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What a way to kick off 2012 with my first wedding of the year. We drove to Arlington Va and through Washington DC to get there and it was well worth it. Our company has done all 3 Courtney ladies weddings. First Kelly (May 1st 2004), then Shannon (March 19th 2005) and now Tae. I had the honor of personally being the dj at Tae’s. The bridal party was introduced and the bride and groom danced their first dance as man and wife to Bright Eyes’ “First Day of My Life”. The first dance was followed by the welcome speech by Wes Courtney (FOB). He talked about Tae and how she is so smart, beautiful and athletic. She comprised a record of 65-4 in high school as a pitcher of her softball team and had 32 no hitters. She was also the valedictorian of her class and went to college at Bucknell University. He also appreciated her new husband and how he knew that his daughter was in good hands with him. After the dinner service, the matrons of honor Kelly and Shannon and the best men Julian and Joshua all gave excellent toast. The bride and her father danced to Sugarland’s “Baby Girl” and the Groom and his mom did a surprise choreographed dance that was a huge hit to “Party Rock Anthem” by LMAFO. The party was jumping the entire night and everyone had a great time. It was one of the best dancing crowds I have ever had. Chris and his fraternity brothers belted out “Magic Carpet Ride” by Steppenwolf which was their theme song. We did an Anniversary Dance where the bride gave away her bouquet to the longest married couple, grandparents of the groom, Opal and Herbert Stange who have been married 67 years. The bride and groom finished the wonderful evening with Eric Clapton’s “Wonderful Tonight” as their last dance.

They are now honeymooning in Saint Maarten.

Congratulations Tae and Chris Stange.

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This was my second year playing for the Metropolitan Equipment Group. Only about 30 guest attended their annual holiday party. Although the group is small they are very lively. They like to sing as much as dance. Everyone had a great time.

Thanks Metropolitan Equipment Group and Happy Holidays!!

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I went to Celebrations at the Bay for another great event and absolutely my favorite place to dj. Karen was our coordinator and this is the first time I worked with her. She is great to work with and I could tell she was a seasoned pro. We set up 3 systems for this event. The ceremony was held in the Ballroom. The bride walked down the aisle to the traditional “Bridal Chrous” by Wagner. The bride and groom had a tree watering ceremony where together they watered a young tree to plant. The tree is going to be surrounded with rocks signed by the guest. I thought this was a very unique and great idea. The cocktail hour was in the next room and the main reception area was in the tent. We introduced the bridal party and Tina and Bobby danced their first dance to “Come Rain or Shine” by Eric Clapton and BB King. The toast was presented by the brides sister Angela, who did a little research on James Madison since this the bride and groom met at JMU. She also told a little story about the bride and groom going to a restaurant and both opening a fortune cookie with the same fortune. It read “Happiness is right beside you”. The groom gave a great toast too and told a story of how his mom would pick up Bobby and take him to school every day so they became best friends and how Bobby always said he realized he was lucky to have a girl like Tina. The best man retorted telling Bobby that she was just as lucky to have him. After the delicious crab cake and filet mignon dinner, the bride danced with her father to “My Little Girl” by Tim McGraw and the groom with his mom to “Tupelo Honey” by Van Morrison.  The bride and groom had an anniversary dance after they cut the cake. The bride was literally on the dance floor the entire night as well as most of the guest. They were a great party crowd and really enjoyed themselves. The bride and groom danced their last dance to Warren Zevon’s “Please Stay”. The bride and groom are going to Jamaica for their honeymoon.

Congratulations Tina and Bobby

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This was the first time I had been to Antrim 1844 in over 10 years and this event was the wedding reception of Rory Davis and Doug Schulkin. Antrim 1844 is a bed and breakfast in Taneytown Maryland and is a very elegant inside and historic looking building outside. Elizabeth was our wedding coordinator for the day. We set up 2 systems, one in the main dancing area (The garden room) and one in the dining area (Main Ballroom). We did the first dance, introductions, cake cutting and toast in the main ballroom and the dancing and everything else was in the garden room. The bridal party, bride and groom were introduced in the main ballroom and did their choreographed first dance to “Free” by the Zac Brown Band. After dinner the toast were done by both maid and matron of honor followed by the father of the bride and the Best Man. The best man wrote a user manual for the bride called “Teach Me How To Dougie” to learn how to operate the groom and keep him functioning properly. It was a pretty funny speech. After dinner we convened in the garden room for the parent dances and dancing. The bride danced with her father to “I Loved Her First” by Heartland  and the groom with his mom to “You Make Me Feel So Young” by Frank Sinatra. The bride and groom then cut the cake in the main ballroom and then it was back in the garden room for “The Hora” and dancing the rest of the evening. The guest were a fun dancing group and had a great time. The bride and groom concluded the evening with their last dance by Boys to Men called “I’ll Make Love To You”.

They are going on their honeymoon in February to Hawaii

Congratulations to Rory and Doug

Special thanks to Sam Cimino for another referral.

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Ravens Roost 25 annual fall dance is a benefit dance to support the fans that support the Baltimore Ravens. They had some raffles and a big six wheel. They raffled off jerseys by Torrey Smith and Ray Rice. The dance was a success and everyone had a great time.

