A Winter Wonderland Wedding

Jessica and Callan chose Laguna Beach's picturesque Canyon Lodge for their December, 2012 ceremony and reception.

The couple spoke their vows as wild deer looked on from the distance. For the ceremony we provided a digital sound system and stashed it away from the line of sight. The Wedding DJ placed a Shure wireless lapel mic on the officiant so all in attendance could hear and participate in the ceremony.

Jessica decided on an amazing piano cover of "Turning Page" by Sleeping at Last (from Twilight) for the wedding party processional. The beautiful bride walked down the aisle to an instrumental version of "Flightless Bird, American Mouth" (Wedding Theme - Breaking Dawn).

Later, at the reception, the newlyweds had some fun making their Grand Entrance to the slightly cheesy but heartfelt "You Make My Dreams Come True" by Hall and Oates. 

Custom Gobo

To help turn their location into a Winter Wonderland, we set up several ultrabright uplights with an ice blue color in strategic places. The custom gobo we provided fitted perfectly over the fireplace mantle! We continued the Winter Wonderland theme with intelligent lighting on the dance floor that simulated falling snow.

Ice Blue LED uplights

To top it off, the guests were dazzled while dancing to our colorful Matrix Touch Screen system. Highlights included "Raindrops" by Basement Jaxx, "Shout" by The Isley Bros. and "I Gotta Feeling" by Black Eyed Peas. The brides' father got so excited he started breakdancing!

Breakdancing With A Little Help

The Matrix Touchscreen Transparent Mixer

Check this link for the wedding video: https://vimeo.com/55517203

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

Wedding DJ at Newport Coast

Annie and Jeff celebrated their October, 2012 wedding in the exclusive enclave of Crystal Cove on the Newport Coast.

With 150 or so of their closest friends in attendance, the Newlyweds made their Grand entrance to "All Night Long" by Lionel Richie and Jimmy Buffet.

After some heartfelt toasts and a fantastic meal the guests hit the dance floor and partied to a wide variety of music. We included classics like "Land Of A Thousand Dances" by Wison Pickett (by request) as well as newer hits like "Lets Go" by Calvin Harris. Old School proved to be quite popular as we evidenced by the response we got to Salt & Peppa, Run DMC and Vanilla Ice.

All music was mixed using our revolutionary Matrix Touch Screen!

Finally, we took advantage of the huge white dance floor by projecting a custom gobo with the Bride and Grooms' initials onto it.

Here's to another great beginning!


The Wedding DJ

How To Choose A First Dance

Thanks to Ben Davis for creating this amusing and functional flow chart for those in search of the perfect first dance song. Too funny!

 From: http://mix97-3.com/ultimate-help-for-choosing-your-wedding-dance-1st-song-chart/

The Wedding DJ

Wedding DJ at Laguna Cliffs!

Christine and Ben celebrated their Summer, 2012 marriage at The Laguna Cliffs Marriott. They wanted something different as asked The Wedding DJ to supply amber LED uplighting all around, to which I happily obliged!

Entrance Song: The fun and slightly cheesy "Power Of Love" by Huey Lewis.

Amber Uplighting

"Opah!"

Highlight: "Zorba's Dance" from Zorba The Greek. Other favorites included "Call Me Maybe" by Carly Rae Jepsen,  "Like A Prayer" by Madonna and "The Way You Look Tonight" by Sinatra.

Without Pin Spot

With Pin Spot!

 








Along with our class leading JBL sound system we supplied 15 Ultrabright LED uplights and a cake pin spot.

Here's to another great beginning!

The Wedding DJ

The Wedding DJ Does Things THEIR Way!

Chrissy and Adam had their Summer 2012 wedding at the scenic Cannon's in South Orange County. These two embraced the opportunity to throw out convention and do things THEIR way! This included using unique musical choices for their ceremony and reception.

For the ceremony, which was officiated by the Bride's Mom, Chrissy walked down the aisle to "Feelin' Good" by Michael Buble. Later they made their Grand Entrance to the high energy dance smash, "Feel So Close" by Calvin Harris.

This couple's delightfully non-conventional approach continued with Adam acting as his own Best Man- giving a toast and thanking all the guests. Then Chrissy and her father David had a Father/Daughter Dance to Pink's "Raise Your Glass"!

 

In lieu of a traditional wedding cake, a beautiful gourmet cupcake pyramid served as desert.

Guests danced to both party favorites and spontaneous requests including "Call Me Maybe" by Carly Ray Jebsen, "The Wobble" by V.I.C., "We Are Young" by Fun.

The reception ended with another unique song choice from the Bride and Groom, "Closer To The Edge" by 30 Seconds To Mars.

We supplied a two speaker JBL digital system including a wireless mic for the ceremony. Emcee, sound and lighting by DJ Craig.

Here's To Another Great Beginning!

The Wedding DJ

Jack And Shar's Retro Beach Wedding

Custom Gobo by DJCraig

Jack and Shar choose Dana Point Harbor for their June 2012 reception. There's nothing like being surrounded by the blue Pacific while you celebrate with 200 of your closest friends!

