A great party for some great friends.

The two easiest parties to do are family dances and kids birthday parties.   Turning 8 is great and having a dancing is even better.  Kids are great as they just want to have fun and have no inhibitions when it comes to doing just that.  All of the kids came to have fun and fun is what they had.

With all the lights and sounds you would find at a school dance we gave the birthday girl the full meal deal.  Add in all the classic songs you can think of from the Hokey Pokey to the Limbo you have the elements for a great party.  At the end of the dance there was a candy toss and the birthday girl opened all her presents to end off the afternoon.

Please see the video below for highlights of the day.

As an Edmonton DJ I have pretty much seen it all and all I can say is that Intuit did it all at this function.  From the minute you came up the stairs at the Westin Hotel there was something for everyone.  So where to begin.  As a guest you came in to the reception area where there was a piano player and bass player playing a variety of Christmas songs that just filled the air.

Down the hall was a room where you could have your picture taken via a professional photographer.  These pictures would then be made available to everyone in the weeks following the Christmas Party.

Everyone was mingling and visiting and enjoying themselves and there was a couple of magicians walking around performing close up magic.  This is a great add on to any function as it creates a great conversation starter that breaks the ice and leads to a better evening.  When the staff and their spouses come together for a function the spouses can feel a bit out of place and anything that can make everyone feel at ease creates an even better event.

The doors to the ballroom opened about 6:30 PM which was a little late to allow enough time for everyone to get into the room and find their seats prior to dinner.  The room was very well decorated with a back drop of Las Vegas as a background image that tied into the theme of having a funny money casino after dinner.  There was nothing new here for decorations that I have not seen before but what the organizers had done was well and all tied into the overall theme.

Dinner was very well done, served buffet style and everyone made it through the line in a very short period of time.  When you are feeding 300 people it is important that they all get through the line as soon as possible to all for a better evening.  The Westin did a great job of keeping the food on the buffet line so that there were no delays.

Dinner was followed by a couple of short speeches and a few door prizes that both very well received.  We then went into the informal end of the evening where there was both a dance and a funny money casino.

When there are two different things for guests to do that can be good and it can be bad.  If is always a balancing act trying to make as many of your guests happy.  The thing is that not everyone dances and the fun money casino was a great add on that appealed to allot of people.

The fun money casino ran from about 9PM to 11PM and the dance ran right along side it for those that did not want to gamble.

The casino was very well received and by most of the guests and those that did not want to play were on the dance floor.  There was not anyone sitting in the entire room so it was clear that everyone was partaking in all the activities provided via the organizers.  After the casino ended the person with the most money was awarded a prize and rest of the door prizes were given away and the dance finally got going.  With such a bigger distraction the dance generally suffers until the casino ends and that is exactly how it was on this night.

We did lose a few people after the casino which was expected for a crowd of this size but this size but those that stuck around danced their butts off and had a great time.  I was a little surprised that we had a good crowd still left at 2:00AM when I had to stop playing music as the crowd that was left were chanting “one more song” over and over again.

The challenge for next year will be to top this event.

Please see the video below for highlights of the event for Intuit Canada.

Edmonton DJ at the Edmonton Petroleum Club

I have been an Edmonton DJ for the last 10 years and the NAIT JR Shaw School of Business Christmas Party came about via someone in my past hunting me down.  John Beck is a great dancer and we knew each other from the days I used to DJ at the Fantasyland Lounge in West Edmonton Mall about 6 – 7 years ago.  They wanted to change things up a little for this years event and John remembered my company name and looked me up on Google and as they say it… the rest is history.

The Edmonton Petroleum Club is a really good place to DJ if you are lucky to be in the big ballroom with the access door right off the stage making for one of the easier load ins in town.

We had a great group of people that all were enjoying themselves and we then went into dinner about 7:00 PM and I jumped in with a game to decide the order that the tables would go to the buffet line.  It is a short a sweet game that requires the people at each table work together to answer questions about Christmas Carols and the table with the highest score gets to go 1st and so on.

We enjoyed a great meal with more choices of items than I have seen in a long time.  If you were not happy with all the choices then you were even harder to please than me and I thought it was a great meal, one of the best of the year.  Add in a great selection of deserts made for an enjoyable meal.

