Tag Archive: fun

The State of 2012 (thus far)…

2012 is shaping up to be a really good year so far for me. I actually wound up having major knee surgery in early January and have recovered nicely since then. I was real excited when I DJ’d my first 2012 wedding on March 17th for Kathleen and J.J. They had their ceremony and reception at the Channel Club, and what a beautiful day it was for them. I remember telling them that the sunsets are gorgeous, and they took the time to get the perfect photo for their wedding album. They were a super nice couple who loved music, so they were really pleased with how their day went.

Alison and Brian – March 23, 2012
This was a night to remember at The English Manor, not only for myself but for Alison and Brian. I don’t think their dance floor was empty the whole night. It is so awesome when I get a crowd that loves to dance, even if I’m trying not to dance them. THEY DANCED TO ANYTHING I PLAYED, from Runaround Sue to Party Rock. I had this one couple come up to me shortly after dinner and said, “We’ve attended a lot of weddings over the past year and we usually leave right after dinner to get back home and relieve our babysitter.” I said, “Well, you’re still here.”  They said, “We don’t want to leave. We just got off the phone with our babysitter and told her not to expect us till late.” I was so taken back by that compliment. To know that I am the one making people stay because they are having the time of their life makes me feel unbelievable.  As far as Alison and Brian, they were overjoyed on how their reception went and couldn’t thank me enough. They ended their night with 2 songs – Bohemian Rhapsody into The Time of My Life from the Dirty Dancing soundtrack. I’ve never ended with Bohemian Rhapsody before, and I gotta tell ya, these people sang their hearts out!!! I thanked Alison and Brian for having the kind of guests they did. Great Wedding!!

Alex and Kay – April 21, 2012
(singing) Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me (singing). Yes………I DJ’d on my birthday and loved it. When you’re 38 and don’t want anything except music and a great party, Alex and Kay’s wedding was the place to be. They had their ceremony and reception at The Water’s Edge in Sea Bright. Once, again it was a beautiful day, and I love it when the weather cooperates for a bride and groom. Alex and Kay were laid back and left the music selection pretty much up to me. I won’t forget the Best Man’s speech, in which he had a hilarious video he showed to Alex and Kay. After the toasts were done, everything was pretty much left up to me to find the right tunes to get people up on the dance floor. The guests just poured on the dance floor all night and dance it away. They ended the night with one of my favorite artists, Michael Buble’s – “Save the Last Dance”. After that, Alex came right up to me and shook my hand, and a couple days later I received an email expressing their thanks again.

As I said before, the 2012 wedding season is shaping up to be a great year. I’m excited to meet my future brides and grooms. The weddings I talked about above were only just a few of the ones that I have DJ’d. So long for now, I’ll be back with more. God Bless!!

Spring Fling Party @ Cliffwood Elementary School – 3/23/2012

The PTO headed by Dawn, put on a great “Spring” themed party for kids and families at Cliffwood Elementary School.  It was a great turn out on a Friday evening and the kids definitely came ready to party and dance.

We played all the popular Audience Participation and Line Dance songs including, “Cha-Cha Slide“, “Cupid Shuffle”, “Electric Slide”, “Cotton-eyed Joe”, “Macarena”, “Hands-Up”, “Dollar-Wine”, “Hot-Hot-Hot”, and “Apache”.  The kids loved the hats, sunglasses, Hawaiian leis, and maracas we gave out.  We also played lots of new music LMFAO, Rihanna, Drake, One Republic, Pitbull, Flo Rida, Black Eyed Peas, Avicii, Calvin Harris, and Adele.

We finished off the night with some group pictures of all the students up on stage to go in the year book.  It was a really fun and energetic night.

What Song was That?? – Heather’s Graduation Party – 3/4/2012

I received an email:

“From: Christina Young 

Date: Tue, Mar 13, 2012 at 11:12 AM
Subject: Question

Good Morning,

You Deejayed my cousin (Heather Young)’s graduation party on Sunday,
March 4th.  There was a song that you played, introduced by saying it
was from 1996 – my fiance and I loved that song, but couldn’t remember
the name of it after we left the party!!!

We thought it was the Boricua Anthem, but it doesn’t sound right.  I’m
sure you DJ a ton of parties all weekend long but I was hoping you
might be able to help me out if you recalled the name of this
particular song for us.  We wanted to have it played at our upcoming
wedding.

