Rachel and Pat, A lovely couple!! Feb. 21, 2009

Rachel and Pat Blake had a wonderful reception at Gulf Hills in Ocean Springs. It was a gorgeous afternoon, sunny, and many golfers present enjoying the day.
At 3:00 guests started rolling into the reception hall, eagerly ready to meet and greet Rachel and Pat.
The guests enjoyed hors d’vourves with catering by High Cotton Restaurant. This was my first time to work with Paige from High Cotton and I was very impressed with her work, professionalism, and keeping the agenda on schedule for the guests. I also enjoyed how her staff walked around the hall with wonderful treats until the Wedding Party Introductions.

The guests were enthusiastic about welcoming the Wedding Party and especially, Pat and Rachel. The Wedding Party entered the room to “You shook me all night long” by AC/DC and Rachel and Pat joined them with “Sexyback” by Justin Timberlake. The guests loved it!
Pat welcomed his and Rachel’s family and friends (there were alot of federal/state law enforcement, so we all felt very safe).

I gathered the guests into the adjacent area at Gulf Hills for Rachel and Pat’s first dance “At last” by Etta James. Rachel and Pat smiled the entire time and gazed into each other’s eyes.

The photographer was Kimberly Kirby. This was another first for me in working with Kimberly. She was a pleasure to work with and I know Rachel and Pat will be eager to see their pictures.

The videographer was John Lestrade of Take Two Productions. I’ve worked with John for many years. He is consistent in his high end video productions and his style is second-to-none. In fact, he’s the only videographer recommended on my website. You should ask him sometime about the Three Amigos! It’s an inside thingy.

The buffet immediately followed. I ‘teased’ and spotlighted one couple in the room. Mary and Gabe. I was told that they could demonstrate the perfect kiss, and they did! Rachel and Pat wanted me to spotlight them in some way. It was great and the kiss, well let’s just say, lasted a pretty loooooooooonnnng time!

The Best Man and Pat’s father, Larry, gave a wonderful toast as did Rachel’s Maid of Honor, Sarah, who by the way did many things to indicate to me and the guests that she would be next TO BE MARRIED! Sarah pulled the ring for the cake pull activity and she caught the bouquet….way to go Sarah! ;O)

After the buffet and toasts, Rachel and Pat enjoyed their first cake as husband and wife. The bridal cake was incredible and was created by Denise Robin. The groom’s cake was a huge hit, too. (see pic in the gallery). A very unique theme.

The dance floor soon opened and the guests were ready to party! I played a mixture of fun music that everyone enjoyed. We even did a New Orleans style ‘Second Line’ routine to bring a little bit of Mardi Gras atmosphere to the event. Gulf Hills was impeccably decorated in the theme for it. Also, I played a song for Rachel and her mom (see pic). Also, see my video clips of the reception on youtube here!

The reception ended with a Grande Exit for Rachel and Pat. They were escorted off in a super cool antique car (see pic). I would love to take a cruise in one of those sometime!

A special thanks and a big Congratulations once again to Rachel and Pat and for their guests that made it so much fun!!!

Megan loves Rusty–January 24, 2009!

Moments before the Big Party Celebration for Mr. and Mrs. Rusty Johnston:

Hours before the reception began I started loading in and setting my sound system. The Bose sound system is such a treat and easy to setup practically anywhere. As I was unloading my van I noticed the groomsmen where already at the hall socializing and anticipating the fun time that was about to be had. Rusty and his groomsmen were outside in the parking lot at Donal Synder Community Center in Biloxi throwing stuff (makeshift footballs) to each other. The laughter was contagious and made for a great ice breaker for my load in time. :0)

After setting up and doing a quick sound check I touched base with Sonja (with Reliable Catering) to discuss the Agenda and the flow of the events. Everything sounded good and we were ready for guests to arrive!

The lighting and the room at Donal Synder Community Center was romantic and cozy. It was a challenge to transform a court at the center into a reception hall but you would never know this to be the case. The hard work with the decor and teamwork from all involved made the reception that much more celebratory. It was perfectly decorated!

The guests arrived to cocktail music and they mingled, anxiously waiting for Megan and Rusty and the Wedding Party to arrive.

Once the Wedding Party arrived, little did they know that their 15 seconds of fame was about to be heard by all! They entered the room with some great dance music that Megan hand picked. The attendants had no idea that the extended information about them was about to be known by Megan and Rusty’s guests. The guests laughed and cheered as I read some very interesting and entertaining facts about each attendant. Each couple even showed their best dance moves, even a few tux jackets were slung across the room!

Megan and Rusty walked into an incredible loud cheer from their guests and awed at the atmosphere.

