Bunn DJ Company

Saturday’s reception took place at Raleigh’s lovely Cardinal Club in the 28th floor of the Wachovia (I think) building. It is a killer view up there! Anyway, Julie hired me because as she said, “she grew up on DJ Joe Bunn!”. She loooked lovely in an almost gold wedding dress. I have no idea what I am talking about when discussing dresses, but it was beautiful. LOL!!! So, Bernie and Julie had a big bridal party that came into the room to “Celebration” by Kool & The Gang. Definitely a way to get people excited about their grand entrance. Their first dance was awesome because I started out by playing “At Last” by Etta James for about 45 seconds and then did a hard cut into “Let’s Get it On” by Marvin Gaye! No, I didn’t just do that on my own, they picked it…and the crowd went nuts. It was classic.

They had a lovely seated dinner for everyone. The staff there, Tim, Augustus, Babu, etc. are great. Next, we moved through some great toasts, the cake cutting, and back to the dance floor for their parent dances. I have been playing “Father & Daughter” by Paul Simon alot this year, it’s a great one. Bernie danced to “You Are the Sunshine of my Life” by Stevie Wonder with his mom. After those dances, Julie took the mic and introduced a dedication to a couple there celebrating 40 years of marriage. They danced to Barry White’s “My First, My Last, My Everything”. It was a great way to start the open dancing. I’ll tell ya, this crowd came to party. I went through some of the wedding classics, but then turned to Julie’s playlist which was 90’s and old skool bliss! I was rocking Rob Base, Salt N Pepa, Mark Mark, and tons of other stuff I used to rock when they were in college. Her friends ate it up and the party went strong until 10pm when “Jump Around” and “Shout” and “Last Dance” closed the night. A great party that I could not have pulled off without one of the area’s best wedding planners, Tracy Adams of Adams and Events. She is awesome and we have a great time working weddings together. I can’t forget to mention my buddy April Sirit of Evoke Photography. Check out some of her work below. If you have never been to her site, go check it out NOW, it is so cool.

An old friend from school, Blair, and her twin sister Megan, hired my many months ago to DJ a birthday party for them and some friends in Hickory. Leading up to the party, I was thinking it was in Henderson since they are both from there. About a week before the gig, we were talking and they brought up Hickory (3 hours from Raleigh!) Ugghhhh. I wasn’t happy about the drive, but I’ll have to say, once I arrived it was worth the trip! The party was at a very cool restaurant called Market On Main. There were tons of old UNC alum there and also my buddy Patrick Bradshaw that I grew up with in Wilson. After about an hour of cocktails, I could tell they were getting restless and wanted no more of my “pre-show mix”. It was time for me to do what I do best. I opened up with a couple of 70’s tracks, but quickly got into my 90’s mix including “Groove is in the Heart” by DeeLite, “Gonna Make You Sweat” by C&C Music Factory and then all of that old hip hop stuff by Rob Base, Bell Biv Devoe, Sugarhill Gang, etc. I even did a bunch of 80’s by Madonna, Prince, and MJ. There were requests for the new Beyonce “Single Ladies” and some of the new hip hop as well. I played it all for about 3 hours straight and the dance floor stayed rocking! Great party, go Hickory!

I often ponder this question on Mondays or Tuesdays when I sit down at my mac to write these things. Do people really care what I did this past weekend? Do they care that I made magic at someone’s reception? Do they care what concert I saw that changed my life? Do they care that one of my 2 sons was headbanging in the back seat of the car on the way to school? On Saturday, I ran into April from Evoke Photography and she changed my perspective on this whole thing. She claims there are “Knotties”, brides that are always on The Knot website alot and that these girls also are “blog stalkers”. Apparently, I am one of the ones that they read? Really? Me? I feel honored and now feel pressured to make this blog even better and more informative. I’ve got alot going on, but I will do my best! I would love to hear from you readers out there, so please feel free to leave a comment if you really do exist… See you soon, Joe

Lewis and Nicoles reception Saturday took place at Bay 7 in the American Tobacco Building in Durham. I have done many weddings here, but this may have been the prettiest one yet. They had gone to great lengths with florals from Floral Dimensions and even brought in awesome chandeliers, uplighting, and lounge furniture from JW Walton. It was a really cool looking venue. Grace with Grace Leisure Events did an amazing job of helping the couple pull it all together.

Cocktail hour started the night and then we moved into a HUGE bridal party introduction. The bride and groom made their way downstairs and went right into their first dance, “Everything” by Michael Buble. Another great first dance choice. I loved it! Dinner buffet followed and then Nicole danced with her two dads to “Wind Beneath My Wings” and “My Girl”. Lewis danced with his mom to “Imagine” by John Lennon a little later in the night. After some very funny toasts, we really got into the dancing with a mix of beach, motown, 70’s, and ended off with hip hop and my favorite closer “Shout”. Nicole and Lewis were on the dance floor for the last dance set and were loving it. This was a great party ending with a big sparkler sendoff. Check out the great shots from Patricia Suzanne Photography. She did a great job of capturing Lewis and Nicole’s big day.

