Private Estate Wedding 4/25/09

It was a long drive but well worth the effort once I arrived. The wedding was at a private estate tonight with the reception held in an enormous 250 person clear tent out on a large grassy area just beyond the pool. There were many unique and personal touches to this wedding. To start with the gifts were all dropped off in a wooden sailboat leaning on it's side next to the guest book. The ceremony was on a large grassy hill under a huge tree which looked amazing as the backdrop. Cocktail hour was held out by the pool with one of my favorite items... a full sushi bar. The tables looked amazing (not really my style but I could fully appreciate it - it really looked great) in the large clear tent with five hanging chandeliers. The black and white checked dance floor added a fun element. The candy bar had older vintage style candy to go along with their theme. The food was amazing (a four course meal as you can see by the silverware on the tables) and was provided by Anything But Ordinary Catering. Dinner took over two hours so it was a bit long but guests did not walk away hungry. Later on in the evening milk and cookies were brought out as a surprise for the groom (his favorite). Dancing went really well despite dinner taking up so much time. They were ready to have some fun. It tapered off towards the end but I think that was because guests had to drive a long way home. A very impressive wedding to say the least.

Coronado Community Center Wedding 4/24/09

Tonight's wedding was over at the Coronado Community Center. A few great things about this location are the fact that you are right on the water, there is a nice outside patio for cocktail hour, the reception room is modern yet warm, and the entire location is fairly new. It seemed that is was a very reserved group during the entrance (very little clapping or noise) and dinner hour so I thought it would turn out to be a mellow evening. Once dancing kicked into full gear they were out there having a great time! It is always a nice surprise. A few unique personal touches: They had someone hand paint all of the table numbers with orchids and flowers which looked amazing, there was a frozen dessert bar with all sorts of unknown cold treats, and three close friends got together and played their first dance live. The cake spotlighting and uplighting I provided looked amazing tonight! The cake provided some of the best photos I have been able to capture. I can't wait to see the professional photos their photographer Jared Bauman took. He had a slideshow going with some beautiful shots. Melanie Montoya from Something Blue Weddings helped coordinate the evening without any glitches.

Extras Provided: Cake Spotlighting, Colored Uplighting

Featured in Ceremony Magazine

I am excited that one of my weddings this last year is featured in the recent Ceremony Magazine. This publication is very exclusive featuring only the best wedding professionals and venues. It is exciting because you submit it but you have no idea if it will get published until the magazine comes out. Here is a link to the featured article: Christy & Josh's Wedding
Enjoy!

Humphrey's By The Bay Wedding 4/18/09

Tonight's wedding was over on Shelter Island at Humphrey's By The Bay. The ceremony was out on the lawn. It was perfect wedding weather for them. I was able to work with officiant Jerry Bryant again today. He always does the best job. The group tonight did not leave the dance floor (especially this little guy that danced during the entire dinner and kept stealing the show all night long... see picture below). It was one of those nights where I could have kept playing for another two to three hours. Time flies when you are having fun! I provided some uplights around the room that added some color to the walls. I also spotlighted the cake and it really made a huge difference! I heard many guests commenting on how it looked like it was glowing from across the room. Exactly what I try to achieve. You can see the "before" and "after" pictures below.
Extras Provided: Uplighting, Cake Spotlighting

Falkner Winery Wedding 4/17/09

I was in Temecula tonight for a wedding in the Pinnacle Restaurant at the Falkner Winery. The ceremony was out in the vineyard which is a great setting for a wedding. The reception room has a nice unique half circle shape to it. Tonight's wedding went really well. More dancing than expected (it is always hard to judge a group by just looking at them during dinner). Some personal touches included: A Jelly Bean "Wine Bar" - they had jelly bean recipes on how to make each type of wine. I did not get a chance to try it but I guess when you combine all the strange flavors together it really tastes like the wine you selected. Hard to believe... The name cards were placed on corks which went along with their wine theme. A funny surprise occurred during the first dance - a handful of guests brought score cards and were judges for the couples first dance. It really lightened the mood and took the pressure off of them (exactly what they wanted). It was great to once again work with their photographer Julia Williams. She always does an excellent job! Overall a very nice wedding (minus the Friday traffic getting there)!

The Dana Hotel Wedding 4/11/09

I always love The Dana Hotel because it is a modern space. It usually attracts a pretty cool crowd. The groom actually produces music and beats for a lot of hip-hop artists such as Wu-Tang Clan, etc. (they were rumored to show up at the reception). Today the rain stopped just in time for the ceremony to still be held outside by the water. The groom produced a piece for the girls to walk to and also their grand entrance song. It is always nice to work for someone that really knows what they are talking about when it comes to music. Very casual fun group. The place cards were extremely fun with little San Diego style items glued on each card. They had a cool digital guest sign in book with a "photo booth" option for later in the afternoon provided by Picture This. The ice cream bar was an absolute favorite with guests. Who wants cake when you can make your own sundae!

Rancho Bernardo Inn Wedding 4/5/09

I was back at the Rancho Bernardo Inn tonight in the Aragon Ballroom. The ceremony was directly outside on the lawn. One of the most unique things I have ever seen at a wedding happened tonight. The bride had this surprise planned for the groom but didn't tell anyone. She got on the microphone and explained how her new husband basically devotes his entire life to serving others and she wanted to do something special for him. She took him out to the middle of the dance floor before dinner and had him sit down. The staff brought out a metal tub with towels. She then washed his feet as a way of honoring him. It was a silent and touching moment for all (see picture below). It was a conservative and fairly mellow group tonight (which the bride and groom expected) yet they still enjoyed the evening with some dancing. The enormous chocolate fountain (with milk to wash it all down) was a hit! I provided a few different lighting options tonight which really enhanced the atmosphere of the room. The bride and groom explained to me that the wall where their sweetheart table was placed looked really blank and not very attractive so I suggested we project their monogram up above their table along with uplighting throughout the room. You can see the before and after pictures below.

Extras Provided: Monogram Projection, Uplighting

Grande Colonial La Jolla Wedding 4/4/09

Another amazing group tonight! You know you are at a great place when you pull up to the Grande Colonial in La Jolla and there are two Ferrari's and a Lamborghini sitting out front. It was a smaller group of about 80 people. The Grande Colonial is an excellent place for this size of group because they have different areas to create interest. Cocktail hour and dinner were held outside on the balcony and patio area. Dancing moved inside later on. The bride and groom were very specific with their music requests. It was probably some of the most unique and unusual music I have ever played at a wedding. I was worried about it before the event started because many of the artists and songs I had never even heard of before (Sound Tribe Sector 9, Pnuma Trio, Nosaj Thing, etc.). I was pleasantly surprised because it really worked well for their group. Everyone had an open mind and enjoyed it (they didn't have to hear the ultra cliche' songs in order to dance which is normally difficult for Americans). Highlights included: refreshing/unique music with an electronic twist, guests randomly broke out into a session of limbo (and no I didn't play any "limbo" type songs) with the long stemmed flowers in the middle of going crazy, I spotlighted the cake which really made it 'pop' once the sun went down (see photo above), the water effect lighting added some movement and color to the dance floor area, the bride had on a pair of excellent Christian Louboutin heels that the photographer Cary Pennington kept trying to get shots of, the coordinators from Red Letter Days helped keep the evening (and guests) on track, and the group almost got kicked out of the hotel the night before because they were partying (heavily) and some guy ran down the stairs. He missed the last stair... his head actually went through the drywall right next to the front desk!

Extras Provided: Cake Spotlighting, Water Effect Lighting