Author: Kenny Casanova

A WEDDING HALL AND FOOD FOR UNDER $1,000?

Looking to really save yourself some money on your wedding and still have it come off great? It can happen if you plan everything correctly.

A recent affordable wedding I DJ’ed at South Schenectady Fire House Banquet went perfectly and was classy, to boot. The hall is new, super clean, has all the facilities you need and a full kitchen. It also comes complete with the tables and chairs needed for about 100 people. And, most importantly, they allow for outside catering (this is key).

The bride and groom had to quickly put their special day together, due to a life threatening health situation with a family member. They wanted their loved one to be able to attend and didn’t have a whole lot of time to save.

HOW TO BOOK A GREAT WEDDING (HALL & FOOD) FOR ABOUT $1,000!

Here is what they did:

1) They contacted and rented the South Schenectady Fire House, and was able to rent the hall for $300. This was a great place to have the wedding because, across the street is a fabulous Italian restaurant called Canali’s.

2) They then had Canalis Restaurant (at 126 Mariaville Rd, Schenectady, NY) provide the catering, just the food as a pick up order for 100 people or so. The food bill came to under $700.

3) Next, during the cocktail hour, someone went over and picked up the food. Then, they served dinner buffet style.

4) They did their own bartending (beer and wine).

5) They cleaned up the hall themselves.

Now mind you, they did not have anyone serve the food, but the quality was as good if not better than many of the big name wedding halls in the area.

What can we learn from this?

If you can find a hall that lets you bring in your own catering, you can save a whole lot!!! What you are typically paying for at an expensive wedding hall is serving, clean up and facilities. Finding a nice place like The South Schenectady Firehouse with a great restaurant nearby that will cooperate with time is a game changer!

VIRTUAL TOUR OF THE MOHAWK RIVER COUNTRY CLUB IN REXFORD, NY (NEAR CLIFTON PARK, 15 MIN FROM ALBANY)

Watch our video above and learn more about this great wedding venue. Only 15 minutes from Albany, it is a great location, but still away from the hustle and bustle of the city.

This hall is a great elegant place with onsite ceremony and all the amenities you need to make your wedding a success. www.mohawkrivercc.com

WANT FUN? ADD CONFETTI!

Here is a unique idea to add to your wedding or event? How about a customizable confetti bar? This is a great conversation piece and activity that also serves a purpose for decoration. The confetti toss can then be a great group activity for the introduction of the bride and groom, or the first dance of the evening, perhaps.

Here is how you can add this fun decoration and group activity to your wedding or event:

HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN DIY WEDDING CONFETTI BAR

1) SECURE ONE-COLOR CONFETTI ASSORTMENTS – Buy a bunch of different confetti samples from a party supply store, or better yet cut up special papers yourself!

2) PREPARATION – If you are making your own confetti , look for cheap different lightweight (low pound) paper at your favorite art store. Then use paper shreaders, paper  cutters or even hole punchers to render the individual confetti pieces. A combination of different methods to manifest the confetti will make for more unique assortments and better results/

3) PLACE INTO SERVING BOWLS / VATS – Once you make pure piles of one color confetti, display each batch in some kind of serving bowl/container.

4) ADD SIGNS – Let the guests know what the bar is for, and also inform them when they should launch the confetti.

5) ANNOUNCE BAR – Have your DJ announce the concept of the bar to your guests during cocktail hour before the bride and groom have arrived so that there is plenty of time for guest to mix and match their own custom confetti mixes. Part of the fun of this wedding idea is that people have the time to mix and match a baggy full of confetti so that they can throw a batch of their own hand-selected mixed confetti.

This can really be a great activity, but please make sure to first check with y our catering hall/location to make sure that their are no restrictions on confetti. (Some halls don’t allow it.) Here are some pictures below to better help you visualize the potential of a wedding confetti bar.

DJ KENNY CASANOVA’S WRITING WORK

One of TheDJservice.com’s disc jockeys, DJ Kenny Casanova, has his roots in entertainment as he is a former rign announcer and also a former wrestling personality. In early 2014, Kenny decided to try his hand at writing as well, setting out to write a book as a fundraiser for a retired WWE wrestler he had worked with who had lost both legs to diabetes.

In the past, Kenny Casanova portrayed a wrestling manager named “Kim Chee” on a number of occasions in the Northeast, for a huge monsterous wrestler named “Kamala.” Some 15 years later, Kenny heard about Kamala’s plight and figured his story in a book form could be one answer to Kamala’s lost earnings. So Kenny interviewed WWE Legend Kamala, as well as a number of other famous names in wrestling, in hopes to create Kamala’s autobiography to help him offset the double-amputee’s medical costs.

