Clawson - Gani Wedding

What do you get when you bring together hockey fans, Labatt's beer, great music, and a wonderful view of downtown Raleigh? You get a beautiful evening at the Cardinal Club with some really nice people - and Ben and Cindy are as nice as they come.

The evening started with cocktails in the foyer and bar area as guests enjoyed background music such as jazz standards and adult contemporary. As the reception transitioned into the ballroom with the announcement of the wedding party, the parents were announced to Disco Inferno; son of the bride to Monday Night Football Theme; wedding party to Hung Up; and Ben and Cindy to New York, New York.

Ben and Cindy immediately went into their first dance to Crazy Love by Michale Buble' - wonderful choice. A touching moment followed as Cindy danced with her father to Little Miss Magic by Jimmy Buffett. As the two dance together, it was as if they forgot about the world around them and were reflecting on their entire lives together since childhood. Not a dry eye on the dance floor. The third dance was for Ben and his mom to Thank You for the Music by ABBA. This was a fun dance and I know Ben's mom really enjoyed the selection as she lip-synced each of the words.

Later in the evening, several toasts were presented to Ben and Cindy. With the bride and groom standing on the dance floor, each speaker was introduced with a song. The selections included The Hockey Song, Maple Leaf Forever, Take on Me, Only In My Dreams, and The Godfather (for the father of the bride).

There was plenty of dancing to triple beat swing, 80's, Top 40, and Motown. The big show of the evening was by Cindy's son as he ripped up the dance floor to Boom Boom Pow.

Photography was by Rob Tomlinson of Cutting Edge Photography, a really nice guy. I don't think he sat the whole evening and definitely stayed on top of the action.

Hutchison - Hunt Wedding

Playing for Brian and Mary Gray was a thrill for me for a couple of reasons. One - the guests, and two - the music. As guests were arriving or mingling throughout the evening, I saw many familiar faces. Several of the wedding party's family members and friends were people that I have known for years. Its always great to see familiar faces at the events I play as I get to talk off-line and catch up. Plus everyone has an interest in what I am doing, so I get to talk about one of my favorite subjects - music.

The reception was held at the Museum of Natural Science in downtown Raleigh. This is really a great place as guests walked through the exhibits on the first floor and enjoyed the many wonders of North Carolina science.

About an hour into the reception, I announced the new Mr. and Mrs. Brian David Hunt. Then the bride and groom made their way to the dance floor to their first dance - Still the One by Shania Twain. Mary Gray danced with her father to My Girl by the Temptations. Then Brian danced with his mother to My Wish by Rascal Flatts.

Many of the guests were from the service professional world such as attorneys, HR consultants, etc. Many of them had deep interests in beach music. So as you can imagine, beach music was the most popular genera of the evening. I played artists such as Tams, Drifters, Sam & Dave, Embers, etc. But I did diversify as many members of the wedding party were looking for artists such as MJ, Bee Gees, Al Green, and John Legend.

Catering Works provided the food for the evening. I was fortunate to try the beef tenderloin with a little balsamic dressing. It was outstanding. In fact, I suspect others would agree as the line for that station was the longest throughout the evening.

I had the chance to work again with Hilton and his team from Hilton Pittman Photograhpy. If you have never seen his work, I really encourage you to visit his website. His photos really have a way of grabbing your attention. You almost have to stop and look at the photo because they 'pop' out at you. I know the museum was a great backdrop for the photos last night with the many exhibits.

All in all, there was something for everyone - great conversation, interesting exhibits, and shagging on the dance floor.

Stewart - Mitchell Wedding

This was a nice evening for me as the wedding party and guests were extremely nice and fun. In addition, I really liked the location of the reception. The event was held at Artspace in downtown Raleigh. I really enjoy this location because of the beautiful artwork that is displayed throughout the exhibit area by local artists.

We started the evening by announcing the wedding parting into the reception area to Viva La Vida by Coldplay and transitioned into Livin' on a Prayer by Bon Jovi as the bride and groom entered the room.

After a few cocktails and food, we had our first dance to What I'd Give by Sugarland and then a parents dance to Make You Feel My Love by Adele.

We also did a couples dance to see who had been married the longest. It started with all married couples on the dance floor and then they were eliminated based upon how long they were married. The last couple on the floor would be the ones there that evening that were married the longest. So, of course, I started out saying that if you have been married for 3 hours and 45 minutes or less, then please leave the floor.....there goes the bride and groom. Long story short, this slowly turned into a mini dance marathon. There were so many couples that had been married forever. But the couple that had been married for 57 years took the prize and recognition. It was awesome.

During the garter/bouquet toss, I was asked to play Luck Be a Lady by Sinatra (bouquet) and Pretty Young Thing by MJ (garter). Both excellent choices and a little different from the norm.

Photography was by Rierson Photography. The photos should be great given the ambiance of Artspace. Bryan and Jo were great to work with.

Catering was provided by Catering Works. I overheard the Father of the Bride say to the caterers that the food was incredible, and I am sure it was.

We ended the evening to a beautiful song by Aretha Franklin called You Send Me. A great way to send off the bride and groom.

Kelly - Abernethy Wedding

The ceremony and reception were held at the beautiful Shady Wagon Farm in New Hill, NC - just 30 minutes south of Raleigh. This is a beautiful facility for an outdoor event. The ceremony took place in a small pavilion that overlooks a well manicured pond. The reception was held within the barn with a larger pavilion.

