A Marine’s Wedding at The Cloth Mill at Eno River

For my last wedding of the year I was at The Cloth Mill in Hillsborough to celebrate with Becky and Zach and 130 of their guests on their one year anniversary.

This was my first time seeing The Cloth Mill and I absolutely love the space!  It has floor to ceiling windows along one brick wall, Hardwood floors and exposed beam ceiling.  The ceremony and reception were all in the same room so it made it great for me with no down time between the ceremony and reception. 

As the guests arrived for the ceremony I had a mix of contemporary love songs playing.  Becky along with her Father and Stepfather walked down the aisle to “I Get To Love You” by Ruelle.  After the ceremony everyone joined them for communion before recessing to “Like I’m Gonna Lose You” by Meghan Trainor.  Officiant Beth Crissman invited guests to enjoy refreshments at the bar while the staff started flipping the room.

During the social hour I had a mix of classic soul, classic rock and standards playing.  Becky, Zach and their wedding party were at the end of the room and outside getting pics taken by photographer Natalie Schram.  After pics were done I invited guests to take their seats.  I introduced the wedding party to “I Gotta feeling” and they came in with their own pose and dance.  Becky and Zach came in and right to the dance floor for their dance to “Love Centric” by Joe.  It was so sweet as they sang it to each other.  Becky danced with her Father and Stepfather to “My Wish” and Zach & his Mother to “Landslide”.  Zach’s Father welcomed everyone and the BBQ buffet opened.  During dinner I had the same music mix playing.

After dinner we had the toasts and cake cutting to “How Sweet It Is”.  I invited the married couples to join them for an anniversary dance with the winners at 62 years married!  WOW!!  I opened the floor to everyone with some Motown and top 40 that filled it with young and old.  I knew in advance that Zach liked 2000’s hip-hop so played a lot of that for the last 2 hours when most of the younger guests were dancing.  I ended the night with a big sing a long to “Don’t Stop believin’”.

What a fun night and great way to end the 2017 wedding season.  Thank you Becky, Zach and Denise and congratulations!  Zach, thank you so much for your service to our country.  I was honored to play for you!

Photo courtesy of Natalie E. Photography

A Winter Wedding at Merrimon-Wynne

Kathleen and Matt chose downtown Raleigh’s historic Merrimon-Wynne house for their wedding reception on December 29^th.

I always love playing at The Merrimon-Wynne house!  The staff is so wonderful to work with and every event seems to turn out amazing! For Kathleen and Matt’s wedding I was working with some great vendors in planners Emily Katherine Events, photographer Ariana from Silver Feather Studios, Rocky Top Catering,  Love Cake NC and florist Springwell Gardens. 

The cocktail hour was held in the house and they provided music for that.  I was set up in the carriage house waiting for the 170 guests.  After pics were taken and the guests had some hors d’oeuvres, they were invited to the carriage house for dinner and dancing.  The room looked beautiful!

I introduced the wedding party to “Get Lucky” and Kathleen and Matt to indie rock band Wilco’s “I’m The Man Who Loves you”.  They had their first dance immediately to “Hang Loose” by Alabama Shakes.  Kathleen danced with her Father to “Ain’t That Love” by Ray Charles after the wedding party found their seats.  Matt escorted his Mother to the floor for their dance to “What A Wonderful World”.  Kathleen’s Father welcomed everyone and the buffet opened in the pergola. During dinner I had a mix of classic soul, standards and indie rock playing.

After dinner we had the toasts and opened the floor to everyone with some Motown and classic soul before mixing into some top 40.  The dance floor son filled and kept them dancing for the next 2 hours.  After I opened the floor, Kathleen and Matt snuck into the house for a private cake cutting with their parents.

I ended the night with “This Will be (An Everlasting Love)” by Natalie Cole and Kathleen and Matt waved to everyone as they snuck out towards the end of the song.  What a fun wedding and I couldn’t be happier for them!  Thank you Matt & Kathleen and congratulations.

Photo courtesy of Silver Feather Studios

A Dance Party Wedding At Brier Creek Country Club

Jenn and Scott had their amazing dance party wedding at Brier Creek Country Club on December 16^th.  They had seen me DJ at a friends wedding in 2016 and knew I could handle Jenn’s crazy fun Italian family.

Their ceremony was held earlier in the day at St Francis of Assisi Catholic Church.  After a short break, the guests made their way over to the beautiful Brier Creek Country Club for the cocktail hour and reception.

As the cocktail hour ended the 150 guests were invited to the main ballroom where I was set up for dinner and dancing.  The room looked beautiful with floral arrangements by The Purple Poppy.  I left music playing inside and went out to line the wedding party with lots of help from Brier Creek’s Doranda.  I introduced them into the room to Haddaway’s “What Is Love” and each couple had their own funny dance. Jenn and Scott came in to “Gonna Make You Sweat” and had their first dance to “Thinking Out Loud” by Ed Sheeran.  After the first dance they took their seats and Jenn’s Father welcomed everyone and blessed the meal.  During dinner I had a mix of classic standards playing.  Jenn’s Grandparents even hit the floor to dance to their song, “All The Way” by Frank Sinatra!!

