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Posts tagged Edmonton Disc Jockey
Edmonton Disc Jockey for Canadian Tire
Jan 17th
January 16, 2010
Calgary Trail South Edmonton Canadian Tire at the Sawmill Banquet Facility.
This event was exactly what a corporate function should be. Good people, good food and lots of fun. Last year I also was the DJ for Canadian Tire and even though it was a really good party it ended a little early due in part to it being held on a Sunday. This year management agreed to close the store early on Saturday which in turn led to a more successful party. As some of the employees had spouses and partners that normally would have to work on a Monday morning, therefore causing them to leave the party earlier on a Sunday that if the party was held on a Saturday. Needless to say this year’s holiday party was way more successful than last year.
I would like to thank the staff at the Sawmill Banquet Facility for being very accommodating to my style of DJ. As an Edmonton DJ many venues can be a challenge to work at. Maria Baert was very helpful with a number of things that evening to make my job easier and is well better. The Sawmill Banquet Facility is a very nice venue on the east end of Edmonton just off 34th Ave and 76 St.
The room was split in half to accommodate two smaller events. For me this was the exact same room we were in last year. The only thing I like to do one in this room is placed my DJ equipment in the middle of the dance floor along the false wall that separates the two rooms. This creates a better look and feel for the dance floor and allows me to interact with the crowd in a far easier fashion. In order for me to do this the buffet line had to be moved slightly away from the wall it was great to see the staff willing to make this adjustment happen.
Leaving start at about seven o’clock and everyone was in good spirits right from the get-go. I recognize the a lot of the same people from the year prior which makes it more enjoyable for me as a DJ to work with people over and over again. We played a fun Christmas game in order to pick the order of the tables for the buffet line and that went over very well. Dinner was very well done, buffet style, with lots of items to choose from. What I really liked about the buffet line was that each item had a name tag so you knew exactly what the item was. There are a lot more fussy people today than ever before in this allows them to know exactly what they would be eating.
We started the dance right around nine o’clock and coordinated our dance start time with the room next to us. This is a great idea to prevent music, which is normally played at a higher volume for a dance, from being heard overtop of someone else trying to speak and do speeches after dinner. The venue was right on top of this issue making sure both events were the best they could be. We had a full dance floor right from the get go and what really made this party great were about six people that really liked the dance and got the ball rolling which in turn made everyone else want to dance.
You can tell that everyone really get along quite well with everyone else as a good part of the night everyone was dancing in a circle as one or two people showed off their moves in the middle of the circle. This normally happens when you have a group of people that like each other and like to have fun.
The highlight of the night was when one of the gentlemen dancing decided to take off his sweater in a mock striptease. Everyone was cheering and laughing as this all happened and it truly elevated the party to another level as I do not think this is normally something this person does on a regular basis.
It is nice like this to continue to make me want to keep being an Edmonton DJ. Thanks again to the staff and management at Canadian Tire for having me back this year and I hope to see y’all again next year.
Please see below for some video highlights from tonight’s event.
Hotel MacDonald Corporate Christmas Party DJ
Jan 3rd
December 11, 2009 – Edmonton Disc Jockey for Davis & Company
It has been 2 years since the last time I was with my friends at Davis and Company and boy it was good to be back. The weather outside was frightful and inside it was delightful with great food and friends coming together to celebrate everyone’s favorite time of the year.
The Hotel MacDonald is the most beautiful venue in Edmonton at the best of times; and this time of the year takes it too a whole other level. The Christmas decorations are so well done and really add to the look of the hotel. So much so that people were taking pictures of each other in the lobby in front of the great tree and reindeer.
As an Edmonton DJ it is always great to DJ at the MacDonald Hotel and tonight was as good as always. Over the years I have gotten to know some of the staff and on this night a couple of people were there that I have gotten to know. A special thanks to Chris for his unequalled service and helpfulness. He treated me like a guests rather than the hired help and that says a lot about him and the MacDonald Hotel. If other venues could understand this it would server them well as I have customers that call me and ask what is a good venue to hold a function at and I always mention the Mac.
