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Category Archives: Twelve Oaks Mansion

Emily and Brendan (Twelve Oaks Mansion)

One of the great honors I’ve had is playing receptions for members of our military.  Not only do I have great respect for the men and women who serve our country, but also their friends and family know the value of spending time together, and are always ready for a celebration.  This could not have been more true than at Emily & Brendan’s reception at the Twelve Oaks Mansion in Mars, PA.

Twelve Oaks Mansion Wedding DJ (25 of 25)

Twelve Oaks Mansion was beautifully decorated with elegant linens and a beautiful winter wedding cake.  I was thrilled that they chose me to provide uplighting for dinner and dancing.  Emily surprised Brandon by having 2 songs for their first dance so they could both have the song of their choice.  Talk about compromise!

After lots of celebrating and singing (and a fantastic dance to N’Sync’s “Bye, Bye, Bye”), the night ended with Emily and Brendan’s friends and family surrounding them on the dance floor for the final song.  I can not imagine a better way to end 2013 than by being a part of this wonderful celebration for such a sweet and kind couple.

Wedding DJ Playlist

Emily and Scott (Twelve Oaks Mansion DJ)

One great way to share a part of yourself with your wedding guests is to choose a fun theme to help make the day feel extra customized.  This past weekend I DJ’ed a very unique and elegant reception for Emily Knopfel and Scott Gibbons at the Twelve Oaks Mansion in Mars, PA.

Knopfel Gibbons Wedding

Emily and Scott both share a love of literature and came up with great ways to use that throughout the mansion.  Scott even built this custom card catalog for guests to find their seat assignments.

Card Catalog Seating Assignments

At the center of each table were books by the couple’s favorite authors.  Since Scott works as a teacher, it certainly made sense as well to shuttle their guests in a school bus!

Literature Wedding Theme

Scott and Emily clearly have a passion for music as well.  Their song choices blended well into a mix that was upbeat and fun.

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Scott and Emily worked hard to create an environment that their guests would always remember.  Their cocktail hour featured a slideshow of great photos of the couple, and afterwards the bridal party decended the grand staircase at the mansion.  The couple’s first dance to David Gray’s “This First Love” followed dinner and was sweet and romantic.

Twelve Oaks Mansion

With the formalities out of the way it was time to relax and party!

Bridal Dance, Money Dance, Dollar DanceRemove garter

Scott and Emily pulled all of this together from out of state with help from their friends and family.  Their literary wedding theme was a huge hit and was a perfect example of simple elegance.  The couple is taking a little time to enjoy the success of their big day before their honeymoon in Ireland.  I sure hope they remember to take along something to read!

Jessica and Rob (Twelve Oaks Mansion DJ)

How can you have the right attitude for your wedding?  So much emotion, so much planning, so much of everything – is there any possible way to keep focus on what really matters?  Those who are able to find the peace of mind to remember this on their big day are the ones who seem to enjoy the celebration the most.  Yesterday I was the DJ for a couple with the most amazing attitudes.  Jessica Randazza and Rob Schreck had their relaxed and fun-filled wedding reception at the wonderful Twelve Oaks Mansion in Mars, PA.

Pittsburgh Bride and Groom

Cocktail hour kicked off with jazz music from the fantastic Southern Comfort Band.  What a great way to start the evening.

Southern Comfort Band, Pittsburgh

Outside of the photo booth was a box of fun trinkets.  I loved the fact that the Schreck family enjoys their Shrek connection!

Shrek Wedding

Twelve Oaks Mansion was decorated beautifully with a fall theme.  Bethany, the coordinator for the mansion, described the day perfectly as “simply elegant”.

Pittsburgh Elegant DJ

With Jessica and Rob’s easy going nature, they allowed plenty of room for me to “do my DJ thing”.  They provided some great direction for song choices, but also let the evening flow through every genre.  The music was a BIG success.

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Everything went exactly according to schedule, so there was plenty of time for visiting before the dancing began.  When the moment was right, the dance floor went WILD!

Pittsburgh DJ Dance Floor

Pittsburgh Wedding DJ

Coolest Groom in town!

Pittsburgh Groom

Bouquet Toss!!!

Pittsburgh Bouquet Toss-8

DJ Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh Wedding Bride DJ

Allegheny County DJ

Because of Jessica and Rob’s attitude, they were able to relax and be a part of everything that was happening around them.  They weren’t stressed about what was coming next or worried if anything was wrong.  They’re the perfect example of how to have the dream wedding day.  Their friends and family joined in their energy and the party was so spectacular that no one wanted to leave.  Now the newlyweds are off to relax some more on their honeymoon in beautiful Punta Cana.

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.

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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.

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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!).

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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!

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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.

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