Bunn DJ Company

Well, I didn’t have a wedding this past weekend since I had taken it off thinking I would be on “daddy duty”. I wasn’t, but I did get to see some great basketball games at the RBC Center! Why was I not on duty? Well, my wife who was due on March 15th still had not had our son by Sunday…she was 9 days past due! Just as I was about to go to bed Sunday around midnight, she came down and said “take me to the hospital”. After some quick packing, we headed out. After 2 hours at Rex, they send us back home around 2:30am and said we weren’t ready. What!!??? Ainsley was ticked and I was tired. 2 hours later, Ainsley woke me up again and said “we have to go back”.

After admitting us (finally), we started Ainsley on the necessary IV’s and I thought it would be a quick delivery. I was very wrong. After twisting and turning and pushing, the Dr. made the call for her to have a c section. This was something new to both of us, but I put on my Dr. McDreamy gear and went into the surgery room. The next thing I know they have the baby out in 5 minutes.

He is unbelievably gorgeous and my wife is resting. She was amazing through this whole 41+ week process, what a trooper. Colin (my other son) came by today to see him and seemed excited until we showed him the rocket that Davis “bought”. Then, he basically blew off his brother and moved onto the new toy. Hilarious. Well, I did want to show you some of the photos that my buddy Chris from Azul Photography took today. They are so amazing and he is just getting started. Stand by for the final product some time next week.

Well, I didn’t have a wedding this past weekend since I had taken it off thinking I would be on “daddy duty”. I wasn’t, but I did get to see some great basketball games at the RBC Center! Why was I not on duty? Well, my wife who was due on March 15th still had not had our son by Sunday…she was 9 days past due! Just as I was about to go to bed Sunday around midnight, she came down and said “take me to the hospital”. After some quick packing, we headed out. After 2 hours at Rex, they send us back home around 2:30am and said we weren’t ready. What!!??? Ainsley was ticked and I was tired. 2 hours later, Ainsley woke me up again and said “we have to go back”.

After admitting us (finally), we started Ainsley on the necessary IV’s and I thought it would be a quick delivery. I was very wrong. After twisting and turning and pushing, the Dr. made the call for her to have a c section. This was something new to both of us, but I put on my Dr. McDreamy gear and went into the surgery room. The next thing I know they have the baby out in 5 minutes.

He is unbelievably gorgeous and my wife is resting. She was amazing through this whole 41+ week process, what a trooper. Colin (my other son) came by today to see him and seemed excited until we showed him the rocket that Davis “bought”. Then, he basically blew off his brother and moved onto the new toy. Hilarious. Well, I did want to show you some of the photos that my buddy Chris from Azul Photography took today. They are so amazing and he is just getting started. Stand by for the final product some time next week.

Today was supposed to be the birth date of my 2nd son, but he’s not here yet, so I’m off to do a wedding reception! I have one of my trusted DJ’s with me today, Payton Hough, so all is well! This day started off great for Tar Heel fans after beating Virginia Tech to move into the finals of the ACC Tournament. Crystal and David are HUGE Heels fan and it showed at their reception at Sister’s Garden on Millbrook Rd. in Raleigh. Marc Debagian runs a really tight ship over there and he is great to work with. He takes care of the guests, the couple, and the DJ…all at the same time. Nice!

Of course the couple came in the room to the UNC Fight Song, and then went right into their first dances. They had a beautiful pre-recorded song that was actually written by the father of the bride as their first dance. It was lovely. After the parent dances, guests feasted on a huge hors d’oeuvres buffet and then we had a toast and cut the cake. By the way, the cake was the Old Well which is a UNC landmark and the groom’s cake was the UNC mascot, Ramses! Awesome! I loved it.

Shortly after the cake cutting, Crystal and “her girls” had a surprise for the groom. They serenaded him with Cher’s “Shoop Shoop Song”. It was hilarious and they definitely got him. The guests loved it and then hit the dance floor for a mix of almost every genre you can think of. Everyone had a great time…and my wife didn’t have our baby. Bonus! Look for some of the images from the wedding soon from Mel and Kristine of Kristine Dittmer Photography. Great reception!