Dinner was served just about 7:30PM, which was a little late, because of the poor road conditions making people run late getting to the location. Dinner was, simply put, amazing and I could not have had another bite as I over did it. It was great to sit a relax and enjoy a great meal and my dinner guests were great to visit with and we had a great conversation over dinner.
After dinner we had a couple of quick speeches and the highlight of the night was 2 things. 1st was the slideshow and video presentation that the interns put together. There were a few slides shown on the screen that were doctored in Photoshop that had everyone laughing as the interns made jokes about the office staff.
The video presentation followed the slideshow and that was a spoof in the TV show “the Office” and boy was it funny. It must have taken days to put that together and was one of the best presentations I have ever seen and all I can say was the bar has been set high and will be hard to beat.
The 2nd thing was the “Family Feud Game” where 2 teams were picked and competed against each other to answer a few fun questions about the staff and partners based on how well they new each other. This was very well done and the MC did a great job of preparing the game in advance. I will be sure to recommend this to other companies in the future.
The dance got started about 10:00 and it was just like old times. Since I had been with this group before and had a good understanding as to what they liked and that was a good starting point and we were able to hit the ground running. There were lots of requests and everyone just seemed to cut loose a little and have some fun and relax, something we all need to do once and a while. What I love about the Hotel MacDonald is the atmosphere in this room. With a great look and feel and add in great lighting control you can really set the tone for an inviting dance floor where people will want to be.
Please see the attached video for some highlights of the day from “Edmonton DJ”
Edmonton Corporate DJ at the Radisson Inn
Jan 2nd
December 19, 2009 – Edmonton Corporate Christmas Party for WIKA Instruments Edmonton 
It is great to back with WIKA again this year to do their Christmas party. They are a great group of people that like to have fun. In order to elevate a party to a higher level we decided last year that we would add in a couple of games to make things a little more interesting. Corporate functions can be a bit of a challenge as the employees bring a spouse or guest and since they don’t really know anyone they can feel a little out of place.
My goal is to add in some activities that help to break the ice and get everyone to relax a little more so they intern enjoy themselves and stay a little longer.
Last year we decided to play “golf”. Simply put everyone that comes get a chance to go golfing and every time you sink a putt (best of 3) you get entered into a separate draw then everyone else. It went over very well last year and everyone lined up to play and it was great fun as everyone cheered and sometimes booed for the person putting. We decided to leave the golfing in this year and see what happens. The funny thing is that I think that it was better this year than last year and that is because people knew how it worked and it was so much fun as people that never really golf came up and gave it a try and when they sunk a putt everyone cheered and it was ton of fun.
For dinner we played a game to pick the table order. Santa Bingo is a fun game that is more luck then skill but is better then simply picking number out of a hat. The fun part was the ribbing people where giving me as we did the game as there was a lot of banter which turned out to be a lot of fun.
Dinner was very well done at the Radisson Inn. The Radisson is a really nice venue to hold a function at, but is one of the hardest venues to get equipment into and out of. Also, with the dance floor at the opposite end of the room from the entrance to the room make it even a longer distance for an Edmonton DJ to have to move their gear. Also, the room is quite nice but is in need to painting and a little T.L.C. to keep it current and maintained.
After dinner we played 2 quick rounds of “Name that Tune” and this was great fun as everyone was involved and engaged making it a lot easier to do. I had a volunteer run my computer which really sped up the game and me running around like a chicken with my head cut off.
The highlight of the night was when myself and 2 managers and the president of the company performed a rewritten version of “Kenny Rogers – the Gambler”. We did a rehearsal before dinner and that went off without a hitch and we had an almost flawless performance but we all had a little bit of the nerves. I think the 4 of us had more fun doing this then everyone watching. I think it is great to see management step outside the box and have a some fun. I hope we can talk everyone into doing this again next year.
