ST. REGIS MONARCH BEACH WEDDING IN THE SPRING

What an amazing night!  I felt pretty good going into this one and suspected that we were in for a great time.  “Birds of a feather, flock together”, and this was true with Bob and Emily.  They were fun, kind, cool, smart, creative and very down to Earth.  So were their families and friends. 

St. Regis is a truly remarkable venue because it has a great combination of high-end/modern/stylish with relaxed/inviting/friendly.  I really like the entire staff at St. Regis.  It all starts with the Valets and these guys are really good to everybody, regardless of the make and model of your car.

Emily loves kids (she’s a horse riding instructor) and had 6 flower girls/ Junior Bridesmaids that just about stole the show with their super cute dresses and personalities.  Emily’s Dad, Gene, gave a wonderful opening toast that made everybody feel so welcome and happy to be there.  He got a little choked up and that got most of us a little choked up too.  There were definitely some tears going on with the Father/Daughter dance (Cinderella, by Steven Curtis Chapman. That song gets me every time!)  Gene is such a nice guy.  Everybody loved Dad!

Bob and the boys looked great and were a ton of fun from start to finish.  Bob was a natural expert at working the crowd, circulating around the ballroom, hitting the dance floor and making everyone feel important and special at all times.

Emily looked absolutely stunning and was such a wonderful person to work with!  She was mobbed by friends and family all night and she always had a big smile on her face.

Bob and Emily were very creative and original with every aspect of their wedding, while at the same time, allowing us hired pros to have input and do what we do best.  This is always the best situation.  Allow the pros to do their job, while adding in all your unique touches to make it truly yours.

I’ve also got to mention that after 1700 weddings, I’ve seen a lot of candy stations.  Bob and Emily’s candy station was the finest work of sugar art I have ever seen in my life.  They hired Candee by Sandee (www.candeebysandee.com) and she put together an amazing display of candy that was also color matched to the wedding.  And if that’s not enough, Sandee was there the entire time, assisting guests with their candy choices and keeping the candy table looking perfect all night.  Some wise person once said, “pick one thing, and do it better than any body else”. Whether it’s being a surgeon, or a taxi cab driver, or a DJ, or a candy expert.  Sandee is the best at what she does and it really shows.  Great job Sandee!

Finally, a big high five to Emily and Bob for their photographer choice.  Drexelle and David from D. Park Photography (www.dparkphotography.com) were awesome to work with.  What a great team.  I’ll let their amazing images tell their story.  I hope you enjoy these pictures provided by them. 

CASA ROMANTICA SAN CLEMENTE WEDDING PERFECTION

If you haven’t been to Casa Romantica lately, you are in for a pleasant surprise.  This is a really charming, warm, beautiful place to have a wedding.  Steve and Meredith’s May wedding was perfect from start to finish. 

First of all, these two are such a great match.  They are both teachers, they are fun, funny, sweet, and very smart. They are also both madly in love and not afraid to show it! 

This wedding was filled with laughter and happy tears.  Many of the tears came from Steve; especially when he saw Meredith for the first time in her beautiful wedding gown.  Two photographers and two videographers from every angle as it’s called, caught the “reveal”.  We all held our breath as Meredith came up behind Steve and tapped him on the shoulder.  He turned around and everybody started to cry.  They held each other for a long time.  I almost started crying too, but I didn’t!

Meredith’s Dad gave one of the best toasts I’ve ever heard.  I hope when my daughter gets married (a long time from now), I will do half as well as he did. 

Dancing at “the Casa” is done inside, in a slightly sunken dance area, surrounded by columns that are perfect for up lighting.  We had the dance floor rocking pretty good the entire night and finished up with “Come on Eileen” and
“Don’t Stop Believing”.  The wedding ended on an extremely high note and we had an official send off in a vintage Rolls Royce.  What a great night!

I would also like to add that Steve sang a song to Meredith during the ceremony that was a surprise.  (The Luckiest by Ben Folds.  My wife Christina walked down the aisle to that same song when we got married) It was priceless.  Steve scored mad points on that one.

They also had a really cool, “beachy” looking, photo booth that was a big hit (www.snapzphotobooth.com)

Finally, one major reason the wedding went so well is that we had a great coordinator.  Thank you Kimi (www.perfectplanningevents.com) for doing such an awesome job!

