In planning your wedding, you’ll find yourself describing what you want to a lot of people (the wedding planner, the florist, the venue, your friends, your Mom, etc.) Sometimes people just can’t see it. They might go in a direction you weren’t expecting because they thought that’s what you wanted.
One neat tool to be able to explore the possibilities, and then make a visual representation of what you want the overall wedding theme to be ispolyvore.
This online tool is is a great resource to help you get your ideas out to wedding vendors and people helping you plan your special day.
Polyvore lets you make a collage of products and images. It is most often used for fashion collages, but wedding collages are popular as well. On polyvore, you can set up the ideal feel of the wedding. You don’t have to put in the exact items you have or will purchase. Set your budget aside, and create the dream wedding on polyvore. Then look to reproduce that look and feel for your own event.
Maria DJ wore a beautiful traditional dress so that the night still felt like a wedding, and not just a crazy pirate party.
Ahoy party people! “The Prince of Passion” DJ Kenny Casanova is here, with my very OWN wedding report on the real royal bash of the year… “The DJ Kenny Casanova & Maria DJ Pirate Wedding Extravaganza.”
A PIRATE WEDDING CAN BE AWESOME
In case you are keeping score, I practiced what I preach. I always say, “If you have the guts, always go with a theme for your wedding. Theme weddings make for a better time! ” Many traditional weddings are real fun, but all have the same flavor to them in the end; a fancy bridal dress and a whole lot of monkey suits.
Being wedding DJs that attend a few weddings a week, Maria DJ and I had to do something different for our own reception so it would stay in our minds forever, and not blend into the many memories of our clients’ passed special days. The question at hand was, “What do two wedding DJs do when they get married to each other?” We, therefore, decided to answer with having a theme wedding ourselves, so OUR special day would be memorable.
My wife randomly chose PIRATE, from a blog I wrote a few years back and the outcome was awesome!
A lot of local people from Albany, Troy and Schenectady and land lubbers from around the world browse my blog here at TheDJservice.com/blog for great planning ideas and wedding tips based on all the succesful weddings I have have been a part of. “Sharing is Caring,” is my motto, but this time it is ironic that I am sharing some fun things from MY actual wedding.
THEME WEDDING IDEAS
Special Mystery Guest Groomsman & Emcee, “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan
OUR CELEBRITY EMCEE – Always jazz things up with a surprize! We wanted the most pirate-like celebrity we could think of to be the replacement voice of my own.
Therefore, with a little deliberation, we picked Glens Falls native and former WWE United States Heavyweight Wrestling Champion, “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan! He became the special “mystery groomsman” and then the special guest emcee. Hoooo! We agreed in the end that he was great!!!
Everyone loved him, he fit the bill perfectly, and was better than any other extra we could have thrown in there. People from another wedding even came in to meet and greet the WWE Hall-of-Famer.
Pirate Wedding Treasure Chest Centerpieces
CENTERPIECES – Our beautiful centerpieces were pirate treasure chests, but not like you would think. We loaded ours with mardi gras beads, gold coins and large crystal gems. In the centerpiece department, we did not skimp out on the contents at all. We did not use any cartoony-like, plastic happy meal-like prize inserts, which would have been easy to do. Our philosophy on making this celebration a success was to decorate for “a fancy pirate wedding.”
We tried our best to make everything look as legitimate and as real as possible, so the reception didn’t look like a kid’s pirate birthday. Using Broadway play quality costumes and high cost quality decorations made everything look and feel all-the-more classy …or at least as classy as a pirate shindig can be!
FLAGS – Cloth is a definite must. None of this plastic or paper table cloth nonsense. We adorn the hall in full pirate regalia. We posted 17 different “jolly roger” pirate flags up in each window-bay of Hebert’s of Birch Hill’s large reception hall. (With each flag hand-chosen to be slightly different, the attention to fine detail made things more interesting to the eye. It was interesting to see the little variations of each traditional pirate flag than to quickly browse over the same print over and over again of the same skull & crossbones. There are actually many different pirate flags out there, and if you look online, you can find full real 3 x 5 foot flags for $5-$10 a piece, that may not be all that weather-sound, but perfect for the short-term; an indoor reception like ours.
FOOD – In the true spirit of a pirate, we had a feast. We had buffet style thick carved prime rib, lobster penne, and chicken marsella.