Given that there were more than 170 guests, there were people both inside the barn and outside under the pavilion. Given that I was outside under the pavilion, I wanted to ensure that people inside could hear the toasts, music, and various announcements. Therefore, I placed a speaker inside the barn and used a wireless system to keep everyone informed.

After an hour of cocktails, all 21 members of the wedding party (yes, 21! - a large party), were ready to be announced into the pavilion. Just 30-minutes before the ceremony, Jeremy the groom had texted me asking that I play Black Dog by Led Zeppelin during the introductions. I texted back and said of course and that I hope you have that phone on vibrate. The Led Zeppelin song was a great choice! The guests really got excited as the wedding party entered the pavilion. Then Jeremy and Anna did their first dance to Feeling Good by Michael Buble'.

The event then went to dinner that was catered by XU Catering. I overhead many of the guests say that the food was excellent. I worked with Kenton from XU Catering. Given how well organized he was both before and during the ceremony, I could only imagine how pleased the guests were with their meal.

Anna and Jeremy had provided me with a list of some songs to weave in throughout the evening. This was really a fun crowd that wanted to hear many different artists such as Josh Turner, Travis Tritt, Dixie Chicks, MJ, and Britney.

Photography was by Rob McKenzie Photography. Both Rob and Beverly were great to work with and stayed on top of all the action.

Buske - Pavlic Wedding

The ceremony and reception were at the beautiful Preston-Woodall House in Benson. I provided the music for the ceremony and played selections by artists such as Debussy, Bach, Pachelbel, and Mendelssohn. The ceremony was officiated by Rev. Robin Renteria. If you ever need an officiate that can handle anything that is thrown at them, then I highly recommend Robin. Given that the ceremony was outdoors under an ominous sky, Robin was able to create a 'sunshine' environment while people sat under umbrellas shielding themselves from the light misty rain.

Once the ceremony was over, we transitioned to the wedding party announcements inside the house. The bride asked that I play some fun songs during the announcements. So she selectedOnly the Young by Journey as the parents were announced. Then as the bridal party can in, I played Supermassive Black Hole by Muse (I get to see Muse next week during the U2 show!). Then as the bride/groom came in, I played Right Here in my Arms by HIM. All great choices by the bride.

One of the great things about the Preston-Woodall is their staff. Dianne and her team are always great to work with and are fun. They helped me to keep things moving along and with 150+ guests. There were several details to handle such as champagne for all and the cake cutting.

This was a great dancing crowd and they were on the floor at all times of the evening. With a diverse crowd, I was all over the place with songs. Of course you had the usual wedding reception songs such as Shout, Electric Slide, etc. But I threw out a few curve balls by mixing from the Quad City DJs Ride that Train into Sandstorm (yes, a techno song at a wedding!). Well, I knew that the party had gone to a whole new level at this point as the father of the bride did the 'worm' on the dance floor. The crowd went nuts!

I was asked to play I've Had the Time of My Life by Jennifer Warren as the last song of the evening. This was a great choice by the bride as it was a big sing-along and seemed to be a perfect ending to a great evening.

Photos were by Hilton Pittman Photography. They had a team of three photographers on hand throughout the evening and didn't miss a shot.

Poyner Place

This past Saturday was the last evening of the season for me to play at Poyner Place. Over the summer, Poyner Place had “Live Music at the Pond” with a roster of jazz, acoustic, blues, R&B, and DJ music. I of course was the DJ. The setting was really casual, so I got to play all genera’s of music. For the most part, I played background music, but if people wanted to dance, then I easily sped up the tempo with dance songs. It was nice to be able to play five events there over the summer. Now, on to Fall and weddings.

Saprygina - Forman Wedding

One of the things I love about DJing is learning about culture and new music and this reception offered both for me and the guests. Christopher the groom is Italian and Olga the bride is Russian. To prepare for the reception they told me about certain songs they wanted to hear and some historic traditions to celebrate as part of the evening.

The reception was held at a beautiful home in Spring Lake, NC. The setting was by the candle-lit lake underneath a clear top tent. The reception began with cocktails and dinner with Catering Works. They provided a wonderful buffet of poached salmon, pork tenderloin, and other great dishes.

Our first real event of the evening was a tradition of putting a chain and lock on a bridge that was recently built across a small portion of the lake. Once Christopher and Olga locked the chain to the bridge, they turned their back to the chain and threw the keys over their shoulders into the lake so that the keys can never be found and the chain never be unlocked and their love never be broken.

From there we moved to the first dance and the song they chose was a song by Eugene Doga entitled Moi Laskovyi - a beautiful waltz. After the father/daughter dance, we performed a tribute to the parents and grandparents with a song called Cancao do Mar (Song of the Sea) by Dulces Pontes. She is a Portuguese singer and has a beautiful voice. Everyone was so moved by both these songs that even the caterers stopped what they were doing to simply listen to the music and watch the emotions of the people of the dance floor.

The entire evening was great fun for me and all who attended. People really enjoyed the jazz standards early in the evening. As the dancing progressed, I worked in several Top 40, oldies, and hip-hop songs while weaving in the various Russian and Italian theme songs which kept everyone dancing under the clear-top tent and stars.

Photography was by Julie Mixon Photography from Greenville. Julie stayed on top of the events and got some great shots throughout the evening of the dancing and scenic views of people by the lake.