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

Brides & Grooms: What have you done to make your wedding unique? Watch Rock the Reception and you’ll see what I am talking about. Now, not everyone can do something as fancy as that… but you get the idea.

This really isn’t a tip as much as a segue to the coolest toast I’ve ever seen. I’m not sure where this video came from, because I’d love to meet the people who put this together!

It’s supposed to be the happiest day of your life… so why do you feel so stressed? There is no such thing as being born a Bride/Groomzilla…. it’s just what happens when you don’t take the stress out. So what can you do?

1) CHILL OUT!

Whenever you begin to feel stressed out, take a breather. Go enjoy a movie, a walk in the park, or visit a spa! Stressing out is not going to fix anything nor will it put you and your fiance in a good mood for the wedding. You should never have to associate feelings of stress and dispair with weddings! Whatever you do to relax, just make sure it has NOTHING to do with your wedding. So CHILL!

2) Being emo can be nerve-wracking!

One minute you’re super-excited about your wedding cake. The next minute you’re upset because you can’t find sashes in your wedding colors! Then you’re excited because you found beautiful photography, but suddenly you realize you’re behind in your planning. ARGH! How is it that you haven’t pulled all your hair out yet? This emotional roller-coaster can set you off in a frenzy!

It’s going to happen and it’s perfectly natural! Find someone to vent to… someone who ISN’T your fiance. Find someone who isn’t stressed out about the wedding and ask them to help you think with a clear head!

3) Trust God.

Enough said there. The best way to deal with the stress is to just pray… but beyond that, talk to your pastor. You and your fiance will learn A LOT about each other in the next few wedding planning stages… be sure to attend a marriage class.. not to mention the state of Florida will give you a discount on your license if you do! SWEET!

4) This is why you hired….

…a professional. Don’t stress about the day-of wedding timeline. Talk to your entertainer/coordinator about your concerns on creating the perfect day and let he/she handle the rest. If you can’t trust them to do this… find a new one. If they’ve done this plenty of times, they’ll have a plethora of ideas to help you!

The same applies for photos, cake, food, etc. You hired a pro— let them help you! Give them the vision of what you want and let them handle that stressing out stuff.

5) A wedding planner doesn’t plan YOU.

Wedding planners and coordinators are great people to have on your team.  Again, trust them to handle the stress and take their advice the best way you can… they do this several times a year and you’re only getting married once! However, they can’t control what you do…. so prioritize! If they’re helping you step-by-step with wedding plans then there’s no worries, but if you only have day-of coordination (or none at all) then you need to sit down and come up with a schedule of what’s the most important things to you, then make sure those are checked off FIRST.

6) The day before the wedding should not be the day before the wedding.

DO NOT, I repeat: DO NOT use the day before the wedding to finalize all details. Work as hard as you can to have everything done at least 3 days before the wedding. Why? Because you can enjoy these three days to lose ANY stress/jitters you may have. Spend time with your friends… go to a movie, beach, SOMETHING FUN! You should be looking forward to your wedding… not wishing you had one more day to finish planning!

7) CHECK!

If possible, pay all your vendors two-three days before the wedding! If you’re anything like me, signing paychecks will induce stress. If you plan on tipping (and you should, lol) make sure to do it in cash. Have everything separated in envelopes for easier management.
CHECK! LIST!

I’ll make this one short: DJs have checklists. Caterers have checklists. Planners have checklists. Do you? No? MAKE ONE!

9) Internet and friends are dangerous!

Have a question about your wedding? While asking your friends is important, their suggestions may reflect their style and not yours. As for the internet, stay away unless it’s coming from the keyboard of an established vendor! The best wedding tips come from the professionals you’ve hired and learned to trust. They will work hard to build rapport with and get to know you. They will apply this information to any info/tips they give you!

10) Weddings are NOT a barometer of happiness.

Can something go wrong at the wedding? Maybe. Possibly. So? Roll with it! Marriages aren’t perfect, but they will be held strong if you have faith! Weddings are living, breathing creatures and just because something went wrong doesn’t mean your marriage will go bad. Did you show up? Did he show up? Did you say “I do?” Did he say “I do?” Then you’re good to go— you’ve accomplished the mission: the rest is just icing on the cake.

Brides and grooms: don’t stress! As vendors, we’ll do everything we can to take that stress of you… but ultimately it’s up to you to make sure you don’t stress out. Don’t confuse stress for anxiety… you will be very anxious for the day you’ll be standing on the altar.. and who can blame you? Just remember to ENJOY your planning… as you’ll only do this once in your lifetime, too!

