Tag: wedding dj

ALBANY NY MOBILE DJS

MOBILE DISC JOCKEYS providing high quality entertainment with new music & all the classics! We customize weddings, parties, and corporate events with: premium lighting, photography, karaoke, music videos & more! DJ Kenny Casanova (a highly booked DJ with former WWE ring announcer experience) , DJ Maria (Pop/Country/Rock DJ & dance specialist) & all our DJs offer full-time experience, professional gear, and affordability.

TheDJservice.com – Founding father Kenny Casanova is a high-profile wedding DJ for TheDJservice.com out of Upstate, New York. Kenny’s DJs provide fun interactive musical entertainment to weddings, karaoke birthday parties and just about any event where music is needed.

After ring announcing with WWE wrestling, The Prince of Passion transitioned into becoming one of the best Wedding DJ’s in his area. Winning awards and BEST OF titles from Capital Region Living Magazine and Metroland, DJ Kenny Casanova is well sought-after and is booked solid with multiple gigs every weekend.

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.

(PHOTO CREDIT: http://www.weddingaces.com/wp-content/uploads/rain.blog.1.jpg)

IDEAS FOR KEEPING THE FOOD AFFORDABLE

Today, times are tough. We are seeing traditions broken daily and hard decisions have to be made. Maybe you really want to get married but know that your venue bill will be 15 to 20 times the size of what the DJ bill will be, and you know you can’t afford it. That’s right. Your average wedding venue bill with food is $10,000-$30,000 today! Weel, what can you do?

POTLUCK! BRING YOUR OWN FOOD?!

Before you dismiss this as an unacceptable option, let’s look at history. One hundred years ago, there was no prime rib. There were no candy tables. There was no open bar tab. Almost every wedding reception was catered by the guests!

Part of the wedding gift was your loved ones sweating over a hot oven. Then, they would show up with their labors of love bearing a covered dish for all to partake, in the name of the bride and groom.

Another trend of guests bringing their own food to a wedding reception to be shared by all happened a little more than only fifty years ago. In the ‘60s, dematerialization and sharing also was a big part of that generation’s mindset.  This bled over into the matrimonial ceremonial trends. At this time, Potluck weddings were about sharing all kinds of things.

Believe it or not, the idea of guests bringing the food to the reception was not low-brow at many points in history. It actually used to be the norm. However, in the “instant gratification” materialist world that we live in, and now with the economic state that our country is in, this trend is making a comeback at weddings.

Here are a number of tips to keep in mind, in order to make the idea of covered dishes work at your reception:

PLANNING A POTLUCK WEDDING – While this is a great idea, there may be some materialistic money-grubbers who will oppose your quest for crockpots. Many wedding halls will not allow you or guests to bring in food or alcoholic beverages. In most cases, this directly affects their bottom line, as providing high end dishes is an integral part of their income and overall profit. In order to have a potlock reception, you will first have to locate an appropriate hall to your liking that allows self-catering, and one that still fits the atmospheric-setting role that you are looking for.

PROMOTING YOUR VISION – Whenever you can, consider a theme! For our house warming, we held what we called a “cultural covered dish party.” You couldn’t just show up with hot dogs and chips. We challenged our guests to recreate and share their favorite ethnic dishes from all around the world.

For our cultural covered dish party, we communicated with out friends and family to see what area their cuisine would come from. Once we heard one country or area was being represented, we might mention that to another person. Then, each guest would bring some really cool things to the table.

One friend could represent Mexico, another could represent Italy, and so on and so forth, so that many different and fun dishes were represented. We then put little flags in front of the dishes, upon receiving them. It felt like Disney’s “It’s a Small World” ride, but much tastier!

CHEF TO IMPRESS & RESTRICTIONS – Tell your people to all bring entrees, not side dishes. Push the idea of “CHEF TO IMPRESS!” You always have the handful of loser relatives who want to only bring soda and chips. Make it clear that side dishes will make for a poor spread. Side dishes are very lame and that each guest needs to try and provide at least one entree, with any amount of supporting sides that they wish! If you get entrees across the board, there will be some really great food and fun for all!