Turnip Rose Plaza Wedding with Heather and Andrew

Sunday, March 13, 2011
Weddings on Sunday are often slow.  Not this one!  Had a total blast with Heather and Andrew and their crew for a super fun, yet classy, Sunday night wedding at the beautiful Turnip Rose Grand Newport Plaza.  I got to work with Turnip Rose’s newest superstar coordinator, Desiree, for a great ceremony and reception!  I gave the wedding party a “lecture” before the grand entrance explaining to them that Heather wanted to have the “best wedding ever” and if that was going to happen, we were going to need the wedding party to bring their “A” Game from start to finish.  I told them that they are the “example setters” to the entire crowd and that they better have a drink in their hand and at least one foot on the dance floor at all times.
Well, this wedding “Rocked!” from start to finish.  Their Officiant, Matt Doan, really put his heart into delivering a great ceremony.  I especially liked how he took the mic off the stand and held it in front of Heather and Andrew so their guests could hear them saying their wedding vows to each other.  (Please see photos below taken by Jeffrey Neal www.jnpstudios.com )  Most Officiants don’t want to do this and the guests just hear the Officiant saying the vows.  We all got kind of teary eyed when Matt explained that Heather’s Dad died when she was very young and the bible being used in the ceremony belonged to him.  Later that night, we all got teary eyed again when Heather had a Mother/Daughter dance instead of a Father/Daughter dance.
It all wrapped up with an incredible “Sparkler Exit” and nobody caught on fire.  We had a great coordinator (Desiree), a great photographer (Jeffrey Neal), great venue and food (Turnip Rose) And a decent DJ. Me!!!  What a great night.

Newport Dunes Ceremony Turnip Rose Celebrations Reception

March 12, 2011.  My first ceremony at Newport Dunes.  What a great location!  Quiet, private, a beautiful waterfront background, and a very helpful staff.  I didn’t know what to expect when I pulled up to the gate at Newport Dunes.  The parking lot attendant was surprisingly helpful and courteous.  The Gazebo at Newport Dunes is a private, grassy area, with an unobstructed water backdrop.  Parking is a few feet away, and older guests had a short walk with no stairs to the ceremony.  This kind of ceremony venue is a rare find and a total gem.  The wedding coordinator from Newport Dunes does a great job, with a smile and a calming demeanor.  The entire experience was PERFECT from start to finish.  The bride and groom, Rich and Laura were married by Don Johnson (best Officiant on the entire planet!).  I had a small sound system set up and we played some Vitamin String Quartet prior to the ceremony and then some traditional and non-traditional songs during the ceremony.  Their exit song was “All you need is love” by the Beatles, which was well received by all.
After the ceremony, we all sprinted over to Celebrations by Turnip Rose in Costa Mesa for an amazingly perfect, fun, beautiful reception expertly coordinated by Chrissy and Desiree from the amazing Turnip Rose.  I got to plug into the “house system” which is a full-blown concert system that has incredible sound and lighting.  I had a blast shredding the beats (old and new).  Rich and Laura and their friends and family are so sweet, so fun, and just a wonderful bunch of people.  What a great night!

Well done Nhan and Christos!

Did a super fun Vietnamese/Albanian wedding Friday night at the beautiful and luxurious Turnip Rose Grand Newport Plaza.  The bride was a Harvard and Johns Hopkins trained Doctor and she was really, really smart and creative.  Her side was Vietnamese and the groom was Albanian and his side consisted of the Best Man.  They met in Greece while on vacation.  (How cool is that?)  So, it was pretty much a Vietnamese crowd, most in the health care industry, on a Friday night, after a long week of work for almost all of them...

I have to say,  I love "Ethnic" weddings.  They are always so interesting.  Our bride Nhan, was ALL about fun, so she decided to break some rules and I was the just the guy to help.  So, our constantly evolving plan involved actually encouraging the wedding guests to drink (which is totally politically incorrect) and to play fast danceable music throughout the entire night.  So, there was no down time musically, from start to finish.  Not one soft song the entire night.  Cocktail hour, dinner, and all dancing was ALL fast music.  How many DJ's get to play hip hop during dinner without getting in trouble?  I played a ton of current music (dance floor completely slammed all night long! not to brag, I'm just saying) and then did a really cool, perfectly beat-mixed, techno set for the last half hour that was dedicated to the Groom.  We mixed in and out of Euro techno with some mainstream techno and "techno-ish" artists like David Guetta and Daft Punk.  

Sometimes it is so fun and refreshing to break all the rules!  What an amazing, fun, crazy, unforgettable wedding!  Well done Nhan and Christos!

Sometimes looks can be so deceiving................

What a busy weekend.  Two amazing events in the books.  The most significant part of my weekend happened after my last event was over.  I DJ'ed a super fun 60th birthday party last night and at the end of the party I ended up talking to "The Tough Guy".  Almost every party has one.  The one guy who looks like he's been in a couple of fights before, who drinks beer and/or whiskey, who doesn't dance and doesn't smile.  Well, at the end of the night, he came up to me and I was a little aprehensive because I've met "that guy" so many times and it usually is pretty unpleasant.  He actually told me I did a really nice job and thanked me.  He said that he usually likes to dance but that his Mom had recently passed away and he just couldn't do it.  This "tough guy" told me that he went to Church with his Mom every Sunday for the last 28 years and he had called her to say hi every single day of his adult life....  What a great guy.  What a great son.  Sometimes looks can be so deceiving.  Actually, he really was a tough guy, to not stay home and feel sorry for himself and to go to a family party because he knew his Mom would have wanted him to.