Tag Archive: Merri-Makers Water’s Edge

Two Days Worth of Awesome Bride & Grooms

You don’t always get to work with a Bride & Groom that you click with, but somehow this weekend I had two in a row!!

Saturday – Kirsten & J.R. – Neshanic Valley Golf Course in Branchburg, NJ

Kirsten & J.R., are two of the most down to earth people you will ever meet.  They are so friendly and fun to be around and both always have a smile on their face.  DJing their wedding at Neshanic Valley Golf Course was so much fun.

They had a beautiful day, and were able to take full advantage of the deck and their guests loved it.  They also had a photo booth which for most of the night had a line out the door with people wanting to take pictures in it.  Kirsten treated all the guests to Ice cold bottles of Stewarts Root Beer, which was so perfect on a summer’s day.  Kirsten is an Alumnus of the Virginia Tech Hokies, so she and her fellow Hokies performed the “Hokey Pokey” of the guests. J.R.’s Groomsmen were able to arrange for the township’s Fire Department to bring one of the Fire Trucks down to the banquet hall in order for the Kirsten & J.R. and their Bridal Party to take pictures on.

Kirsten & J.R. also did something special for some of their married friends & family, we would play those particular guests Wedding Song and have the couple come up and dance to it.

Some of the special dedications were:

Unforgettable” – Nat King Cole for Lindsay and Sean Dugan’s Wedding Song

Dig” – Incubus for Chris and Morgan Misiur’s Wedding Song

At Last” – Etta James for Karen and Gabe Adam’s Wedding Song

You Are The Best Thing” – Ray LaMontagne for Steve and Katie Gillberg’s Wedding Song

Love Can Make You Happy” – Mercy for Kirsten’s Parent’s Wedding Song

Lucky” – Jason Mraz & Colbie Caillat for Heather and Mike Mastroserio’s Wedding Song

You Are The Sunshine Of My Life” – Stevie Wonder for the Moran’s Wedding Song

There were lots of great moments throughout the evening as well as lots of fun, laughter, and dancing.  All of the guests including myself and Jim Wilson, our music mixer for the wedding, had an awesome time.

Sunday – Amelia & Greg – The Palace in Somerset, NJ

Amelia & Greg are two very loving people, which was more than evident at their Wedding Reception due to way their Friends and Family just gravitated to them through the night.  To top it off they are both music lovers, which I saw first hand when I met them at their home and saw their immense Vinyl collection. (May have been bigger than mine!!) We had a lot of fun discussing music and planning out the play lists for the evening, and their guests enjoyed the music selections and danced the night away.

One thing that I thought was impressive was that Greg’s Best Man was his Grandfather, and he really was Greg’s best friend, it showed a lot of character and was very touching.  We had lots of time to dance, and the guests took advantage of every second.

Some of the fun songs we partied to were:

Do I Do” – Stevie Wonder

Never Too Much” – Luther Vandross

Wobble” – VIC

Show Me Love” – Steve Angello & Laidback Luke ft  Robin S

Pump Up the Jam” – Technotronic

As well as a plethora of dance songs both fast and slow.  Greg and Amelia shared a few special dedications to each other and their parents.  They also had tons of college friends from Rutgers (Greg) and Trenton State (Amelia) who partied with them to some classics from when they were in school.

The Maitre’ D Josh and the staff at The Palace put on an impressive Cocktail Hour, Dinner, and Venetian Dessert as they always do.  I also had the pleasure of working with Matt the Photographer for the second week in a row, and my personal favorite, my brother Steven as my music mixer.

This bride LOVES country music…

It is the tale end of a 4th of July Week/Weekend, and I get to help Sarah & Brian celebrate their Wedding Day at the Neshanic Valley Country Club in Branchburg, NJ.  Sarah loves, loves, loves Country music, and told me she would be dancing to every song, and she did not disappoint.  It turned out to be a gorgeous Sunday which made the panoramic view in the 2nd floor ballroom and the deck over looking the greens even better.

Right after the 1st dance we invited the Bridal Party and then the rest of the guests to dance to: “Rock this Country!” -  Shania Twain which was a fun way to get the party started.

Some of the requests were:

History in the Making” – Darius Rucker

The Day Before You” – Rascal Flatts

Kodachrome” – Paul Simon

Elderly Woman…” – Pearl Jam

Stuck Like Glue” – Sugarland

Wouldn’t it be Nice” – The Beach Boys

I Got You” – Thompson Square

Ring of Fire” – Johnny Cash

God Gave Me You” – Blake Shelton

“Friends in Low Places” – Garth Brooks

Why Don’t We Just Dance” – Josh Turner

We danced to some Classic Oldies:

Runaround Sue” – Dion

Shout” – Otis Day

Twist & Shout” – The Beatles

Mony Mony” – Tommy James

Some Audience Participation:

Cupid Shuffle

Cha-Cha Slide

Conga Line

And Some Newer Songs:

I Gotta Feeling” – Black Eyed Peas

Call Me Maybe” – Carly Rae Jepsen

Party Rock Anthem” – LMFAO

For Dessert the guests were treated to two different types of Wedding Cake and Brian’s favorite Rita’s Ices.  We ended the night on some great Sing-A-Long’s including:

Hail Hail” – Pearl Jam

Aint No Saguaros in Texas” – Reverend Horton Heat

Panama” – Van Halen

I’m A Believer” – The Monkees

Chicken Fried” – Zac Brown Band

Fun Fun Fun” – The Beach Boys

It was a fun Country Music afternoon, and a great way to close out the weekend.  I hope Brian and Sarah enjoy their Honeymoon in the always gorgeous Hawaii!!

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.

Bridal Show at The Water’s Edge

Merri-Maker’s location in Sea Bright, The Water’s Edge, has long been one of our favorite venues.  If you’ve ever been in the upstairs banquet room, overlooking the waves of the Atlantic Ocean crashing into the surf, you’ll know why.  It doesn’t hurt of course that the banquet staff recommends us and so we play there very often.  In fact when Dominic Sestito and Sarina Colletti get married this Spring, their ceremony and reception will be at The Water’s Edge.

So you can imagine how happy we were when we got the news a few weeks ago that Merri-Makers had renewed their lease and opened up their 2013 calendar.

American Bride produced a fantastic Bridal Show this past weekend to announce this news to the local wedding community.  The turnout was phenomenal and it certainly looked like the banquet staff was starting to fill those 2013 dates aggressively.  We got to do our showcase and the response was awesome.  We had a packed dance floor the whole time, even at 3:30 in the afternoon.  Right after our show there was a wonderful fashion show with dresses from True Love Bridals.  John Pacetti, owner of South Street Studio Professional Photography and Videography (formerly Timeless Studio) got some great pictures of the day.

If you haven’t seen us at a bridal show, we highly recommend it.  We have a full schedule of shows coming up which you can find right here: List of Upcoming Shows