Melinda & Brian’s Harry Potter Themed wedding at The Rand-Bryan House

Melinda and Brian had a Harry Potter themed wedding at Garner NC’s beautiful Rand-Bryan House on March 7th. The ceremony was held on the front porch of the house on a beautiful 55 degree day, only days after a snow storm hit NC.  The 200 guests found their way to the front lawn and the ceremony was under way.  The wedding party entered to “Hedwig’s Theme” from Harry Potter with the groomsmen carrying wands and Melinda and her father entered to “Harry’s Wondrous World”.  After a short ceremony with heart felt hand written vows by Melinda & Brian, the ceremony concluded with the recessional of “Signed, Sealed, Delivered” and guests made their way to the tent on the side yard for cocktails, cigars and corn hole.

For the cocktail hour I had a mix of classic rock, country & classic soul playing while photographer Robyn VanDyke took pics of the wedding party around the property.  Pics were done and it was time to introduce the parents and wedding party.  They entered the tent to “Jock Jams Theme” and lined the dance floor to witness the first dance.  Melinda & Brian entered to the “Star Wars Theme” and had their first dance to “Your Precious Love” by Marvin Gaye.  Melinda then danced with her father to “In The Mood” by Glenn Miller and Brian and his mother to “Song For Mama” by Boyz II Men.  Melinda’s parents welcomed everyone and the buffet in the house opened.  I released tables by number including Melinda & Brian’s table 9 and 3 quarters (get it?).  For dinner I continued the same mix as cocktails.  It was awesome to see guests start dancing to ballads during dinner!  I knew this was going to be a good one.

 

After dinner, we had several toasts by the best men, maid and matron of honor and then opened the floor with Glenn Miller’s “Chattanooga Choo-Choo” that filled the floor, then some oldies kept them dancing. For the next 2 hours guests danced to Motown, 90’s, 80’s and current hits.  I paused briefly to let guests know about the pie buffet opened in the house, then back to dancing. 

Melinda & Brian made an early sparkler exit after dancing to “The Chicken Dance” in memory of Melinda’s Grandmother, but guests came back and danced for another hour.  What a fun and unique wedding and I loved every minute of it!

Ashley & Jason’s Reception at The Fearrington Barn

I closed out a busy February with a trip to Vegas and then Ashley and Jason’s wedding reception at The Fearrington Barn in Pittsboro NC on February 28^th and it was fantastic!  The ceremony was held in the Fearrington’s Garden Terrace in front of the beautiful fireplace that thankfully had a fire going.  I didn’t provide any mic’s or music, just witnessed the ceremony with the 125 guests.

 

After the ceremony, guests made their way to the barn for cocktails, dinner and dancing.  That’s when I took over.  For cocktails and dinner, I had a mix of standards playing.  The wedding party shortly joined after photographer Krystal Kast took some pics.  Krystal finished with Ashley & Jason and they were ready to be introduced.  I introduced them to “Turn Down For What” and there was a huge round of applause!  They made their way to the dance floor and had their first dance to Sam Smith’s acoustic version of “Latch”.  Ashley then danced with her father to “Forever Young” by Bob Dylan and Jason escorted his mother to the floor for their dance to “Unforgettable”.  I invited all the guests to the floor and they had a blast doing the Hora and getting both Ashley & Jason up in the chairs.  Ashley’s father welcomed everyone and Howard Kahn blessed the Challah. The food stations opened and I went right back into music.

After dinner I opened the floor shortly with some Motown and top 40, then paused for the toasts and cake cutting to “Short Skirt, Long Jacket” by Cake. Get it?? LOL.

I opened the floor with some 70’s and 80’s as some guests danced and others ate cake.  We paused again for the most unique (and awesome) parts of this wedding reception.  Ashley came to the floor for a tap dance routine to “Breezeblocks” by Alt-J.  But, it didn’t stop there, it was a flash mob with a dozen of their friends joining in and then Jason!  WOW!!  Some 90’s (N’Sync..) and current top 40 filled the floor again until the end of the night and their last dance to Daft Punk’s “One More Time”.  What a fun night and a wonderful couple!

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.