Miller - Ligon Wedding

Joshua and Jennifer Ligon had their reception at the beautiful Carolina Inn in Chapel Hill, NC. The reception took place in the Old Well Room and was preceded by a cocktail hour in the foyer just outside the ballroom.

I provided background music for the cocktail hour as guests listened to jazz standards by artists such as Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, and Diana Krall. I also weaved in adult contemporary artists like Jason Mraz or Dave Matthews.

After an hour or so, guests were invited into the Old Well Room and I then introduced the wedding party. Jennifer and Joshua selected Blue Skies by Bobby Darin, a great jazz song, for the background song as I announced the parents and wedding party.

Once Joshua and Jennifer were introduced, they immediately went into their first dance to At Last by Etta James. Always a classic.

Father of the bride, Michael Miller has some wonderful welcoming remarks and then Great Uncle George McNair was asked to bless the meal.

After dinner, Jennifer and Joshua cut their wedding cake and selected Recipe for Love by Harry Connick Jr. for the background song. Afterwards, Jennifer had a surprise announcement by wishing her grandmother, Elaine Godlewski, a happy 80th birthday, which would be in three days. Everyone sang happy birthday to Elaine as she blew out the candles on her cake.

We then proceeded with the toasts as Jason Ligon and Laurel Anderson took the microphone. Both toasts were great, especially when Jason quoted Bruce Springsteen!

Shortly afterwards, Jennifer danced with her father to The Way You Look Tonight by Frank Sinatra. Moments into the song, Joshua was invited to join in with his mother.

The special moments, and announcements kept coming as Jennifer gave a heart warming recognition and thank you to her parents. They were honored with a special dance to The Wedding Song by Paul Stookey. After a few moments, all guests were invited to join in and thus the dance floor was open.

Guests enjoyed many different artists including the Beatles, Harry Belafonte, Drifters, Queen, Temptations, LMFAO, and Jackson 5.

Later, Jennifer threw out her bouquet while everyone enjoyed Girls Just Want To Have Fun by Cyndi Lauper. Joshua then tossed the garter to Oh Yeah by Yello.

After a bit more dancing, both Joshua and Jennifer slipped away as guests waved goodbye from the dance floor. The bride and groom were ready to retire for the evening, but the guests were still ready to dance and party, thus I ended up playing an hour longer. What a fun night!

My friends, Ashley and David of Story Photographers were there on site for both the ceremony and reception. As always, they keep the evening fun behind the scenes.

Kirlauski - Hart Wedding

Jen and Derrick had their wedding reception at the beautiful Chapel Hill Country Club. Guests arrived and mingled throughout the club and in a short while were invited into the main reception area as I play jazz standards such as Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, or Jamie Cullum.

As the wedding party was introduced into the reception area, Jen and Derrick requested that Yeah 3x by Chris Brown play in the background. This is a great song selection as it can excite the crowd, and provide a foundation for the wedding party to have a little fun! The bride's brother, Joseph Kirlauski, certainly know's how to enter a room!

Jen and Derrick immediately went into their first dance to Oh Love by Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood. This was the first time I have played this song. Great selection! Jen then danced with her father to Walk With You by Edwin McCain - another great selection! In fact, later in the evening, I had two people ask me the name and artist for the father/daughter song. Also, Derrick danced with his mother to Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong.

Since dinner comprised of various serving stations, we were able to open the dance floor right away...and the guests responded! They were a very nice and lively group so they immediately started dancing to a few slow songs and oldies.

Later in the evening, Darren Hart, Kathryn Sutherland, and Carrie Kirlauski toasted the bride and groom. All did a really nice job. Jen and Derrick then cut their cake and requested that Vanilla Twilight by Owl City be played in the background.

Then it was back to dancing as guests enjoyed artists such as N'Sync, Zac Brown Band, Journey, Orleans, Rascall Flatts, and Chubby Checker. Speaking of Chubby Checker, the Twist was a big hit with everyone, especially the Father of the Bride - Michael Kirlauski. In fact, the FOB was quite a dancer. He even asked that we play Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me by Gladys Knight & The Pips...a personal favorite of mine as well because it was the song I danced to with my wife when I married.

We also had an Anniversary Dance to celebrate marriage and to find out who had been married the longest. There were two couples that had been married for over 40 years!

Getting back to Joseph, both he and Lindsey had a great time showing people how to dance to Gold Digger!

