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The wedding season is starting to wind down for 2008, which makes me kind of sad. I feel so blessed to be a part of so many wonderful celebrations. Last Saturday I played what turned out to be an extra special day for me when I played at the reception of Darla Lewandowski and Matthew Abel at the Circuit Center & Ballroom in Pittsburgh.
Darla and Matthew chose some great songs for their special evening, but also gave me some room to include a variety of songs throughout the night for all the guests to enjoy. You know it’s a nice mix of music when people compliment the dinner music!
The Circuit Center is a beautiful and large venue that was divided in half for the cocktail hour. This created a nice lounge type area for the guests to enjoy themselves before the entire room became opened for dinner. The high ceilings in the room make it feel extra spacious.
During dinner, Darla and Matthew asked their guests to sing them a love song instead of clinking glasses to make them kiss. I thought the poem they put on each table was a cute way to let the guests know!
I discovered the day of the wedding that many years ago, I worked with Matthew’s mother at Pittburgh’s public access TV station. They had even been at MY wedding, and it was so great to see Carol and her husband Peter again. It goes to show that sometimes things happen for a reason, it made the day extra special that I was able to be a part of their big celebration.
I met another, much newer couple that night too. (that’s all I can say about that)
Darla had been referred to me from another DJ who was unavailable to play at her reception, so I have to say thanks Jodi of Accents Unlimited. I can’t say enough how glad I was to perform at Darla and Matthew’s wedding. It was wonderful getting to know them and their families. At the end of the night it was clear to everyone that they been part of an absolutely perfect day!
This past Saturday was the wedding of Kelly Smith & James Faddis at the Airport Marriott Hotel. Kelly and James came up from Maryland to have their Wedding here in Pittsburgh, and they worked extra hard to make sure every detail of their big day was absolutely perfect.
Kelly & James had some wonderful ideas for the music of the evening and even made lots of music choices for the cocktail hour and the dinner music. As you can see by their song list, it made for an awesome mix mostly from the 80’s & 90’s. It was fun watching Kelly sing along all during dinner.
The Marriott displays custom lighting on the dance floor, such a great touch!
Kelly & James had three wonderful toasts by members of the bridal party, but I’ll have to say that one of the best men, Ricky, gave a really funny toast really help set a relaxed and fun tone for the rest of the evening.
I was instructed to play YMCA for James’s father, and man did it pay off… that man sure can dance!
I had met Kelly a little over a year ago while I was setting up for another wedding at the Marriott. She was there finalizing the arrangements and came to check out the room I was setup in. I can’t say how happy I am that our meeting then led to such a great time at her and James’s reception. Thank you for letting me part of your extraordinary day!
Last week I had the honor to play at the wedding reception of Julia Wenzelburger & Daniel Danka. The reception was held at Balas Eventz in Ellwood City. Julia and Daniel were a fun, modern couple who were ready to party and dance from the moment we first met.
All of my clients are granted access to a special client area where they can choose the songs for their reception. Julia and Daniel gave me an amazing song list that gave me lots of room to play their most important songs, but also lots of choices to play what kept their guests dancing.
Click here to see the playlist from the reception
I was also hired to make a photo montage that we played at the reception on the big screen. I love getting to know a couple even better by seeing photos of them growing up. Julia and Dan were adorable even as kids!
After everyone had a good cry over the cute baby photos it was time get the dancing started. The bridal party spent most of the evening on the dance floor!
This was the first serious debut of my new light show. More on that in a later post.
I got a little special surprise when I was setting up, turns out the bartender at Balas was my old friend Sy. I played Sy’s wedding over 8 years ago, it was great to catch up with him before the big event!
Julia and Daniel were all over the dance floor all night long, it really helped energize all of their guests. They were so wonderful throughout the entire planning process and during the reception that I was thrilled to help make their day such a wonderful success.
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.
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!
Yesterday I performed at the reception of Jessica Gibbons & Sean Belowich at the Hilton Garden Inn in Southpointe, PA. Jessica and Sean are the most relaxed and easy going couple and they have some of the most funny and outgoing group of friends and family. It was great fun helping them celebrate their special day.
All the tables were labeled with various areas of Pittsburgh and they included this cool seating chart to help people find their tables…love this idea!
Musically I had the chance to do a few special things for the reception. I was able to trim down their first dance (Tupelo Honey by Van Morrison) from 7 min to around 4 which worked great. (It’s the version featured in the video above, see if you can find the edits!) Sean also gave me a few contemporary jazz artists to use for dinner and I had some fun making a special list just for the occasion.
Click here to see the playlist from the reception
The Hilton Garden is a great venue. Not only a beautiful place, but the staff helped keep things on time and running smoothly. Every once in awhile I get to work with some of the best vendors around… it’s always great to work with Nick and Bethani of Photos By Nick.
Jessica & Sean were just great to work with. They did most of the planning from Arizona so much of our planning was done via email and phone calls, but thanks to Jessica’s great organizational skils everything worked out wonderfully.
The guests had a great time dancing to a variety of music including terrific songs from the 80’s and 90’s as well as some newer Top 40 songs. After everything was over there were many many guests hanging around the ballroom chatting and having fun. Sean’s father put it best when he told me that you know it was a great party when you can’t get anyone to leave. Congratulations to the new Dr & Mrs Sean and Jessica Belowich!
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