Whitehurst/Clark reception at Rose Hill on January 10th

Leigh and Darius chose the beautiful Rose Hill Plantation in Rocky Mount for their ceremony, cocktail hour and reception on a cold January day.  Their ceremony was held in Nathan Hall in front of a huge fireplace with a warm fire going.  After the ceremony, guests made their way to the house next door for cocktails and hors d’oeuvres while I set up and got ready to rock the reception.

After the social hour, guests made their way back to Nathan Hall and I had some soft rock and standards playing as they found their tables.  I lined the wedding party up after photographer Bill Goode was done with bridal photos, including digging up the upside down buried bottle of bourbon. The parents entered to Harry Connick’s “It Had To Be You”, the wedding party to “The Jefferson’s” TV show theme and Leigh and Darius to “Happy” by Pharrell.  They came into the room and all the way to the far end for their first dance to Van Morrison’s “Someone Like You”.  Leigh then danced with her father to “Unforgettable” and Darius and his mother to “What A Wonderful World”.  Before sending guests through the buffet, we had the cake cutting to “How Sweet It Is” and a welcome by Leigh’s father.  The buffet opened and I started a music mix of standards.

After dinner, I opened the floor for dancing to some beach music for Leigh and her bridesmaids from ECU to dance to.  Shortly Leigh changed into her “dancin’ dress” while I played some Motown and current dance music for the guests.  We paused briefly for the garter removal to “Another One Bites The Dust”.  We then had an anniversary dance to “The Way You Look Tonight” by Frank Sinatra and the winning couple had been married 55 years!  Leigh and Darius presented their bouquet and garter to the winning couple.  We then had a few toasts by the bridesmaids and line dances and current dance music kept them dancing until the end of the night including a long train to “C’mon Ride The Train”.  I closed down the reception with “Still The One” by Orleans and their last dance, “That’s All” by Mel Torme.  Guests  made their way outside for the sparkler exit after they took donuts for a favor.  What a fun group and wonderful couple.  Congratulations Leigh and Darius!

Freiman/Herb wedding at Holy Lutheran Church in Chapel Hill on Jan 3rd, 2015

It will be hard to beat my first wedding of the year for 2015.  Marge and Don are an 80 and 91 year old couple that are one of the happiest couples I have played for!  Marge’s son Paul and daughter Kate for their wedding reception at the Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Chapel Hill on a damp Saturday afternoon on January 3rd, 2015 hired me. 

After the ceremony, guests made their way across the street to the fellowship hall where I was set up and ready for them.  I had a mix of swing music playing as they enjoyed refreshments and light food.  Guests grabbed bells while they came in for the introductions later.  Pictures in the church were over and Marge and Don came up for the steps for their intro’s.  They both had the biggest grins on their faces.  I love that!!!  They entered the room to the ringing bells from the 150 guests and came up to the stage area for their first dance to “The Way You Look Tonight” by Frank Sinatra.  They had guests join them ½ way through, which they did.  I followed that up with some Motown and beach music they kept couples dancing.  Shortly I played Marge’s request “The Cupid Shuffle” that her granddaughter had taught her.  Marge and Don both joined the dancers for that dance as well as the next one, “The Hokey Pokey” that their “water walkers” joined them on.

 

We had the Edible Art cake cutting to “Love & Marriage” by Frank Sinatra and Marge started singing it as soon as it started, still with that huge grin on her face!  She was just beaming.  Her son Paul took the mic for a toast, then back to dancing to some 70’s and line dances.  I ended the night with their last dance to “Moonlight Serenade” by Glenn Miller.

This was one of the sweetest weddings I have done and I will never forget it.  Thank you so much Kate, Paul, Marge & Don for the memories!!

Cowhey/Klawiter wedding at The City Club in Raleigh on New Years Eve 2014

Kristin and Matt had their wedding reception on the top floor of downtown Raleigh’s Wachovia building in the newly remodeled City Club (formerly the Cardinal Club).  The room has floor to ceiling windows overlooking Raleigh.  It really is a breathtaking view!  I can’t wait to see photographer Diane McKinney’s pics.

The cocktail hour was held one floor below in the bar and lobby area.  For the cocktail hour, I had a mix of standards, rock and classic soul playing with a little indie rock to cover Kristin & Matt’s musical taste.  After the cocktail hour, guests made their way up the winding staircase to the top floor for dinner and dancing.  The room was decorated in gold, black and white balloons with red centerpieces that the guests got to take home with them later in the night.  Guests found their seats and I lined the wedding party up for introductions.  They entered to “Best Day Of My Life” by American Authors and Kristin and Matt went right into their first dance to “I’ll Follow You” by Shinedown.  They took their seats after for Kristin’s father’s welcome and Matt’s brother-in-law’s blessing.  The plated salads came out and the food stations opened.  For dinner I continued the same playlist as cocktails.  During dinner they also had a short slideshow of their lives growing up and together.

 

As dinner finished we had individual toasts by the 7 person wedding party and then the Cinda’s cake cutting to “The Calculation” by Regina Spektor.  The cake was awesome with a Bride & Groom with a motorcycle on top of it.  After the cake cutting, Kristin joined her father on the floor for their dance that started with “My Little Girl” for a minute then into “The Twist”, “Greased Lightning”, “Jump On It” and on and on until “How Low” by Ludacris! They did a great job and her father was hilarious.  After the long applause stopped, Matt escorted his mother to the floor and had their dance to “You’ll Be In My Heart” by Phil Collins.  I opened the floor to everyone after that with “My Girl” and the floor was filled within 2 minutes.  The floor stayed filled all night with a mix of oldies, current hits, 90’s hip-hop and some 80’s and a few line dances.

 

We paused briefly for the bouquet toss to “Dark Of The Matinee” by Franz Ferdinand and garter toss to “Short Skirt, Long Jacket”.  They did a great thing here, the catcher of the bouquet also got a bottle of wine for catching it.  The catcher of the garter also got a bottle of Jack!  What a great idea!!!  Back to dancing after that with “The Wobble” and a college favorite of Kristin’s “Still Fly”.  I even saw Kristin’s parents square dancing to “Call Me Maybe”.

We paused again around 11:45PM for a heartfelt toast by Kristin’s father and a few dance songs to bring us to the New Years Eve countdown.  As the clock hit midnight the staff pulled the strings for the ballons in the ceiling.  The floor filled with them coming down on the entire crown dancing to “Auld Lang Syne” by Dougie MacLean. It was such a great sight and picture by photographer Jenn Aan.