A Date With Destiny

This is a love story that will put a warm feeling in your heart and a smile on your face. And if you are like me, you will probably get a whole bunch of goosebumps as well. Mike and Katie's story didn't start out so pretty. In fact, it was quite scary. But I am sure you will agree that the end result is wonderful, magical, and definitely inspirational.

When Mike was 17, he had a near-fatal ski accident in Ontario, Canada. He had 7 jaw fractures, a broken nose, a broken cheek bone, and worst of all, a hematoma in his left frontal lobe that required immediate brain surgery. After the surgery, he fell into a coma for almost a week. Doctors told him he would never be the same again. They were wrong.

When Katie was 18, she was involved in terrible high-speed auto accident with 5 of her friends, the morning after her High School Prom. That accident left her with a traumatic brain injury, fractured skull, punctured/collapsed lungs, and severe neck and spinal cord damage. She was in a coma for 3 months. When she came out of her coma, she was paralyzed for over a year. She had to learn to walk again. Now, she walks 18 miles every Saturday with her mom, just because she can!

2 accidents. 2 comas. 2 hospitals. 2 completely separate lives.

Fast forward to 2008...Mike and Katie meet through online dating site e-harmony.com and noticed that they had amazingly similar characters, personalities, spirits, passions, and energies. Neither of them knew about each other's accident and coma, since they were not mentioned in their profiles. They met, had an amazing connection almost instantly, and fell in love. One year later, they got married! And something even more crazy? The husband of their Pastor who married them was in a motorcycle accident and was also in a coma. What are the odds? How many people do you know who have been in a coma? Was this the aligning of the planets? Fate? Destiny? A miracle? Yes!

They shared this with me: "Throughout each of our recoveries, the love and support of family and friends were paramount to helping us each come through to live complete, enriching, and wonderfully blessed lives again."

You can't help but have such happiness for them and cheer them on! Here is a fun photo of them both having a great time dancing.Obviously, this day was not only about celebrating their love...it was also about celebrating life. Mike and Katie had a beautiful wedding and celebration for 70 of their closest friends at the Stanford Park Hotel. It was an extraordinary day. They picked out most of the fun music for the evening, and both of their brother's Dave and Andrew were guest MC's. They even played a fun game where the guests got to step up to the Microphone to tell a joke. If it was a funny joke, they kissed! Fortunately, most of the jokes were funny so there was a lot of kissing.
Here is a great shot of Mike letting loose and having some fun on the dance floor. My kind of guy! Special songs they picked out for their reception:

First Dance: "At Last" - Etta James
Father-Daughter Dance: "My Girl" - The Temptations
Farewell Dance: "You're The Inspiration" - Chicago

Overall, it was an awesome night and a very special treat for me to be there. I still get goosebumps when I think about them.

Incredible Cakes

Okay, check this out. These cakes are amazing! This is world-renowned Cake Chef Omar Addihaoui from Kuwait. He makes some outrageous cakes for events up to 1000 people. Here are some of my favorites. Let me know which one is you favorite!

Allied Arts Guild

Last night I had the pleasure of being the guest auctioneer for a wonderful event called "Tally Ho" at the Allied Arts Guild in Menlo Park. All proceeds benefited Lucille Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford. It was a wonderful event with great food and wine, and it was a pleasure to volunteer my services.
Allied Arts Guild is a very cool property that provides an inspiring environment for working artists, beautiful gardens and shops for visitors, and support for critically ill children at Lucille Packard Children's Hospital. It is also available for private events and weddings. (Coincidentally, I DJ'd a wedding reception there last year!) Check out their website HERE. They are celebrating their 80th Anniversary. It is a beautiful place and all profits go to the hospital. How cool!

