I make a big deal about the importance of including your own tastes into your wedding and reception. Everyone deserves to have a day that is truly unique. I’m just amazed at originality of the wedding I just performed for Dawn Ruby & John Lonzenski. The ceremony and reception were both held at Olde Stonewall Golf Club in Ellwood City. Since the castle is also referred to as Shakespeare’s, Dawn & John decided it would be fun to have a theme wedding and go for broke. Although they aren’t typically “into” the whole renaissance scene, they made their day special by making it fun and stylish.

This chocolate cake was truly amazing!

This was an intimate celebration with about 40 of the newlyweds friends and family, Dawn’s mother did a great job making choices for cocktail hour and dinner that were able to be enjoyed by everyone.
Dawn & John picked a great selection of oldies and 80′s music for the dancing portion that really got people up and having fun.

Click here to see the playlist from the reception

Dawn’s grandparents, Norman & Cleora, were celebrating their 70th wedding anniversary, Norman spent a lot of time dancing!

Since Dawn & John were married about 1:30, this was an early reception with dinner served around 3:30. They really planned things out well so that their guests were not left with hours and hours with nothing to do. When I had met with John I had made a comment about the fact that sometimes people aren’t up for dancing while it’s still light outside, but clearly I had nothing to worry about. Around 5:00 I “opened the dance floor” and everyone was up and celebrating!

I always hope that people can learn from people like Dawn & John. Not that everyone should have a renaissance theme wedding, but that it’s important to find the fun on your wedding day. Most people find that their wedding day passes by very quickly, and it seems silly to me to waste any moment of it. Dawn & John found so many special ways to make their day memorable, fun and beautiful. They were so genuinely sweet and wonderful to work with, I’m glad they chose to let me be a part of it!

Venue: Olde Stonewall Golf Club in Ellwood City
Photographer: Stanley Studios

This past Saturday I played at the reception of Amie Hack and Greg Donahue at the Olde Stonewall Golf Club in Ellwood City. It was a beautiful day for them to get married on the deck overlooking the golf course.

Amie and Greg totally understood how to make their day unique, and really applied their ideas in a variety of unique and fun ways. They included some live music in their day as well as hiring my services. They had a harpist and violinist for their ceremony which was beautiful. Amie’s 88 year old grandfather, Ray, performed songs during the Anniversary dance while her father Dennis accompanied him on the guitar. Then as a special surprise, Johnny Cash showed up! (ok, it was actually Pastor Rick Roberts from the ceremony) Johnny (Rick) had a whole band with him and entertained everyone with selections including “Jackson” and “Ring of Fire”.

I got a chance to entertain everyone too. Amie and Greg gave allowed me to do whatever I needed to keep the dancefloor busy. We covered a lot of ground from Rock to Rap and everyone seemed to have a fantastic time dancing.

Click here to see the playlist from the reception

The day was packed full of such great and memorable events that I’m sure everyone will be talking about this reception for years to come. My favorite moment was watching the newlyweds dance their first dance which they had worked out some special choreography to make it special, it was a sweet moment where you could just see how much they belong together. The entire evening went really smoothly, but even I felt that it went by really fast. Amie and Greg were a complete joy to work with, and both of them and their families went out of their way to make me feel comfortable and appreciated. I’m so glad I was able to help them create a day that went so perfectly.

Venue: Olde Stonewall Golf Club in Ellwood City
Photographer: Diane Adrian Photography