Lake Oak Meadows Wedding 8/31/08

It is not too often that I go to a location I have never worked at before but tonight was my first wedding at Lake Oak Meadows near the wineries in Temecula. They just started doing weddings here about a year and a half ago. I once again got to work with the great Jerry Bryant who performed the ceremony out near the lake. I have to say it is an excellent location except for one thing... they make you keep the music volume really really low all night (almost at a cocktail hour level) due to neighbors in the area. It makes me look bad when guests keep coming up to me and asking me to turn it up. They should give clients a demonstration of how loud they will allow it so they are not disappointed when the music has to be kept at such a low volume. Below are a few pictures of the lounge area and the dance floor. Great dancing crowd despite the location's rules!

Admiral Kidd Club Wedding 8/29/08

The Admiral Kidd Club has three rooms to choose from. Tonight's wedding was in the Harbor Lounge Downstairs which is great for a group of around 150 people. The ceremony was held out on the grass with the cocktail hour outside on the patio (one of the best views overlooking the bay and downtown). The cupcakes from Flour Power looked amazing. It was wonderful to work with Laura and Joanna from Unforgettable Event Coordinators. A decent dancing group tonight.

Country Club of Rancho Bernardo Wedding 8/23/08

The Country Club of Rancho Bernardo is an elegantly furnished Mediterranean style clubhouse with excellent views of the golf course and lake. Cocktail hour was outside on the patio. It was great to once again work with Theorie Photography! We went an extra half hour overtime due to a strong dancing crowd.

Marina Village Sunset Room Wedding 8/17/08

Funny how this happens sometimes... I am once again up in the Sunset Room over at Marina Village. The ceremony was held out on the grass and I am always honored to work with Minister Jerry Bryant. He does the absolute best job hands down. Laura Vaughan from BellaHarp provided the beautiful harp music which was a perfect compliment to the outdoor summer ceremony. It is also funny how when you do some of your best work as a DJ you get boooo'd at he end of the night when the last dance is announced. You would think the crowd would cheer because they had a great time but the response is always the same... a loud booooo with a "come on one more song". I guess they are really trying to say "we had a great time and don't want the party to end". Interesting how I have to remind myself of that because sometimes it just feels like it's your fault for pulling the plug even at 9pm on a Sunday night... They had a blast. Excellent dancing crowd - 9 out of 10.

Paradise Point Resort Wedding 8/16/08

Tonight was a late night wedding over at Paradise Point Resort going from 8:30pm until 1:30am. The bride picked up my card at a wedding she was at 6 years ago, held onto it, and hired me based on that experience. Great to hear stories like that. Dinner was served: Lobster, assorted seafood dishes, various pastas, and unique bread bowls for the soup. One of the nicest selections of food. They had cool lounge furniture on either side of my DJ area. The bride and goom danced to a tango (not easy to pull off) and was one of the best I have seen. Very strong dancing crowd all night even with the late reception.

El Adobe San Juan Capistrano Wedding 8/15/08

This wedding was at the El Adobe in San Juan Capistrano. I helped provide the equipment for a slideshow that was worked into the toasts from the best man and maid of honor. The location has a retractable roof that opens up during the couples first dance which is always a surprise to guests. The brides grandpa actually played in the big bands with Glenn Miller and a few other major artists so we had to play a few in honor of the greats!!! It is not too often that you get to spin a few of those tunes in front of the actual band members... Cool dancing crowd that wanted some electronic music towards the end.

Click here to view a few photos from this wedding on MLE's blog. If you have not found your photographer yet absolutely check out Emily from MLE Photographs. She has some AMAZING work and you will not be disappointed! Here is her email as well: emily@mlephotographs.com
Extras Provided: Slideshow Projection Equipment

NACE Meeting - Omni Hotel 8/12/08

Tonight's N.A.C.E. (National Association of Catering Executives) Meeting was held at the Omni Hotel Downtown. A great place right next to the ballpark. The international guest speaker and author Susan Clarke spoke about "Positive Attitudes: The Fun-Damentals of Work" which emphasized the importance of maintaining positive values by sharing real-life examples of how to better enjoy the work environment through finding humor in everyday rituals. Susan touched on attitude adjustment, values, positive energy, and internal and external customer loyalty.

La Jolla Woman's Club Wedding 8/9/08

I was back at the La Jolla Women's Club tonight for another great wedding. This was a referral from a couple that has been to four friend's weddings I have performed at. The ceremony was out front on the lawn. Some nice touches were the "Dancing Shoes" or Flip-Flops that were available for guests near the dance floor if they wanted to kick off their heals, etc. They had a candy bar as well which seems to be the trend lately. The uplighting I provided really adds to the room and matched their color exactly. It was a fairly strong dancing group tonight.
Extras Provided: Uplights

Estancia La Jolla Hotel & Spa Wedding 8/3/08

Estancia La Jolla Hotel and Spa La Jolla Ballroom is one of the best locations to have a wedding. A very fun and unique moment was the Lion Dance to kick off the evening. The reception was on a Sunday night 7pm until 12 midnight so I wasn't sure how guests would react to dancing since it was pretty late. They were an amazing group and you would have never known it wasn't a crazy Saturday evening. They danced all night until the very end. The uplights matched perfectly with the room decor in an amber color and added just a bit of warmth to the walls and photos. Botanica always provides a clean and contemporary look to the centerpieces and florals. It was great to once again work with Theorie Photography and EverAfter Events Coordinators.
Extras Provided: 8 Uplights

Manchester Grand Hyatt Wedding 8/2/08

A princess themed wedding at the Manchester Grand Hyatt downtown. A great location to work at. There were some special touches at this wedding (not really my taste in style but special none the less): a very unique cake, glass slippers for the name card holder, glass cake topper, the "all blue" theme, as well as, the 10:00pm snack break when they brought out sliders and blueberry smoothies. The cake was spotlighted and I also added the water effect lights above and around the cake (in a matching blue color) to really make it stand out. Group dynamics were way off tonight. I think it had a lot to do with the fact that the ballroom they were in could hold 500 people and they only had around 140 people. The dance floor was also the size of a football field and could have easily fit 200 people out there. Sort of an awkward feeling...
Extras Provided: Water Effect Lights

Marina Village Sunset Room Wedding 8/1/08

In the past 15 years this is the best I have ever seen the Marina Village - Sunset Room look. They used a lot of rich red fabric to drape the walls and add some depth. Their nautical theme was really played up in many areas from the entrance area to the centerpieces. I nice idea on the head table was to have a framed photo of (each bridesmaid with the bride or each groomsman with groom) to indicate where they were sitting. An excellent dancing crowd tonight!