We finally started the dance about 9:30 and we had people on the dance floor the whole night thru. It was the ladies that really got the ball rolling with some line dances and top 40. We mixed in a few slow songs, as anyone can dance to a slow song and by 12AM we had a good core group of people left and I played their requests and we had a great time.
Please see the attached video of some highlights of the day from Edmonton Disc Jockey.
Edmonton DJ for Leduc Junior High at the Denham Inn
Dec 20th
December 18, 2009
It was great to be back with Leduc Junior High for their winter formal. This is one of my favorite functions to do each year. I really enjoy doing school dances as the kids just love to dance and have fun, I wish my adult parties were more like this.
The staff at Leduc Junior High again show what great people they are. This is an outing where the students must be dressed appropriately, no blue jeans allowed. First, they all go to a movie at the local theater and then come to the Denham Inn in Leduc for a semi-formal lunch followed by a dance. Mrs. Ponich was telling me that when they got to the movie theater that some staff did not make in that morning and some of the students that work there on a part-time basis jumped in too fill those spots to allow the function to go that much better. This really shows the quality of the students at Leduc Junior High.
The students and staff all arrived about 11:30 am to the the Denham Inn and even though it was a bit cold outside everyone was in good spirit and everyone really seemed to be enjoying themselves. Everyone was very well dressed and not a hair was out of place. Lunch was served buffet style and it was a good mix of Chinese food.
Right after lunch we jumped straight into the dance and we started out with some songs from their social dance program at the school Dancing is such an important party of our adult life and knowing how to dance is a great thing to know. As and Edmonton DJ I have been with Leduc Junior High for years and I am always surprised how enthusiastic the students are when it comes to social dancing. In fact, more kids were on the dance floor for the social dances then for the top 40 dance hits. Even funnier, is that a lot of the requests were for more songs that were “older” like the “YMCA” and “Macarena”.
There were lots of door prizes, good food and dancing for everyone. I really enjoyed myself and hope I have the privilege of being able to come back again and again. One of the staff at the Denham Inn stated during setup that she still remembers coming to this event and stood out as a great memory from her junior high school days.
Please see the enclosed video below for some highlights of the day.
The Bay at Southgate Winter Extravaganza
Dec 17th
Southgate Centre in Edmonton Alberta
November 15, 2009
Twice a year the Hudson’s Bay Company at Southgate Mall hold a special evening for their customers to come into the store after hours and enjoy themselves. The winter extravaganza was very well attended with lots to do and see.
People were already getting into the Christmas spirit as I was hired as an Edmonton DJ to play Christmas music and provide a microphone for the draws.
The store and mall were all decorated for Christmas which really helped with the atmosphere.
Everyone in attendance was visiting and enjoying themselves and patiently waiting for the amazing door prizes to be given out at the end of the evening.
What can I say but wow. There were so many door prizes that started in value from $100 and went up to $350 with 2 grand prizes.
At about 8:30 everyone gathered at the entrance to the Bay and the door prize giveaway began. There was lots of cheering and screaming as the winners were announced and claimed the prizes.
Please see the video below for some video highlights of the evening.
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Calahoo Fire Department Annual Dinner and Dance
Dec 16th
September 29, 2009
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
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Edmonton Wedding at Snow Valley Ski Club Edmonton
Dec 14th
Carrie & Jason
September 19, 2009
If you are considering booking your next funtion at Snow Valley you NEED to read this post by Edmonton DJ.
Being an Edmonton DJ for almost 10 years has taken me into almost every venue in and around Edmonton and Snow Valley for the most part is pretty decent location for a function. Except on September 19, 2009.
Lets start with the good stuff.
My bride and groom (Carrie and Jason) were awesome people to work with. I did all my communications with Jason and he was easy to get along with and open to working together to make their wedding the best that it could be.
Even though it was a little cool out that day, the ceremony was out side the front door of the Lodge at Snow Valley. Providing the music for the ceremony generally adds about an hour to two of extra work for most functions.
