ARGH! I wish I had an assistant… just to film! I’m going to have to hit them up for a copy of their wedding video and I failed to capture the best parts from one of the most epic weddings of all time.

From my end of things, I got to try some new MC styles that involved a lot of audience-wide interaction off the mic.. of course, this would never work with 200+ person weddings, but I digress…

Patrick, Stephanie and I have been planning this party for MONTHS (just ask them, haha!) and it all paid off with a beautiful ceremony, a fun cocktail hour, the most amazing food I’ve had at a wedding (nothing beats home-cooked meals) and a packed dance floor all night.

Oh yes, and a three year old assistant! Caitlyn, the flowergirl, asked if she could help with the introductions…. it was cute and I couldn’t say no… (She’s the most adorable lil’ thing you’d ever seen). I let her start off the first dance and she felt like one-of-a-kind! She asked if she could be my helper and I realized I made a new friend.

She actually helped me dismiss tables, mingle with guests to get requests, and play music. The last part ABSOLUTELY amazes me… my set up was 200 feet away from the dance floor… not a problem if I have an assistant, but I didn’t have one of my guys with me… and my iPhone’s remote control program decided not to work today! However, Caitlyn was really enjoying her position as the head DJ for the night (I was assisting her mind you, lol) and she played all the music ON cue for each part of a VERY elaborate bouquet and garter toss (over 10 songs).. she hit every song in and out ON CUE.

Let me say this one more time… she hit the songs RIGHT ON CUE. SHE’S THREE YEARS OLD!!! Needless to say, it was the most amazing moment I’ve had as a DJ. Her parents are now on my Facebook, lol!

Such a great set of family and friends really made this wedding amazing… at the end, I enjoyed a conversation with her brother, Brian(who’s getting married– congrats), father-of-the-bride Tony, Patrick and Stephanie, and a couple other guests.

This wedding sparked something within me though… my love and passion for the wedding industry has grown anew…. stay tuned for some new ideas I’ll be implementing real soon!!

Check out photos and video below! The video does this amazing wedding no justice.. I’ll have to track more footage down!

Click here to see photos and videos from this event

I’m still pumped up after a great evening with Zach, Helga, and their amazing friends and family! Can you imagine how amazing a wedding has to be that I pulled myself from a homecoming to be part of it?

Let me lay down the scenario for you: They’re from New Jersey. It seems that if you’re from NJ or NY, partying HARD is in your blood. Nice. Zachary is Armenian and Helga is Portuguese; I was thrilled to hear this as it stretches my knowledge and experience in ethnic weddings.

The first time I talked to Zach and Helga I was STOKED about their song choices. They wanted a club-style wedding with rap, vocal-trance, and a little old school thrown in. This was a few glowsticks short of a rave… my dream come true!

Fast forward to the evening: after a massive heatwave giving us 100º+ heat indexes, Zach and Helga where greeted with a sun-kissed beach with temperatures of 60-70º… WHOA! Is there a better sign of a wedding that was meant to be? NO! The scenery was beautiful and not one drop of sweat fell from anyone there. Could it get any better? Yes, it can! Zach & Helga came up with the perfect dress code: Casual Beach Chic: No tie. No jacket.

The DoubleTree Hotel had the room perfectly laid out sporting the new couples’ chosen colors of orange and white while our uplighting put the perfect finishing touch on the room. Britt McAllister, the photographer (and a great guy to converse with), did an amazing job capturing the beautiful scenery inside and out.

Zach & Helga treated all of us to a wonderful plated dinner of Mahi-Mahi, Chicken Marsalla, or Filet Mignon. I chose the Filet and it was DELICIOUS. We sat by the balcony and enjoyed a cool breeze, good music, Zach’s constant appreciation for our music choices, and a great conversation with fellow vendors and guests.

Once the dancing began, it was non-stop… we mixed in some 80s and Freestyle and the crowd went NUTS. Check out some photos I shot (I’ll add Britt’s soon) as well as an amazing video! Mr. and Mrs. Bonugli are some of the nicest, most down to earth people I’ve met!

Package Chosen:

• Entertainment Coordinator
• 12 Deep-Orange Uplights

Click here to see photos and videos from this event

Right now Hector and Liset are reading this and smiling ear to ear. You know how I know that? They’ve been reading every single one of A Premier Entertainment’s blogs (Mine and Kelly’s and so forth) and took notes on what they wanted for their own wedding. We’ve become good friends through Facebook and I knew that this would be a wild party by the time they walked in through the door for our final planning meeting!

Located at the Lion’s Eye Center in Ybor, the ceremony was elegant, but totally their style and paved the way for an amazing night to come!