Hot Hot Hot

You can never tell about the weather in the Bay Area. Most of the time, the weather is close to perfect. Saturday however was a different story. It was HOT at The Ranch Golf Club in San Jose yesterday for Ian and Joanna's wedding! I could tell the people were very relieved to come inside after the ceremony to cool off for dinner and dancing. Fortunately, they still had energy for some fun! Photos from Jeff Warren at Vince Tarry Photography.They requested a wide variety of music including great songs from: The Temptations, Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, The Four Tops, Justin Timberlake, Usher, Maroon 5, Tupac, and Beyonce. Here are the songs they chose for their special dances:

First Dance: "I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz
Father-Daughter/Groom-Mom: "Kind & Generous" - Natalie Merchant
Farewell Dance: "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You" by Lauryn Hill

Here is a great shot of a traditional Jewish Dance called "The Hora". It is always so much fun to watch because practically everyone in the room gets involved and they always have a great time.

Wende and Cubie

Now that was a party! Wende and Cubie only had 88 people at their wedding reception at the Monterey Peninsula Country Club last night, but it felt like 200 because of the energy. Yes, they were ready to party. Here is a fun picture of the Groom, Cubie, having a great time on the dance floor with his groomsmen, his Dad, and the rest of the guests.

First Dance: "You Are The Sunshine of My Life" - Stevie Wonder
Father-Daughter Dance: "What a Wonderful World" - Israel "Iz"

Groom-Mother Dance: "Circle of Life" - Elton JohnIn an awesome sponteaneous moment towards the end of the reception, some of the guests decided it would be a great idea to lift Wende and Cubie up over their heads. It was so much fun to watch. I love when my clients get wild and crazy! That's what parties are all about!

A Spanish Wedding

I just returned from 18 days in Spain and had the pleasure of attending the wedding of my girlfriend's Brother, Óscar and his fiancée Marta. It was a beautiful (and hot) day in L' Scala ( a cool little pueblo 90 minutes north of Barcelona). We all thought about jumping in the Mediterranean Sea many times since the wedding was at a resort right on the water, but we knew that soggy suits and weddings wouldn't mix. Here is a photo of us in the hotel room before the wedding. Silvi bought me a cool tie for my birthday that matched her dress. She is so sweet!
We had such a great time and I was very surprised at how much music in English is played on the radio stations over there. (And at Weddings too!) It was also interesting to see the differences between weddings over there and those here in the Bay Area. One big difference is that the officiant and the witness sign the marriage license right in the middle of the actual ceremony. I have never seen that before here. They also like to throw rice and rose petals directly after the rings as shown below.Man, those Spanish people love to eat! There were over 15 different appetizers that lasted over 90 minutes and we stuffed our faces. The food was incredible. I thought maybe it was just an appetizer-only reception until they informed us that we needed to head to the dining room because the main meal was ready to be served. We wobbled inside to find our reserved seats.

The one odd thing that I noticed is that the DJ did not say one single word during the entire reception or interact with the guests. Nothing! That was a little odd to me since the Master of Ceremonies role is so important here. I requested some of Silvi's favorite songs and she was a happy-camper as we danced to "Mambo #5" and "Suavemente".

What a great night. But it did not end there! 7 hours after the ceremony, it was announced that we would all be going to another location to start the second celebration organized by some of their friends. What?!? Another party? Wow! I was also told not to worry because there would be plenty of food available. Unbelievable. What a wonderful wedding and vacation. I can't wait to go back again. (Although next time I will eat less)

New York, New York.

Alex and Jason live in New York but came back to the Bay Area this week to get married. (I typically have 7 or 8 clients every year who plan their weddings from out of state.) I had a feeling this was going to be a wild party when I saw the Bride and Groom doing tequila shots on the dance floor with about 10 people long before the dancing even started! I was right...it was wild and crazy! They arrived in style in this very beautiful and unique 1939 Chevrolet Master Deluxe. Very cool.About 120 guests celebrated with Alex and Jason last night and they came from all over the United States to attend. It was a super-fun evening and I even got to play some Latin music! Here are some of their special requests:

First Dance: "To Know Her is To Love Her" by The Beatles
Bride-Brother Dance: "What a Wonderful World" by Louis Armstrong
Groom-Mother Dance: "Have I Told You Lately" by Rod Stewart
Farewell Dance: "New York, New York" by Frank SinatraAlex had a huge smile on her face for the entire evening which doesn't surprise me because she was always so happy and positive during the planning process. (And of course, she is in love!) It was such a treat for me to be their DJ. And now they are married and off to Fiji! Have fun!

