Over the weekend, I was the disc jockey for a wedding at Lillian’s in Saratoga Springs, NY just a few minutes away from the Saratoga Raceway track. Here is an idea that I thought was well done. What this bride and groom did was simple, yet elegant; they used framed pictures as centerpieces.
If you like this idea, all you have to do is find old pictures of relatives and loved ones who are no longer with us and use them as your wedding centerpiece. Probably the best way to collect the images is to talk to some of the older members of both families and see what you borrow to copy.
The pictures then become great conversation pieces for the bride and groom, as they make their rounds from table to table.
This particular couple created uniformity by adding a candle and a balloon to each centerpiece. They also added the idea to high-top standing tables to decorate the cocktail hour area and follow the theme.
This next idea is useful for both decoration and entertainment.
“Nicole and Kevin” got married at Lakeside Farms in Ballston Spa, NY. What they did was build a nifty custom backdrop for photos, borrowing from the photo booth idea.
The difference from a traditional photo booth here is this backdrop was a folding facade that had their names, the wedding date, and other important tidbits “stenciled” on it.
HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN CHALKBOARD PHOTO BOOTH
1) Hinge three pieces of plywood together into a tri-folding formation. 2) Paint the boards in black paint, or CHALKBOARD PAINT. (If you are unfamiliar with Chalkboard Paint, it is a paint that dries and allows you to write and erase on its surface.) 3) Headline the top center with the bride & groom’s name. 4) Decorate the sides in white writing and designs. Use white paint, white sticker letters, or chalk (if you have painted with Chalkboard Paint.) 5) Have your DJ announce the photo booth idea to your guests.
LET THE WEDDING PARTY FUN BEGIN
Accessorize – To add more entertainment value to this decoration, the bride and groom of this particular wedding also put out a folding table of costume accessories and props for the guests to pose with in front of their creation. (Some things in the box included sunglasses, rockstar wigs, inflatable guitars, feather boas, crazy hats and even costume jewelry.)
Chalkboard Paint – Another idea if you have used chalkboard paint is to allow guests to write messages on the backdrop to the bride and groom!
WAYS YOU CAN REALLY SAVE AT YOUR WEDDING VIDEO BLOG
DJ Kenny Casanova drops the bottom line on how to save money with your wedding in this inspiring Top 10 List video blog. If you need to be a bit of a spendthrift at your wedding, but don’t want your guests to know, relax. There is a way.
Invest in only 5 minutes of your time with watching this video. You will come up with some nifty ideas that will save you money, but not make you look like you have deep pockets in doing so on your special day.
Using my background in sports announcing, I had the pleasure of being the emcee and official DJ for this year’s Great American Mud Run in Pattersonville, NY.
All of the dirt and sweat took place at a familiar backdrop to Upstate, NY residents; The Indian Lookout Country Club of Mariaville, home of the world famous Harley Rendezvou, and also Club Bisco.
The Great American Mud Run 2013 in Pattersonville, NY
Despite droves of teams coming out for the run, the competition was fierce. America’s “muddiest 5k obstacle course race awarded cash prizes to four lucky finishers!
There was guts and gore and blood and mud in this crazy obstacle run.
I played a mix of hair band 80’s metal and also some of today’s hits to a thousand or so of the muddiest athletes you have ever scene.
The run wasn’t all the fun… We also had some official merchandise giveaways including an air guitar and the first ever, open invitational muddy YMCA dance contest.
I appropriately played “Talk Dirty To Me” by Poison for the air guitar contest.
We gave away tons of muddy T-shirts, sun glasses and there was a bunch of fun by all. Before each wave of competition, I was able to throw hundreds of sunglasses out to the runners to try and keep them from getting “mud in their eyes.”
Here is a video of the muddy YMCA dance-off.
In case you made it to the run, here are some pictures of the 2013 event. See if you can spot yourself!
As weird as Flavor Flav is, he knows the importance of time
WHAT DOES PROFESSIONAL MEAN?
Arriving early really means something. Today, I just wanted to spend a little time giving out my thoughts on DJ’ing this past weekend and why professionalism matters.
We had five gigs this weekend. I personally had an awesome wedding in Esperance, NY way up on a mountain on Saturday and Sunday was a Sweet 16 in Schenectady. The wedding came off without a cuff, but the Sweet 16 brought about something worthy to blog on.
First off, it is safe to say that if you want to be successful in life, you have to put in the extra time. We have found that one thing that helps us to get a ton of gigs over other disc jockeys, and one thing that makes for a successful party is …to BE EARLY.
UP TO TWO HOURS EARLY? Yes. Being “on time,” is not good enough. That is why I often prefer to be up to an hour and a half to two hours early to set up for important events like weddings, corporate events and sweet 16s. This gives me enough time to problem solve the unexpected and pay attention to fine detail so everything comes off without a problem.
At his particular Sweet 16, one of the kids wanted to be “DJ Helper.” When this happens, I play along and let them take a few unbreakable things from my car and bring them into the venue with me. While unloading a few gear bags my Jeep Patriot, I pushed my door shut with my hip. The helper kid from the party tried to follow my lead and help me by also shutting my passenger door on the driver side… right where my keys were sitting. When the door shut, the electronic brain of the car thought I was in the car with a large portion of my unloaded gear. Therefore my car decided to help me, as well, by locking the doors.
If I hadn’t been an hour and a half early, I would not have had time to call the police, then the Sheriff, then a towing company to finally find a person available to unlock my doors and let me unload the rest of my gear. If I wasn’t early, I wouldn’t have had enough time to still set up and have everything come off without skipping a beat.
The party still came off and with a tip at the end, to boot! (And the tip just about covered the tow truck fee!)
Looking for an alternative wedding reception site for your special day?
Last Saturday afternoon, I was the DJ for a fun wedding at Camp Scully on Snyder Lake in the North Greenbush / Wynantskill, NY area. I have provided entertainment before at the pavilion at Snyder Lake Beach, but never at the neighboring Camp Scully. It’s actually a nice little place!
Camp Scully Wedding
With Camp Scully having a bunch of camper cabins for bridesmaids and groomsmen to get dressed in, lots of grass and a pavilion of its own with Snyder Lake as a backdrop, it really is a neat little alternative for a wedding location.
The camp also has a volleyball court if you want to sport things up on your special day.
Another plus… you can bring in your own catering service and save tons of money!