Highlights:

• MARACAS!! (Watch the video)
• I had a heckler… but we got him right back! He was the life of the party.. I think he and Hector are troublemakers, lol.
• Awesome recessional to the wedding. The Lil Jon remix of Suavemente.
• A Puerto Rican and Cuban family mesh— how much crazier can it get?
• Delicious dinner thanks to Michael and his team with Affordable Catering
• A delightful candy bar station compliments of Chanda Janine Ford with Classique Soiree Weddings and Events. (Liset and Hector also won this at a bridal show– LUCKY!!!)

Package Chosen:

• Entertainment Coordinator (Liset won a free DJ package through the PWG bridal show!)
• D’Elegance Lighting: Floods and animated centerpiece
• Ceremony System

As the evening progressed, the party only got wilder…. and then the maracas came out! Matt and I had a blast.. and Matt even got out there and danced with the crowd. Check out the amazing photos and video clip below!

Click here to see photos and videos from this event

A big congrats go out to Collin and Jerrika Aiken!

They wanted to have a PARTY from the beginning the reception started and party they did! The ceremony was moved indoors due to the rain, but that didn’t slow anyone down. Pete (my assistant) and I rearranged certain parts of the room to prep it for the ceremony.

Everything looked beautiful and the rain was just a sign of God’s promise to a new beginning in their lives.

The reception was great, featuring their first dance on clouds using our one of a kind system.

The dance crowd was small, but they danced large! Pete and I had a blast!

Package Chosen:

• Premier (Upgraded to Entertainment Coordinator compliments of APE)
• Custom D’Elegance Lighting Package with Uplights
• Lighted Columns
• Dance on the Clouds

Check out some amazing photos by KC Photography and a video below!

Click here to see photos and videos from this event

June kicks off the “BEST WEDDINGS EVER!” month!

Almost three years ago I did a wedding for Mr. and Mrs. Acevedo. This promptly led to creating an amazing reception for two more family members: Mr. and Mrs. Santiago. We got along so well that they invited me to their church, New Hope, in Winter Haven, FL. This has been the best decision in my life– I’ve finally found a church I can call home.

Fast forward to yesterday, Matt and Erica came to my office needing the wedding of the century. Knowing their family and friends, very little effort would be needed to accomplish this– and boy was I right. This was a party from the very beginning on out!

The photographer, Danny Cruz (with his son, Brandon) and Tim & Patti (with Storybook Weddings Videography) did an amazing job capturing all the special events. We felt very welcome not only as vendors but as guests by everyone there.

The ceremony was at Victory Church in Lakeland, FL and the reception was at the Lone Palm in Kathleen.

Highlights:

• Harry & Shannon Acevedo’s son, Davin, is 2 years old— he wasn’t even born when I met these two– how time flies!
• Very energetic introduction with a remix of Beegees with Lil Jon, Boom Boom Pow, and Right Round!
• MERENGUE!! NEED I SAY MORE?
• Lots of interaction without bordering on cheesy!
• My wife was there– despite her injured knee, she couldn’t lift anything up, but she handled the music very well! (I love working with her.)

Package Chosen:

• Entertainment Coordinator
• Extra Extra Extra Bass
• Uplights in Pink
• Extra Hour

It truly was a party– check out the many iPhone photos and videos, soon! As soon as I get footage from Tim, I’ll make sure to share it!

Click here to see photos and videos from this event

Christopher contacted me with a simple request: He needed a DJ in Orlando who can cater to the craziness that is a destination wedding. They are hard to plan, as often the bride and groom are not in the States until the week of the wedding. What made A Premier Entertainment – My Dream Reception the perfect choice was the combination of DJs/MCs/even coordination along with a great expertise in Reggae music.

Chris was a really unique client– he’s a DJ as well. As a matter of fact, many of his guests are– NO PRESSURE THERE! He’s worked with such great artists such as Tony Mattehorn and Buju Banton.

The wedding was at the Radisson Celebration in Kissimmee, in the same banquet room as the Greg & Melinda Barned’s wedding.

Photos were taken by Jenny from KC Enterprises (except the very last one)… I know I’m biased saying this, but I love working with KC Enterprises!!

Check out some great photos and videos below!!!

Package chosen:

• Entertainment Coordinator

Click here to see photos and videos from this event

This is APE – Pro!’s second year doing a turnkey solution for JW Mitchell High’s awards ceremony titled Night of Excellence. This time we brought out the 14′ screen instead of the 20′ screen for space reasons.

Check out some sweet photos and a quick video clip below!