CAKES – Arrrghhh! Yes matey! We had two cakes; one custom pirate wedding tower by yummy local wedding cake favorite Coccadotts, and a surprizingly scrumptious groom’s cake by my own sister that was peanut butter frosting, peanut butter cake and topped with crushed reeses everything! (My favorite!)
I actually fed a piece of this to my best man, the same as you feed one to your bride, in full pie-face tradition.
PHOTO MAGNET PHOTO-SHOOT – Ever see this yet? For party-favors, a photography service comes in with a green screen magnet shoot so that people could bring home high quality magnets to put on their refridgerators of the night. The magnets are a great way to remember the fun had with all their friends. These magnetic keepsakes are great for a pirate wedding theme because our photographer (Holmes Photo Imaging) changed the background on demand to match the guests costumes and our theme. And, the super sharp full color quality was also unbelievable! This extra fun option was again provided by Holmes Photography in the Albany, NY area.
STAY TUNED – There will be much more to come soon, on how to actually plan a great pirate wedding, once we go through the pictures. In case you might want to walk the plank yourself at your own wedding, here are some of our guests pictures to hold you over, as the professional shots by Manny at Affordable Photography are not quite done yet.
As you may or may not have noticed, much of what I blog about here at www.TheDJservice.com/blog ends up being a lot of cool ideas for those who are in the midst of planning weddings. The reason wedding advice ends up, quite often, being a large portion of the content is that I end up DJ’ing one or two weddings a week, and the events become easy content for my DJ blog. It is a no brainer. If you have been following my blog, you know that I like thematic weddings the best.
A stock pile of pirate goodies
Anyhow, I just wanted to let the readers know that I practice what I preach; Theme Weddings are one of the best ways to really make your wedding memorable. Therefore, my wedding will be loaded with PIRATES.
About a year ago, I wrote a blog about how I would plan a “pirate wedding.” The way I write my wedding theme blogs are I either go to a wedding that has an awesome theme and absolutely have to share what I saw, or I do a bunch of research up on an idea and write.
Pirate Theme Wedding Centerpiece
In the case of my researched pirate blog, I had gone to my nephew’s birthday party which had a pirate theme, due to his love of The Pirates of The Carribean movie franchise. Then I got to thinking how it would be interesting to take some of the fun birthday party ideas and transform them into a bigger wedding that afforded a bigger budget to the theme.
Before posting the finished draft of the blog, my fiancee read it and told me I shouldn’t put it out there for everyone to read.
“Why?” I asked. “Is it not realistic? Do you think nobody will want to do it?”
“No. No. Not at all,” she replied. “I don’t want anyone stealing it, because I want it for our wedding.”
A woman into the idea of a pirate theme?! This is why I am marrying her!
Anyhow, we have had an absolute blast planning for our own special day.
Here are some shots of the best man, or first mate, Marty Carbone and myself, sporting the costumes that didn’t quite make the cut:
First Mate Marty Carbone – Best ManThe DJ Kenny Casanova Pirate Wedding Extravaganza – one costume that didn’t quite make the cut.
Over the weekend, I had the pleasure of working with the good people at The Inn at Saratoga, right off of Broadway Street.
The Inn is a nice little place and I thought I would chime in about it for those of you who may be planning a small wedding celebration soon in the Saratoga area.
While a huge guest list event probably won’t work well there, if you are planning a laid back smaller wedding of 80-90 people or less in this area, The Inn at Saratoga m
ight be right for you. Their accommodations were comfortable for about this many friends and family, in my estimation.
Tent Ceremony in Courtyard
CEREMONY – The Inn at Saratoga has a nice little courtyard with a tent, suitable for smaller outdoor weddings safe from the elements. (On this past Saturday in particular, the tent turned out to be a useful option for the bride and groom, due to the drizzle and wind.)
COCKTAIL HOUR – This faciltiy also has an inside dining hall with an outside porch leading into it from the bricked courtyard. Both the porch and the inside area have bars and room for cocktail hour goodies and snacks, however, my estimation is that the outside bar on the porch by the tent would be the best bet, when weather allows. Outside there is more room for cocktails and appetizers. The inside bar option feels more like a hallway between the restaurant and the wedding dinning hall.
The Inn also has a complete public bar in the front, to compliment its actual restaurant. The public bar serves for a great hiding place for the bride and groom before their grand introduction into the dining hall, while the people are seated and waiting.
