Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Wedding and Uplighting at the Hotel del Coronado

I recently DJ'd a small wedding at the Hotel Del in Coronado in the Windsor Complex Room. I provided 8 uplights (RGBA LED full Color of course) which is perfect for that room since the ceiling isn't really tall enough to put up raised dance floor lighting. Sabrina Cadini of La Dolce Idea was the Wedding Coordinator and always does a great job, Photographer Tim Otto was capturing the night and I emcee'd and played the music for the night.

I know the dance floor doesn't look that full in most of the clips, but there were only about 35 guests at the so I was rotating the crowd pretty well throughout the night.

Monday, September 19, 2011

Fashion's Night Out at the Beverly Center

Fashion's Night Out is a Global Shopping Party. The Beverly Center in Los Angeles they roll out the red carpet with an annual fashion show that showcases some of the new fall lines available at the stores in the Center. I've been a part of the production team that is called in to conduct the fashion show for the past couple of years and its been a lot of fun each time. It's a couple of long days, but show time is worth it watching the Stars come in on the Red Carpet / Step & Repeat for photos before the 5 o'clock show. This year's Official hosts were Randy Jackson & Nicole Richie along with Lisa Love (West Coast Editor of Vogue Magazine). I'm admittedly bad at recognizing celebrities, I always know "hey that's somebody" but I can't usually tell you who or what they're known for. The second show at 8 O'clock was hosted by a few of the Cast members of Glee. The fashion show was a big hit and went off without a hitch.



Sorry the video doesn't have any shots of the actual fashion show, I was too busy hitting music cues to work the camera. It mainly shows the set before the first show and some of the lighting and the crowd as they start to gather and watch from the railings. The Step & Repeat is black wall that's all lit up.

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Wedding Reception at Hotel Parisi in La Jolla.

This was a Destination Wedding for a couple from Phoenix, AZ. They brought the whole group of guests with them and booked every room in the boutique style hotel so they had Parisi to themselves and they were here to party. They got married at the park down near the beach then came to Hotel Parisi for a Cocktail Reception in the main Lobby, Dinner downstairs in their event room (during Dinner the Lobby was transformed from A Cocktail Reception layout to a Dance Party configuration) and then back to the upstairs Lobby for the Party.



This wedding was a lot more hip hop and Top 40 than I play at most weddings, but that's really just a great example showing that you need a DJ that can take the play and don't play lists that you give them and mix that with the requests that come from the guests and with the other songs the DJ knows will get the group dancing. Sometimes that means Hip Hop and top 40, other times it means the Beatles and Aretha Franklin. It's impossible to predict so you need a great DJ for your wedding that can play the right mix of music for your party.

Monday, September 12, 2011

Wedding & Uplights at the Santa Luz Club

The Santa Luz Club is a secluded club in the private community of Santa Luz, they have a tented pavilion in the back of the club that is really great. This wedding was a raging party. I provided 8 Amber LED uplights to give the tent some color. The grand entrance went flawlessly, dinner was perfect too, then when dancing started this group got to their feet and didn't stop. We danced for almost 3 hours that night to a really diverse set of music. I worked in some of their requests but reading the crowd was how I came up with most of the music for the night. Check out the video for a sample of the music.



At one point the tent had gotten a little hot and I noticed that 8-10 people had gone outside of the tent to dance out on the lawn under the stars. As long as they dance, that's why I'm there.

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Corporate Dance Party at the Park Hyatt Aviara

This was initially intended to be a simple Cocktail party no real dancing was int eh plans for the organizers of the evenings party. Even when I'm asked to just play background music so guests can talk and enjoy themselves I always try to play mostly fun, recognizable and upbeat songs so its an enjoyablee festive atmostphere. That almost always leads to at least some light dancing, but sometimes it erupts into a full blown dance party. That's why it's important to hire the right DJ for a party. You need a DJ and Emcee that can go with the flow but knows how to subtly instill that fun, festive and outgoing vibe for the guests.



The Park Hyatt Aviara, formerly known as the Four Seasons Aviara is a great hotel. True Five Star Service and the Entire Resort and its food uphold that same standard.