The “Team”"

The Venue: Donal Synder Community Center

The Photographer: Baudier’s Portrait Studio

The Caterer: Reliable Catering

The Master of Ceremonies and Disc Jockey: Jim Horn Entertainment

Here are some great memories created for Megan and Rusty:

Megan and Rusty’s guests enjoyed their Love Story presentation and a sentimental sand ceremony along with their first dance which was Aerosmith’s “I don’t want to miss a thing”. Great song choice that described the moment. Sentimental wedding Toasts followed and were presented by the Best Man and the Maids of Honor.

We later enjoyed wedding cake with a special dance to follow with Megan and her dad. I mentioned several historical moments that Megan and her dad shared when she was a little girl that meant so much to her dad, Larry. Rusty danced with Megan’s mom as well and later, guests enjoyed spending a special moment with Megan and Rusty as they danced their money dance.

Guests enjoyed a variety of music from Bryan Adams to Flo-Rida, to hip music by Britney Spears and more.

Many of Megan’s bridesmaids are her co-workers and she was so proud to have them as part of her and Rusty’s special day!

Rusty’s groomsmen were high school buddies and co-workers. I remember playing one of the Groomsmen’s wedding recently. That’s a pic of me and Matthew’s wife, Jessica. They, too, had a fun reception! It was great seeing them again!

Megan and Rusty were such a pleasure to work with. They are such a sweet couple and I feel like I’ve known them upon our first meeting together.

Congratulations to Megan and Rusty!!

Monique loves Kyle! December 5, 2008

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! This is my first official blog post.

Monique first found about me from her carnival group that she is a part of. It was a fun Mardi Gras group in the St. Andrews community and she really loved how I engaged the guests in the fun.

I met with Monique and Kyle several weeks prior to their wedding reception. We met at Scranton’s restaurant in Pascagoula. We had a wonderful, detailed conversation about the type of atmosphere, style of music, order of events, and many special moments that she and Kyle wanted to create to make their day unique. Monique had gathered some information that would capture her family and friends into the moment.

Weeks later it was December 5, 2008! The BIG DAY!

The Reception was in the early evening.  A pleasant afternoon! Their reception was held in Gautier, at the Community Center near the College. Upon my arrival for setup, I viewed many of the pictures that she used to decorate her entrance area. There were many wonderful pictures of her and Kyle. Monique and Kyle have such captivating smiles that it’s so inviting. The aroma in the kitchen was only making my appetite more ready for the reception to begin….:).

The photographer was Tom Tyner of T. Randolph Photography. I’ve worked with Tom at many weddings. He’s always a pleasure to work with. You can reach him at 392-0069.

The Catering was by Le Marche in Gautier. They can be contacted at 497-2700. Their food was outstanding and well presented.

Guests arrived at around 7:30 to the sounds of Rat Pack type music consisting of Frank Sinatra, Michael Buble, Tony Bennett and the like. Soon after wards the wedding party arrived. I quickly lined up the wedding party and prepared them for what was to be an awesome personalized entrance (a 15 minutes of fame so to speak). The Wedding Party members had no idea that Monique, Kyle, and myself had planned this. The Wedding Party was entertained and loved the attention. Not to mention, the guests loved my commentary about how each Wedding Party member was connected to the Wedding. The audience cheered for each couple, and laughter and applause were created from the very beginning!

Monique, Kyle, and friends

Kyle and Monique finalize their First Dance!

Grande Exit

Kyle and Monique had an incredible grand entrance with everyone standing and applauding. Immediately following, Monique gave a special thank you to all of their guests. The guests were invited to the buffet only after hearing their ‘table song’ that was their cue to join the buffet line. The songs were some of Monique’s favorites and really set the mood for the night.

The night proceeded with a fun, audience participation interactive called Who Knows Who. The guests loved the questions I asked. Monique and Kyle laughed and cheered as well even though they didn’t know the answers to each others questions. In the end, I believe it was a tie??

Later the Best Man, Darren (a close friend of Kyle’s from New York) gave a heart warming toast to Kyle and Monique. Then Monique’s Matron of Honor, Mrs. Alicia Yanick gave a wonderful toast with many guests laughing and cheering. Alicia is a wonderful person that I remember working at Molly 96.7 as their morning DJ in Gulfport.

From the very beginning of the reception, I let the guests know about a fun crowd involvement routine that Monique and Kyle wanted for their guests to take part in. It was called Camera Scavenger Hunt. At the end of the night, the person with the most pictures per the list won a prize. The winner received a very nice digital picture frame.  Monique didn’t want the other tables left out so she decided to give them each Wedding favors.

Later in the evening Monique and her maids enjoyed reliving the days of Nsync. So I played, “Bye bye bye” with all the maids doing their version of the Nsync dance moves. Did anyone get that on video?!

Since Monique and Kyle are huge fans of Michael Buble they decided to conclude their night with “Save the last dance for me”. What a nice ending!

Mr. and Mrs. McNeil enjoyed their honeymoon in Cabo San Lucas.

A special thanks to Monique and Kyle for having me be a part of their special day.

Congratulations Monique and Kyle!!