Month: August 2016

518-506-3305 – The term “SILENT DJ PARTY” (aka Silent Disco) means that all the guests have headphones. These are no regular headphones, however. Each set has volume,  blinking LED lights on the ears and headband, and also a button that clicks to let you access 3 different live channels.

The guests can then switch back and forth and listen to the DJ they want, playing the type of music or particular song they want to dance to. When they switch channels, the headphone set turns a different color so the other people know which DJ they are listening to. When a lot of people are turning to one particular color, it often makes others follow to join in on the tune!

Silent DJ jams are super fun with zero noise from the DJs! The only thing you really hear is laughing and some singing along. The possibilities are endless.

Teaming up with Silent Storm, this particular Silent DJ event took place right after the new student, freshman seminar at SUNY Albany. With 2,500 students on hand, they said we drew 1,250 students to this dance. DJ Kenny Casanova was blue offering his hip hop channel, DJ Maria was red on pop, and Chris The Shockmaster was green on EDM.

We had a blast providing the channels for this event, working some humor into the playlist as well. IT was great to see the crowd reaction to intentionally throw a stinker into the mix that would instantly turn everyone’s headphones a different color. One of the funniest moments was when Kenny Casanova randomly played John Cena’s WWE ring entrance theme. The audience response was NOT what we had expected! Everyone actually turned on the blue channel and listened to the whole song and danced to it!

READY TO REALLY ENCHANT YOUR PARTY WITH AN UNDER THE SEA THEME?  HERE ARE SOME IDEAS AND PICTURES TO HELP!

Thinking about having a theme for your party or wedding? Themes do make it better and I strongly suggest doing it if you have the guts! So why not host a party that makes a splash? For those of you Back To The Future fans out there planning a party, maybe you remember the scene where Marty McFly had to get his future dad back online to dance with his future mom.

His success in doing so would mean that he would be born in the future, after messing things up in the past. Your success too can come from a tropical adventure party beginning with a few simple party supplies; balloons, fishing line and sandbag weights.  Recently, I was the party DJ for a Senior Prom in the Albany NY area for Averill Park High School that took place at Birch Hill Catering in Kinderhook, NY. Talk about nailing the theme?

The good people on the Averill Park High School party planning committee were NOT OUT TO SEA on this event by any means.

They did an absolutely great job decorating for their “Under The Sea” One of the coolest party decoration accessories they had that I hadn’t seen before was a very simple thing.

BUBBLE BALLOONS ON FISHING LINES WITH SANDBAGS!

This idea is inexpensive and had a great effect. The bubble balloon lines were basically a string of different sized clear latex balloons, sandbagged down to look like bubbles floating upwards. AT the top of the helium-filled balloon strip, there was a large colorless balloon. Beneath that, the next balloon was a little smaller. The next one under that was even smaller and the one below that was very small. This decoration gave the effect that you often see in a fish tank with a stream of air bubble flowing upwards to the surface.

With countless strips sandbagged all over the dance floor as well as other places throughout the venue, it really felt like the guests were under water. Add some blue and green uplights and the fact that the hall has an interesting flowing curtained ceiling and the picture really came together.

MORE DEEP SEA DECORATION IDEAS…

Setting the scene with the bubble balloons, the tables also came into play laced the sea plates, napkins, and cups. Featuring marine-blue tableware with matching under the sea decorations. This ocean-themed decoration construct conjures up a feeling of romantic tropical seas, a cool sea breeze, and cool running waves on tropical murmuring shores. The hall was transformed into a virtual aquarium with colorful cut-out fish decoration and sea life assortments, elegant giant foil fish, seahorses, dolphins and starfish balloons which too, are relatively  inexpensive. These drifting in the air party decorations really added to the under-water feel of desired theme.

DECORATIONS THAT ALSO ENTERTAIN THE GUESTS…

Each table also had a goldfish bowl in the center with a small LED light inside the bowl for an awesome keepsake. For birthday parties, the guests can be entertained with party games that double as decorations like shark pinatas, fish pinatas, and the like. Here are some more pictures o give you an idea of what you can do with a few balloons and your imagination.

JJ Hapgood – country store wedding venue.

I recently had the pleasure of being the DJ at a new wedding ring you for me called JJ  Hapgood. They have good is a country store located in Peru, Vermont. Many people know that it is also a catering service, but some do not know that they can provide wedding reception services on location.