Did I forget a tip? Leave me a comment!!

Have I told you guys how much I love Lake Ashton? Well in case I haven’t– you’ll hear all about it again!

Kristen came to us wanting an elegant lighting package; she was very worried that the lights would make her reception look like a nightclub. After she saw the D’elegance lighting setup, she knew that would never be the problem. The lights were set up so discreetly, you could barely see them until they were turned on!

They chose their uplights to be solid white, to keep the contrast at a minimum and have the centerpieces pop out a little bit more.

To make a long story short, this crowd knew how to party… they danced the entire time.. even as they were walking out for the grand exit!

As usual, were did the ceremony as well for Lake Ashton. Aside from the music, we coordinated the entire thing, so Kristen and Bobby were able to enjoy their own special day.

You have to click below to check out some awesome photos from the wedding, provided by the best photographer known to weddings: KC Enterprises. I’ll post their blog up, soon!

Package chosen:

• Entertainment Coordinator
• Ceremony System
• Static Uplights: White
• D’Elegance Lights: Custom

Click here to see photos and videos from this event

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!

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

What better a way to end this busy week than a GREAT afternoon wedding?

Celebrating their ceremony and reception in the cozy Kennilworth Lodge, Abraham and Roxie knew exactly what kind of ceremony they wanted… even before we met!

Choosing many traditional things, they still wanted to add their own spin on things. For example, Roxie isn’t a big fan of cake so instead they opted for a cheesecake and dessert quiche buffet… it was DELICIOUS! Not to mention that all the food was provided by Simply Trish… Trish’s food is amazing!

Another unique touch was the open bar’s selections… the menu of drinks were laid out under the traditional “something new, something blue, something borrowed” phrase seen at many weddings.

I’ve posted my iPhone photos, but will soon post up the photos given to us by Kurz Studios.. they were great to work with and took some great shots!
(http://kurzstudiophotography.com)

Derek, my DJ, and I never laughed harder than at the beginning of the wedding…. we saw two grandmothers chatting to each other as they sat in their wheelchairs waiting for the ceremony room to open. One of them looked up and asked “Do you want to drag?”

That made my day.

The crowd was awesome and they were ready to dance… which was awesome, especially for an afternoon wedding. Enjoy iPhone pics and videos below!

Package chosen:

Entertainment Coordinator w/Bi-Lingual DJ
Ceremony System

Click here to see photos and videos from this event

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:

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:

• Entertainment Coordinator
• D’Elegance Lighting (Dance Floor Lights, Monogram, Static Uplights)
• Upgraded static uplights to color-changing, wireless uplights
• Reception Under the Stars
• Ceremony System

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

When this school decided to do the very first dance in their gym instead of a hotel, they wanted to do something special… so they used their favorite DJs from Orlando *ahem ahem* and created an amazing Valentine’s Day dance featuring Orlando Superstar group, TREAL.

What NO ONE expected was that Cupid was going to make a surprise appearance. But that’s what happens when you’re rockin’ with the best.

You already know how much we can rock school dances, so we’ll just talk about the concert.

3AM opened up for TREAL, and the ladies LOVED them! Their choreography was phenomenal and they really had a great stage presence. They set the right tone for TREAL to come out to! They opened their first set with songs about the special ladies in the fella’s lives. I could see teachers dancing in their position as the students sang along with the group.

The second set consisted of extremely hyped up songs– no grinding here, that’s for sure! TREAL’s a clean, all-ages group who puts out school approved shows that will get even the pickiest student jumping. They have the most unique stage presence I’ve seen– as much as I love rap, I’m not a fan of rap concerts but I’d line up to see TREAL any day!

Then the lights flash quickly as they jump to their smash hit, Not Locked Down. The lights shut off for a second and when they reappeared Cupid was on stage as they all performed the live remixed song! The students couldn’t believe their eyes!

Check out the link below for pics and video. As bright as it was inside, YouTube likes to dim videos quite a bit… but you’ll get the idea! Interesting in booking an amazing performer? Leave a comment or contact us at 877-994-4200

Click here to see photos and videos from this event

Be ready to be amazed brides, schools, and everyone else who’s reading.

Imagine your first dance beginning as the lights dim… a field of stars span across the entire ceiling… as you and your husband share your first dance you feel the cool whisk of clouds stream across your feet.

Pretty, huh?

Not just for weddings… how about your prom?

I’ll post more in this soon, meanwhile… why not check out the official test of our “Cloud Machine.”

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