Pittsburgh Wedding DJ for Weddings and Receptions. Disc Jockey in Allegheny County

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Jenn and Paul (Pittsburgh Golf Club Reception)

Planning a wedding can be a balancing act. I think one of the hardest part of preparing for the reception is finding the balance between what you want and what you think your guests will enjoy. Since I do think that the wedding day should be customized to the wishes of the Bride and Groom, I leave it up to the couple to determine what they believe their guests will enjoy most along with their requests. I was lucky enough to work with a couple who was able to achieve the perfect balance this past Saturday. I performed at the reception of Jenn Lee & Paul McCaffrey at the Pittsburgh Golf Club in Pittsburgh, PA.

Jenn & Paul put forth a great deal of effort to be certain their guests had a great time throughout the entire day. Even though there were close to 200 guests, the newlyweds let their meals wait while they spent time at every table during dinner. It was clear how important it was for them to visit with everyone who was there to share in the celebration. Jenn & Paul had selected a wide variety of music, and I was able to make a playlist that was both elegant and fun for everyone. I can tell when the mix is perfect when I get compliments on the music before we reach the first dance!

If you’ve read some of my other posts, you’ll know how much I love when people come up with special ideas to make their day unique. Everyone made over these cute M&M’s that were available during cocktail hour…

Also, there was a Polaroid camera available with the guestbook so guests could take a snapshot of themselves for Jenn & Paul. What a great idea!

There were quiet a bit of younger people at the reception, so Jenn had requested that we play some music for the kids such as Taylor Swift & The Jonas Brothers. Once again, they had found a way to include everyone in on the fun.

Paul and Jenn knew their guest’s musical tastes extremely well, once the music got going everyone came out and got a little crazy!

Jenn & Paul were so sweet to work with, and their desire to make sure everyone had a great time at the reception was fantastic. They were able to have all the special requests and events that were important to them, but also allowed enough flexibility to ensure that by the end of the day, all of their guests had the most amazing time.

by EricTags: Pittsburgh

Monday, June 22, 2009

Kamela and Casey (Franzee’s Banquet Facility)

Every once in a while my personal life collides with my life as a professional DJ. It’s a great honor when someone who has known me for years asks me to perform as a part of their reception. This past Friday I had the extreme pleasure of playing the reception of Kamela Ferguson & Casey Johnston at Franzee’s Banquet Hall in Ambridge, PA.

During college I acted as a youth leader for a small church in Beaver Falls. Kamela had been a very active member of the group and I was SO excited when she contacted me about her wedding. Having known Kamela for so long I knew that she’d be planning a wedding that would be fun and unique. Kamela & Casey came up with some great music suggestions, including the idea that I play music from the Motown era during cocktail hour and dinner. I could see people singing along from their tables!

Kamela & Casey also had me create a photo montage to play after dinner. All the guests enjoyed seeing the cute images of them as babies and the silly images of them as they grew to become adults. I really enjoyed making this for them, it was great seeing images of Kam during the years since she was just a teenager.

It was also great to see so many familiar faces at the reception from the youth group and church and I was so happy to be there and reunite with everyone. I was able to take this photo of Kamela and her cousin Cheri during the money dance.

Kamela and Casey were the life of the party all night long. They were clearly excited to be with their guests, but you could also see when they looked at each other that they were able to communicate their thoughts to each other with just a glance. I was pleased to see Kamela’s reaction to the music as everyone was dancing. Everyone should get to be this happy at their wedding.

Kamela and Casey were so easy to work with, they gave me a great list of music for their friends and family to enjoy. They even let a few guests sing a song. Wayne and Taylor were both BIG hits!

I can’t say enough how excited I was to be a part of this wedding. Kamela & Casey were surrounded by so many wonderful guests, and everyone really helped step in to make it a fantastic party. While I’d like to deny that I’m old enough to see any of the ‘kids’ from the youth group get married, I’m extremely proud to have seen her grow to become such a wonderful adult and thrilled that she found a terrific guy. The best part of my job is when you can see how much in love two people can truly be.

