This past weekend Arnoldo and I had the pleasure of working with Matt and Kali Morgan for their wedding reception.  They held it at Eaglebrooke Golf and Country Club in Lakeland Florida (if you have read any of my past blogs, you know that I love Eaglebrooke!  It’s such an amazing site and the staff is excellent.)

Matt and Kali were looking for something different.  They wanted a very elegant, cocktail style reception where the focus was on the guests mingling rather then on dancing.  We played lots of crooner style music (Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Michael Buble) mixed in with some country and motown.  If the guests danced, it was a bonus as long as it was in that style.  We did have some dancers (you know there are hard core dancers at every reception, God love em’), but for the most part it was everything that Kali and Matt wanted and hoped for.  I was excited to be able to deliver for them as they are both wonderful people!

Funny side note, Matt’s brother Kyle (the best man) was in my office just 2 days earlier with his lovely fiance Elizabeth.  They booked our services for a reception in 2010, but oddly Matt and Kyle never spoke so neither knew that our company would be entertaining both receptions.  It’s a small world indeed!

Check out the photos below and make sure to watch the video at the bottom of the page.  Make sure to leave positive comments on the blog and as always … enjoy!

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I’m so blessed!  Getting to work with couples like Jim and Kristen just drives that point home, I can’t believe that I get to celebrate week in and week out with so many awesome people.  Jim and Kristen had their ceremony and reception at Eaglebrooke Golf and Country Club in Lakeland Florida on July 18, 2009.  A Premier Entertainment was secured to provide sound for the ceremony and entertainment for the reception.  Jim and Kristen asked for me personally to be their entertainer and I was honored to be a part of their special day!  I also got to work again with photographer Tina Sargeant from Sargeant Studios.  Tina is awesome to work with and her photos are amazing … check out her blog (click here), can’t wait to see her photos of Jim and Kristen!

If there was any concern I had before this day, it was the weather.  We’ve been getting rain here almost everyday and the clouds were rolling in during their ceremony.   It held off until after they got their photos done (see the rain coming down in buckets at the beginning of the video, it even knocked out the power for a second).  The day couldn’t have gone any better!

They choose the following for their package:

- Entertainment Coordinator Package
- Uplighting
- D’Elegance Dance Floor lighting package
- Dancing Under The Stars Lighting effect
- Video Slide Show (we used the 40″ LCD Screen on a stick of truss instead of the 5×7 video screen w/ projector because of space and for effect)
- Basic Ceremony Package

Here are some of their highlights:

- Introduction: Ain’t No Mountain High Enough (parents), Smooth (Bridal Party), Balada Para Adelina (Love Story), Party Up! for Jim and Kristen
- First Dance: Lost In This Moment by Big & Rich
- Parent Dances:  It Won’t Be This Way For Long by Darius Rucker (Kristen’s dance with her dad), Song for Mama by Boyz II Men (Jim’s Dance with his mom)
- Cake: Sugar Sugar and How Sweet It Is
- Bouquet and Garter: Mission Impossible - Eye of the Tiger - I’m Too Sexy - Single Ladies - Girl Fight - Switch - (Dude) Looks Like A Lady
- Last Dance: At Last by Beyonce

Click the more button to see all photos and a video from their reception.  Please leave positive feedback at the bottom of the page and as always … Enjoy!!!

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Mr. and Mrs. Creeley enjoying their last dance together!

I had the pleasure of entertaining at Matt and Mandy Creeley’s wedding reception.  These are two exceptional people and I’m honored to have been a part of their celebration!

Matt and Mandy hired A Premier Entertainment at the recommendation of Denise from Huntington Hills Golf and Country Club.  We have done many successful events and Denise is one of my absolutely favorite vendors (www.huntingtonhillscountryclub.com).  When I arrived at Huntington Hills for set up, everything looked beautiful (and the Prime Rib was unbelievable, Denise and her staff rock!)!  Mandy choose the colors and decor and we added our uplighting under the cake tables and behind the head table to really pull the head table in as the center point of focus in the room.  We also did the stars on the ceiling, but I didn’t get any good pictures of them so you’ll have to take my word that it looked great!