One thing that is good about this venue is that it is also only about 100 feet away from a little white church. The church is ideal for brides and grooms want to get married in the traditional sense at a place of worship but also want to have a rustic wedding reception that is only if you footsteps away.

JJ Hapgood had some really good food. For their cocktail hour, they had home-made chicken Cordon Bleu bites, The hat rack full of pretzels that were homemade by the establishment, and also a number of really good hors d’oeuvres. They served food buffet style in that too was very very good.

The tent wedding was very nice and also had access to a cream courtyard in the median right next-door to the establishment. That was a perfect backdrop for photographs. If you were looking for a wedding with a church right nearby any rustic country store type setting, this is the place for you.

Below are some pictures so you can have a good look for yourself:

WEDDING COMING UP? THERE IS AN APP FOR THAT!

Put down that massive three ring binder and take a look at your smartphone.  It’s time to throw away the paper and streamline your special day by going digital!

Wedding apps are becoming more and more the “in-thing” among bride & groom smartphone users. You already must know that there is a boat load of hard work involved in planning your special day. The planning and organization you need to throw a successful wedding is unnerving to say the least. Well, worry no more. There is an app for that!

Thanks to the countless app developers out there today, you now have various wedding applications in all categories that will allow you to get more things done quickly and better.

ALBANY NY DJ OFFERS HIS TOP 10 WEDDING APP LIST

1. WedPics – This is our top wedding app pick of them all. It not only gives your guests all of the information needed surrounding the event, but it also connects them to your registry and acts as a drop box for your guests to post an unlimited amount of wedding pictures. WedPics is the absolute best photo & video-sharing app, collecting them all in one place. Invite your guests via email, text or Facebook.
2. iWedding: This is a really good DIY wedding planner app. With this download you can go and plan every little detail about your wedding. It helps you manage wedding activities, details and even your wedding guest list.
3. Wedding Gawker: WeddingGawker.com is a great web site for ideas and now has an app. This one brings its ideas for couples to your iPhone to make your wedding unique and fun.
4. Wedding Planning Complete: This tool is great! It keeps track of your checklist, budget, guests list and also offers a fun wedding countdown ticker.
5. WeddingHappy: This happy tool gives you everything. It has vendor contact information, plus loads of tools to make sure all bases are covered for your special day.
6. The Knot Ultimate Wedding Planner: The Knot helps you to organize your wedding by offering an all-encompassing checklist, budget keeper and plenty of fresh ideas for your wedding. It also has a countdown feature.
7. Wedding Countdown: Want a simple reminder app for your wedding? This app allows you to track how many days are left before the big wedding day.
8. Appy Couple –  This tool like WedPics allows people to share their own wedding photos and socialize before, during and after the event. It also lets guests RSVP and make travel arrangements. (There is a charge)
9. Wedding Dress Look Book: This app is specifically designed for the bride looking for a specific dress.
10. Wilton Cake Ideas & More: This app provides you with great ideas specifically for your wedding cake.

Wedding Review on The Eccentric Club

What a great little-known secret! The Eccentric Club is filled with tons of Victorian crown-molding, columns, old painting, and even stain-glass windows. If you are looking for that fancy, classy feel and are in the Gloversville, NY area, you owe it to yourself to give them a call.

PARKING – Located at 109 North Main Street, it is a very easy place to get to with public parking right across the street. The wedding that I recently did there had their ceremony at the park, only 5 miles away.

FEEL – Once the guests arrived, they walked into the first level for a super nice cocktail hour with a lovely spiral staircase. To the right was a large open space with tables and comfy furniture, to the left was a large open bar with all the trimmings.

CATERING – The Eccentric Club catered the event themselves, starting the night off with a great finger food spread. They also walked around with rotations featuring, stuffed mushroom caps, BBQ chicken skewers, steak & mushroom kabobs and Cajun Shrimp scampi as appetizers.

DINNER – After cocktail hour, the guests went upstairs for dinner. The Eccentric Club offered a super tender filet, a great chicken dish and potato-encrusted salmon. The setting and the food were both phenomenal. From a DJ standpoint, no DJ booth was needed upstairs in the dinning area, as am in-house set up is there for use.

DANCING – At the end of the meal, the guests migrated back downstairs, which was opened up even more spaciously into more dancing room and all had a great time!