From these interviews, Kenny put book together and put it up on the social media platform, KICKSTARTER! where everybody chips in to help make something happen. Using the Kickstarter funds as a means to collect pre-sales, along with some really great reward incentives including the book itself, fans rallied behind Kenny’s idea.

Kenny went into a full-fledged self-publishing mode, creating a press called WOHW.com. He got all kinds of press for the book, additional content by famous wrestlers and arranged for countless interviews to plug the book.

With the Kickstarter money, Kenny hired an editor, a book layout guy and also had enough funds to actually print the book.

It is our pleasure to report that Kenny raised $17,500, which was $5,500 over goal! After the Kickstarter campaign, remaining book sales surpassed $10,000. An finally, an additional $35,000 was also raised in cash by fans wanting to help when the Kickstarter had ended on a Gofundme collection.

If you are interested in the book check out www.KamalaSpeaks.com

It has guest passages by  Jim Ross, Mick Foley, Jake “The Snake” Roberts, Koko B Ware, Insane Clown Posse’s Violent J, Jerry Jarrett, Cowboy Bill Watts, Kevin Sullivan, “Brother Love” Bruce Prichard, Barry Darsow (aka Repo Man / Smash of Demolition), “The Mountie” Jacques Rougeau, Nikolai Volkoff, “The Genius” Lanny Poffo, Jesse Barr (Jimmy Jack Funk), Boris Zhukov, Ivan Koloff, Bill Anderson, Marty Jannetty, Bobby Fulton, Tom Brandi, Jimmy Hart, Ken Resnick, Bill Apter, Insane Chavo Guerrero Sr, Adrian Street, and Hacksaw Jim Duggan.

BOOK PROMOTION INTERVIEWS –

STEVE AUSTIN – After Kenny finished the first draft, he called another “wrestling bad-ass.” It turned out Stone Cold was one of “the biggest Kamala fans ever as a kid.” Therefore, Steve Austin brought in Kamala as a guest on his Aug 19, 2014 podcast, launching the Kickstarter  campaign first on, “THE STEVE AUSTIN SHOW.”

ROWDY RODDY PIPER – After the dust settled from Austin’s interview, Kenny called The Hot Rod and arranged to have him chat with Kamala for the September 8th, 2014 airing of his talk show. The two of them worked together in the early 80s and certainly had a lot to talk about. James said this was his favorite interview ever, and Piper said, “I really learned a life lesson about the positive attitude that James Harris has about life.”  You can listen to it and download it at “PIPER’S PIT”

A REVIEW OF AN AWESOME BBQ SERVICE IN ALBANY, NY

Are you thinking of throwing a party but have no idea what to do for food?  How about a BBQ service that offers WHOLE HOG pig roasts with a cool billiards theme?

They do it all. When I was the DJ for a party they did last year, I was blown away. 3 Ball has the most impressive custom-made smoker, “Smokezilla,” that I ever saw.

3 Ball BBQ menu is also out of this world. Not only do they carry the best in traditional BBQ entrees, but they also have “Global-Cue” categories featuring Brazilian BBQ on skewers and Korean BBQ dishes. I personally couldn’t get enough of their scrumptious seafood gumbo!

ANY SIZE PARTY – If the idea of too much food from a massive HOG isn’t what you are looking for for your smaller backyard BBQ, how about a smaller suckling pig with some other pork platters and sides? They really aim to please.

If you want to book them for a party, check out 3BallBBQ.com, or call 518-522-7102.

TRY OFFERING AN ADULT BEVERAGE WITH A KID’S GAME AND BRING THE FUN TO YOUR DJ PARTY!

It is funny, because we are all kids at heart. Sometimes some of the best times in life are when you bring the child out in someone. Rather than just serve some adult drinks at your next party or event, why not make them work for it.

Once a year, we get booked by our friends at a local fire department induction party to DJ the event. This year we decided to add an activity to go along with their fun and foolish antics; Vokda Piñata.

To the best of my knowledge, we made it up – but who knows. Anyhow, rather than just loading the Piñata up with only little bubblegum shop toys and candy, we added a little something else with a kick. Knowing that our audience were adults, and adults who like to drink, our special added bonus was twenty of those little shot bottles of Vodka, Fireball and various types of rum that they could add to their soda of choice.

HOW TO MAKE IT HAPPEN – It really is simple. We were doing a Fireman’s party so we just ordered the Piñata from a local party store. It was only like $8! Then, all you have to do is wrap a little bubble wrap around the bottles with some rubber bands, and you are good to go. The bottles were all plastic these days for the most part, so you don;t really need to worry about fragile glass breaking on impact.

Here are some pictures of the party we DJ’ed in the Troy NY area where we debuted our Vodka Piñata.

Give it a whirl. They will love it!

If you liked this idea and want to book us for your theme party, drop us a line at 518-506-3305.

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