After the salads came out we had the parents dances.  Jenn and her Father danced to “I Loved Her First” and Scott & his Mother to “Have I Told You Lately”.  The entrees came out and I went back to standards.   Towards the end of dinner the guests couldn’t wait anymore and started dancing to the Sinatra and Dean Martin songs.  We had the toasts and I officially opened the floor with “The Electric Slide” and some top 40 that filled it for the next 2.5 hours.  I can’t wait to see the photos from Photographers Ally & Bobby! 

We paused after a while for the Once In A Blue Moon Cake cutting to “How Sweet it Is” and then we all sang Happy Birthday to Jenn’s Grandmother who’s birthday was the same day.  It was so special and really surprised her.  The floor opened again and everyone got right back out there.  We paused one last time for the bouquet toss to “Single Ladies”.  I ended the night with a huge sing a long circle to “New York, New York” before their sparkler exit. What a fun night and great group to play for.  Thank you so much Jenn and Scott and congratulations!

A Winter Wedding at The Rand-Bryan House in Garner

Amanda and Brandon chose Garner NC’s historic Rand-Bryan House for their ceremony and reception on a beautiful December 10^th afternoon and evening.

Their ceremony was held in front of the house’s front porch.  There was an archway decorated in flowers for them to get married under.  Amanda looked beautiful in her white dress and faux white fur shawl.  After the ceremony Southern Rose Photography had the 70 guests all gather for a quick group pic before coming into the house for the cocktail hour.

When the guests started coming inside I started the cocktail hour mix of country, rock, classic soul and pop.  Guests visited, enjoyed drinks and ate appetizers.  Amanda and Brandon came inside for lots of group pics in front of the beautiful Christmas tree set up in the main room.  After all the pics were taken they had their first dance to “Tonight” by John Legend. After that Amanda danced with her Brother to “You’re My Best Friend” by Queen.  So sweet!  Brandon escorted his Mother to the floor for their dance to “Humble & Kind” by Tim McGraw.  Amanda’s Maid of Honor Sierra toasted the couple and I started the dinner music.

Dinner was just amazing and very special because Amanda’s Mother made it.  The meal was made up of baked ziti, meatballs, sausage and homemade Sunday “Gravy”.  I was just in heaven!  It was so delicious!!!!  After dinner we had a money dance with help from Sierra to hold the “loot bag”.  Thanks Sierra!  I opened the floor to everyone with “The Electric Slide” that brought all the kids out and some adults to dance with them.  For the next couple hours I played 90’s R&B, Top 40, some oldies, slow songs and line dances.  We paused for the cake cutting to “Grow Old With You” by Adam Sandler, then back to dance music until the end of the night.

Thank you Amanda and Brandon and congratulations!

Photo courtesy of Southern Rose Photography

Melissa And Hartley’s Wedding At The Fearrington Barn in Pittsboro

What a fun a time I had a Melissa and Hartley’s wedding at The Fearrington Barn on December 9^th!  Melissa’s family is from Nicaragua, so I was able to play lots of Latin music as well American.

Their wedding ceremony was held earlier in the day at Sacred Heart Cathedral.  After the ceremony the 125 guests rested for a little before heading over to The Fearrington for the reception.  As the guests arrived for the indoor cocktail hour I had a mix of Top 40, Salsa, classic soul and rock playing.  Melissa and Hartley joined them shortly.

As the cocktail hour ended the guests found their seats and I introduced Melissa and Navy Lieutenant Hartley to “Brown Eyed Girl”.  They came in for their first dance to “The Love That We’ve Made” by Humming House.  Melissa’s Father welcomed everyone and Hartley’s Father blessed the meal.  The barbeque buffet opened and I continued the music mix.

After dinner we had the toasts followed by the parents dances.  Melissa danced with her Father to an edit that started with “I Loved Her First” then went into “Can’t Stop The Feeling”.  It caught everyone off guard and was a great way to start the dancing portion of the night.  Hartley then danced with his Mother to “Forever Young” by Joan Baez.  I opened the floor with the salsa song “Vivir Mi Vida” that filled it.  I played some Motown, Top 40 and Latin music kept them dancing until we paused for the cake cutting.

After the cake cutting we had the bouquet toss to “Single Ladies” then back to dancing until the end of the night and a sparkler exit.  What a fun night mixing the two cultures music to keep everyone dancing for 3 hours!  It was so great to work with Gilda, Kaitlin & Chris from The Fearrington as well as photographer Kenzie Victory. Congratulations Melissa and Hartley and thank you for your service to our country Hartley!