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DJ Edmonton for St. Albert Boston Pizza
Jan 4th
January 4, 2010 – Edmonton DJ for a Holiday Party for Both Boston Pizzas in St. Albert
It was great to be back with a great group of people for their annual holiday event. Last year Nash and Rob asked me to DJ their joint Christmas party at the Platinum Club/Gold Dust Casino and it was a rockin’ good time. We were not able to go back to the Platinum Club because it is being renovated and made smaller and no longer can hold more than 100 people.
So this year they moved the function to the St. Albert Royal Canadian Legion. It had been years since the last time I was here and to be honest I could not even remember where it was located. It is a very nice room with a easy load in for equipment with no stairs and only about 40 feet from the front door was the room I was playing in.
Boston Pizza shut down their locations early on a Monday so that everyone could attend the event. Everyone started showing up at around 7 pm and we were in for a good time.
Nash and Rob were there to greet their staff as the came in and everyone was very well dressed and in great spirits. The fun things about doing a function like this is the staff. As they work in the hospitality industry and deal with people all the time most of them have very out going personalities which makes for am ore interesting evening. I have been an Edmonton DJ for so long that sometimes one forgets how much fun it can be to be a disc jockey. Allot of people remembered me from last year and were very friendly which makes for a better evening for me.
Dinner was served around 8 PM and it was a very simple yet very good buffet. Even tough there were not tons of items the ones that were there were very well made and there were a number of people that went back for seconds. The only thing I would have liked to have seen would have been a better section of deserts.
Dinner was followed with door prizes and Tyler took over the MCing duties and he is hilarious. He has a great personality and can really think on his feet. I think he could make a great DJ someday if he wanted to.
The dance then followed and all I can say is wow. Right from the first song the dance floor was full almost the whole night long. We even had a couple of people sing a karaoke songs. It is often easier to DJ a function like this as you have a narrow age range and therefore a narrow list of songs they generally want to dance too. There were lots of requests and lots of dancing and everyone had a good time, and if you didn’t it was your own fault. I sure hope to be back next year.
Please see the attached video for so highlights of the evening.
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 Wedding DJ at the Denham Inn in Leduc
Dec 29th
December 12, 2009 Wedding for Murielle and John
It might have been –46 degrees Celsius outside but the wedding was on FIRE!!!
As an Edmonton DJ I can’t remember the last time I was this concerned going into a wedding. The weather can play a major role in a function but not tonight.
The Denham Inn in Leduc is a very nice location to hold a wedding as I have been here a few times before I was very familiar with this venue. When I arrived to the venue, which was nice and early to allow my equipment enough time to warm up from the freezing temperature outside, I was very impressed as the how the room was decorated. Murielle and John did a few things that I have never seen before.
The first thing I noticed was the socks as favors. This was a great touch as there was a story with the socks and the first date the bride and groom shared. This was brilliant as it made things more personal and socks were favors that people could actually use. At most weddings there are always favors left behind but not today.
Second was the game played during speeches… but I will get to that in a minute.
The bride and groom wanted to set a great tone for the night and by picking “Black Eyed Peas – I Gotta Feelin’” as their grand entrance song that definitely worked. With aunty “M” getting married, everyone was very excited for her on her BIG day.
This was an advanced wedding for me with not only DJing the function but built my advanced slideshow with video interview. This type of function puts a great deal of work on my plate but the rewards are well worth the effort. The Denham Inn has a couple of limitations when it comes to what I do and with a slideshow being a big part of the evening the very low ceilings makes it very hard for all the guests to see the image on a small screen. Since I had been here before and was aware of this limitation I brought as second screen and projector so that the projectors and screens could be placed at opposite ends of the room allowing for easier viewing for the guests.
Dinner was very well done and I really enjoyed the meal as it was a good home cooked meal that covered all the basics and then some. Everyone really seemed to be enjoying themselves with lots of visiting and laughing around the tables.
I cannot remember the last time I was this stressed at a function. This was caused by a computer malfunction during the rendering of the slideshow. Even though I am well prepared with a backup slideshow in hand, I like to add in a few pictures and video after the bride and groom to the hall into the slideshow and re-render the slideshow during dinner so that it is ready to go at the end of speeches. Things were going perfectly until my PC got hung up and I had to exercise a hard reboot and then again render down the slideshow again. This whole process took me until about 7:45 which would have been fine had I not made the mistake of not double checking my changes to the slideshow after the reboot. Realizing my mistake after rendering put me in a big time crunch and I had to render the slideshow again for the 3rd time and the process takes about 40 minutes to complete. We pushed the speeches up just a little and we were only delayed in showing the slide show by about 5 minutes. The slideshow ended up going over in a huge way and at time the laughter was so loud that we almost needed to show it twice to catch everything the bride and groom said. When you get a big huge from the bride you know you did a good job and that is exactly what I got from Murielle.