When I was doing the final consult with Mandy, I knew that this was going to be an awesome reception.  Mandy wanted it to be fun and it turned out exactly as she had hoped!  Her family and friends were wonderful!  Lots of dancing, especially when you consider that this was a dry reception and it didn’t get dark outside until the last hour of the reception.

We also got to work with our favorite photography company, KC Enterprises Photography (www.polkphoto.com) as well as our favorite Videography company (www.storybookweddings.tv).  Make sure you check out KC Enterprises blog after they get the chance to post their photos, Christina (my wife) and Jenny are amazing!  I don’t know if Storybook Weddings will be posting a video, but if they do … check it out!

Some of the highlights of the reception:

- Introduction music: Sandstorm for Parents and Bridal Party, Rock and Roll Part 2 for Matt and Mandy
- 1st Dance: Beautiful by Jim Brickman w/ Wayne Brady
- Father / Daughter Dance: Cinderella by Steven Curtis Chapman
- Mother / Son Dance: Somewhere Over the Rainbow by Israel Kamakawiwo’ole
- Bridal Party Dance: That’s What Friends are For by Dionne Warwick and friends
- Bouquet and Garter: Oh Yeah, Let’s Get It On, Rocky Theme, Another One Bites the Dust, Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, and It’s Raining Men
- Anniversary Dance: Remember When by Alan Jackson
- Last Dance: Always and Forever by Heatwave
- Grand Exit: Na Na Hey Hey Goodbye by Steam

I hope you like the photos below and the video, and if you do like what you see, please leave a comment on the blog.  Click the more button to view and as always … enjoy

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It was like they were the only 2 people in the room!

Londann and Jeremy Andrews were so wonderful to work with.  They are great people and I was honored to be part of their celebration.  They had their wedding reception at the Garden Ballroom in Winter Haven.  The Gardenball room is a beautiful location and they had it decorated exquisitely.  Because Londann and Jeremy are such incredible people, the ballroom was packed!  They had so many guests that getting around to the tables to invite them to the buffet was a challenge, but I managed, lol.  If there was any drawback to the day, it would have been that they were running late to the reception which pushed things back a little (with this crowd I hated to take away any of the dance time because they are so much fun).  We did manage to get back most of the time we lost and when we opened up the dance floor, it was classic Merrick family fun!  It was also great to get to meet and entertain for the Andrews, they are going to be a perfect addition to the Merrick clan.  Can’t wait for the next celebration!

Some of the highlights from the reception:

- Introductions: Life is a Highway by Rascal Flatts for the parents and bridal party, Welcome to the Family by Little Big town for Londann and Jeremy
- First Dance: Then by Brad Paisley (this was a surprise from Jeremy to Londann)
- Parents Dances: My Little Girl by Tim McGraw for Londann and Dale.  Song for Mama by Boyz II Men for Jeremy and Patti
- Cake Cutting: I Thought I’d Seen Everything by Bryan Adams
- Bouquet and Garter: Bad Boys by Inner Circle for Removal and Garter Toss.  American Woman for Bouquet toss.
- Last Dance: This Kind of Love by Sister Hazel
- Grand Exit: All I Ever Wanted by Chuck Hicks

Deserving much credit is Debbie O’Kelley (Regina’s - Mother of the Bride - Sister in Law) for doing an amazing job with the catering.  The food was delicious!

Also, this was my 1st time working with Tammy Koukoulis from Soleil Photography.  She and her staff were wonderful to work with, I look forward to seeing Londann and Jeremy’s photos up on her blog and you can check them out too (http://tammykoukoulis.wordpress.com/).