I wanted to mention that Kamela does a great blog about pretty much everything (as she says – A steaming bowl of entertainment) at My Hatertots, make sure you check it out.

by EricTags: Friends

Friday, June 19, 2009

Emily and Michael (Pittsburgh Doubletree)

As many of you know, planning for a wedding and reception can be extremely difficult. The biggest piece of advice I can offer my clients is to do what comes naturally and to be true to yourself. When you plan a day that is truly a reflection of who you are, planning becomes much easier. I recently had the great pleasure of performing at the reception of Emily & Michael at the Doubletree Hotel in downtown Pittsburgh. Emily & Mike knew exactly what they wanted for their big day and made the choices that best represented their tastes, the results were amazing.

Emily & Mike created an elegant and relaxed reception for around 45 of their closest family and friends. The intimacy of the room and the amount of guests really allowed everyone to have more personal time with the bride and groom. When planning for the wedding we had met at a local Starbucks, the music there became our inspiration for the cocktail hour and dinner.

Once everyone had time to visit, it was time to open the dance floor. Emily & Mike created such a vibe of happiness and joy that everyone in the room could feel their excitement.

Emily’s mother even came up and danced the twist with everyone.

Emily & Mike asked me to make a special announcement and dedication to their good friends, Emily & Nick who were recently engaged.

Emily & Mike’s first dance song was “The Way I Am” by Ingrid Michaelson. I can’t imagine a more appropriate song for them. They are so comfortable in their own skin and were completely genuine about their excitement for their wedding and reception. They chose not to spend time doing a lot of traditional parts of the reception, and instead focused on having fun with their guests.

Watching Emily & Mike’s reaction to their guests, the music and everything else at the reception, it was clear that everything had turned out exactly as they had planned. To me they serve as the perfect example of how to approach the decisions for a wedding. I’m thrilled that I had the chance to get to know them, and that I was able to play a part of making their day so special.

by EricTags: Pittsburgh

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Amber and Josh

It might sound obvious to say that weddings are the ultimate celebration for the families of the bride and groom. What’s not always obvious is HOW different families choose to celebrate. For some people the joy of the wedding focuses on the opportunity to visit and talk with family members and friends. Other families have a more active definition of what it means to celebrate. I say all this to preface my description of the wedding reception of Amber Rafferty and Josh Cooper. The reception was held at the Bessemer Croatian Club in Bessemer, PA – and was the HUGE PARTY type of a CELEBRATION.

I have know Amber & Josh for many years and I was very excited when they asked me to play a part in their special day. They came up with a great selection of artists for me to play during cocktail hour and dinner. They left a lot of freedom for their guests to make requests and for me to keep the dance floor full all night long.

Once the formal festivities were completed it became clear that this group of people were ready to celebrate like crazy and weren’t going to hold back.

Josh had mentioned to me a couple of times when planning the wedding that he wasn’t sure how much he’d be dancing, but he certainly came through and spent most of the evening on the dance floor!

My good friends Andy & Ashley were both in the bridal party and really helped keep the party going. (yes, that’s Ashley upside down!)

Amber and Josh were terrific to work with and I’m thrilled that they had the ultimate party for their reception. I’m sure everyone who attended their reception had an amazing time and had sore feet in the morning.

I always tell clients that their mood will set the tone of their reception and this was clearly the case with Amber and Josh. They were so excited to get to dance and party with their friends and family that everyone in attendance fed off their energy and created a spectacular evening!

by EricTags:

Monday, May 25, 2009

Lindsey and Brett (Edgeworth Club Reception)

I believe I’m honestly having more fun performing at weddings this year than ever before. I am so fortunate to meet such wonderfully warm and inviting people and get to play an important part of the biggest day of their lives. I recently had the pleasure to perform at the reception of Lindsey Stuetelberg & Brett Kelly at the Edgeworth Club in Sewickley. The amount of wonderful people I met this day is completely overwhelming to me. Everyone from the families of the Bride & Groom to the other vendors were completely top notch and came together to make this a spectacular occasion.