Dinner was followed by a couple of short speeches and a few door prizes.

The highlight of the evening was when John Beck sang a slightly modified version of “Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer” that had everyone in stitches as he played it up with a great introduction and I had the karaoke version of the song that he sang along with.

We then went into the dance that had a great start but we ended a little earlier than I had hope but it sure was a good time while it lasted.

Please see the video below for some highlights of the night.

Cahahoo Alberta

This was our 3rd year DJing the Calahoo Volunteer annual dinner, dance and silent auction. 

This is one of my favorite functions each year as it is a great function with great people all having a good time.   This is truly one of the hardest place to get into and out of as the room is on the second floor and there is no elevator.  In order for me to get into the room the organizers provide me a couple volunteers to help me carry my equipment up the stairs and back down at the end of the night.

It is a casual event with people attending for as far away as Bruderheim. Everyone has come for some good food, good music and to visit with good friends.  The silent auction is one of the highlights as there are a ton of great items donated via the community and supplies for the fir department. 

Dinner started about 6 PM and is a simple home cooked meal that covers the basics.  It would be great to see a little more variety and maybe some chicken for those of us that don’t eat beef.

The silent auction ran until about 9 pm and then the items were given to the winning bidders and a lot of money was raised in support of the local fire department. 

The dance got started right after the auction and it was a good mix of people dancing to all formats, from country to rock and the newest songs.  One of the highlights from the dance is when we took a break from the dancing to play a couple of games that were both competitive and extremely entertaining.  The Walla Balla and Toilet Plunger games were a big hit that brought out the competitive side of the guests and had everyone in stitches watching from the slide lines.

From there the night just got better and better.  Eveyone danced and had a great time until 2:00 AM. 

Please watch the video below to see all the hightlights from this years event

August 29, 2009 – Garden Valley Hall Spruce Grove – Edmonton Wedding DJ

Little things can make a big difference!!!

Susan and Chad did a very good job of planning their wedding ceremony and wedding reception all in the same location.  It all started about 330 in the afternoon.  The hall was very nicely decorated and ceremony was held at the front of all which was changed over for the head table after the ceremony.

The ceremony was officiated by a marriage commissioner who was very well spoken and had a few entertaining anecdotes.  The young flower girls stole the show as they played with her flowers during the ceremony.  I have been to more ceremonies than the average person and this was the first time I’d ever seen the groom kiss the bride and have his hands a little below the waist.  Everyone noticed this occur and erupted in applause and cheers.

The only thing that could’ve been a little better was the fact that the photographers were using strobe lights with wireless flash control that beeped every time they took the photo.  This is extremely annoying and distracting during the ceremony.

After the ceremony the room was converted to accommodate the reception.  There was a very simple buffet which then led into a very short formal end of the evening.  Speeches were short and sweet with the highlight being three relatives sang a traditional song to the bride and groom.

When booking any venue there are a couple of things one needs to pay attention too.  The first is lighting control.  As an Edmonton wedding DJ atmosphere plays an important role in getting people in the mood to party.  If the venue does not have proper lighting or dimmable fixtures like scones then you should seriously consider artificially lighting the room.  Garden Valley Hall has very poor lighting control.  The entire facility has fluorescent fixtures with no dimmable lighting.  Lucky enough as an Edmonton DJ I carry extra lighting with me and used it to light the parameter of the hall so we could turn off all of the fluorescent fixtures providing a better atmosphere for everyone to dance.

The second, is air conditioning.  Edmonton weather in the summer can reach temperatures of over 30°C.  If you’re venue does not have air conditioning, generally speaking, your party will not be a successful as a venue with air-conditioning.  Simply put it can be hotter inside some venues than it is outside.  That was the case with the Garden Valley Hall as the kitchen door was opened as the cooks were preparing the meal and all the heat from the kitchen moved into the main room causing it to become hotter.

Due to the heat and the lack of air conditioning it took a little while for this party to get going.  But what the doors open and the fans on by about 11 o’clock the temperature was a bit cooler than people have had enough to drink that they were ready to start dancing a little more.  Everyone was having a great time and we ended up doing a couple of karaoke songs throughout the dance which really added to the night as it was not the focus but was an add-on that created an even better party.

