The Edison Club could be up-to-par for your wedding day needs.
Saturday was a busy day for me as I had three different gigs at three very different venues; all with different set ups. I had a mid-day wedding at The Edison Club in Rexford, a 30th karaoke/birthday party at Patroon Inn, and a music video dance party in Wynantskill. Incidentally Maria DJ also had a birthday party at Villa Valenti Pub. Busy as usual for TheDJservice.com and everything turned out really well, in the end.
Of course, the most important gig was the wedding. A real nice military guy named Dustin married a girl from the Philippines in a Champagne and Appetizer celebration reception. (There was no real meal, but a lot of fancy finger foods to graze on.)
The Edison Club is a well-kept wedding secret in Rexford. I guess, however, anybody one could argue that most everything that is any good in Rexford is kept quiet, due to it’s low key profile. (I few years ago, I had no idea where Rexford even was. Neither, by the way, does google maps.)
The Edison Club of Rexford New York is in fact a nice golf course, with a great backdrop of a lot of green. (Green is always great for outdoor wedding pictures. It brightens everything up much better than inside wedding church shots. Keep this in mind when planning!) It is not near any other businesses and inside the club house, it has a sizable layout for weddings.
The Edison has a giant space that is sectioned of into three different sections. One area becomes the ceremony, the other is a cocktail hour bar setting and the third is the dinning space for the reception. The dinning area actually has a stage with a very large square dance floor, with tables all around the outside edges. Recently remodeled, it is a pretty good place to have a wedding ceremony without having to go very far for the reception.
My complaint is really only a wiring issue that probably nobody notices, anyhow. (The stage doesn’t have outlets. Therefore as the DJ, you have to run a cord off the stage and out where it can potentially be seen. Besides this, it really is a nice hall.) If your disc jockey knows what he is doing, this shouldn’t be a concern.
If you are planning a smaller wedding, they do have means for you, perhaps, if you are not looking for much of any dancing. There is also a smaller room in the back of the building utilized for banquets that do not involve dancing, as there is no dance floor. It is a nice round room with a lot of windows and an ambient fireplace. (This facility does not provide a lot of access for guests or wedding professionals to move their bigger packages or gear into, but then again, it probably isn’t used for weddings much anyhow, due to the lack of dance floors.)
If you are looking for a decent place to have your reception, it’s worth giving a call.
Man alive! Mother Nature can have a way making, or ruining your special day.
When people plan an outdoor reception, the often do so with the “it would never happen to me” attitiude. However, The past two years, as a wedding DJ, I have seen some pretty rainy outdoor weddings. While an outdoor wedding can be totally awesome, when the weather does not cooperate, it can be a disaster if you do not have some planning, in order.
1. Plan well. While you have to plan ahead and cannot know what the weather will be on a particular date exactly, you can still try for the right season. Plan your outdoor wedding day for a time of the year that averages good weather that is comfortable.
2. Have a Backup Plan. You can’t predict what the weather is going to be. Rather than stress about it, plan for a site which will allow you to move the entire wedding to an inside location easily.
3. Alert your vendors! All of your vendors should know that it is an outdoor wedding. It sounds easy, but often this is forgotten and sometimes certain precautions need to be taken by your professionals to make everything work out well.
4. Dress for the elements. Choose fabrics that ensure comfort on the big day. Think about the later hours of the event as well.
5. Keep your guests’ comfort in mind. Also, make sure to let your guests know that the wedding will be outdoors. Prepare them so that they may dress appropriately.
6. Decorations. Remember, decorations have to brave the elements, and sometimes they may ruin photos, as well. Look for natural or built-in points of beauty for great backdrops and photo opportunities, rather than to try and plot lots of unnecessary decorations.
7. Invest in a good tent. You get what you pay for and you do not want to be dodging downpour streams in the middle of the dance floor. Take no shortcuts when renting a tent, or deal with sunburns and tidal waves.
I just thought I would give everybody a little heads up when it comes to planning the locations for your wedding ceremony and reception.
From experience, I have learned that the weddings that have had the smoothest transitions from ceremony to reception have been at the same location, or under ten minutes away. I know this sounds simple, but it doesn’t always happen.
I have seen many wedding receptions run late, due to, in part, the transition between ceremony and reception.
We already know that pictures typically transpire during this time, and that the bride and groom will be engrossed in what usually becomes a lengthy photo shoot. Depending on the circumstances, the photo shoot alone can be the cause of upsetting anxious guests and also end up running overtime charges by the hall and other wedding professionals waiting at the reception hall. To avoid further wait time, it really is best to plan for the ceremony to be very nearby the place of reception, whenever possible.
Rule of thumb; you really only want about an hour to an hour and a half at the very latest between the ceremony end time and the reception start, and that includes the cocktail hour within that window frame. Just keep in mind, that everyone is waiting to be with you on your special day.
Last Saturday Maria & I DJ’ed an 80th Birthday Party at Burden Lake Golf, Burden Lake, NY (which is right near Averill Park, about 15 to twenty minutes from Albany). I had never done anything at this venue, but it’s a nice little place.
They seat about 150 people comfortably, with round tables and lots of windows all around. There are some little ponds outside, streams and a lot of green, so the atmosphere is nice. They have a full long bar with seating and also they have a built in slide show arrangement in the corner so you can do powerpoints/slide shows. (I believe it is also wired for PA, though we used our own set up).
Just thought I would give them a plug, as it was a nice little place I hadn’t heard of.
