with his Mother to “Stand By Me”.  I invited all the married couples to the floor for an Anniversary / Longest married couple dance to “Come Fly With Me” by Frank Sinatra and it was time to open the floor to everyone.  Some Motown kept everyone out there and I mixed into some current dance music that filled the floor with their college friends. 

The cake cutting an hour later gave dancers a break.  The cake cutting song was “Cut The Cake” by Average White band and then came one of the best moments I have seen at a wedding.  Chris had a surprise for Jamey and the guests…I had Jamey come to the floor and take a seat and had guests make circle in the floor for Chris.  He came around the side of the pavilion with his sax and played “Can You Feel The Love Tonight” from The Lion King to an instrumental he had given me earlier.  Everyone went crazy and he was awesome!!  Phones went up instantly and were recording it at every angle.

I opened the floor again with some 70’s and 80’s and guests filled the floor again.  We stopped after a while for the bouquet toss to “Single Ladies” and garter toss to “Pour Some Sugar On me”.  I invited all their UNC friends (around 60 people) onto the dance floor to song the school Alma matter and then brought everyone back out again with some current jams and they danced until the very last song of  “Time Of My Life” from Dirty Dancing.  What a great crowd and a fun and unique wedding reception.