The bride and groom had provided me with all the songs that were required for the ceremony prior to that day. This made it very easy for me to provide sound for the ceremony. The only thing that I would have done differently would have been to make sure that the justice of the peace wore a wireless lapel microphone. This would have made it easier for the guests to hear and therefore enjoy the ceremony that much more.
The bride and groom did amazing job at planning their wedding in providing some of the most interesting and well planned details I have ever seen at a wedding. As you will see from the photos provided herein the bride and groom spent a lot of time creating a very unique and creative wedding experience.
It started at the ceremony with the program that was passed out prior to the ceremony. The program was actually designed by the bride, as she is a graphic designer. The program had all types of interesting tidbits about the bride and groom along with crossword puzzles and games that could be played to pass the time both waiting for the ceremony and in the reception hall. I had never seen anything like this ever before and would recommend stealing this idea for your next function.
The ceremony went off nearly perfectly. The only thing that could have been a little better was the weather as it was a little bit chilly that day, therefore making it a little uncomfortable for those attending.
This is only the beginning of the uniqueness and creativity the bride and groom provided on this day. As soon as you walk in the front door was the sign in table. It turns out that the bride and groom, in the early days of their relationship, went to a lot of movies and therefore tied the movie theme into their entire wedding.
The seating arrangement was a beautifully designed and laid out table arrangement using movie themes with everyone’s name that was assigned to that movie and the table then had the associated movie placed at that table so you were then able to know where to sit.
Also at the sign in table were some photographs that were placed into a picture frame in the form of a film strip.
Once you made your way upstairs into the main room of Snow Valley you noticed again the attention to detail. The bride was a country girl and the groom was a city boy, there had table tied in the country theme with a wooden fence placed behind the head table. It was simple, yet elegant, and really made the head table standout.
Each table had a DVD with a movie jacket and DVD label custom made for each table with the names of the guests at the table printed on their, and as well some other details for the evening. Each DVD was associated with the seating chart from the main floor and was used as a table number for each table.
After the ceremony the guests were permitted to come straight into the room. Everyone couldn’t stop talking about all the details the bride and groom had taken into account for their wedding day.
The master of ceremonies did a great job of leading the evening’s festivities with some very entertaining stories and good jokes. Dinner was then served buffet style in the adjoining room making it a lot easier for the staff at this venue to be less disruptive by not having the buffet line on the dance floor. The only challenge with dinner was that they ran out of perogies. I cannot remember the last time I had seen a facility run out of food, and especially pierogies, addin you can simply boil some more BUT thet did not. Lucky enough this happened with about the last three or four people, including myself, going through the buffet line.
Speeches were short and sweet followed by a very well made slideshow that was put together via the bride and groom.
Shortly after speeches we moved into the first dance. The bride and groom had decided to do something a little different. They decided to use “AC-DC – Hells Bells” as their first dance song. This definitely caught everyone off guard but really broke the ice and set the tone for the entire night. With a good number of requests and the bride and groom being on the dance floor most of the night helped to produce a great reception.
Now the bad Stuff.
September is a great month to book a venue like Snow Valley where there is a tremendous amount of glass. This is a venue, in my opinion, should never be booked in June, July or early August. As nice as it is to look out the windows the challenge one faces is that there is too much light coming into the room until the sun falls which can be as late as 10:30 p.m. at the end of June. This poses a challenge when getting people to dance as most people have a fear of being watched and generally like the room a little darker which generally leads to a better dance early in the evening. I have done functions in the past in this room in early July and they generally don’t really get going until the sun falls.