Thanks in advance.

Christina Young”

Christina was correct, it was the song was “Robi-Rob’s Boriqua Anthem ’96 Remix” by Robi Rob’s Clubworld.  (I emailed her back)

I love getting emails like this where someone asks about a song I played, especially one that I don’t play that often. Heather graduated from Centenary College, and her Party at Flynn’s – Philipsburg, NJ (Last exit in NJ) was a great time. We played a big variety of music: Latin, Top 40, some oldies… plus a few 90’s Club Hits.

One of the funniest things was when the Guest of Honor from the party next door (1st Birthday Party), came dancing in the room… She was adorable…Everyone in our party clapped and cheered for her (Her Parents were embarrassed).

In all it was a great party, lots of dancing, lots of fun….Congrats Heather on your Graduation, as well as Christina on your Wedding.

A Recent Bridal Showcase at The Crystal Point

Wednesday night, nearing the end of March with the wedding season starting to kick into full gear I was a part of a spectacular showcase at the Crystal Point Yacht Club in Pt. Pleasant.  I showed up at the venue at the same time as fellow entertainer Jason Estes and proceeded to walk in a side door into the main ballroom.  As soon as we stepped foot inside, we could feel the energy in the room and knew we had a great crowd on hand.

After a quick run through of our routine for the night, the show started up with a fashion show displaying some gorgeous dresses for the brides to be.  One by one the models made there way out of a hallway off to the side and onto the dance floor.  This was exciting for me because I knew in just a few short minutes after our “pretend” brides for the night made they way out the floor, we would finally get our show started and really see how much fun this crowd can be.

Now all of our Elite entertainers are lined up behind me, waiting for the anticipated cue to head out onto the dance floor and kick our show off with some style.  Kris A. gets the mic, says a few words, then out we come clapping our hands to “Lets Get Loud” as we try and get the room…loud!  We’re all feeling great as we roll through the dance and kick the mic over to Mike (love saying that) as he begins a sample of intros, using a lovely couple in the crowd whose names I believe were John and Jackie.  Mike the invites them up for a slow dance being sung by another wonderful entertainer at Elite, Tara Feely.  Jackie emphatically shakes her head no as she laughs, maybe a little embarrassed but still having fun, as she stays in her seat to watch a beautiful performance by Tara.  She finished her performance strong and hands the mic again, back to Mike as we get ready to start this party rocking.  I have the honor of emceeing the first song of the night which happens the be a classic one from the 50′s, “The Twist”.  I extend the first of many invites to our crowd to come join and dance as I get everyone on the dance floor onto one leg and test them to see how low they can twist.  Following “The Twist”, we have eight more party favorites and great emcees to get everyone we can out on the dance floor for fifteen minutes having an awesome time.

I could go into detail describing each and every song and how awesome it was having such a great crowd (like I had thought we would walking in) and how amazing each one of our emcees did that evening.  But, these are only words on a page.  The real fun was at the show and I can’t possibly express that here.  This is a job that has some great moments with each show, wedding, birthday, or any other event you can imagine being so different, its always a brand new experience each time.  Thanks to everyone who made that evening a great success and I hope to see all of you at our next showcase!

March 23, 2012 – Wedding Bells & Lots of Laughs

John Ruggiero, Versailles Ballroom at The RamadaFriday night I had the pleasure of spending an entire afternoon and evening with 2 of the greatest families I have ever worked with. Funny and Charming and Funny and Funny …did I say hilarious. From the beginning till the very minute I sat in my truck to drive away, it was nothing but smiles and lots of laughs that still hurt 36 hrs later like I did a thrashing ab-workout.

It was 6:00pm and the ceremony was just about to start. I was graced with the presence of my good friend and fellow Elite Entertainer-Corey Fox, as my partner in crime for the night, so I had a feeling it was going to be a memorable event one way or another. We’re set up in the back right corner of the room (if you can picture it, if not, you need not read any further). Well we start to hear small chattering laughter from a few couples in their, I’m guessing 60-70 age group, and they are sitting directly to our left, also the rear of the room. The laughter progressively got louder.

As I bring on the Processional music for the Bridesmaids to walk in, which was “Air” played in G, the room fell silent, as it always does. I heard some ahhhhhs and ohhhhhhs but not much from the Peanut Gallery in the opposite corner. Then I fade the music out, wait for about a second and then, Canon starts playing nice and loud as Jessica makes her way into the room and up toward the altar. I couldn’t make out was said over there as she passed by, but it created a laughter that engulfed the entire room and was contagious for the rest of the night. I could only pray that the comedy would stay tasteful throughout the duration of the party. We have all seen what can happen when you add alcohol to a situation.