TAKE INVENTORY & COMMUNICATE – It is crucial that you make an ongoing list of what guests would like to bring so that you don’t get a dozen meatball dishes, for example, and nobody shows up with some succulent shrimp or chicken! (Gotta have chicken!) Consider using facebook to make communication easy.

TIMING & STORAGE – Let the people plan early. Put your food information/request right on the invitation. When the wedding day finally comes, the best way to organize is to put someone in charge of receiving the food, before the ceremony actually starts.

CROCK POTS – Rule. Enough said.

PREP TEAM & CLEAN UP TEAM – Since there are no caterers waiting on your guests, this does mean that there will be more work that will need to be done on your behalf. It is best to ask for volunteers to man food prep & clean up.  With two separate teams, the brunt of work doesn’t fall heavy on one or two people’s shoulders. You will need one group to organize and set up the food, and also another to break down, preserve and get the containers ready to go back to the original owners.

MUSIC – Everybody knows that music makes it better. Food is best consumed with music, so get a DJ! (I know a good one!)  Your savings on food allows for even more fun to happen!

DISH PRESENTATION – We don’t want this to look like your average party. Since you are potentially saving thousands on the food bill, you may want to make everything look as classy as possible.

To avoid the stigma that a hodge-podge potluck wedding reception could receive, try and create some kind of uniformity in presentation.  Another trick is to elevate entree dishes on your buffet tables with some kind of milk crates or soda riser-trays, then cover the boosters with linen.

If you really want to change people’s minds about being thrifty, stay away from dollar store table cloths to avoid cheap presentation of good food! To remain classy but still save money, if your hall does not provide linens, you can always purchase sale fabric at a discount fabric stores.

POTLUCK DESSERTS – Maybe you still want the dinner catered, but love this idea. How about potluck desserts only?!

ADDITIONAL GIFTS ARE OPTIONAL – Remember, since guests are providing the food, it is customary to accept the fact that the dish could be considered the only gift to you, or at least a portion of the gift. Encourage this and embrace it! You are saving thousands of dollars!

Food is love and when prepared by your friends and family, love as well as scrumptious scents will be in the air. The possibilities are endless. People will go out of their ways to really show off their skills, and at the same time, impress you.

Having a successful covered dish wedding reception is all about cooperation and fun with people who are important to you. Your friends and family will love the idea and probably go out of their ways to really make it a spread that will impress everyone.

If done correctly, your wedding reception could turn out to be much better than any catering company could ever deliver.

It is now that magical moment for you, the bride in white. The glowing spotlight is shinning softly on you and all eyes casted your way. Your hands hold a modest, yet gorgeous bundle of flowers and you are about to throw it all away, and move on to the next wonderful chapter in your book.

Your dress is perfect. Your hair is lovely. Everything is just how you imagined it would be, but the silly DJ cracks a stupid joke to match his song choice and plays something ridiculous and seemingly unrelated,  because you didn’t specify and left it up to him.

You bite your lip. “I knew shoulda told him what to play!”

Don’t worry! You are not there yet. So what can you actually pick for a song? There are countless songs out there, and it is overwhelming, but you do not half to reinvent the wheel.

Here is a popular listing of Top Bouquet Tossing Songs where you cannot go wrong!

• Single Ladies – Beyonce
• Just Wanna Have Fun – Cyndi Lauper
• I Will Survive – Gloria Gaynor
• Another One Bites The Dust – Queen
• Dancing Queen – Abba Girls
• Ladies Night – Kool & The Gang
• Man! I Feel Like A Woman – Shania Twain
• Respect – Aretha Franklin
• All I Wanna Do – Cheryl Crow
• Chapel of Love – Dixie Cups
• Hot Stuff – Donna Summer
• Pretty Woman – Roy Orbison
• So Many Men, So Little Time – Miquel Brown
•This one is for the girls – Martina McBride
•Wishin’ and Hopin’ Ani Difranco (My Best Friends Wedding Soundtrack)
•”Sex in the City” theme song
• American Woman – The Guess Who
•Bootylicious – Destiny’s Child
• Diamonds are a girls best friend – Marilyn Monroe
• Dirty – Christina aguilera
• Don’t want no Scrub – TLC
• Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic – The Police
• Express Yourself – Madonna
• Funky Town – Lipps Inc.
• Girls, Girls, Girls – Motley Cruew
• Hey Ladies – The Beastie Boys
• Hit Me With Your Best Shot – Pat Benatar
• Its Getting Hot in Herre – Nelly
• Its Raining Men – The Weather Girls
• Just a girl – No Doubt
• Ladies Night – Kool & The Gang
• Lady Marmalade – Pink, Mia, Lil’ Kim, Christina Aguilera
• Let’s Get Loud – Jenifer Lopez
• Like a Virgin – Madonna
• Milkshake – Kelis
• Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman – Britney Spears
• Oh Its so Quiet, Shhh (Zing-Boom) Bjork
• One way or another blondie
• Our Day Will Come – Ruby and the Romantics
• Perfect Day Hoku – Legally Blonde Soundtrack
• Red Neck Woman – Gretchen Wilson
• Shoop Shoop Song – Cher
• Single White Female – Chely Wright
• This one’s for the Girls – Martina Mc Bride
• Touch Me, Tease Me Case – Foxy Brown
• What a Girl Wants – Christina Aguillera

