Bunn DJ Company

I had the pleasure of DJ’ing another beautiful weddings at one of NC’s premiere hotels, The Umstead. They were pretty much sold out at the hotel due to graduations in the area. When I went out to set up for the outdoor ceremony, the pool was hopping. It made me want to ditch my suit and go ever and hang out…but of course I didn’t. I had a job to do!!! Ruth and Matt’s ceremony went off without a hitch. The hotel audio guy George ran the mics and I handled the music. Ruth’s processional was the Hawaiian version of “Over the Rainbow” by Brother Iz. I love that song. Her recessional was “Learning to Fly” by Tom Petty. She picked 2 great ones! After the ceremony, guests enjoyed the perfect weather on the terrace for the cocktail hour. I got prepared in the ballroom for the introductions.

The ballroom, but the way, looked amazing especially since Lyn Graves with Fresh Affairs had put his touch on it. Greens and pinks and almost flourescent colors prevailed. I loved it. I also got to work with Kevin Milz again. He is a great photographer and a really cool guy. The brides and bridal party really seem to like him and he shoots some amazing stuff. I will post some shots as soon as he emails them to me.

Anyway, the night started off with a high powered introduction and then they went right into their first dance “Crazy Love” by Van Morrison. Dinner was served after the father of the bride welcomed everyone and then we did toasts, cake, parent dances, and anniversary dance all back to back so that we could get the party started! The dance response was great and Ruth and Matt had picked a ton of great songs from almost every genre. During the garter toss, I played the University of Miami’s fight song and Ruth had on a Miami Hurricanes garter, both of which were a surprise to the groom. After that, more dancing and a great party. I had a great time and the guests left happy. Most importantly, I impressed Ruth’s sister who is engaged and now I am going to be doing her June 2009 wedding!

Luckily, I had Friday night off and took my wife to see Kanye West’s Glow in the Dark Tour at Walnut Creek. I got on Craig’s List on Monday of last week and by Friday night was sitting 3rd row center stage! Gotta love the internet and ticket scalpers! Say what you want about Kanye, but he absolutely blew the roof off the place. The show started early with Lupe Fiasco (which we missed), then we got the end of Pharrell’s set with N.E.R.D. They rocked also. Next, Rihanna came out looking amazing. She ran through a string of hits with male and female dancers and a live band…very entertaining. As it finally got dark outside around 9:00pm, the house lights went out and the curtain came down. Basically, the whole show was only one person on stage, Mr. West. The show was more like a play with all of the songs from his three albums tied together to form a story about him crashing his spaceship and trying to get off this planet (which the stage looked like). Amazing show, really. Is he an egomaniac? Yes! He even had his 6 piece band behind the video wall. Is he talented? Yes! His talent bypasses the fact that he is a jerk, I really believe that especially after getting to see his live show. He banged out all of the hits and non-hits with an energy that I have rarely seen onstage and I have seen hundreds of concerts. The bottom line is this, it was a great show and more importantly a milestone for rap shows. Most hip hop shows are plagued with poor sound, terrible lights, and a bunch of idiots marching around on stage yelling into the mic. This was the absolute opposite. One man onstage, 90 minutes of energy, great sound, great lights, and the video screen backdrop was amazing. Rappers take note, this is the man to follow when planning your next tour. I took these with my iPhone, yes, I was that close.

When Liz and Aimee from Rocky Top Hospitality called me many months ago to do a benefit for cancer at 1705 Prime, one of their great restaurants, I couldn’t say no. I know that my friends and family have been affected by cancer just as most of you reading this have been affected in some way as well. It is a terrible disease and I was just doing my small part to help out by providing music and mics for the event. I will have to say, it was a great benefit despite a nasty storm right at the start time. They had a great casino night theme. I think the coolest thing to me was seeing former Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Bill Cowher there hanging out drinking a glass of wine. He’s the man and I know some of my buddies would have died to have been there. There were tons of sports memorabilia items up for auction and even several huge door prizes. All in all, this was a great event that raised alot of money to support the American Cancer Society. I’m definitely in for the next one!