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11-11-11 a date that is pretty easy to remember. We drove to Maryvale Castle which is a historic Castle behind Maryvale Prep School on Falls Road in Greenspring Valley. It has been many years since I had been there. Event Entertainment provided dj and videography services for this wedding for Sherry Hu and Ryan Janssen. We worked with Yvonne, the day of coordinator. The bridesmaids were in purple and the bride looked absolutely gorgeous. The bride walked down the aisle (actually the stairs) to “Love Story” by Vitamin String Quartet. The theme of this wedding was a fairytale wedding and the bride referred to her husband as Prince Charming during the ceremony. After the ceremony the guest enjoyed the cocktail hour. The bride and groom were introduced to “Super Bass” by Nicki Minaj. The sit down dinner took place in the library room in the back of the castle. After dinner the bride and groom danced their first dance to “I Could Not Ask For More” by Sara Evans. The bride then danced with her father to “I Loved Her First” by Heartland and the groom with his mom to “I’ll Be” by Reba McEntire. The bride had a lot of friends who were younger and very outgoing so she wanted a “Club” type atmosphere with the music so we played a lot of the new current music throughout the dance portion of the evening. The bride and groom then cut the cake to the appropriate song “Today is a Fairytale” by Taylor Swift. The toast were then given by the Maid of Honor Maggy Hu and best man Dusty Janssen. The maid of honor told stories of being the younger sister and how the bride dropped her down the stairs when she was little and how happy she was to have a sister like Sherry. The best man then told stories of his younger brother in the 5th grade and his assignment of where you will be in 10 years and Ryan had said “In Love” and wished the couple all the best and in 50 years their grandchildren will say they are still “In Love”. They guest danced the night away and the bride and groom danced their last dance to “Then” by Brad Paisley. They had a bell ringing sendoff as the bride and groom departed. They are going on an Australian Cruise for their honeymoon very soon.

Congratulations Sherry and Ryan

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You can definately tell fall is in the air because it was a pretty chilly day. I have to say this was one of the best parties of the year. The ceremony was scheduled to start at 3:30 and we were right on time. The bride escorted by her father walked down the aisle to “Arioso” by Bach. The bride promised the groom in her vowels not to raise their children as Eagles, Giants or Cowboy Fans. It was a pretty lighthearted ceremony. The cocktail hour was in the hallway and we provided some music for the guest. Meanwhile the bride and groom were taking photos outside. The bride and groom were introduced to “Ob-la-Di Ob-la-Da” by the Beatles. They immediately did their first dance to Straylight Run’s “Existentialism On Prom Night”. The bride then danced with her father to Linda Ronstadt’s “Hay Unos Ojos” and the groom and his mom followed with Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World”. The maid of honor, matron of honor and best man all gave funny and sincere toast. After the sit down dinner of steak and chicken, the bride and groom cut the cake. Then the party started and kicked off in high gear. The groom graduated from Towson University and with his fraternity brothers “The Triangle Brothers” sang arm in arm to Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody”. There were only about 80 guest but most of them were pretty wild and packed the dance floor the entire night. The bride and groom did their last dance by Etta James classic ”At Last”. It was truly a wonderful evening.

Congratulations to Ashley and Brandon and thanks for a GREAT party. One final note. After the party I was named an honorary Triangle Brother.

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We arrived at Snyder’s at about 5:30 for a 7:30 ceremony start time. I used to live in Linthicum and Snyder’s was one of our favorite restaurants. The cream of crab and imperial crab is the best in Baltimore. Debbie (one of the managers) is the aunt of the bride. I did her wedding about 10 years ago and she has recommended me a few times in the past. Lynn and Lorraine were the banquet managers that evening and were very nice. Nadine the bartender also is one of my favorite people at Snyder’s. The wedding was a little unique as the groom and best men wore Yankee hats for the ceremony. They are big Yankee fans. The bride is a professional hairdresser and had a lot of her coworkers there as well as friends and family. The bride walked down the aisle to “From this Moment” a version by the Piano Brothers. After the ceremony they were introduced in the hall and the Maid of Honor did the toast. After the delicious buffet dinner, the bride and groom danced their first dance to “I Cross My Heart” by George Strait. The bride then danced with her dad Donald to “My Little Girl” by Tim McGraw. The groom then danced with his Grandmother Joyce to “Simple Man” by Lynard Skynard and his mom to “My Wish” by Rascal Flatts. There was not a lot of dancing at the beginning but toward the end, the remaining few would not stop dancing. Everyone one had a wonderful time especially the bride. She was smiling and glowing the whole night.

Special thanks to Debbie for thinking of me.

Congratulations Tabitha and Tim

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This was my second Thomas wedding reception this year. The first reception was the bride’s sister Alisa and her husband Wes on Memorial weekend held at Turf Valley Resorts. This time the bride is Jane Thomas and the groom is Ryan Schwenz. This is one of those girl next door romances since Ryan grew up in Jane’s neighborhood and knew her his whole life. Overhills Mansion is one of my favorite venues. Brandi who is always very nice to us was our Banquet Manager for this evening’s reception. The bridal party arrived on time and everything was on schedule. The bridal party was introduced to “Dance To The Music” by Sly and The Family Stone. The matron of honor Jackie Woznicki and best man Mitchell Swentz did the toast immediately following the intros. The father of the bride did the blessing since the priest, who is a family member got a little lost. Father Thomas did another prayer later in the evening when he arrived and talked about the sanctity of marriage. After the delicious buffet dinner, the bride and groom cut the cake and then danced their first dance to “Better Together” by Jack Johnson followed by the parent dances which were “I Loved Her First” by Heartland and “Just The Way You Are” by Billy Joel. After the dances the father of the bride, Mike Thomas gave a welcome speech and told a story why Jane and him chose that particular song for their dance. He actually held Jane first before Martha got to hold her when she was born. He then proceeded to talk about a traditional family football game where his team got clobbered at the last meeting so he officially drafted the groom since he was the newest member of the family to his football team. Apparently Ryan is a pretty good athlete to warrant this special attention. After the speech, the dancing began and just like the prior Thomas wedding they danced all evening to Motown, Rock and Roll and some new Top 40 music. The bride and groom’s last dance was “Beautiful Day” by U2. The couple are now on their honeymoon in Seattle Washington.

Congratulations to Jane and Ryan.