The B-Sharp Entertainment Blog

I really loved working with Angela & Ryan, so much that I selected one of their photos for the cover of my latest brochure. They first contacted me in 2008 thanks to a recommendation from the Hawthorne Country Club, and from our first meeting I could tell that their wedding was going to be an amazing time. What I didn’t know until just a few weeks before the wedding is that I’d be working with some of my favorite vendors that night… a bonus for me! More on that in a moment.

Angela & Ryan have great taste in music – I’m pretty sure their guests knew they were in for a fun night when the wedding party came in to Def Leppard’s “Let’s Get Rocked”, followed by the bride and groom’s entrance to Billy Idol’s “Rebel Yell”. During dinner, they requested a mix of 80s and 90s songs, which were a big hit with their guests. Something else that made the night extra-special: the addition of a photo booth, supplied by my good friends Bob & Michelle Carpenter at Main Event Weddings. While there are some companies who provide booths that are modern versions of the kinds you’d find in movie theaters and skating rinks in the 1980s, Main Event’s version is much cooler and way more fun. This is especially evident in the pictures below. Main Event also provides DJ and videography services; I frequently recommend Bob’s services to clients when I’m not available to assist.

On to the dancing: The dance floor filled quickly as I delivered a mix that started with tried-and-true party favorites and moved into more recent hits, including the Flo Rida and Kanye West songs on Angela & Ryan’s request list. At the end of the night, everyone filled the floor for Journey’s “Faithfully”, followed by Eddie Money’s “Two Tickets To Paradise”. It was a great way to end the night.

Photos are provided courtesy of Neto Studio. Steve Neto is great to work with, and as you can tell by the pictures, he takes some exceptional shots.

Angela & Ryan’s First Dance: “True Companion” – Marc Cohn
Cake Cutting: “Pour Some Sugar On Me” – Def Leppard
Bride/Father Dance: “Over The Rainbow” – Iz Kamakawiwo’ole
Groom/Mother Dance: “What A Wonderful World” – Louis Armstrong
Last Dance: “Faithfully” – Journey
Farewell Dance: “Two Tickets To Paradise” – Eddie Money

The bride and groom

The wedding cake.

First Dance.

The cake cutting.

Bob and Michelle Carpenter showing off the Main Event Weddings Photobooth

Fun in the photobooth.

The Cha-Cha Slide... Can you go down low?

Dancing Queens

Shorty got low...low...low...low...

It was great to have one of my DJ colleagues also working the event.

Slow Dance

This is the shot that made it onto my brochure.

The Last Dance.

How do you pick a favorite wedding when you get to work for so many great couples? It’s pretty much impossible. However, if I had to come up with a few nominees, I’m confident that Jen & Trevor would make the list. Their wedding reception was perfect.

The reception, at Hawthorne Country Club, was attended by 200 guests. The bride and groom hoped to have lots of time for dancing, and I’m happy to report that the Hawthorne staff timed the cocktail hour and dinner service just right. Some of my selections during dinner included Dean Martin’s “That’s Amore”, Stevie Wonder’s “For Once In My Life”, and Ben Harper’s “Steal My Kisses”.

Once the dancing began, there was no stopping. In fact, we had over three hours of dancing, which gave me plenty of time to please the entire crowd. What made this reception especially fun for me was Jen’s request list – it was four pages long and covered just about every musical genre, and it also included a number of songs that I haven’t played in a number of years. Remember “I Wish” by Skee-Lo? It still keeps the dance floor moving, as does Madonna’s “Lucky Star” and Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody”.

Congratulations, Jen & Trevor!

Wedding Party Introduction Music: “It’s Not Unusual” – Tom Jones
Jen & Trevor’s Introduction Music: “Another One Bites The Dust” – Queen
Jen & Trevor’s First Dance: “Every Time I Close My Eyes” – Babyface
(this really was the first dance – the first song they ever danced to, 13 years ago)

Song played during the Cake Cutting: “Everything” – Michael Buble
Bride/Father Dance: “I Loved Her First” – Heartland
Groom/Mother Dance: “My Special Angel” – Bobby Helms
Last Dance: “Grow Old With You” – Adam Sandler
Farewell Dance: “Save The Last Dance For Me” – Michael Buble

I left the photography to the professionals this time… these shots were provided by Adriano Batti. Check him out at www.photographyboston.com.

A view of the room before guests arrive.

A mailbox served as the holding place for cards, and looked great on the gift table.

The bride and groom during their first dance...

Everyone was ready to party!

This is my favorite picture - it truly captures the moment!

This October has been my busiest month ever, and all of the events I’ve worked have been absolutely spectacular. Now that the month is winding down, I’ll have more time to post about those events and talk about some other exciting things happening over the next few months.

The event I did last night was phenomenal – Jen & Trevor’s wedding reception at Hawthorne Country Club. I’ll have a full recap of it soon, but I wanted to share the email I received from the bride just after noontime today:

Brendan-

Thanks-Jen

Jon & Kim’s wedding reception at Hawthorne Country Club in Dartmouth was my last wedding of August; I was recommended to them by Larissa McLaughlin at Blush Beauty Bar in New Bedford (Larissa’s mom used to work at Hawthorne, so she’s had a chance to see me work many times).

Jon & Kim met in high school and have been together for a number of years, so their family and friends were definitely ready to celebrate – this was absolutely a party crowd. I knew that the bride and groom were fans of country music and classic rock, and it was evident from some of the requests that I’d be playing a wide variety of music. Case in point: I received requests for songs by Phil Vassar, Peter Frampton, and the Gap Band in the same hour.

Jon’s grandfather served as the best man – he’s in his 90s and did a great job with toasting the bride and groom. Because Jon’s a firefighter, “Fire” by the Ohio Players was a big hit with the dancing crowd (at Jon’s request, I played it twice). Unfortunately, I don’t have any pictures from this event, but a great time was had by all. Congratulations, Jon & Kim!

Introduction Music: “Crazy Train” – Ozzy Osbourne
Jon & Kim’s Introduction Music: “I Feel Good (I Got You)” – James Brown
Jon & Kim’s First Dance: “You’re Still The One” – Shania Twain
Song played during the Cake Cutting: “When I’m 64″ – The Beatles
Bride/Father Dance: “I Loved Her First” – Heartland
Groom/Mother Dance: “A Mother’s Day” – Jim Brickman
Last Dance: “Amazed” – Lonestar