2020…

This was supposed to be THE year. I’m not gonna lie, I got a lot lazy with my blogging in 2019. Blogging is hard for me. It’s hard for me to remember to take pictures at weddings or videos. I often wonder how some of the other DJs do it. I get so caught up in the night that, like the guests, I just don’t pull my phone out. Then I kick myself on the way home for not having what I need to share about such an awesome night. So I made a decision, in 2020 I was gonna be on it. I was gonna document and share everything I could about my awesome events.

Then Covid happened. And it sucked and its still sucking to this day. I have had to watch so many couples move their events to next year. Hard works and dreams just put on hold to a date they could find that works for them. And I hate it!

My hope is that this goes away in 2021. That we can move back to some normalcy. That people can plan to marry the person they love on the date they want and invite as many people as they want without worry of someone getting sick.

And when we get there…I will be right here, writing about them all!

Erica & Rayzor – June 23, 2018

I had the best time playing for Erica & Rayzor on June 23rd at the Firefighters Lake Club.

The ceremony was held in the back overlooking Lake Springfield.  I supplied a mic for the minister & the music for the ceremony.   After the ceremony, the guests made their way inside for the cocktail hour.  Aimee Lynn Photography got some shots of the wedding party around the property.

After the cocktail hour I introduced the wedding party to Bring Em Out by T.I.  We had our toasts to start the evening and then Hamilton’s served up an awesome meal for the guests.

For their first dance they danced to Earth, Wind & Fire’s Reasons.  They chose this because they used to dance to it together when they were 15 at their moms house.  Erica and her Dad danced to Tim McGraw’s “My Little Girl” & Rayzor and his mom danced to Rascal Flatts’ “My Wish”.  They Tossed the Bouqet & the Garter and also had a dollar dance.

Erica’s guests danced to everything that night. They were an awesome group to DJ for.

 

Photography – Aimee Lynn Photography

Catering – Hamilton’s Catering

Giuliana & Ryan – June 16, 2018

I was so excited to play for Giuliana, Ryan and their guests at The Inn at 835 on June 16th.

The ceremony was held in the rose garden at Washington Park. I provided a mic for the officiant and also handled the music.  The Bridal Party walked down to The Piano Guys’ Beethoven’s 5th Secrets.  Giuliana, escorted by her dad, walked down to meet Ryan to Yiruma’s River Flows in You.  Once they were married the walked out to the Vitamin String Quartet’s version of I’m Yours.

It was a hot day and the guests didn’t waste anytime getting back to the Inn and the coolness of its air conditioning.  Once the Bridal party arrived I introduced them into the reception to Marry You by Bruno Mars.  We started off the night with toasts from both the bride and grooms fathers and then their MOH Jenna & BM Branden closed out the toasts.

For their first dance they danced to La Vie En Rose by Daniela Andrade.  For the Father/Daughter dance they danced to Ben E King’s Stand by Me & for the Mother/Son dance they danced to Stevie Wonder’s You Are The Sunshine of My Life.  Giuliana tossed the bouqet to Megan Trainor’s Dear Future Husband.  Before we opened up the dance floor we brought all the married couples out for an Anniversary Dance to Eric Clapton’s Wonderful Tonight.

I don’t know who danced more, The Illinois Guests or the Wisconsin Guests but these guys stayed on the dance floor all night long.  These guys made my job easy.  It was truly an honor to be part of their day.

 

Catering – Inn at 835

Photography – Elouise Photographie

Officiant – Jeff Whitehouse

Lauren & Joey – June 9, 2018

I was back to the Artisan’s Building for another amazing wedding, this time for Lauren & Joey on June 9th.  I was so thrilled to play for them!  I have known these two love birds since they were in high school.

The ceremony and reception were both held in the Artisan’s Building on the Illinois State Fair grounds.  I ran the mics for the officiant and their live musicians.  After the ceremony, the bridal party & family did family pictures while the guest enjoyed cocktail hour.  After the pics were done by Holly Stark Photography we lined up the bridal party for their introduction.  I introduced the bridal party in to Ram Jam’s Black Betty.  After the introductions, Lauren & Joey cut their cake and then it was straight into toast from the Best Man & Maid of Honor.