I DJ’ed Beyonce and Jay-Z’s wedding yesterday….ok, I’m lying, I didn’t, but Antonio and Autumn are the new B & J! They may be the best looking couple I’ve ever seen, LOL. I have to admit, Sundays are always tough when you work Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, but I got pumped up for this reception when I saw the song list and the roster of vendors working the reception! First and foremost though, I must mention the venue-Duke Gardens for the ceremony and the Doris Duke Center for the reception. This is a beautiful time of the year out there and if you have never been, you really should go and take a tour on a pretty day in NC. Amazing. Cara Zuehlke of A Southern Soiree helped the bride and groom pick most of the vendors since they live out of state and they picked supastars! Every time that I work with Cara I know that things are going to go smoothly. She does a great job of keeping things on track and making sure that the event flows well. I am a big fan of wedding planners, well, good wedding planners. I get alot of “my mom’s cousin’s sister is going to be working with you as the wedding planner…”, oooohhhh, not good! Neil Boyd was the photographer and had the bridal party all over Duke Gardens. Check out some of the formal shots below. Also, the flowers were done personally by Lyn and Michael from Fresh Affairs and they killed it! I can’t forget to mention Catering Works provided the excellent sit-down dinner. I actually got to eat and it was fantastic.

The day started with the outdoor ceremony, which I did the microphones for and then guests moved under a huge white tent by Classic Party Rentals for cocktails and music by a harpist and flutist (is that the right word?). I took a break during that time and then picked up back up during dinner with a speaker located outside. Finally, guests made their way inside for the toasts, cake cutting and dance party. Antonio and Autumn spent alot of time picking great music from the 70’s, 80’s, 90’s, and even brand new stuff. There was a ton of hip hop and R&B hits in there, and I rocked them all! I especially loved breaking out some old New Edition hits. They went nuts over that. This was a great party and fun way to end the weekend.

On Saturday I went to the Chapel Hill Country Club for the first time since it burned down last year. No, I didn’t play in the middle of the rubble and ashes. They have set up a very nice permanent tent just to the side of the location where they are breaking ground for the new club. This is actually a really nice place to have a reception. After getting the wedding party lined up (which was a chore in itself since these folks were ready to start eating and drinking), I got everyone inside to the Stones’ “Start Me Up”. Julie and Nate are a young, cute couple and their first dance to “Bless the Broken Road” was sweet. They also had their parent dances right after theirs which is always a great way to start a reception. My firm belief is that if you come in and go straight into the dances 1) you don’t have to worry about it later and 2) you have everyone’s attention at that moment after being introduced into the room. Trust me, I do receptions however the client wishes, but this seems to work best to get the party started later on in the evening. Anyway, that’s my 2 cents. This party turned out great and by the end of the night, I had them all dancing. Congrats to the new Mr. and Mrs. Auman! Check out the photos below by Diane McKinney, their great photographer.

I DJ’ed Beyonce and Jay-Z’s wedding yesterday….ok, I’m lying, I didn’t, but Antonio and Autumn are the new B & J! They may be the best looking couple I’ve ever seen, LOL. I have to admit, Sundays are always tough when you work Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, but I got pumped up for this reception when I saw the song list and the roster of vendors working the reception! First and foremost though, I must mention the venue-Duke Gardens for the ceremony and the Doris Duke Center for the reception. This is a beautiful time of the year out there and if you have never been, you really should go and take a tour on a pretty day in NC. Amazing. Cara Zuehlke of A Southern Soiree helped the bride and groom pick most of the vendors since they live out of state and they picked supastars! Neil Boyd was the photographer and had the bridal party all over Duke Gardens. I can’t wait to see his work from this one. Also, the flowers were done personally by Lyn and Michael from Fresh Affairs and they killed it! I can’t forget to mention Catering Works provided the excellent sit-down dinner. I actually got to eat and it was fantastic.

