Kickin' off the year at Chris and Bridgette's reception!

Author: Arnoldo Offermann  //  Category: Weddings

Chris and Bridgette Waters were a lot of fun– it breaks down to being that simple. If you’re a baseball fan, you may recognize his name as he plays for the Orioles– but they were the most modest down-to-earth people you could meet. They just wanted to have a good time.

DJ in Lakeland

Now, I’ve been at the Peggy Brown Building in Lakeland HUNDREDS of times, even had my own wedding there, but the place has never looked as good as it did that night- thanks in part to Flowers by Marilyn. Marilyn and Bill did an amazing job with the  swags, linens, and head-table backdrop.

Michelle and Rachel with R&M Photography were not only incredibly fun to work with, but they also set up a backdrop in the foyer for guests to get family portraits taken and printed on the spot, compliments of Chris and Bridgette.

Check out some great iPhone photos and video below!

Click here to see photos and videos from this event

Sing Along at Alan & Sheri's wedding reception!!!

Author: Arnoldo Offermann  //  Category: Weddings

Sing Along, you ask? Watch the video and you’ll see what I am talking about!

Alan & Sheri George are an amazing couple– the only thing that could’ve topped this wedding was… well… um… I don’t know! As Pete and I were watching everyone have the time of their lives, singing along to every song I played, we both asked the same question: Where do I begin on this blog?? So much coolness happened, so I’ll describe everything one piece at a time.

Location: Eaglebrooke Golf & Country Club in Lakeland, Florida.
Food: DELICIOUS!!!!!
Cake Decorator: Piece of Cake by Maggie– it, too, was delicious!
Flowers: Not sure, but he did a GREAT JOB!!!
Photographer: Jenny from KC Photography. Who else?

Sheri and her family: She’s from New Jersey – they wanted 80s, freestyle, 90s, and top 40.. oh yes.. and TECHNO!!!!
Alan and his family: They’re from Texas– lots of country, rock, and 70s-80s.
Both of them: a non-stop party. At no point did the floor clear. It was crazy how they sang along to everytune!!!!!

Lakeland Wedding DJ

Dinner:  I can still taste the mashed potatoes..mmmmMMMMmm. The Centerpiece Giveaway Game and the Alan & Sheri Jeopardy game were a hit!!!
Game Show: It went great! Categories where: Dating Life, Curious Georges, Alan Wrenches, My Sheri Amour, Wild Card

Dancing: A HUGE PARTY!!!! WOW! This video goes by quick because there’s only 15 second long clips… every song seemed to get them pumped up!!! They crowded around the TVs and danced while watching the music videos!

In summary: IT ROCKED!!!! You must watch the video!

Package Chosen:

  • Entertainment Coordinator
  • D’Elegance Lights (Monogram,  Uplights [pink, yellow, and orange], dance floor lighting)
  • D’Elegance Video with Music Videos, Slideshows, and the Game Show System

Check out the photos and video! Note: Photos were taken by KC Photography. However, they didn’t edit these… I played around in LightRoom until I get the final product from Jenny!

Click here to see photos and videos from this event

Greg & Melinda Barned – Jamaican Puerto Rican Wedding at the Radisson Resort in Celebration Orlando FL

Author: arnoldooffermann  //  Category: Weddings

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.

BiLingual Reggae Jamaican Wedding DJ in Orlando

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:

Click here to see photos and videos from this event

James & Ashley Borelli's wedding at the Paradise Cove.

Author: arnoldooffermann  //  Category: Weddings

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).

Orlando DJ MC Wedding in Paradise Cove Uplighting Monogram Photos

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:

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

Mason & Kayley Cobb's Wedding

Author: arnoldooffermann  //  Category: Weddings

What an amazing wedding! I was the DJ whereas Kelly MC’d. (His blog can be found by clicking here.

The wedding was held outside Kayley’s father’s house in a huge tent in Avon Park, FL. The location was beautiful… what once was a steep hill was paved to a nice flat area with fresh sod to hold 400+ friends and family.

The coordinator, Gini Beth (http://www.ginibethsweddingsandmore.com), did an amazing job putting everything together.

This was definetly a country crowd who enjoyed hits such as I’m a Cowboy, Amarillo by Morning, Cowboys Like Us, Copperheard Road, and many other hits.

A few things Mr. and Mrs. Cobb did that are great wedding tips!

  • When having your reception outdoors, make sure the DJ/band has plenty of room and coverage from the sun & wind
  • PortaPotties are NOT fun. Consider renting a “trailer restroom” like they did. Spacious, air conditioned, and has working plumbing!
  • Purified Water available! (Especially tasty when tap water may come from a well)
  • Match your surroundings! They chose a nice green to match the grass and flora surrounding the house.
  • DJ in front of dance floor. Yes! NO ONE SAT IN FRONT OF THE SPEAKERS!

Photobucket

Check out the great photos provided by Alex Gilliard as well as some stolen (again) from Kelly’s blog. Alex’s photos are watermarked so you can tell which ones are his. Be sure to stop by his blog and check out even more photos!

There’s also a GREAT video!

Oh yes, and there’s one more thing…. with 400 people, Kelly and I wanted to try a new speaker arrangement, so we brought out BOTH of our BOSE systems. Can you imagine a wedding with $10,000 just in speakers filling the room with rich BOSE sound?