I really do think a Snow Valley is one of the better Edmonton venues except for one thing. Maria, is the lady that looks after/runs this facility and is truly one of the most difficult people I have ever had the displeasure of working with. As an Edmonton DJ, I have been to this venue a number of times prior to this function and have always had very few issues in the past. The biggest challenge is that Maria thinks that the DJ should set up in what I would consider an inadequate location for the type of show my customer has paid for. When I arrived at the Hall I let her know that we were there and it was good to be back. I then proceeded to set up my show in a location that would provide both the best sound and allow me to interact with the crowd. The location I chose to set up my rig had no impact on any other component of this function. It did not impede the movement of the guests in or out of the room nor did it detract from the look of the room. Maria came to me when I was nearly finished setting up and asked if that’s where my rig would remain and my response was simply yes for the reasons I do stated above. She then proceeded to ask you for my business card, politely at that point, upon which I gave her one and as she walked away she turned around and told me that I would never be allowed to return to this facility. As far as I can tell the only reason she said this is because I did not set up my show in the location upon which she wanted me to. I simply set up my show, where I had discussed with my customer prior to that date, where I felt would produce the best possible party. This is the first time I can remember I was treated so poorly as a vendor coming into a reception facility. It should be the goal of all parties involved in this industry to work together, and to provide the best possible environment for both the client and their guests on that day. This is clearly not the case at Snow Valley. My customer and other DJs have also stated that Maria can be very opinionated and rigid when it comes to planning or working at this venue.
I can only say that this was my experience on this day and had been to Snow Valley a number of times before without any incident, what is funny, each time I was there in the past I have set up in the exact same location without any incident or objection from Maria.
Please click on the Edmonton wedding DJ highlights video below to see Carrie and Jason’s special day.
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Wedding at the Garden Valley Hall in Spruce Grove
Dec 13th
Susan & Chad
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.
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Edmonton Fairmont Hotel MacDonald Wedding DJ
Sep 15th
It’s all in the details.
September 12, 2009 – Dana & Graham
As an Edmonton DJ, the Fairmont Hotel MacDonald is a the place I both love and hate. I love everything about this venue expect for getting into and out of this location. If you can image, a 100 year old building was not really designed for all that we ask of it in this day and age.
Once you get into the hotel you soon forget about the load in and again you are over taken by the grandeur of this beautiful and historic building. Combine this with the finest hotel staff in the city and you have all the elements needed to create an unforgettable day.
Both the ceremony and reception were held in the Wedgewood room of the hotel MacDonald. It was a beautifully decorated ceremony with all the chairs wrapped in chair bags which were supplied by Elegant Touches. There was also a 4 piece quartet which filled with air and that just added to a beautiful ceremony. The ceremony started almost on time and went off without a hitch. The justice of the peace was very well spoken and also very entertaining. Her lighthearted approach put everyone at ease and made ceremony that much better. The young ring bearer stole the show when the justice of the peace asked who carried the rings and without hesitation the young ring bearer yelled out “I do”.
Dana and Graham took it all in stride and would like no one else was in the room except for them. It was great to watch two people that really have a connection with each other get married. Being an Edmonton disc jockey I have witnessed a lot of ceremonies over the years. This was truly one of the best. The ceremony was followed by a dove release on the patio of the hotel MacDonald. The bride and groom and their son together opened the birdcage and with a little help the doves flew off.
The ceremony was followed by champagne, a toast to the bride and groom, and lunch. The guests visited and enjoyed a great meal until about three o’clock in the afternoon.
The staff at the hotel MacDonald then proceeded to flip the room over. There’s a lot of work that needs to be done in a very short period of time to convert the room from a ceremony set up to a reception setup. The room was then again open to the guests at six o’clock for the reception.
Just before the reception the bride and groom took some additional family pictures in the garden. Their photographer was Nicole Fast of Nicole Fast Photography.
What surprised me the most on this night was the fact some of the guests were not dressed appropriately for a facility of this caliber. I counted three pairs of blue jeans and one person was wearing hiking boots, shorts, a white T-shirt and an army vest. Neither the jeans nor the shorts are appropriate attire for any wedding and especially a wedding being held at the hotel MacDonald.
At about seven o’clock dinner was served and we enjoyed, a buffet style, meal that was amazingly well done. There are four different types of salads, sliced meats, turkey, potatoes and the best chicken I think I have ever had. Dinner was followed by desert and then speeches.
The master of ceremonies did a great job, he was funny and entertaining right from the get-go. The formal speeches were all very short and sweet and were capped off with the bride and groom saying there thank you’s.