SELECTING THE BEST FIRST DANCE WEDDING SONG

If your wedding is coming up you know that making everything just right is a daunting task. There are countless things to look at, and with so many options out there, it can truly be overwhelming. Hall location, center pieces, floral arrangements, which DJ and catering company to select, entry selections & appetizers; the list goes on and on.

Some nervous grooms and brides alike get sweaty palms at the mere mention of having to step up to the spotlight and face “The Dreaded First Dance.” But if you choose a song that is meaningful to you, and makes you happy, that first dance will set the tone and break the ice for everyone.

If you have no clue what to pick for the first dance, here is a great list to look at at some popular hip songs, as well as some great classics that many couples have used in the Upstate New York area for their first dance.

Wedding Introduction Ideas & Song Options

The “Bridal Party Introduction” is where I really made the transition from Professional Wrestling Ring Announcer Kenny Casanova to Wedding Reception DJ. It was just natural that my Michael Buffer-like,  “Let’s Get Ready To Rumble,” voice lent a hand in success when it comes to the intro of the bridal party. So with that being said, what have I seen lately in this area of bridal introductions?

For the most part, as the wedding DJ, I format the actual bridal party line up ahead of time expecting changes last minute. This gives me a base to start from. It often changes last minute, but at least we don’t have to reinvent the wheel. So, along with the song selection, I send them an outline to fill out with names in chronological order. This helps a lot, brides, so if you can get this squared out ahead of time, there is a lot less confusion in the hallway a minute before you are about to go on.

Usually, I think it works best to acknowledge the grandparents from their seats, then have the parents come through the doors with no music. Next, the sound hits and the wedding party comes in.

Lately for large bridal parties, I have found a few songs is kind of cool, as long as it doesn’t create a huge hassle for the DJ who has to also announce the names at the same time. Very familiar songs are the key and also create individuality and characterization for the members walking out.

Recently, one bridal pairing came out loosely costumed as Michael Jackson to Billie Jean and walked to their line on the dance floor complete with pearled gloves and surgical masks to boot.

A dramatic pause before the bride and groom is also cool, followed with a different song.

Wedding Party Reception Entrance Song Idea List:

• Black Eyed Peas – I Gotta Feeling
• Carmina Fortuna – A Familiar Gothic Opera Tune You May Recognize 
• Rocky Theme -Gonna Fly Now w/ Survivor – Eye of the Tiger follow up
• Twilight Zone
• Mission Impossible Theme
• Olympic Fanfare – Emerson, Lake & Palmer
• Star Wars Imperial March Theme

ROCK
• Another One Bites The Dust – Queen
• Welcome To The Jungle – Guns N’ Roses
• White Wedding – Billy Idol
• You Shook Me All Night Long – AC/DC  
• Jump – Van Halen
• Thunderstruck – AC/DC
• Pour Some Sugar – On Me Def Leppard  
• Start Me Up – Rolling Stones
• The Final Countdown – Europe  

These are just a few selections I have seen in the Capital Region area as a wedding DJ. What ever you choose, make sure it fits you, as it sets the tone for the rest of the DJ fun for the night!

For more modern selection options, check out our Intro Song Idea List, also on this site.