The Newlyweds made their entrance to "I'm A Believer" by Smash Mouth and after a few toasts the party got rockin'!

 We provided uplighting in the colors of light Violet and Malibu Blue.

Flashback Heart Attack

 
 The Wedding DJ had the privilege of working with 80s cover band, Flashback Heart Attack. Sound, Uplighting and custom Gobo by DJ Craig.

Here's to another great beginning!

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

Adriana & Stephen Sail Away

For their Spring 2012 wedding, Adriana and Stephen chose the scenic OC Sailing and Events Center in Dana Point. The venue is practically on the water in the harbor.

Adriana chose "Love Song" by 311 for her walk down the aisle. For their first dance the couple went the now classic, "Amazed" by Lonestar.

The Wedding DJ helped run sound for their video montage during dinner so everyone could hear the soundtrack. Then it was time to party! Dance music included hits from LMFAO, Van Morrison, Chris Brown, Celia Cruz and Frank Sinatra-all expertly mixed, of course.

Here's to another great beginning! 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

The Rise Of The Touchscreen DJ

The future is here. DJing on a touchscreen surface is now a reality!


DJ Craig's Matrix Touch Screen

No longer will party goers have to squint to make out the dimly lit outline of an anonymous DJ with his head buried in a computer laptop. A new, colorful, interactive, transparent flat screen display puts the music and DJ front and center where they belong.



This eye catching screen can be viewed from either side, everyone in the room can see the DJ play, apply effects, loop and create virtual song remixes on the fly. It showcases the ART OF THE MIX and provides both audio and visual excitement.



This interactive display also acts as a high tech message board, allowing the DJ to instantly communicate with the entire crowd without interrupting the flow of the music.

With 130 buttons, knobs and sliders, the screen is as beautiful as it is functional, adding the wow factor to your event. The DJ touchscreen may just revolutionize the way DJs work from this point on.

For more information go here: touch screen dj

The Wedding DJ

DJ Your Own Wedding!

CNET's Donald Bell really breaks down how to go DJless at your own wedding in this video and corresponding article: 



http://cnettv.cnet.com/use-itunes-dj...-50119370.html

Interestingly, in the lead paragraph he says, "The DJ plays a critical and often misunderstood role in any wedding ceremony. If you can afford a professional, by no means should you use the following tutorial to skimp out. You'll save yourself loads of hassle and be able to enjoy your day with one less concern floating around in your head."

Unless your location provides it, you're still going to need a mixer, amp, speakers, mic, back up system, tripods, audio cables, extension cords, power strips and the time it takes to create your own playlists. You will also need someone to run the system.

More from the article: "There are dozens of little things that could throw a wrench in the works. Hopefully, practicing things ahead of time will iron out some of the kinks.

Here are some tips and common mistakes, though.

The microphone feedback is unmanageable. As a quick fix, turn the microphone down or switch it off. The root of this problem is usually caused by speaker placement. If the speakers are position behind the person using the microphone, the mic will pick up their projected sound, the speakers will amplify it, the mic will pick it up, the speakers will...you get the point. It's a feedback loop.

To fix the issue, make sure the speakers are facing away from the microphone. There's a tendency to place speakers back against the wall, but they really should be out in front of the microphone, projecting away from the mic and towards the audience.

The music is too quiet. In the setup I've described here there are six volume knobs, and any one of them could be turned down too low. In order, these volume controls are: the volume slider in iTunes, the master volume on your computer, the channel volume on the mixer (typically located near the bottom), the channel gain (typically located next to the audio inputs), the master volume on the mixer, and the volume control on the powered speakers.

The music is distorted. This problem is also typically associated with all of the various volume controls at play. When a volume control is turned up too loud, or there's an imbalance of loud amplification applied to a quiet signal, you can get a noisy or distorted sound.

Nothing should be set at full volume. If the volume meter on your mixer is peaking into the red, you're doing something wrong.

Here are my suggested volume settings: iTunes at 75 percent, your computer at 75 percent, channel volume at 50 percent, the channel gain at 50 percent, speaker volume at 50 percent, and then slowly turn up the mixer's master volume to the appropriate level. That conservative setting should shake off any distortion, but if it's still too quiet with the mixer's master volume at 75 percent, you can try edging up the channel volume and gain to 75 percent and turn up the volume directly on your speakers.

There's no sound at all. Three things need to be turned on: your computer, your mixer, and your powered PA speakers.

Next, run through all of the volume settings outlined above.

Finally, check the audio connections. Is the cable running from your computer connected to the audio output, or did you plug it into the audio input by accident. Is it possible that the mixer has some type of mute button or tape output button enabled? Can you hear sound when you plug headphones into the mixer? Does the microphone work? Try plugging in your iPod or smartphone--does that work? Is it possible that you have a bad cable?"

As you can see, lots of potential headaches here. Bell closes the article by reiterating that those that can afford it should hire a pro.  Without meaning to, this article really demonstrates how much work goes into DJing a wedding.


The Wedding DJ