Just after nine o’clock we got the dance started with the bride and groom leading the way just like every other function. This has been a very funny year for first dances. Almost every single wedding I have done this year, the bride and groom have chosen a song that is not as well known. We then had a song for the father and daughter followed by a mother son dance.
Starting with only about 60 people generally makes my job, as an Edmonton DJ, harder. I was very happy that we had quite a bit of dancing most of the night. We also went right through until 1 a.m. There were a good number of requests which made my job a little easier for such a small crowd. This really helped me hold him find what they liked as a format and play within that format.
It has been quite awhile since I’ve seen a wedding done this well. Dana did a great job of planning her dream wedding from start to finish. The bride and groom definitely did it right and did it with style, right down to the Lyndor chocolates that were given as favors.
A special thanks goes out to Dana and Graham for having me be a part of such an important day. And thanks for letting me do my job without tying my hands behind my back.
Please see the below video for highlights of Dana and Graham’s special day.
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Edmonton Disc Jockey at the Oasis Conference Centre – Gail & Paul
Sep 8th
An Edmonton Wedding planned in 5 weeks.
September 6, 2009
I received a call from the mother of the groom on or about August 3rd looking for an Edmonton DJ and slideshow like I had just done that past weekend. The nephew of the mother of the groom was at a wedding that past weekend said that I did some creative things and referred me to Gail and Paul.
So we got the ball rolling and due to the condensed time frame we are all working under the gun as there was a lot to do, and very little time to do it.
Paul and Gail were very accommodating to get all that we had to get done in order to make the slide show happen. We got together and shoot the video and we were off to the races. I was under a lot of pressure to complete the slide show in under a month as I had a number of other projects on the go.
With the BIG day now upon us, I arrived at the Oasis Conference Centre about 2:30 in the afternoon as the wedding ceremony was also being held on site at 5pm. This was the first time I ever played at the Oasis Conference Centre and was blown away by the look of this venue. Wow, the Oasis is a beautiful place to hold a function and has almost everything you need to have a successful function.
I was very impressed with the staff at the conference center as there were tremendously helpful to me as I was setting up for the ceremony.
The wedding ceremony went off without it hitch. With Gail’s brothers being in the military and dressed in uniform added to the formalities. It was all topped off with bagpipes filling the room with music as the bride came down the aisle. One other unique thing happened that was very special, was that each woman that came to the ceremony was given a single rose. They held onto the rose until Gail walked down the aisle, she then proceeded to collect all of the roses to form a bouquet. One of the bridesmaids quickly tied the roses together to secure the bouquet. All I can say is that this created a very special moment in the ceremony. Paul’s father and brother in law officiated the wedding ceremony and together did an amazing job of joining Paul and Gail in marriage. There were a number of funny points made along the way as Paul’s father made good use of his role as the marriage commissioner.
Following the wedding ceremony we flipped the room to get ready for the reception. With only about an hour to do this made for quite a good deal of work to be done in a very short period of time. The guests were then allowed to reenter the room about seven o’clock which was then followed by a nice meal provided by Elizabethan Catering. It was a pretty standard meal with all the fixings and the highlight of dinner for me was the green leaf salad with raspberry dressing. The master of ceremonies did a great job of entertaining and leading the evening. Unfortunately, as hard as he tried, the guests did not respond as well as he hoped to some of his jokes and interactions.
As an Edmonton disc jockey I thought I had seen every kissing came ever invented, until tonight. The bride and groom decided to play Plinko, a game need famous on the “Price is Right”.
You simply had to come out and drop a disc down the pegboard and where it landed told you what would happen or what you have to do. Either the bride and groom would kiss or you have to do the bird dance or even spin a hula hoop. I will be sure to recommend this kissing game idea to all my clients.
Speeches follow dinner and everybody was very well spoken which made speeches even more enjoyable. Right at the end of speeches we ran the slideshow which seem to go over quite well. The brother of the groom, as it turns out, was at another wedding I did this summer and he commented on the difference between both slideshows. The slideshow I built for Gail and Paul is an advanced product with a video interview of the bride and groom a long with pictures of the bride and groom over their lifetimes. The brother went on to say how unique this slideshow was as it was like nothing you’ve ever seen before.