After Dinner we kicked things off with their first dance, Lonestar’s “Amazed”.  Lauren danced with her Dad to Tim McGraw’s “My Little Girl” and Joey and his mom danced to The Pretenders’ “I’ll Stand by You”.

Their guests danced the night away.  It was truly a pleasure to be part of their special day.

 

 

 

Photography – Holly Stark Photography

Videography – Shay Little Photography & Videography

Officiant – Paster Roger Tyler

Lindsey & Chris – June 2, 2018

Lindsey & Chris’s ceremony and reception took place this last weekend.  The day began with the ceremony outside at Bridgeview Park right along the shore of Lake Springfield.  These guys have been so focused on their ceremony from the beginning and it showed.  It was a beautiful setting and the flower arrangements looked amazing.  I ran the sound for their ceremony that was officiated by Drew Peterson from Westside Christian Church.

The ceremony was followed by their reception at the Artisan Building on the State Fair Grounds.  This is the first of 3 weddings I have there this month.  The great thing about this building is that it is such a blank canvas.  They had some family members that were in charge of the decorations and they said they weren’t pros but they really should be.  This place looked amazing.  We also added Light Pink Uplights around the room.

We introduced the bridal party into the reception to Motley Crue’s “Kickstart My Heart”.  After that Lindsey and Chris cut the cake and then it was onto the Toasts from the Maid of Honor, Heather and the Best Man, Anthony.  The Father of the Groom Paul then gave a blessing and it was time to eat.  The food was done by Fulgenzi’s Catering and as always, it was amazing.

After dinner Lindsey & Chris hit the dance floor for their first dance to Russell Dickerson’s “Yours”.  They had a Father/Daughter dance and a Mother/Son Dance.  After that we tossed the Bouquet and Garter and then an Anniversary dance.  The winner’s had been married for 61 years!

After that the dance floor was open.  You never know what direction the dance floor is going to go when it comes to the music.  Jeff, one of the groomsman, asked for some Disco tracks and man did it bring people out, Young & Old.  These guys were a lot of fun and it really was an honor to be part of their day!

Photographer – Matt DeBackere Photography (All Pics in the post are curtousy of Matt!)

Catering – Fulgenzi’s Trattoria & Catering

Videography – Ransom Wedding Films

Bar Service – LaFiesta Restaurant

Ally & Joe – June 1, 2018

I have never been a DJ for a wedding at the Hoop Hut at the Strut & Rut Hunting Lodge in Arenzville, IL before but now I cannot wait to go back.

I was there for Ally & Joe’s wedding ceremony and reception.  The ceremony was held on one end of the Hoop Hut and the other half was set for the reception.  After the ceremony that area of the hut was converted to our dance area for later that night.

As the guests arrived I had a mix of the Piano Guys and the Piano Tribute players playing.  Once Joe was set, the parents all walked down the aisle to Elvis Presley’s Can’t Help Falling in Love.  Next the bridesmaids and groomsman all walked down to Jason Aldean’s You Make It Easy.  Finally it was Ally’s turn.   Ally walked down the aisle to meet her groom to The Piano Guys’ version of A Thousand YearsOnce they said I do, Joe kissed his bride and they walked back down the aisle to Jack Johnson’s Better Together.

From the ceremony on one end down to the reception site on the other the whole place was decorated awesome but why wouldn’t it?  They had Hannah Graham from Plan Events & Design there to make sure it was perfect.

These guys also had something I have never seen at a wedding before.  They had an Ice Cream Truck.  On a 96 degree day there was nothing better to have for their guests.  If you need to figure out a way to keep guests cool at your outdoor reception, this is the way to go!