Jen had alot of single girlfriends at the wedding so she tossed the bouquet and selected Only Girl (In The World) by Rihanna and Derrick tossed the garter and selected Another One Bites The Dust by Queen.

The last dance of the evening was A Little More by Skillet.

Both Jen and Derrick are a great couple with fun family and friends! I wish them all the best!

Pope - Lythgoe Wedding

Many parts of the world descended on Raleigh this past weekend to join in the celebration and marriage of Nick and Brandy Lythgoe at the Brier Creek Country Club. While this is a beautiful room as is, Graham and Kathryn Lythgoe, created and designed a room that was very elegant. The tables were different shapes including square, rectangular, and round. There were different heights as well too to give the room dimension. To help Graham and Kathryn meet their vision, Rick Bryda of Total Production Services provided perimeter lighting around the room, pinspot lights for the tables, and a dance floor light show to bring even more energy during dancing.

We started the evening with guests enjoying jazz standards. Shortly thereafter, I announced the wedding party into the ballroom while playing Let's Get It Started by the Black Eyed Peas in the background. Brandy and Nick immediately went into their first dance to I Won't Let Go by Rascal Flatts.

As the father of the groom, Graham Lythgoe welcomed everyone. He named several countries in which people had originated their trip. With a little tongue in cheek, Graham also said 'thanks' on behalf of a few major airlines, which brought on several laughs.

Following a blessing by Rob Burns, guests were treated many different dishes as they were placed by more than 22 servers.

Later, Brandy and Nick cut their wedding cake as I played Sugar, Sugar by The Archies in the background. Shortly, toasts were provided by Dale Pope, Wendy Pope, and Jake Plotkin. Nick also spoke for a few moments by thanking everyone.

Brandy danced with her father to My Wish by Rascall Flatts. As the song ended, I mixed into You Are the Sunshine of My Life by Stevie Wonder. During this time, Nick and his mother joined Brandy and her father on the dance floor. After a few moments into the second song, guests were invited to join on the dance floor.

We kept the guests on the dance floor as they danced to songs such as Cha Cha Slide, These Arms of Mine, On The Floor, My Girl, Just Dance, Baby Got Back, andGive Me Everything.

Since many guests had traveled from other parts of the world, Graham and Kathryn wanted to expose them to a little Carolina music. As such, there was a shag demonstration to teach people about beach music and local dancing. Guests were treated to lessons and then they got to try out their new skills on the dance floor. The instructors were great and everyone enjoyed their new dance moves.

Brandy tossed her bouquet to Girls Just Want To Have Fun by Cyndi Lauper and Nick tossed the garter to Wild Thing by The Troggs. Of course the guy that caught the garter did put it on the leg of the girl that caught the bouquet - and I played The Stripper by David Rose.

Priscilla of Orangerie Events and Shelly Rhem Keeter of Brier Creek Country Club were on top of everything and made sure the guests had a wonderful experience.

Christobal Perez of Azul Photography was there to capture all the moments. Below are some photos of his work. Please visit his website and you'll see that he is an incredible photographer.

Thank you Graham and Kathryn for all of your hard work in planning the reception. It was fabulous. Thank you Brandy and Nick for being such a fun couple!

Ligon - Tate Wedding

Elizabeth and Robert had their reception at The Sutherland, a beautiful historic home in Wake Forest that is managed by the talented Ashlee Adams and Jennifer Jones.

The afternoon began with the ceremony in the walled garden. I coordinated the sound support for two officiates, two vocalists, and a guitarist. The bride and groom were in great hands during the ceremony as both Elizabeth and Robert's fathers were the officiates.

After the ceremony, guests were invited to the Groom’s Terrace for music and iced tea. Guests listened to music such as jazz standards by Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, or Diana Krall. Other selections were by Jason Mraz, Dave Matthews, and other adult contemporary artists.

Shortly, I introduced the wedding party and played I'll Be There For You by The Rembrandts in the background. However, the father of the bride, Charles, had the honor of introducing the bride and groom - a wonderful personal touch.

Guests were directed to a tent located just off the Groom's Terrace for dinner. The food was provided by Shucker's. The food looked fantastic and their staff were very friendly and professional.

Elizabeth and Robert’s taste in music was creative, fun, and light. Their first dance song was The Way You Look Tonight by Tony Bennett (great version of this song!). Elizabeth danced with her father to I Loved Her First by Hearland.