Package Chosen: Keynote System – Medium

• 14′ Screen
• Dual Live-Video Feed
• Custom PowerPoint
• MC
• Teleprompter System
• Heat-less floods
• Custom Slideshow Presentation
• DJ

Click here to see photos and videos from this event

When Greg & Melinda first met with me at our initial sales consult, I knew right away this would be an amazing wedding! She’s Puerto Rican whose family hails from Brooklyn, and Greg’s Jamaican, representin’ Queens. We kept in contact a lot recently through Facebook and I got to learn a lot about them… which helped me create some very exciting and unique introductions for them.

Fast forward to May 16th, Amanda and I are setting up at the beautiful Radisson Resort in Celebration (Kissimee), Florida. The monogram (which was designed by Melinda’s niece) looked beautiful on the dance floor. The draping white swags were glowing with color thanks to our LED floods perched gracefully on top of our BOSE sound system.

Outside, the sun finally hid and the rains stopped to create a slightly breezy, yet warm, warm atmosphere by the gazebo for their ceremony.

Watch the video for some cool clips. I’ve also attached some photos from my iPhone.

Some quick highlights:

• First dance, God Bless the Broken Road, was sung live by close friends. They were amazing!!!
• VERY custom introductions featuring a song for each couple!
• One of a kind monogram designed by family!
• Rumcake!!

Package chosen:

• Entertainment Coordinator
• Ceremony System
• D’Elegance Lighting: Floods Only

Click here to see photos and videos from this event

James & Alisha created the perfect wedding today! They chose Lake Buena Vista Watersports’s Paradise Cove, which in itself is a beautiful venue…. but we got the opportunity to transform it. Using the in-house swags, we used lights carefully aimed at various sections to color the entire reception area with an Aqua blue (one of their wedding colors) while the swag behind the head table was lit up in their secondary color (pastel pink).

Floating above their heads on the swag was a custom made monogram. This one was very unique as Alisha designed it herself. You really have to see the photos and videos to appreciate how it all turned out. We also had the chance to uplight the beautiful wedding cake made by Custom Cakes by Linda (407.673.0082)… the plexiglass base shone bright!

Next was the décor… it was STUNNING! Alisha’s mom, Suzanne, owns Suzanne Nichols Design Group (www.SuzanneNichols.com) and they did a beautiful job. I was blown away by the creative ideas!

Now, my dear brides & grooms.. Alisha  & James had some GREAT ideas that turn into AMAZING wedding tips. Let’s discuss, shall we?

• Use your surroundings! For the ceremony, the groomsmen arrived on a boat. It was awesome!
• GO ALL OUT! Mr. and Mrs. Borelli added a unique touch by including a white dove release. Some may say “it’s played out” but in all my years of being an MC, this is the second time I’ve seen it done. NICE!
• Design your own monogram! We’ll help you (some DJs won’t… but that’s them, haha)
• Guys– do something romantic and funny! James and his crew sang “You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling” a la “Top Gun” style!

Oh yes, I have to tell you about the food! Charles Putney, Event Designer of Arthur’s Catering, did an amazing job with the food. He and his staff were amazing to work with and created some AMAZING dishes. My favorite was the Coconut Shrimp! Theirs was the best I’ve had! I’ve work with so many wonderful couples who allow me the honor of partaking in the celebration by sharing dinner with the guests… so I’ve learned a thing or two about good eating… and the shrimp was phenomenal!!

Package chosen:

• Entertainment Coordinator
• Uplighting, Swag Lighting, Pinspot Lighting
• Ceremony System
• Monogram

Look at the photos in the link below and check out a cool YouTube video!

Click here to see photos and videos from this event

Josh & Jennifer O’Neal had a secret they didn’t tell me: they were BIG partiers! She told me she liked to dance, but she didn’t tell me that she & Josh could kickstart a reception!

The wedding started at the Hollis Gardens in Lakeland, FL. The ceremony was highlighted by two gentleman singing. Nathan sang Kenny Chesney’s Me & You while uncle Roy sang “I Do (Cherish You).” Wow.. they’ve got a set of pipes on them!

As for the reception, the catering was amazing!! Chef Terrie Lobb (who makes exquisite edible treats) reminded me why I love this job.

Fast forward to the reception: the sound was amazing. The Sorosis Building (also known as the Junior League Center) has nothing but wood paneling on the walls. Can you imagine what that does to the already-rich sound of my BOSE system? Oh yes, sound was at a perfection. The acoustic panels guaranteed NO echo or harmful reverb.

You have to check out the video located in the break below. Jenny, with KC Enterprises Photography, did a great job with the photos as always!

Highlights of the day:

• Great singing during ceremony
• The grandfather being the life of the party
• Everyone dancing to Soul Man
• The ending song

Package chosen:

• Entertainment Coordinator
• Ceremony System
• Monogram

So check out the photos and videos at the link below! Leave a comment if you enjoy what you saw, please!
Click here to see photos and videos from this event