Let's Do It Again.

13 years ago, Kristen and Tony got married. But they decided to skip the big wedding and use the money to buy a house instead. They had an intimate little gathering for about 20 people in their backyard with simple sandwich trays and some beer. They didn't even do a First Dance!

Fast forward 13 years later (and 3 daughter's). Kristen and Tony decided to re-new their vows and have a real celebration with their friends and family this time. Around 80 guests celebrated with them last night. The funny thing is, around 25-30 of those 80 guests were children. That's a lot of kids! I did an event several years ago with that many kids and it made me want to invest in a tranquilizer gun. lol. But these kids were awesome and behaved so well and I really enjoyed playing their requests. (and boy did they request a lot!)
Tony and Kristen planned a very simple, fun, and informal reception which I loved. They skipped the formal introductions and bouquet and garter as well. Everyone knew this night was going be different when they arrived and found lollipops on all of the tables. It was very cute. And of course the kids (and some of the adults) loved them.
Here it is, finally, their First Dance! ("I Cross My Heart" by George Strait) Better late than never! It was beautiful. Tony's buddy Joe, who works with him as a firefighter in Campbell, performed the very sweet vow-renewal ceremony. What a fun night.

You Make Me Wanna Shout!

Okay, this is very short video clip from Erin and Stephen's Wedding Reception that I DJ'd a couple of weeks ago. I just love it because practically every single person there was on the dance floor.

An International Affair

Last night's reception for John and Jane at Silver Creek Valley Country Club was fun and VERY unique. It was the first time I ever DJ'd a Canadian-Vietnamese Wedding. How cool! What else made it so unique? Over 50% of the guests traveled from out of town to be there! Guests came from Canada, Boston, Norway, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Viet Nam, Las Vegas, Seattle, Rhode Island, Michigan, and Virginia. WOW!If you are into sweets, you would have loved John and Jane's reception. They had the traditional wedding cake as well as a candy table AND a chocolate fountain with plenty of goodies to go dipping.

First Dance: "From This Moment" by Shania Twain.
Side Note: Obviously John and Jane appreciate photo and video very much because they had 4 Photographers and 2 Videographers documenting their wedding day.

I Get a Kick Out Of You.

I was excited to find out that my clients Mark and Mimi were both into soccer. (I played for 25 years) Mimi played for the women's team at Stanford. Mark played for the Men's team. They met, played soccer, fell in love, played soccer, got married, and will be moving to New Zealand very soon. ( Where I am sure they will be playing soccer as well)Mark and Mimi are so sweet. One of the Maid's of Honor (Jennie) said during her toast that they are the perfect Hallmark Card. I agree. 150 guests celebrated with them at the Corinthian Event Center in downtown San Jose. The guests were not shy and requested a lot of songs which I was happy to play. Since they were a younger crowd, they preferred more current music for dancing. Photos by Brett Szemple.

Here are some of their special song requests:

Bridal Party Introduction: "Theme from Baywatch"
First Dance: "This Kind of Love" by Sister Hazel
Father-Daughter Dance: "Heavenly Day" by Patty Griffin
Groom-Mother Dance: "I'll Stand By You" by Jennifer Austin
Farewell Dance" "Magic" by Colbie Caillat

Side Note: Mark had a broken toe on his wedding day! (He broke it playing soccer, of course!) But you would have never known by how much he danced! He was a dancing machine!