After Jess and Jim said I DO and seal it with a kiss, I hit the recessional song; Everlasting Love, and they take their very first steps down the road of Matrimony. I just happen to glance over and one of the Gentlemen from the Peanut gallery was aggressively giving me thumbs up signs from across the room. I guess he liked us so far…yay…a fan club.

Cocktail hour was great as The Ramada in Toms River always puts out a fabulous spread. The finger foods were being enjoyed while the liquor flowed from behind the bar. The poor bartender couldn’t even keep up. As I listened to the beats of the music, it started to be overcome by the amount of laughter in the room. It was as if every little group of people had something to talk about that was funnier than the next. These people were a riot.

Introductions were like fireworks, Parents came in followed by all of the members in the Bridal Party, and I had everyone on their feet clapping and cheering.

When Jess & Jim made their Grand Introduction into the Ballroom to Party Rock Anthem-LMFAO, the room went ballistic. They shared their first dance together, and then danced with their respective parents. The attention of the room was focused on the dance floor the entire time.

Now its time for the Toast. We had 3 toasts and all were filled with the same love and laughter possessed by all the guests attending. The maid of honor was overcome with such emotion during her speech, that there was almost a slight awkward moment of silence until one of the other family members shouted out some jubilant expressions and once again the jokes were rolling around the ballroom. At least 1 person from each table had something to say that when all combined, turned her tears into confidence. Once she gained back her composure, her toast went flawless.

The Night was a blast. Dancing, laughing, eating, dancing , and laughing some more. There was even a part of the night when I played Sexy and I Know It and somebody who is well known as a reputable dancer, SPLIT his pants, and had to go change into jeans. Not even gonna say who that could be. But all in all the night was a success. Everybody left the wedding with such an abundance of joy and love wrapped around them. The Parents of the Bride came up to me as I was taking down my gear and thanked me once again for such a great time.

The very next day, not even 24hrs after the wedding, I receive a message from the Bride gloating about how much fun they had and they were so shocked that the party was so wild. They were extremely thankful and I am not going to lie…I was too. Another great time with some very special people that I will never forget.

The kicker here, is that 1 month before the wedding, I met with Jess & Jim at their house to go over all of the details of their party. They told me “We Don’t Really Dance” and “I don’t really think it is going to be a big dancing crowd”. To some DJs, this could be very discouraging, but I took this challenge head on, and personally feel that I knocked it out of the park.

I am firm believer that Good Entertainment = Good Party, but Great Entertainment = Great Party.
What kind of party will your Wedding be ???

The Big Brothers/Big Sisters Bowl for Kidsake

I’ve been DJing  this particular event  for Big Brothers/Big Sisters for 3 years now. It’s really an honor to be part of a great fundraiser.  To be honest when I was going to DJ this party I thought how much fun could a bowling party really be? Let me tell you, after the first year of DJing this event I look forward to DJing it every year now.  I took a few pictures this year to show you just how much I have with this crowd.

All 26 lanes of the alley were filled!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I got to set up right in the middle of the action!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Of course, I have to get some dance time in.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Pin Heads are one team you won’t forget!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How many people can say they’ve done the Cha Cha Slide in a bowling alley?!?!

Stephanie & John 3-3-12 @ The Waters Edge in Sea Bright

The Water’s Edge rocked this past Saturday. Stephanie and John only had 100 people at the party, but there was 100 people on the dance floor all night. The day started out great with a smooth ceremony taking place in the main ballroom of the Waters Edge. Stephanie came down the aisle to the traditional “Here Comes The Bride” but as they were pronounced husband and wife John and Stephanie had us play “I Wanna Rock” by Twisted Sister. As soon as the opening vocal hit the place exploded into cheers!
Guests enjoyed an hour of cocktail and hors d’oeuvre’s downstairs and then returned to the main ball room for introductions. I began by introducing Stephanie’s grandparents at their table, followed by the parents of the bride and groom and the members of the bridal party. The room filled with cheers and laughter as each couple danced their way into the room and onto the dance floor. Finally we slowly faded out the music, I asked everyone to rise and as we pumped the music up again I introduced the brand new Mr & Mrs John Rose into a room of thunderous applause.
Once the party started it was easy! The team at Waters Edge did a great job, Jenelle Kappe captured the day, and we kept the floor moving with a great soundtrack.