Please see the entire slide show in full
We then moved into the dance were the bride and groom decided to do a choreographed number. I helped put together a sequence of songs were they did different dance moves the each of those songs. It really helped to get the party headed in the right direction and added a lot of energy to the night. The first dance where everyone was asked to join in was great.
I think everyone in the whole room was on the dance floor, and you could barely move without running into someone else. With a good start to the night, and the first dance in the bride and groom being on the dance floor helped get the party right off the ground. Everyone was dancing and enjoying themselves the whole light through. Just after 12 o’clock the party got even better everyone that was there was pretty much on the dance floor having a great time. Had we not had to shut down at 1 a.m. I am sure we would went for another hour.
I am happy to say, that Paul and Gail were a joy to work with. They were easy-going, laid-back and a lot of fun which made my job that much easier.
Edmonton Oasis Conference Centre Highlights: What impressed me were the following.
1. The look and feel of the venue were great and is one of the nicest venues in Edmonton
2. The Garden. Great for pictures or an outdoor ceremony. The waterfall just makes the space pop.
3. The upstairs rooms. Made available for a place for the bride and groom to get ready or hang out before they come into the reception. Almost like a hotel with seating and bathrooms that allows for a great place to catch your breath between the pictures and reception.
4. Very good lighting control. Lots of dimmers and I could fairly easily adjust the lighting to the setting I like for the dance.
5. The Staff. Everyone there works hard to make sure the details are done well and for the most part they were. A gentleman (I can’t remember his name) was amazing. He made sure I had what I needed and made sure the venue looked its best and were 100% people focused. Thanks for all your help that day.
Edmonton Oasis Conference Centre Low Points: Here a couple of things that I noticed that were a bit of a challenge.
1. Storage. As an Edmonton Disc Jockey and being in almost every venue in the city this venue was built almost to perfection EXCEPT there is almost no in house storage for my empty containers. This almost doubled my work load by having me put all my empty containers back into the trailer and then get them back out again at the end of the night.
2. The A/V department. This was very disappointing. On Thursday Anne McLennan called me to make sure all is in order for the wedding and we talked about mics for the ceremony and plugging in a video feed to the projectors and this is not rocket science but she still had their A/V tech call my on Friday to ask me a bunch of questions that made no sense at all. What was nice the A/V tech did come a little early to make sure all was ready to go and I gave them the video feed and they powered up the projectors for a test and there were reddish lines running horizontally through both projectors. We then went on to confirm that this problem was caused by something on their end. As it was almost 7pm when we got to this point there was nothing that could really be done to fix the problem. What annoyed me was that the A/V tech tells me that they had someone into do some work and it has not worked properly since then. OK, if you knew of the problem why didn’t they get this fixed prior to the function and more so the new of the problem and proceeded to charge the customer for something that was not working properly. This did not impress me at all.
3. Rules. They have a lot of rules that did not make sense to me. Being an interactive Edmonton DJ I want to be as close to the dance floor as possible so I can jump into the party and have some fun with the guests. I had to work a little to get them to place me as close to the dance floor as possible. My rig is very sharp looking and very clean, I don’t even have my company name on any of my equipment as I think that looks tacky, and since I am generally 4 hours of the night a little more emphasis on the DJ would be great as generally I am the reason you stay or go home.
4. Cost. From what I have heard talking to other people in the industry this is one of the most expensive places in the city to hold a function and they charge for everything. Just to have someone turn on the projectors for 1 hour you had to pay the tech for 4 hours labour. I could have turned on the projectors myself and saved the costumer that extra fee. Also, if you do not use their preferred DJ, that’s right they charge you, I believe, $300 extra. If you want to use an outside catering company or event company there are fees attached to that as well. Just to name a few things. All I can say is make sure of all your costs prior to signing a contract with any venue.
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