A Night Under The Stars For Cassidi And Tommy

Former childhood sweethearts, Cassidi and Tommy, chose a private park in San Clemente for their amazing Summer 2014 wedding.

At the ceremony, The Wedding DJ supplied a Shure wireless lapel mic so that all 140 of their guests could hear the vows clearly over the nearby ocean waves. 

After the introduction of the wedding party and the newlyweds, we announced each of our six toast givers and provided them our wireless handheld mic. Even though they were over 100 feet away, our mic performed flawlessly!

Grand Entrance: “Born On The Bayou”- CCR

Once the meal was finished we had all guests gather around the dance floor for The First Dance, Father/Daughter and Mother/Son.

First Dance: “Give In To Me”- Leighton Meesters

With a bit of encouragement, lots of open dancing by the guests followed. Party songs included “Fancy” by Iggy Azalea, “Mustand Sally” by The Commitments and “Low” by Flo Rida. 

We ended the night with one of the Bride’s requests, the romantic “A Thousand Years” by Christina Perri.

As usual, our JBL cinema quality speakers and digital sound system provided crystal clear sound!

Here’s to another great beginning!

The Wedding DJ

Wedding DJ In Newport Beach

Kathy and Alex chose the Hyatt Newport Beach for their Summer 2013 ceremony and reception. DJ Craig provided sound for both along with uplighting, table pinspots, dance floor lighting and video projection.

The wedding party danced their way across the floor as they were introduced. "Levels" by Avici filled the room as the Newlyweds made their grand entrance. We then segued into their first dance, "Marry Me" by Train .

When dinner was finished, the party began. DJ Craig invited the guests out to the dance floor for traditional Greek dancing as well as a mix of Top 40. Party favorites included "This Is How We Do It"-    Montell Jordan, "Jump On It"-    Sir Mix-A-Lot and the Guilty Pleasure of "Ice Ice Baby"-    Vanilla Ice!

                                                  "Opah!"

Here's to another great beginning!

The Wedding DJ

Wedding DJ- Hear The "Truth"!

Of the top 20 cinema chains in the USA, 75% use JBL sound. That's the truth. JBL speakers are featured in the majority of Dolby and THX installations. And now you can experience the amazing sound of JBL at your wedding or special event.

The Wedding DJ uses JBL SRX715 speakers. According to JBL, these speakers offer, "the highest level of performance available from a speaker that can be placed on a pole or standard speaker tripod stand."

Performance isn't just based on power. It is sound quality that is most important. To my ears, JBL has the best sound. Not overly bassy or brassy, plenty of warm mid range and clarity. I like them better than Mackie, Cerwin Vega and yes, even Bose (overrated IMHO).

The importance of sound quality at special events cannot be underestimated. After all, this is what your guests will be listening to all night long!

"I've used JBL's professional equipment throughout my career as a recording artist and touring musician. I want my fans to 'Hear the Truth,' and that's what JBL delivers."- Sir Paul McCartney

The Wedding DJ

A Goofy Disneyland Wedding For Nicole & Jesse

Photo courtesy Jack Randall

Nicole and Jesse chose the "Happiest Place On Earth" for their May 2012 wedding in Anaheim, CA. Disney's Grand Californian Hotel echoed with the strains of "Hole Hearted" by 80s rockers Extreme, as the two lovebirds made their triumphant Grand Entrance.

What their 200 guests didn't expect was a special surprise appearance by none other than Goofy, who helped the Newlyweds cut their cake!
 

For dancing and partying the Wedding DJ's playlist ranged from Oldies anthem "Sleepwalk" by Santo & Johnny to Neil Diamond to Taio Cruz to "We Are Young" by Fun. The enthusiastic crowd seemed to enjoy it all.

And for their Honeymoon these newlyweds are going to... where else?... Disney World!

Here's to another great beginning!

Anaheim DJ

The Wedding DJ

Wedding Reception DJ And Lighting Vid

The Wedding DJ has created a new video featuring many weddings he's performed at and provided lighting for. Please enjoy this sample of his recent work:



The Wedding DJ

Wedding Reception Lighting

Amanda & Jayson's June Wedding

Amanda and Jayson held their June, 2011 ceremony and reception at an estate in the scenic hills of Riverside. With a little encouragement from The Wedding DJ, they chose some unique musical pieces, adding the final touches to their celebration.

For the ceremony processional they walked out to keyboard master Yuri Sazonoff's interpretation of "My Heart Will Go On"- a fantastic instrumental version and without the bombast of the original. The end of the ceremony recessional was another cover. The Misfit's fun punk remake of "This Magic Moment"! We provided a wireless lapel mic for the clergy so all guest could hear the vows.

First Dance- "Then" by Brad Paisley. A tearful Father/Daughter dance ("Butterfly Kisses") was followed by Mother/Son Dance to "Don't Blink" by Kenny Chesney.

The small but enthusiastic crowd kept the dance floor full all night long to party favorites such as "You're The First, The Last, My Everything"- Barry White, "The Time" (Dirty Bit)- Black Eyed Peas and "Sweet Child O' Mine" by Guns N' Roses.

Even had a rare request for rock ballad, "Count On Me" by Jefferson Starship. Didn't have this in the library so quickly downloaded it to my phone (Thanks Amazon!) and played it shortly thereafter.

Here's to another great beginning!

The Wedding DJ

Trang And Russell Reach The Summit!

The Wedding DJ started the year at a January, 2011 ceremony and reception at the beautiful Summit House in Fullerton.


The nuptials included a Buddhist ceremony as well as traditional vows performed by a minister. We provided a 2 speaker Renkus Heinz digital sound system and wireless mic. Trang chose music from the soundtrack of "The Brothers Bloom" for the processional.

Purple/Violet Uplighting
For the reception, we set up a 2 speaker digital JBL sound system, 10 uplights, 8 pin spots for the head table, two pin spots for the cake, one custom gobo and sound active dance floor lighting. The result was a great sounding and visually stunning reception for 200 invited guests.

Cake Highlighted With Pin Spots


The Bride and Groom made their reception entrance to "Sweet Disposition" by The Temper Trap. The First Dance song was "What Can I Do (But Love You)" by Joy Williams.


Head Table With Pin Spotting


Party favorites included "You're My First, My Last, My Everything" by Barry White, "I Get Around" by Tupac, "Yeah" by Usher and "Unforgettable" by Nat King Cole.

Special thanks go to Carmen Kaiser and her wonderful staff at The Summit House for helping make this reception special!



Here's to another great beginning!

The Wedding DJ

Love At The Sunset Tower

Then...
Jim and Mark chose the historic Sunset Tower Hotel in Hollywood for their commitment ceremony on Nov. 6. This storied venue is elegantly retro and upscale, having been meticulously restored to it's former glory as Hollywood's tres chic place to stay.

And now...


During the ceremony, guests enjoyed a view of the couple with the hotel pool in the background and the LA skyline on the horizon.


Mark and Jim's ceremony included a custom The Wedding DJ hadn't experienced before. To the delight of their guests, a non traditional "sipping of the martini" was included as part of the vows. The use of vodka rather than wine as a sacrament may set a new precedent for future ceremonies to come!


After a wonderful meal and several heartfelt toasts from friends and family, it was time to hit the dance floor. Dancers enjoyed a variety of music including Lady Gaga, Blondie, The Ting Tings, Iggy Pop, Madonna and many others.



We used blue uplighting to create a fun ambiance around the dance floor, which the enthusiastic crowd kept full all night long.


Here's to another great beginning!

The Wedding DJ

Wedding DJ Sound And Lighting

This last month has been a blur for The Wedding DJ- lots of events to keep up with! Here is a brief review in pictures:

Wedding Uplighting and gobo at The Montage Dana Point:



Wedding DJ for Shohreh and Farzad at Old Ranch Country Club in Seal Beach:






We did lighting for this reception as well:


Check out the custom gobo:



Custom gobo and cake pin spotting for a reception in Dana Point Harbor:


Wedding DJ for Tracy and Matt's reception in San Clemente:


Wedding DJ for Liz and Josh's reception at The Madison in Long Beach:




DJ for Jayson & Neelia's Wedding at The Surf And Sand in Laguna:


Gobo lighting for a reception in La Mirada:


Pink Uplighting for a Pico Rivera reception:


Here's to more great beginnings!

The Wedding DJ

Uplighting, Custom Gobo and Pinspots

Being a Los Angeles DJ isn't always just about music. Here is some uplighting I did for a July wedding at The Hyatt Regency in Long Beach.

The bride wanted a soft pink to match her chosen motif. My challenge was to light two different color surfaces and make them match and provide a vivid, custom gobo projection on the dance floor. And of course, I pinspotted the cake! You can be the judge on how well I did by watching the following video provided by my clients, Joel and Shirley. The lighting part of the video starts at 3:49:

Joel | Shirley from Garner Films on Vimeo.

On three walls I programmed the lights to get the desired color. On the whiter surface behind the head table this was looking too bright so I compensated by programming the lights slightly differently to make them match. Thanks for watching and here's to another great beginning!

The Wedding DJ

A Diehard Wedding Ceremony

Kate and Aaron had their hearts set on a Summer beach wedding. They chose August, 2010 as the month and Orange County's Salt Creek Beach as the place to make their dreams come true. But it almost didn't turn out the way they'd imagined.



Picture this: You're at the beach setting up sound for a ceremony with 250 guests invited. The nearest power is 200 feet away and due to a snafu the Park authorities failed to unlock the door to the only outlet available.

The guests have arrived and are now sitting in the sunlight, listening to the roar of the ocean and the occasional gull flyby as they anticipate the start of the nuptials. Park Reps are unresponsive to calls- still no power.

As the minutes tick by the wedding party is assembled and is ready to walk down the aisle. Reception is scheduled to immediately follow the ceremony. It's crunch time, what's a Wedding DJ to do?

With no AC and no generator available, I remembered that I keep a power inverter in my truck for drastic emergencies. We started the engine, attached the inverter to the battery and plugged in the power.

Suddenly the music began and every guest could now hear the lapel mic we already placed on the minister. The two Yamaha 15 inch two-way speakers we had set up reached all the way to the back row. We started the processional music and the vows went off without a hitch.





That's right. We ran the entire ceremony off of a car battery!

Here's to another great beginning!

The Wedding DJ