The reception began with music from the Pittsburgh String Quartet. I love the sound of a great quartet and having them play as the guests arrived really added a great sense of elegance.

After the quartet finished playing Lindsey & Brett had also hired Mark Pipas to play and sing music during both the remainder of cocktail hour and dinner. Mark is an fantastic vocalist/keyboard player who performs standards from Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and many more. It was fun watching the guests sing along while he played, he helped transition the mood to a fun filled celebration.

Since there was a lot of live entertainment featured at the reception, I wasn’t required to play as much music during cocktail hour and dinner, just enough to fill in at the right moments. Lindsey & Brett were most concerned with making their guests happy and let the music playlist develop as the night went on. Guests were able to come and make requests from a variety of genres and everyone enjoyed making special requests.

I had the honor of dealing a lot with Lindsey’s mother, Belinda, for a bit of the wedding planning since the Bride & Groom don’t live in the Pittsburgh area. She did an amazing job pulling everything together and I was thrilled to get to meet her on the big day. Since they were pulling things together from across the country they hired a truly amazing wedding planner. I’ve worked with many planners in the past and no one has every impressed me as much as Katherine Shaw from Trends to Traditions. There were so many special elements to the reception and she helped pull everything together and help make my job very easy! Katherine’s desire to keep things on track is clear from the first moment you meet her, she kept a cool head no matter what needed done, it was a joy to have her be a part of the day.

I have to also mention that the Edgeworth Club in Sewickly is a great location with a wonderful staff. I was told the while it is a private club, it is available for anyone to reserve for a wedding reception and I can definitely recommend it. The attention to detail that Jason Ciccone and his staff provided was spot on.

Lindsey & Brett are an adorable couple and were wonderful to work with for every detail of their special day. At the end of the reception it was so cute to see how pleased they were after spending the day with so many of their friends and family. They were also very excited to be on their way to Jamaica for their honeymoon!

Both the Stuetelberg & Kelly families were so friendly and complimentary to me throughout the reception that I wanted to a moment here to thank them again for everything! I’m extremely pleased to have helped to provide such sweet and giving people a fantastic reception.

by EricTags:

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Beth and Michael (Twelve Oaks Mansion Reception)

Best Wedding of the YEAR! Ok, first wedding of the year… but really, playing the wedding of Beth Makarevich & Michael Van Gelder is going to be a tough act to follow. Beth & Mike live in Washington DC, and have spent a great deal of time traveling the world, but chose to have their wedding here to be close to family and friends.

The wedding reception was held at the Twelve Oaks Mansion in Mars, PA. This is a relatively new wedding venue in Western Pennsylvania, but the event staff and coordinator, Bethany Santa, did an amazing job making a perfect evening for everyone. Beth & Mike took advantage of the photo montage service I offer, and the video was able to play beautifully on the 3 large LCD monitors that the venue offered in the cocktail area.

Beth and Michael have a great passion for music and seemed to really enjoy customizing the music for every aspect of the reception. This makes it fun for everyone, including me. Their cocktail hour contained a unique mix of French styled music and dinner music included requests that guests were able to suggest when completing their RSVP cards (such a clever idea!)

A big trend lately is for people to come up with special names for the guests tables. Beth & Mike’s take on this trend was to have each table feature a unique name that was part of a special story about the themselves. One side featured the “title” of the place or event. The reverse side told the story. This really gave each table a unique tale about the couple that they may have never heard before (yet another clever idea!).

One of the biggest challenges for newlyweds is making time at the reception to visit with friends and family, but to also have time to get the dance floor to enjoy themselves and celebrate. Beth & Mike might have danced more than any couple I’ve seen in a long time. It was great to see how much they enjoyed dancing to the songs they had chosen. They clearly knew what their friends would enjoy hearing… the night ended much too soon!

The New Mr & Mrs Van Gelder are off to celebrate their union in France… after so much dancing and celebration I’m sure their going need the R&R. I was thrilled to play a part of such a extraordinary reception.

by EricTags:

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