Photobucket

Package Chosen:

This Lakeland wedding at the Sorosis Building was a PARTY!!!!

Author: arnoldooffermann  //  Category: Weddings

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!

Lakeland DJ Hollis Gardens Sorosis Building MC

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:

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

Christina and Blake – Lake Ashton, Winter Haven Wedding DJ

Author: arnoldooffermann  //  Category: Weddings

I absolutely love Lake Ashton… the food and service are stellar. It’s even better when you have AMAZING weather and the bride and groom are the best people to work with. Yup… this wedding went VERY well. ;)

Christine and Blake wanted to have a good time… whether people danced or not wasn’t their main concern as much as it was making sure that everyone left with a smile on their face.

My wife and I enjoyed setting up, there was a member of Lake Ashton practicing for the talent show… he blessed us with his talents on the piano playing songs from Van Halen’s “Jump” to Queen to Disney… for the first time ever, I asked for a request!

The emotion flowed through Lake Ashton during the ceremony, Christine and her father, Davis, were so excited that they shared tears of joy before David escorted his little girl down the aisle.

The reception was  a blast! The photographer, Sofia (http://www.PhotographyBySofia.com), was a lot of fun to work with and I hope to be sharing some of her photos here soon! Christine and Blake worked really hard to plan their special day to make sure their guests felt special, too… and I think they achieved that goal!

Lake Ashton Winter Haven Wedding DJ MC

The uplighting was awesome… we designed it to change colors throughout the evening…. during dinner, they alternated between their wedding colors.
Check out some great iPhone photos as well as a cool YouTube video. The lighting setup was elegant (no trussing, no ugly tripods, but it flooded the room with color… even the uplighting changed color according to mood!)…. YouTube doesn’t do a great job of keeping the video as bright as it was originally, so click the HQ to see a better quality video.

Package chosen:

Entertainment Coordinator

Colorchanging Uplighting

Light Columns

Dance Under the Stars

D’Elegance Lighting

Ceremony System/Coordination

Click here to see photos and videos from this event

Jesse & Megan | Lakeland DJ, MC, Entertainment for weddings

Author: arnoldooffermann  //  Category: Weddings

Kyle MCed this wedding and I let loose DJing tonight! WOW am I still pumped up! The energy was through the room from the moment we walked in those doors. It was a beautiful sunny, yet breezy day at the Hollis Gardens and Magnolia building.

I really wish we shot more video because the crowd really turned this wedding into a night club… well, nightclubs WISH they could turn into this wedding. Mixing the hottest music remixed to house/break beats, the floor wouldn’t stop moving.

I want to focus on this picture for a minute:

DJ MC Wedding Florida Hollis Gardens Magnolia Building in Lakeland

What do you notice? Look how elegant the DJ setup is. Megan and Jesse wanted the head table in front of the stage with us behind them… they were confident that our setup would be clean and discreet so their photos would not be ruined. The small-footprint lightshow is part of our new D’Elegance series and has JUST AS BIG AN IMPACT as our normal light shows. Look how elegant it sits on top of the 4″ thick BOSE speakers.

The uplighting changed colors throughout the evening and was synchronized to the music and mood.

Package Chosen:

Check out some GREAT photos taken by KC Enterprises. www.polkphoto.com. Their blog should be up soon with even more photos from one of the crunkest weddings I’ve been to. ;)

Oh yes, and a great video, too!

Click below!

Click here to see photos and videos from this event

Wedding at the Hilton in Lakeland – DJ, MC, Monogram

Author: arnoldooffermann  //  Category: Weddings

Photobucket

If God ever chose a personal chef for Heaven, the Hilton Resort in Lakeland, FL would be a strong contender. :) The food was amazing…. and even better than the food was the service… and even better than the service was Jason and Pamela Todd. First off, anybody that has fun to Lil Wayne’s Got Money remixed live to the NFL intro song shows the sign of a really fun couple. The moment we opened the dance floor up, Jason was out there having a blast and his wife soon joined. Keeping the floor packed was NO problem at all.

I love couples like these: fun, easygoing, and the kind that just want to enjoy their reception. (If that sounds like you, call me at 863.324.7333 so we can discuss YOUR party).

I did not MC this party though. Kyle Davis (www.DJKyleDavis.com <– his blog) did the MCing and half of the DJing. I tagged along and naturally brought my system. Jason nor Pam complained about the free upgrade to the BOSE system. (In the photos, you can barely see the monogram projector elegantly rigged on top).

We left from that wedding pumped up– so many weddings in 2008 were a blast, and I am so glad to see 2009 will continue that trend.

Check out the video by clicking below. No pics? OH NO! My iPhone ran out of battery. :(

Click here to see photos and videos from this event

Racing through the mind of a REAL wedding entertainer….

Author: arnoldooffermann  //  Category: Weddings

The thoughts below were posted on a popular DJ forum, and I wanted to share this with you. Sadly, some DJs disagree with what I wrote below, believing that they have little impact on your wedding day. These are the DJs you don’t want to risk for your wedding. 

Whether you choose us or another entertainer, ask him/her if they know the impact they have on your wedding reception.

Ask them for examples! When I was asked for mine, I wrote the following… click the link.

Click here to see photos and videos from this event