The day started with the outdoor ceremony, which I did the microphones for and then guests moved under a huge white tent by Classic Party Rentals for cocktails and music by a harpist and flutist (is that the right word?). I took a break during that time and then picked up back up during dinner with a speaker located outside. Finally, guests made their way inside for the toasts, cake cutting and dance party. Antonio and Autumn spent alot of time picking great music from the 70’s, 80’s, 90’s, and even brand new stuff. There was a ton of hip hop and R&B hits in there, and I rocked them all! I especially loved breaking out some old New Edition hits. They went nuts over that. This was a great party and fun way to end the weekend.

On Saturday I went to the Chapel Hill Country Club for the first time since it burned down last year. No, I didn’t play in the middle of the rubble and ashes. They have set up a very nice permanent tent just to the side of the location where they are breaking ground for the new club. This is actually a really nice place to have a reception. After getting the wedding party lined up (which was a chore in itself since these folks were ready to start eating and drinking), I got everyone inside to the Stones’ “Start Me Up”. Julie and Nate are a young, cute couple and their first dance to “Bless the Broken Road” was sweet. They also had their parent dances right after theirs which is always a great way to start a reception. My firm belief is that if you come in and go straight into the dances 1) you don’t have to worry about it later and 2) you have everyone’s attention at that moment after being introduced into the room. Trust me, I do receptions however the client wishes, but this seems to work best to get the party started later on in the evening. Anyway, that’s my 2 cents. This party turned out great and by the end of the night, I had them all dancing. Congrats to the new Mr. and Mrs. Auman! I hope to have some pictures up here soon from Diane McKinney, their great photographer.

Well, it’s Friday again and that means it’s prom time again. This is another prom that I have been doing for many years and I guess I will continue to do until I just can’t take it anymore. Millbrook High School decided to go all out this year and have it at Sister’s Garden on Millbrook Rd. I had alot of fun, but it’s alot of work to keep those kids rocking. Basically, you have to have every Top 40 song and every song off of the Urban Radio charts or you are going to get mobbed. Luckily, I had all but one. They kept asking for a song called “Get Silly” by VIC and I just didn’t have that one. Darnit! I rocked it anyway. I’ll be there were 700 kids in there and they went nuts on just about every song that I dropped as if I was the artist singing the song live at the prom. It is a great feeling to rock a room like that. The outfits and the dancing are unbelievable and I’ll just leave it at that with this post. If you ever get a chance to chaperone a prom, you will be thoroughly entertained, but bring your earplugs because I play LOUD!

My friends Marissa and Johnny Pratt are about to take a year long mission trip around the world, so went sent them off in grand style by having a fundraising/going away bash at Hi5 where I DJ on Thursday nights. They had a great turnout of friends, wedding vendors, and co-workers show up to support them on their journey. In the end, they raised several thousand dollars by selling raffle tickets for great stuff like camping gear and gift certificates, and also by having a silent auction with some things like a BMX bike and a giant magnum bottle of wine! It was alot of fun, but a long night since I had to play afterwards down there for college night. Luckily, DJ Mark T showed up and rocked around 1am when I started fading. If you want to learn more about their trip, you can check out The World Race. I wish them the best of luck on this amazing journey.

When Liz and Aimee from Rocky Top Hospitality called me many months ago to do a benefit for cancer at 1705 Prime, one of their great restaurants, I couldn’t say no. I know that my friends and family have been affected by cancer just as most of you reading this have been affected in some way as well. It is a terrible disease and I was just doing my small part to help out by providing music and mics for the event. I will have to say, it was a great benefit despite a nasty storm right at the start time. I think the coolest thing to me was seeing former Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Bill Cowher there hanging out drinking a glass of wine. He’s the man and I know some of my buddies would have died to have been there. There were tons of sports memorabilia items up for auction and even several huge door prizes. All in all, this was a great event that raised alot of money to support the American Cancer Society. I’m definitely in for the next one!