Please watch the video below to see some of the highlights from the Garden Valley Hall.

Dollar for dollar, Pound for pound,  one of the best parties ever.

I have been an Edmonton DJ for almost 10 years and this past weekend was the 1st time I have ever been in the same room 2 nights in a row.

RedTail Landing is a great place to DJ and even made better when you get to leave your gear there over night.  The day started out with an outdoor ceremony and the weather looked a little iffy but it all came together for a beautiful ceremony.  The highlight of the ceremony was when one of the bridesmaids sang during the signing of the registry. WOW!!!

After the ceremony there was a short reception outside and by about 6 pm we were all back in the main room awaiting another great meal and RedTail Landing.  I have been to RedTail a few times and Dean knows I am a bit of a picky eater and made sure that a piece of chicken was BBQ’d up for me.  Thanks Dean, I don’t know of any other venue that works to make sure the venders are looked after.

The speeches were extremely well done some of the funniest I can remember. 

We then went into the dance and earlier that day I was chatting with Dean and Steve and we were talking about how much harder it is to do parties that are under 100 people.  This party had a total of 62 guests and it was on a Sunday night.  We took a friendlybet as to the time the party would go to.  Steve said 11:30, Dean said 12:30 and I took 1 AM.  Boy, it sure feels good to be right.  The dance started out great and never let up all night.  We started with 60 people and ended with over 30.  Kelly and Justin loved to dance and Justin was on the dance floor more than Kelly, usually it is the bride that dances more than the groom.  The song of the night was “Kung Fu Fighting” and when the groomsmen were doing all the karate moves I was almost on the floor from laughing. 

What surprised me even more was that fact that they were not big drinkers and just loved to have a good time.

Edmonton Wedding Highlights

It was a hot day and I am glad we had air conditioning tonight at the Terra Losa Seniors Centre in Edmonton, Alberta.  This is a great community hall that holds about 200 maximum and that is what we had for this wedding.  It is always great to play here the load in is pretty good with a ramp out the front door and a deck on 2 sides of the building with a great view of the lake.

The M/C’s did a great job of leading the night.  One of the two M/C’s used to be a DJ and he had great microphones skills.

Dinner was very good; expect the caterer ran out of porgies for almost 15 minutes right at the end of the line.  And to make things worse they ran out of sour crème and ended up using did for those 10 of us left at the end of the line.  I am not it the caterer is a little new or everyone brought there appetite.

Speeches were very well done with the highlight being a PowerPoint slide show that the Maid-of-honor spoke throughout and it was hilarious the way she did it.  The bride and groom ended off speeches and they remember to thank me which is often over looked as I really have not done too much until this part of the night.

The dance started off with a traditional first dance and mother/son and father/daughter dance.  We ended the formal dances with the wedding party and then we were off to the races.  Even though it was one of the hottest days of the summer this year everyone dance the night away.  Being an Edmonton DJ is a great thing to be when everyone is willing to get out on to the dance floor you can create a great party and that is exactly how things played out that night. 

The only thing is that they shut me down about 12:30 as the hall wants everyone out by 1:00 AM.  I was a little upset as no one wants to go home when they are having a good time and we for sure could have gone for another hour.

I would like to thank Deborah and Eric for going the extra distance.  On Monday I got a great phone call thanking me for helping create what they called a great evening where everyone that came had a great time. This really met a lot to me, THANX.

Lori & Eugene did a great job of decorating the Fort Legion, I can not remember the last time it look this good.

Being an Edmonton Wedding DJ has taken me to many small towns and those often prove to be some of the best parties.

It was a great time, made better by the fact that there was people there that I new as friends or people that I had done weddings for in the past.

The speaches we very well done and even the little flower girl had some great words of advice for the bride and groom.

The dance got going and it was a rocker.  Everyone willing to get out on the dance floor and have a good time.  The bridal party was reved up and led the way on the dance floor.  The party never stopped all night and would have went well into the morning but the venue pulled the plug and we ended on a high note at about 1 AM.

Please see some highlights with my very new Canon 5D mark 2 camera.  Lots of fun in the parking lot.