We announced Ally, Joe and their wedding party back into the reception to Def Leppard’s Pour Some Sugar on Me.  We had a welcome from Rusty, the Brides Dad, and a Blessing from the Brides Uncle Neal.  After dinner we had a touching champaign toast from the Maid of Honor and then a roast of Joe from the Groomsman that could have rivaled any Comedy Central Roast.  But it was all in good fun.  After the toast we had a cake cutting and then it was time to dance.

For their first dance Ally & Joe danced to Tim McGraw’s Watch the Wind Blow.  Ally danced with her Dad to Tim McGraw’s My Little Girl and Joe had a dance with Miss Ava to Josh Turner’s I’ll Be ThereWe tossed the bouquet and had a dollar dance and then the dance floor was open a ready to go.

These guys danced the whole night.  In fact when we got to the end of the night, we didn’t let it end.  We kept going for over another hour!  We ended the night with “one more song”, a few times.

Wedding Planning & Decorations – Plan Events & Design

Catering – Strut & Rut Lodge

Photography – Kinard Photography

Kaylyn & Josh – May 26, 2018

The Sheedy Shores Winery outside of Loami, IL is about as beautiful a venue to be a wedding DJ at as you can get!  I was thrilled to be the DJ for Kaylyn & Josh’s wedding on May 26th with planner Hannah Graham from Plan Events & Design.

Hannah really turned this tent into something unique for Kaylyn and Josh.  It was rustic and classy.  One thing I love about working with Hannah is she brings something unique to every wedding she does.   Not a single wedding has ever looked the same.

We had the classic Michael Buble’ playing during cocktail hour as the guests arrived.  Guests enjoyed hors d’oeuvres and refreshments from Nelson’s Catering.  When they were ready I introduced the wedding party to Shut Up & Dance by Walk the Moon.  One they were in, it was straight to dinner.  I handled dismissing the tables while Nelson’s handled getting everyone fed.

After cake Kaylyn and Josh headed to the dance floor for their first dance to the acoustic version of Perfect by Ed Sheeran.  Kaylyn danced with her dad to It Won’t Be Like This For Long by Darius Rucker while a slide show of childhood pictures played on a screen.  Josh took to the dance floor with his mom for a dance to Rascal Flatts’ My Wish.

It was a hot day and night.  It took the guests a few songs to get to the dance floor but once they did it was nonstop dancing for the rest of the night!

Wedding Planning & Decorations – Plan Events & Design

Catering – Nelson’s Catering

Marissa & Drew – May 19th, 2018

 I was honored to be Marissa and Drew’s wedding DJ at the Homestead on May 19th.

The sun was shining for their ceremony. It was just beautiful!  After the ceremony their guests made their way to the cocktail hour for hors d’oeuvres and refreshments.  They also enjoyed taking fun photos with a polaroid camera for their guest book.  This was super original and all the guests loved it.

After the cocktail hour, the doors to the dining room opened and guests found their seats.  This room is a new addition to the homestead and looked beautiful.  I introduced Marissa and Drew and their bridal party into the room with “Shut Up & Dance” by Walk the Moon.  They came in to loud applause!    They made their way to the Head Table for toasts from Marissa’s sisters, Kelsey & Colleen and the Best Man, Chase.  Drew gave an awesome Thank You/Welcome Speech and then dinner began.  I dismissed tables and guests made their way through the food line courtesy of Olive Garden.

After dinner Drew and Marissa had their cake cutting.  After Desert we had everyone make their way to back to the other side of the Homestead for their first dance, “Cant Help Falling in Love” by Haley Reinhart.  Drew danced with his mom to “Simple Man by Lynyrd Skynyrd.  Before we opened the dance floor we had one more special dance.  The Bridal party had a choreographed dance to Juveniles “Back That A** Up (Clean Version).   I opened the floor to everyone with “I want you back/Finesse Remix” that filled it for the next 2 hours!  I ended the night by bringing everyone out to the dance floor to join them for one last dance, Jason Mraz’s “I Wont Give Up”

Thank you to all the awesome Vendors of the Day!

Wedding Planning – CP Events

Wedding Photography – KS Photography

Catering – Olive Garden

Bar Service – Ace’s Gaming Parlor & Bar Service