Seeing Double – “1 X 1 = 2”

Day 1:

Twins was the name of the game for Rachel & Rebecca’s Sweet 16 on 2/10/2012 @ Alfonso’s in Somerville.  The one thing (amongst probably many other things) that they shared was how sweet and generally kind hearted they are.  You could tell by the way their friends and family acted around them that they both are very special young ladies.  We kicked off the party to a packed dance floor, and started off with the crowd favorites: “Sexy and I Know It” – LMFAO, “We Found Love” – Rihanna feat. Calvin Harris, “Good Feeling” – Flo Rida.  Throughout the night we mixed in Top 40, Hip-Hop, and Latin.

What their guests found out was that it was not only a double birthday for the Twins, but a triple birthday since Rachel & Rebecca’s mom Vivian was also celebrating her 50th with her own cake and candles…

We also were treated by Rachel and her Musical Theater group to a show.  They performed  “2X” to “Single Ladies” – Beyonce and “Party Rock Anthem” – LMFAO.

We put the Twins in the middle of a circle of all their friends “2 X” having them dance to “Dance (A$$)” – Big Sean and “Baby Got Back” – Sir-Mix-A lot.  The decorations, giveaways, as well as lighting package added to an already fun night, and helped make this party a one of kind (not just due to the fact it was for Twins).

Thanks Rachel, Rebecca, Vivian, and the staff at Alfonso’s!  I had a lot of fun, and it was a great way to kick-off a “2X” DJ weekend.

 

Day 2:

We switched gears somewhat for Jennifer’s 40th Birthday Party @ The Middlesex Fire House on 2/11/2012.  Once again the decorations were amazing, transforming the room into a fun party atmosphere with candles, balloons, lighting, an amazing cake, and my favorite a life size Jen cut-out which I found out someone had put on her lawn that morning…

As guests arrived they were treated to wine, beer, hors d’oeuvresand a fountain flowing with a vodka punch.  After Happy Hour we kicked off the party with some fun new music, “Sexy Chick” – David Guetta feat Akon, “Sexy and I Know It” – LMFAO,  and “Moves Like Jagger” – Maroon 5.  We partied up until Dinner, then had a mini Jennifer Roast (Comedic roast not the food kind) – Jen’s brothers, Sister, and some good friends came up and shared some really nice, and really funny (interpreted hilarious) stories about Jennifer.

We kicked off the second half of the party to some Freestyle, 80’s & 90’s Club, Classic Rock, and Old School Hip-Hop. Some time during the night we found out about Whitney Houston, so we dedicated two party songs, “It’s Not Right (But It’s Okay)” and “I’m Every Woman” to her.  We partied into the A.M. and ended the night with a ton of sing-along’s including, Journey, Meatloaf, The Beatles, Abba, and others.  It was a great way to end off the weekend.  Thanks Jennifer and family/friends for a fun evening and fun antics throughout the night.

February 17th, 2012 – Allison & Rob at Addison Park

I had the great pleasure of entertaining for Allison and Rob on their wedding day. They selected a great venue in Addison Park and we added some elegance and ambience to the room with uplighting. The day went off for them without a hitch!

They had a wonderful ceremony at Gethsamene Lutheran Church in Keyport and Allison got ready at the Oyster Point Hotel in Red Bank. The entire day was captured by Elite Digital Images, and the dynamic duo of Lynn and Carrie rocked it out. Their photos are beautiful, and I cannot wait to see their final album once it is designed!

Once they got to Addison Park, the party was on! A great cocktail hour followed by intros and the bride and groom’s first dance. Allison’s dance with her dad and Rob’s with his mom were both great heart felt moments. Jay, Rob’s best man, and Ali, Allison’s Maid of Honor, gave two AWESOME speeches that the crowd gave standing ovations.

As soon as I opened the dance floor I knew this event wasn’t going to be work. The entire crowd of just over 100 guests danced like Lionel Richie says, “All Night Long“. I hit the dance floor with everything… BeatlesBon JoviLMFAOPitbullJourneyAretha Franklin and they couldn’t get enough. Plus our bride and groom had some slow song dedications that took me back to middle school.