In the mean time, you can enjoy the photos and video I took … click the more button to see the photos and video from the reception.  As always, please leave positive feed back on my blog, thanks and enjoy …

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The newly wed's 1st dance ... awwwhh.

I don’t know if I have ever had a more laid back bride and groom the Amanda and Chris Richey. Their wedding reception was uniquely fitting to their style and personalities, and even picking a Thursday night for their date! From the beginning of the process to the end of the reception, I truly enjoyed being involved with this couple and their wedding. I was honored to be their DJ. The ceremony and reception were held at the Sorosis Building in Lakeland FL (ceremony outside with one of their close friends performing live, and the reception inside with your’s truly).

We skipped several of the traditional reception steps (no bouquet and garter for example). Amanda and Chris really wanted a more relaxed, informal party. Lots of drinking, spending time with their closest family and friends, and a little dancing tossed in for good measure. They assembled an all-star team of vendors too. It was an absolute pleasure working with Angela and her team from Sunshine Celebrations (http://sunshinecelebrations.blogspot.com), they were amazing to work with! So many of their beautiful touches can be seen in the photos at the bottom. The cake was decorated by Andrea from Sweet Cakes (http://www.sweetcakesllc.com), and it was amazing! They had Chef Lo (http://cheflo.com) for their caterer, and not only was Chef Lo’s presentation extraordinary, the food was sooooo good! And of course, they had A Premier Entertainment for their DJ (my own personaly favorite DJ company, lol).

Some of the Highlights:
- Grand Introduction to Black Betty by Ram Jam for the Bridal Party and Touch Me by the Doors for Amanda and Chris
- 1st Dance to The Joker by Steve Miller
- Father / Daughter Dance to A Pirate Looks at 40 by Jimmy Buffet
- Mother / Son Dance to Have I Told You Lately by Van Morrison
- Cake Cutting to My Best Friend by Queen
- Last Dance to Should I Stay or Should I Go by the Clash

Check out the photos and video below and remember to leave positive feedback! Enjoy…

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November 15, 2008 Nathan and Summer’s Wedding Celebration!

So into each other ... ahhhhww.

Ok, this is my 3rd experience with the Mize family and Howard (Summer’s Dad) told me that it will be our last for awhile since he’s married all of his kids off (this bites by the way as they are an amazing group of people and I will greatly miss being a part of their legendary celebrations, but I digress…).  I set up my system with light show at Cleveland Heights and then went over to Hollis Gardens to provide music and sound for their ceremony.  It had been raining on and off all day, but we dodged a bullet … the ceremony went off right before the rains came down (well almost, it started raining right as they were exchanging vowes, but we were able to make it to shelter before anything got too wet).

After the ceremony, we hightailed it over to the reception so that we would be ready for their grand enterance.  We used the theme from Kill Bill to bring everyone in except Summer and Nathan, for them we used the AC/DC w/ Ludicris mash up of Back In Black and Move.  The energy when they entered was unbelievable.  Everyone was on their feet yelling and clapping.  We then went right into their 1st dance … Me and You by Kenny Chesney.  After the dance Nathan thanked everyone for coming and Uncle Harry said the blessing.

I got to work with some of Polk Counties finest vendors tonight:
KC Enterprises Photography (www.polkphoto.com)
Mike Arnold Video (www.mikearnoldvideoproductions.com)
and of course Cleveland Heights Golf and Country Club.

Dinner was fantastic, the prime rib was to die for.  They stuffed their guest and then followed up with the cake which was also excellent.  Once we got through the formailties, the party went into overdrive.  We did many of the party favorites like Cupid Shuffle and Cha Cha Slide as well as some requests for 80’s rock (Shook Me All Night Long, Livin’ On a Prayer, Pour Some Sugar on Me, Talk Dirty to Me).  The evening ended up with a selection of today’s hits (Dangerous, Whatever You Like, So What).  We ended the night with Grow Old With you and a group hug.  It was another amazing Mize shing ding!

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