Later, Chris Stevens, Katie Fields, and Erin Thornton toasted the bride and groom. Elizabeth and Robert then cut their cake as I played L-O-V-E by Nat and Natalie Cole.

Elizabeth tossed her bouquet to P.Y.T. by Michael Jackson and Robert removed the garter to All Shook Up by Elvis Presley. We had a little more fun as the guy that caught the garter put it on the leg of the girl that caught the bouquet.

Elizabeth and Robert had picked out some really fun songs for the reception includingTwist and Shout, Cupid Shuffle, Build Me Up Buttercup, Billie Jean, Sweet Home Alabama, Brown Eyed Girl, and Y.M.C.A.

Last Dance Song of the evening was Crazy Love by Van Morrison and then guests were asked to line the long walkway with sparklers and await Elizabeth and Robert’s departure.

I had the chance to work again with Hilton and his team from Hilton PittmanPhotograhpy. If you have never seen his work, I really encourage you to visit hiswebsite.

Thanks again Elizabeth and Robert for being so much fun!

Puryear - Anderson Wedding

Amanda Puryear and Daniel Anderson had their wedding reception at the North Carolina Museum of Art. We started with announcing the wedding party into the reception area. The bridesmaids and groomsmen were introduced to I'll Be There For You by The Rembrandts. Amanda and Daniel were announced to God Gave Me Youby Blake Shelton.

Amanda and Daniel immediately went into their first dance to Marry Me by Train. Amanda then danced with her father to My Little Girl by Tim McGraw. Daniel danced with his mother to You'll Be In My Heart by Phil Collins (great Disney song).

We then had beautiful toasts by Mitchell Puryear - Father of the Bride, and Lyn Anderson - Father of the Groom.

Guests enjoyed songs such as My Girl, Carolina Girls, Push It, I Do, Sweetest Thing.Popular generas included beach Music, Motown, Rock, and Current.

Hyman - Howard Wedding

Casey Hyman and Elliot Howard held their wedding reception at the MacGregor Downs Country Club. We started with announcing the wedding party into the reception area under a tent on the backside of the club. The bridesmaids and groomsmen were introduced to Dynamite by Taio Cruz. Elliot and Casey were introduced to Crazy Little Thing Called Love by Queen.

Casey and Elliot immediately went into their first dance to Wonderful Tonight by Eric Clapton. Afterwards dinner was served.

Shortly, Cader Howard and Kaitlin McCormick toasted the bride and groom. We then cut the wedding cake as I played When I'm Sixty-Four by The Beatles.

Casey then danced with her father to My Kind of Girl by Billy Scott (great shag tune). Elliot then danced with his mother to You've Got A Friend by James Taylor.

The dance floor was now open as guests enjoyed songs such as The Joker, Cupid Shuffle, Party Rock Anthem, Footloose, and Booti Call.

Casey tossed her bouquet to It's Raining Men by The Weather Girls. Elliot tossed the garter to Legs by ZZ Top.

Lighting was by Simpsound. Also, Shawn Schindler of Your Special Day, Weddings and Special Events did a wonderful job keeping everything moving and planning the overall wedding.

Pruss - Hiller Wedding

Debbie Pruss and Dan Hiller held their wedding reception at the beautiful Embassy Suites Brier Creek. The evening started with a cocktail hour on the patio as guests enjoyed jazz standards.

Once the cocktail hour was over, it was my turn to take over. We started with announcing the wedding party into the reception area. The bridesmaids and groomsmen were introduced to Beautiful Day by U2. Debbie and Dan were introduced to In The Air by Phil Collins. I had cue'd the song up to the drum solo for a dramatic entrance.

Debbie and Dan immediate went into their first dance to Feels Like Home by Chantal Kreviazuk. Afterwards dinner was served.

Shortly, Chris Ellen and Liz Quinn toasted the bride and groom. We then cut the wedding cake as I played You're My Best Friend by Queen.

Debbie then danced with her father to Because You Loved Me by Celine Dion. Dan the danced with his mother to My Wish by Rascal Flatts.

The dance floor was now open as guests enjoyed songs such as Someone Like You by Adele,The Prayer by Celine Dion and Andrea Bocelli, Daniel by Elton John, Ignition by R. Kelly, andPush It by Salt n Pepa.

Debbie tossed her bouquet to Girls Just Want To Have Fun by Cyndi Lauper. Dan tossed the garter to Wild Thing by Tone Loc.

The last dance song of the evening was Bring It On Home by Little Big Town.