Banquet Hall
THE BANQUET HALL – The dinning hall, again, is a venue not made for guest lists of 100 +, however, it is a comfy and fun place at around 80 people or less. There is a small dance floor and enough space to fit eight people comfortably at about ten round tables. They have a little fireplace, as well as a huge victorian-like decorative mirror by the doors that lead to the courtyard.
FOOD – I had the prime rib. It was a pretty tasty hunk ‘o beef, garnished with wild rice and a mixed veggie blend of peppers, green beans, and broccoli. (A little over-cooked for me personally, perhaps, but then again, I like my cow still mooing and running.)
PARKING – Is a little cramped there, as it is many places on Broadway in Saratoga. The Inn makes up for it, however, in that they do provide a free valet service that parks your care and retrieves it upon exit.
HOTEL ROOMS – It also helps that it is an actual functioning Inn and that guests can stay right there, if you they choose to do so. The hotel is located in a very convenient place, right near the nightlife of the city. Nearby is Canfield Casino and Congress Park and the hotel provides free wireless Internet to everyone. Being the DJ for the event, I had no problem downloading an oddball music request. (It’s great when you don’t need a wifi password.)
All in all, this hall is not a bad option if you are looking for 8o-90 people as your guests, at most.
WEDDING THEME IDEAS – A list of different themes to pick from to liven your wedding or event
As a wedding DJ, I have seen a lot of traditional weddings. I have noticed, however, that something makes it hard for me to remember which wedding was which. If you have attended a lot of weddings yourself, did you ever notice that later on they all seem to blend together in your memory?
DARE TO BE DIFFERENT- If you really want your special day to be different and memorable, you have to take a risk and break the norm. Think about it, the traditional wedding with tuxedos and the big white dress and the huge cake is a theme now, in itself. But everyone does the traditional wedding thing, or at least some elements of it. So, do you want to stand out and have your wedding really be remembered? Do you dare to be different? There are many many ways to make your wedding stand out and be different from the rest. One sure way to do that is to add a fun theme to your special day.
PICK A THEME AND CREATE A REAL MEMORY!
KEEPING THE CLASS – Don’t get me wrong. You can keep traditions, but tradition doesn’t have to happen to the point of nausea, anymore. Keep the ceremony sacred, keep the white dress, and keep whatever you want from the traditional guidelines. But remember, guidelines are just that… GUIDELINES. When you add a theme to your wedding, the whole game changes, but you can still make it fancy and elegant, and not just a theme party.
When I got married, my wife kept the white dress so it still felt like a wedding, but the groomsmen rented high-end pirate costumes, rather than tuxes. Since it was a pirate theme, we chose to go for the movie prop look, rather than the easy cartoon-like party decorations that you could get just anywhere. That way, the pirate feel was authentic and not just a silly halloween party.
LIST OF WEDDING / PARTY THEME OPTIONS WITH “HOW-TO” HYPERLINKS FOR MORE INFO:
(A few wedding theme options on the above list are hyperlinks. For more wedding theme ideas, check out our other blogs at www.thedjservice.com/blog )
A Star Wars Wedding is just one of the many themes you could pick!
THEMES REALLY CREATE PARTICIPATION – Adding a fun theme where people actually dress the role or can participate in some fun and different way, makes everyone feel connected. Everything is united under one common idea. This idea fosters creativity and participation at the sime time. People come together and want to help you plan and even decorate. And brides, I have even noticed that when an interesting theme has been added, creative grooms buy into the planning even more. (See my not-yet written future blog here: My Pirate Wedding)
We have become one of the area’s number one choices for theme weddings when selecting a disc jockey. With my past experience in the entertainment field, as well as being a fiction writer, it only makes sense that my creative side does well with theme weddings as a DJ.
The Gourds needed a video for their Snoop Dogg cover, so Kenny Casanova stepped up.
New Video Remix… The Gourds – Gin & Juice
DISCLAIMER: Before viewing… There is some adult language in this song.
The Gourds are an alternative country/bluegrass band that have been playing since 1994. Out of Austin, Texas, they are best known for playing a song that is not even theirs. “Gin & Juice” is a Snoop Dogg “gangsta” rap. The lyrics of the song discuss sex and drugs in the hood. I think what made this cover an underground success is that the content and familiarity of the lyrics to some makes for a whimsical and fun experience when performed over a bluegrass backdrop.
Anyhow, The Gourds are an independent band and did not release a music video for this Snoop Dogg cover. Therefore, I made my own, enlisting a few friends from Jim Henson’s house. Here it is:
