This was an early reception, spanning from 5 to 9… but after 9:00 rolled around, Charles and I were beyond tired! Why? This was a pure party crowd. Then again, I knew most of the guests from school or from the Lakeland Skate Center. Adam and Bethany were good friends, current clients (their wedding is in October 16, 2010), but Adam also works fun us… Sarah, Stephanie and Josh are all friends from back in the rink days; Sarah and Josh worked alongside me there.

I’m used to plenty of dancing during afternoon receptions; but this wedding transcended beyond that. Charles and I worked up quite a sweat watching this crowd. Even Michele and Rachel from R&M Photography were scrambling to get the action which spanned all over the Cleveland Heights Golf and Country club.

As usual, I enjoyed the food there followed by an amazing dessert by Its a Piece of Cake by Maggi. Delish! Thanks to Casey and Jeff for the extended invitation for the food!

So yes, check out the photos and AWESOME video below!! Please leave a comment– I’d love to hear your thoughts!!

Click here to see photos and videos from this event

Pete and Erin did NOT travel all the way from Cincinnati, Ohio to Ruskin, Florida for a beachside ceremony to see rain stop it all. Nope. A little drizzle never hurt anyone– and in the sunny weather, the COLD rain felt great– guests loved the light sprinkle!

Fast forward to the reception… the food at the Little Harbor Resort was fantastic! A tender prime rib, amazing mini-crab cakes, coconut shrimp, and stir fry created a very eclectic menu that everyone, especially yours truly, enjoyed. The sunset was AMAZING. I hear many travel to this area just to see the sunset. I can see why!

As for dancing– they were NON-STOP! The requests were all over the charts so as a DJ, I enjoyed NOT sticking to sets. I was mixing from disco to country to rock to rap to dance mixes… it was crazy– even the bartenders were dancing behind the bar!

Check out the photos and video below!

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Oh man… this wedding was just crazy good!!!

Megan and Vince are such an outgoing couple! We shared quite a few laughs during our final consult. Megan told me her family loved to dance, and she wasn’t kidding: we had a 90 year old guest and her son who danced non-stop– including during the cocktail hour and dinner!!!

Vince is one of the most easygoing, fun grooms I’ve ever seen. He didn’t leave the floor the entire night. He introduced me to think group called Slightly Stoopid. It’s a former punk band now turned reggae group– and I loved everything I heard!

The Bok Tower was such an amazing place to work at! Rita treated me like family, even though this was our first time working together. The best part is I got to work with Terrie Lobb, who provided the most delicious food ever. She even had chocolate covered strawberries stuffed with cheese cake. It was TO DIE FOR!!!

Couple cool things… Megan decided to do the coolest photo shoot as she took over my role! Check it out!

Then we had a young man named Ashton who wanted to play Mariah Carey’s “Always Be My Baby.” I let him cue the song up and play it as he became DJ Ashton!

Check out the photos and video below! The first set of photos are mine, and the second set, marked with ©RM, were provided by  R&M Photography. They were the ones who referred Megan and Vincent to us. Thanks!

Package Chosen:

• Entertainment Coordinator
• 4Bar Light Show
• Wireless Cocktail Hour System

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Kyle and Kayla were a blast!!! Their ceremony and reception was at a friend’s house… and the property was BEAUTIFUL!! The ceremony overlooked a gorgeous lake surrounded by the woods. Afterwards, guests were treated to delicious strawberries fresh from the owner’s fields. The warm chocolate mousse and REAL whip cream added the perfect touch!

The reception was a blast, too! It wasn’t a huge dancing crowd, but those that danced REFUSED to leave the floor! Everything was played that night: rock, country, rap, techno– you name it!

On a personal note… the drive home wasn’t as fun… let’s just say I got my van stuck in a NASTY ditch, you’ll see the photo when you click below. Thank God my wife and I and the equipment/van didn’t get hurt!

Check out the photos and video below. Sorry for the crappy video angles… I was working solo!

Package Chosen

• Entertainment Coordinator
• Ceremony
• Basic LED Floods

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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.

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!

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This is perhaps one of the most outrageous weddings that I’ve done. Not only did I keep the dance floor packed.. I created a second one, as well!

With the Courtyard at Lake Lucerne as their location, Claudia and Billy wanted a very special evening. Thank God the Florida humidity died down for this one, otherwise we’d have different results. What started out as a quiet evening inside the house ended up as a crazy party with two dance floors. The second floor formed BEHIND the speakers, where no one could tell any different in the sound, thanks to BOSE’s amazing acoustics.

With only 3 Indian guests there, we expected minimal requests for Hindi music (we talked about this with Claudia and Billy and they even requested some Bhangra). However after playing Punjabi MC and watching the floor go WILD we dropped a couple other Bhangra artists including Jazzy B and the crowd became even more intense. Mixing it into some Bollywood, starting with Jai Ho REMIX really sent them over the edge.

Of course, being Dominican, Claudia wanted lots of Salsa and Merengue. Billy wanted to make sure no “wedding music” was played and that this was a chic, styling, and modern wedding. Sandra Johnson (http://www.sjfoto.com) and her team did an amazing job and I can’t wait to see their amazing photography work!!

Check out the video and photos.. I think we achieved that goal!

I’ll brag here and say they were SO happy they wrote on our WeddingWire right after the wedding. With a 5/5 rating, they wrote:

Absolutely fabulous! My fiance and I were wary of hiring a DJ because of some bad experiences that some of our friends had during their own weddings where the DJs didn’t listen to what they wanted and just did whatever they (the DJs) wanted. I contacted several DJs early on in my wedding planning and the attitude of quite a few of them was “I’m the DJ and you’re not, I know what the guests like and you don’t.” Well it wasn’t the DJ’s wedding it was ours, and we knew what we wanted!! When I corresponded with Kelly Suit, it was a totally different experience. I could tell he was actually LISTENING to us and that his DJs would be willing to work with us to give us the wedding we wanted. The DJ for our event was Arnoldo Offermann and I can’t praise him highly enough. Our DJ and music have been the two things that we have gotten the most compliments on post-wedding. He had ALL our guests, young and old, dancing the ENTIRE night!!! It was awesome! We gave him a list of “must-play” songs and he totally had it up as he was working and played ALL of them. We had a fairly international crowd, and he played a great mix of Latin, Hip-Hop, Pop, Indian/Turkish, etc. He consulted us every step of the way, and if a guest requested a song that wasn’t exactly the type of music we wanted, he would ask us before playing it. There was a very obscure song that my mother-in-law requested from an old musical, and I found out after the wedding that Arnoldo had gone from CD store to CD store trying to get a copy of that song because it wasn’t available online. We only gave him this request literally the afternoon before the wedding and the song was played exactly as my MIL wanted it! Anyway, all these 5 star reviews didn’t come out of no where, they really are awesome!!!

Click below for some great photos and video!!!

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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

Rich and Melissa Galinat had an incredible reception— Pete and I had a blast and we were honored to be part of their amazing reception!

Both their families are huge Steelers fans, so we had some fun sneaking a few fight songs in between things. Rich’s grandfather caught on quick, as he’s a big sports buff.. and he danced– even after Rich gave me a challenge and said he wouldn’t dance. I enjoyed talking to him and his wife (Rich’s grandmother, of course)….. they shared that they used to love dancing and have shared 62 years of marriage together. WOW! Can you believe that????

Once we opened up the dance floor, the kids had a blast dancing with the adults. Rich and Melissa stayed on the floor the entire time. They were so energetic, I was worn out watching them! I got to play a little bit of everything– from rock to country to rap!

I’ve attached some photos below as well as a great video!

Highlights:

• Taps was played for Steve, the guy who caught the garter as we gave a “moment of silence” to his bachelorhood!
• Rich did the moonwalk to Billie Jean!
• Pete and I were invited to enjoy dinner with the family. The Lakeland Hilton Garden Inn is AMAZING and their food is spectacular!
• 90s Alternative, Motown, 60s, and 70s & 80s rock were all played during dinner!

Package Chosen: Entertainment Coordinator

Pics and video below!

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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!

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Eric and Robyn are a lot of fun! Though their wedding was in the afternoon, with the Florida sun shining bright, it didn’t stop them from dancing!

Good thing, too…. we need to continue my “BEST WEDDINGS EVER” Month!

You have to see the videos to believe how many people danced in the middle of the afternoon. The location, colors, setting, and everything was perfect and seemed to really fit their personalities!

First, the location was the beautiful Huntington Hills in Lakeland, Florida. Denise is one heckuva Chef, and her staff is always prompt, effective, and smiling! The big windows allow plenty of sunlight to come in, but their effective AC system keeps the place comfortable. It’s amazing how many weddings one has to do in a Florida Summer before you really appreciate air conditioning.

The colors were chocolate and apple green elegantly splashed throughout the whole room.

And of course, Maggie made the cake. It was delicious– you’re darn right I had some. Yum!

Lots of unique things were done, and I want to share a couple:

• Father Daughter Dance: The Hokey Pokey — the ultimate in cheese became something fun and special for Robyn and her father Bud
• Families were encouraged to bring in their own homemade cookies for a “cookie buffet.” It was very unique and delicious! Any wedding with Snickerdoodles, Chocolate Chip, and Oatmeal is a good wedding!
• Instead of a guestbook, there were cards to be filled out. Guests were able to fill out their best wishes in these cards, seal them up, and place them in the bowl.
• This wedding was another example of using colors wisely. Their wedding colors matched Huntington Hill’s signature colors perfectly!

Package chosen: Premier, upgraded to Entertainment Coordinator compliments of us.

Check out some great photos and a video in the link below!!

Click here to see photos and videos from this event