Ryan and Lee’s wedding took place at the lovely Matthews House in Cary, NC. I actually dj’ed their ceremony first, which was a small crowd, and then the rest of the guests showed up for the cocktails, dinner, and reception shortly after that. The ceremony went off without a hitch and was shot by my friend Christina Hunt with Bella Bleu. Of course things went even more smooth than usual since super cool wedding planner Tracy Adams with Adams and Events was by my side. She is always a ball to work with!

After cocktails, the guest came into the main ballroom and mingled while I set up the introductions. They had a pretty big wedding party that came in to “Low” by Flo Rida. The bride and groom had their own theme song, “Thunderstruck” by AC/DC. Now that is a rocker! Great intro! Their first dance was “Steady As We Go” by Dave Matthews…impressive. These couples are starting to get more and more creative with their first dance choices and I love it. After the dinner stations cleared out, we moved on with the night with a toast from the father of the bride, singing happy birthday (yes, I said happy birthday). One of the groomsmen’s birthday was that day. Then, on with the cake cutting, parent dances, and finally OPEN DANCING! The crowd took the floor with a vengence and were ready to break it down. I ran through hits from every year going back and forth between old songs and new songs and only a very few ballads. The guests and the bride and groom left happy, and so did I. A great reception! My good friend Cara Galati with F8 Photo Studios did an amazing job as usual with the photographs (see below).

Did anyone go see this? I will have to say that I am not a huge Beatles fan (I’ve always kinda favored The King), but this show was truly amazing. These four guys came out in 50’s style Beatles suits with the set of the Ed Sullivan show behind them and did the early Beatles hits like “Saw Her Standing There”. They then went through the decade changes showing current events of the time period on giant screens while they changed their looks and costumes. The costumes and music evolved over many years and I have to say I have a new respect for the Fab Four. All of the music was live and they killed it! If you missed it, you have to check it out the next time Rain comes back to town. Check out their website for more information on the group.

I booked this wedding a long time ago and have seen Lizzie a few times since our first meeting at different places like wedding shows, etc. She is great and looked amazing this past Saturday at The Umstead. Matt looked very dapper as well and their ceremony went off without a hitch in the lawn outside. Beautiful weather and it happened right around sunset. After the ceremony, guests made their way up to the terrace and pre-function area where they had drinks and hors doeuvres. I played cocktail music throughout. When the ballroom doors opened, the room looked amazing! Fresh Affairs did another fantastic job and the staff at The Umstead had done pin spot lighting from the ceiling that really added amazing ambience to the setting.

For the first time, I got to work with two great wedding planners, Andrea & Sherrie from Bustles & Blooms. They did alot of the coordinating with the couple and let me know when the different events were coming up during the reception. The bride and groom were introduced to “Feeling Good” by Michael Buble and then went into their first dance “This Years Love” by David Gray. Another great choice, I love that song! After their first dance, we opened the reception in a big way! Just about all 150 guests go on the dance floor and did the Hora, a traditional dance done at Jewish celebrations. It is basically a circular dance that peaks when the bride and groom are lifted into the air on chairs while trying to hold a napkin between them. If you haven’t seen it, it’s awesome! What a great way to start the party. Once everyone was seated, there were two Jewish blessings over the wine and bread and then the great dinner came out.

After dinner and a few very funny speeches, the party got started and in a major way. Matt and Lizzie had picked a few songs they wanted to hear, but really left most of this part up to me. I pulled out all the stops from the 50’s to hip hop and the guests were loving it. Of course the end of the night ended with the greatest closer ever “Shout” and then I slowed it all back down with “When You Say Nothing At All”. What a great night and a great party! I look forward to some great party images from my buddy Kevin Milz, that I will post here.

Rachel and Eric’s reception and ceremony took place at Caffe Luna located in downtown Raleigh. If you have never been there for lunch or dinner, you are missing out! Great food and the owner, Parker Kennedy, is awesome. Anyway, it is also great for afternoon receptions. The place is basically divided into three sections. In the main room they had the ceremony, the middle room is where I was with the dance floor, and the far room was for lunch. They had a great seated lunch and then we moved into the cake cutting and their first dances. Their first dance was “To Make You Feel My Love” by Adele. I have heard this done by Garth Brooks before, but this young, new singer really kills it. Great choice guys! I have to say, most afternoon receptions are very tough. Sometimes it is hard to get people up and dancing, but the Bubars and Robertsons were ready to hit the dance floor when we opened it. We had a great dance response all afternoon and wrapped around 4pm. This reception was the first part of a double header for me…oh yeah, got another one on the same day! See the next blog post for more on that!