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Kenny Casanova – Wedding Lip-Sync King.

I know, I know. We always boast, “NO CHEESY MUSIC EVER.” However, I throw in one from time to time for comedic value, like I am in on the joke of being the “bad wedding DJ.”

Here is a funny shot sequence by an awesome photographer, Larry Matthews. It is of me lip-syncing along to my one cheesy Delilah Show song of the night… “You Are so Beautiful to Me.” I am hamming it up, but I am smart enough not to actually sing over the velvet-smooth vocals of the very sweet Joe Cocker.

On a side note, there was a horrible storm that night,as Lake George got hit with the trails of some real nasty tropical stuff that made its way up north.

Just down the road, six people were rushed to the hospital due to the same storm after being struck by lightning!

Setting up for the wedding that day, I stepped out of my jeep directly into a 3 inch wave of water flowing down the hill where I was parked. It took me down! Fortunately for me, my entertainment lawyer, Marty Carbone, has a camp right nearby. He brought me some dry socks so I was able to make it through the night and belt out this classic.

Message in a Bottle Guestbook

At Indian Ladder Farms in Altamont, NY this past Saturday (a nice little place that I was the DJ for about 15 minutes out of Albany,) I saw a great new idea to try at your wedding. Instead of signing a book that will barely never get read, how about listening to Sting from The Police? You know, having your wedding guests leave you a message in a bottle?

Here is an interesting and a more creative do-it-yourself idea that throws a twist on the traditional wedding guest book.

HOW TO MAKE YOUR MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE GUEST BOOK –

1) First, secure 3 different colored wine bottles.
2) Next, remove the manufacturer’s labels by soaking the bottles in hot water.
3) Too sticky? No problem. Clean and scrape off any remaining label remnants with lighter fluid, or a good adhesive remover like Goof Off. (You can also use WD-40  as a cleaning agent.)
4) Print custom labels made up with the bride & groom’s names printed on them, and the numbers 1, 10 & 25.
5) Create a nice display on a small table. Place the table with the bottles and squares of paper at the entrance door to the wedding reception.
6) Add an instructional photo frame, explaining that the bottles will be used in place of the traditional wedding guestbook and broken on certain year anniversaries to have the messages read.
7) Encourage guests to write their messages throughout the evening.

HOW IT WORKS – The idea is that the newlyweds should read their messages on their first, fifth, tenth and twentieth anniversaries. What a great idea! It is like morphing together the traditions of the wedding guest book and freezing a piece of wedding cake to eat a year later.

SIMILAR IDEA – If you liked this idea, check out our wine bottle signing guest book idea.

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.