A big thank you goes out the their photographer. Sonia allowed me to use a few pictures from the ceremoney and formals at the end of the slideshow which really blow everyone away as I was not at the ceremony or formals yet there were pictures in the slideshows from the day. It is great when vendors work together for the good of the client as most people only have their own best interests at heart. Sonia’s company is called PhotoArt by Sonia. Thanks Again.
Lets get back to the second thing I had never seen at a wedding before. The MC’s were simply put… AWESOME. They were very well spoken and creative and did there homework. The highlight of the speeches was a game that was played with the bride and groom. First the groom was blindfolded and several different women were asked to come up and give him a kiss (they were picked in advance) and the bride was also one of the kissers. After the women kissed the groom he had to pick which one was the bride and boy when he guessed WRONG the roof almost came off the building with laughter. One of the volunteers nailed him with a good kiss and that really throw the groom off the trail. The bride then had her turn and was also blindfolded and the male volunteers came on up. She had to squeeze the butts to see which one was the grooms. This was so funny and they got more volunteers than that had planned for as lots of men want to have their butts squeezed by the bride. What was even funnier was after she took off the blindfold she also picked the wrong man saving the groom from years of humiliation.
After the speeches and slideshow we quickly went into the first dance once the head table was taken down via the hotel staff to accommodate the dance floor.
There were only 2 special dances and we were off to the races with everyone in to mode to have a good time.
Even though it was one of the coldest nights ever in Leduc it was one of the hottest parties I have ever done. I thought for sure that the room would be empty by 11:00 as people would not want to be stuck out in the cold or worry about trying to start their cars. This was not the case at all as everyone stayed, danced and enjoyed themselves. At 1:00AM I still have 50 people in the room which was a total surprise. A BIG thanx to Murielle and John for putting up with me and really taking it upon themselves to have fun and really enjoy themselves on their special day.
Please watch the video below for some highlights put together by Edmonton DJ.
Edmonton DJ for Intuit Canada Corporate Holiday Party
Dec 21st
November 28, 2009 at the Edmonton Westin Hotel
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.
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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Michelle & Ryan at Woodvale Hall
Aug 25th
July 10, 2009
A Friday Night Rocker!!! at Woodvale Community Hall.
It is always enjoyable to be an Edmonton Disc Jockey at Woodvale Hall. This Edmonton venue is more than just a community hall it is one of the best places in Edmonton to hold a wedding. Add in the fact that Fong and his staff could compete with the staff at the Hotel MacDonald you have the best of both worlds; an afforable wedding venue and staff that work hard to make sure all in attenance are happy.
Michelle and Ryan went all out with the decorations in the room and this truly changed the look and feel of the room. With a head table back drop right through to the chair covers and ties they turned this room into a beautiful place to hold a function.
One of the highlights was the candy table. Instead of favours the bride and groom had a table of candy where veryone could fill there bag with what every treats they would like. At times people were lined up 5 deep to get some treats.
Dinner at Woodvale Hall is always very well done and that night it was amazing. There were so many things to pick from on the buffet line I needed a larger plate.
Speeches followed dinner and they were very well done. This summer as an Edmonton Wedding DJ keeps surprising me as people are so very well spoken. The other thing that has impressed me is that guests are dressing up again. Blue jeans should not be allowed at almost any function, and on this night I don’t think there was a pair insight.
We then go the dance under way right after the slide show and I am always a little concerned about doing a party on a Friday night. People have worked all day and have been awake since early that morning. Saturday weddings allow people to sleep in and have a full set of batteries from the tiime they roll in the door. The groom and bride again did it right. They had an open bar, which allowed for the guests to cut loose and not worry about spending a huge amount of money on drinks as some venues are now charging $6 – $7 per drink.
All I can really say about the dance is WOW!!! It was a great party led by the bride and groom that were on the dance floor a good chunk of the night. We had a great time with everyone loving the songs they could sing along to and the classics. The dance went until about 1:30 and everyone that stayed had a lot of fun.
Please take a look at some highlights of the Edmonton DJ Wedding.
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