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.

September 5, 2009 at Woodvale Community Hall in Edmonton

Black and white… done right.

It was a beautiful September day where I was able to come back to one of my favorite places to play music.  Woodvale Hall is great venue with a easy load in and a very well designed and run location.  Add in some of the best staff in the city you have a winning location.  Bonuses are free parking and very easy to get to in the city of Edmonton.

Michelle and Carlos pulled out all the stops and did a great job of both holding the ceremony and reception in the same venue and decorating the facility. 

With a black and white theme that carried through the chair covers to the the napkins and even the cake. 

The ceremony was very well attended as there are usually empty chairs are most ceremonies but there was standing room only for this one.  The marriage commissioner was also very well spoken and entertaining.  He also got the guests involved in the ceremony.  I was one of the best ceremonies I have ever been to.

After the ceremony the room was flipped for the ceremony and that was all done in a very smooth and efficient matter and there was just enough time for me to transition from the ceremony to the reception.  As my show is one of the larger show in Edmonton I generally need about 2 hours to set it all up.

The doors reopened to the guests about 5:30 PM and everyone was in great spirits right from the beginning and I could tell that we were in for a GOOD time.

One other that was great about the room was that it was cozy.  There were just the right number of people for this size of room.  This is one of the most import factors when considering any room. For example, if you book a room that holds 400 and you only have 150 – 200 guests attending your party will, generally speaking, be less successful had you booked a venue that was well suited to the number attending. 

Dinner simply put was great.  Great selection and great quality and something for everyone.

Dinner was followed by some awesome speeches that were very well delivered.  Everyone was very well spoken making the speeches, for me, the highlight of the night.

I have attended over 600 parties over the last 10 years as an Edmonton DJ and I can tell you one thing for sure and that is the better the front end of the night is… the better the back end will be.  With a great venue, food and people my job was made easy. 

The one that was can help a dance or kill it… is kids.  On this night there was just enough kids that increased the energy but not many where they are causing chaos.  We had the right balance on this night.

What can I say about the dance but… WOW.  It was a lot of fun right from the start and with the bride and groom there to enjoy themselves and take everything in led us to a great dance that at time had everyone in the room dancing. 

Please take a look at a short video of the day highlights.

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