The Floor Plan

Want more energy and fun at your reception? Put the DJ directly in front of the dance floor! It's that simple! I've done some weddings where they have put tables directly in front of me and my speakers, stuck me all the way in the corner, or even worse, behind a curtain! (see posting: I Can DJ Blind-folded) As a Master of Ceremonies, it is very important that I can see the majority of the people in the room to welcome them, gain their trust, and to engage them. That's part of the process of creating and building energy. (difficult to do if they can't even see me!)

I realize in some cases, it's just not possible to have the DJ in front of the dance floor due to the shape of the room or the number of tables. If you have to put tables in front of the DJ or his speakers, make sure the guests at those tables are younger. The last thing we all want is for grandpa's earpiece to explode. Have fun!

Erin and Stephen

What a great wedding reception for Erin and Stephen and 140 of their closest friends and family at the Palo Alto Hills Country Club. Erin was ready to dance and party since she just graduated from Stanford. It was so cool introducing them as Mr. Stephen and Doctor Erin Cook. There were many fun guests from Stanford University and UC Santa Barbara who were ready to party too. And they did!Erin and Stephen did a fake first dance with "Truly, Madly, Deeply" from Savage Garden. We had it planned out perfectly. After about a minute of the song, Stephen looked over to me and gave me the "thumbs down" sign so I cut-off the song. Then, I used my tremendous acting skills (lol) and went to the dance floor to ask him what the problem was. He said "This is what I get for letting Erin pick out the music". Everyone was laughing. I asked him if I should play something else. He said "PLEASE!". So, I went back and played the real first dance that they chose: "What I like About You" by The Romantics. It was upbeat and fun and the guests absolutely loved it!
What a fun night. Erin's Dad Rhett and Stephen's Brother Cameron made a couple of very entertaining toasts that had everyone smiling and laughing. And as you can see by the pictures, they had a great time dancing too. Here are some other special songs they chose:
Bridal Party Introductions: "Beautiful Day" by U2
Father-Daughter Dance: "You Had Me From Hello" by Kenny Chesney
Farewell Dance: "I've Had The Time of My Life" (From Dirty Dancing)

NO WAY!

This was someone's wedding cake. I AM SERIOUS! They said that it was a Texas-Family tradition (for their family) to have an Armadillo Cake like this in addition to the main cake. When I saw that cake, I stared at it for what must have been 20 minutes...in total dis-belief. I seriously thought that I was dreaming. In fact, I still don't believe it!
When they started cutting slices for the guests, the raspberry filling oozed out like blood so the cake actually looked more like road-kill. You should thank me for not posting a picture of that! What do you think? Would you have this cake at YOUR reception?

A Rock & Roll Wedding

When I arrived at Eric and Cindy's wedding reception to set-up, I noticed there was no guest book for people to sign on the table near the entrance. OH NO!! What happened? Did someone steal it? Were they just trying to conserve paper? Maybe someone forgot to bring it! Not quite! Eric and Cindy had the guests sign their electric guitar instead! (Eric plays guitar) What an awesome idea! Here is a picture.
Cindy and Eric certainly did many other non-traditional things on their big day which I just loved! Got a sweet tooth? Well, just step right up to their huge candy table and enjoy some M&M's, Snickers, Red Vine's, Skittles, Mike & Ike's, Tootsie Rolls, and a ton of other candy. YUMMY!
In front of each place setting on the dinner tables, there was a guitar pick attached to a card that read: "In Lieu of traditional favors, a donation has been made to "Rock For Kids" in your honor." What an awesome idea because most people don't know what to do with those favors anyway. (unless you can eat them) Rock for Kids is a non-profit organization that provides support, hope, and inspiration to under-served children and teens. Here is their website.
To continue with the rock theme, they asked me play " Welcome to The Jungle" by Guns and Roses during their introduction which I happily did. Here are their other special songs:

First Dance: "That's How Strong My Love Is" - Otis Redding
Groom-Mother Dance: "Unforgettable" - Nat King Cole

What a fun night. What a unique night. What a sweet night for a super-sweet couple! (pun intended)