Tony and Libby’s reception took place at the Durham Hilton near Duke University. I had not played there in a while, and I must say, it is very nice. The evening started out with an authentic bluegrass band playing acoustic outside of the main ballroom. Once the doors opened to my room, I started a nice mix of Rat Pack era songs that they had picked mixed with some of my favorites. They went right into their first dance after the intros and I could tell they had been practicing! They were great! Their song was “Book of Love” by the Magnetic Fields. I’ve heard this song by Peter Gabriel before, but not this version.

The rest of the reception was a different order than I usually do, but it worked really well. After the salads were cleared, Libby (who looked amazing) danced with her father and then her sister gave a toast. Then, after dinner, Tony danced with his mom. It was a nice flow. Now, this was a really long reception and I thought there’s no way it can last until 12:30am…that’s a 4 hour dance set! But, let me tell you folks, it did and this crowd ate it up! Libby and Tony picked a ton of music and over half of it I had never played at a reception. Alot of 80’s and 90’s rock, and very little traditional wedding stuff. It was a nice change of pace, and like I said, the guests loved it! Awesome reception. The photographers were Mel and Kristine from Kristine Dittmer Photography, check out some of the dance photos below!

Eric and Valerie’s reception at Fearrington’s Old Granary was great. They had a traditional bluegrass band playing for their cocktail hour and then I took over as soon as the bridal party arrived. They came into to U2’s “Beautiful Day” and then after a welcome and blessing had a great BBQ buffet. The videographer was Dennis from Cinema One Studios, and Kellie from Kellie Kano Photography shot the entire day. I will post some of her images here as soon as I get them from her.

After dinner, we went right into their first dance, a great Patty Griffin song and then followed that with the parent dances. Then, since we got a little behind schedule, we went ahead and did the toasts and cut the cake. The groom’s cake was a cow, it was great! Then, it was off to the races! She wanted the first dance to be “I Feel Good” by James Brown! I ran through tons of their songs and got to as many as I could before their sparkler departure. It was a great reception and the guests were on their feet the entire dance set. I love that kind of crowd and it makes me love doing what I do.

It’s pretty rare these days that I do a school dance or a college gig, but every once in a while it’s fun. I always do the West Cary Middle School dance about once a quarter. This gig starts at 3pm and ends at 5pm and I have never seen such a frenzy in 2 hours. These kids go nuts in a gym in broad daylight. Every time I play a song, they scream like I’m the artist there performing it live. They filled up a full legal pad with requests…front and back! Hilarious! Anyway, if you’ve never seen 300 kids in perfect unison doing the “Soulja Boy”, you haven’t lived. Okay, that’s a stretch, but it is a beautiful thing to see. Basically, for those that don’t keep up with current hip hop (which is pretty much garbage), there is a dance with literally every song that they requested and they know them all. These kids at this age love music, and I love playing it for them. I wish I had a better picture to share, but all I had with me was my iPhone.

If you missed this great day of wedding planning at Washington Duke, I’m sorry, because it was truly great! There were dozens of the top wedding vendors from each category (music, flowers, catering, planning, etc.) on hand giving seminars all morning about their specialty. Then, we had a huge lunch with Barbara Clark from An Elegant Affair and Samantha from Bliss by Sam as our MC’s for the tabletop design portion of the day. Florists like Lyn Graves from Fresh Affairs brought out huge centerpieces and other elements turning a bland table into a work of art. That was my favorite part of the day. At the end of that, we had a cocktail party for all of those that attended with more food and drinks of course. I met some great people that day and we hope to build this event up to even bigger and better next year! I want to thank Scott Faber Photography for sending me this photo of me doing my seminar on tips for hiring a DJ.

Corey and Lili have been friends of mine for a few years. They got married earlier in the week and this was a big post wedding party for their friends and family that didn’t make it to Cancun. After a nice cocktail hour, they said hello to the crowd, and then Sara from Whitebox Studio, their photographer that went Mexico for the wedding, showed an amazing slideshow set to music on the massive screen at the State Club. If you are getting married, and don’t have a venue, you have to check this place out. It’s brand new, located on NC State’s Centennial Campus, and it is gorgeous.

After the slideshow, they went into a well-rehearsed salsa first dance. They rocked it! It was perfect and got the party started. Lili was a dance team member at NC State and then was on the Cobras dance team when we had arena football in Raleigh. So, there were tons of dancers there from those years. Of course, they all still love to dance. It was great to see so many of them from years past when I played in the dives on Hillsborough Street. Great party, congrats to the Byrds!

Tony and Libby’s reception took place at the Durham Hilton near Duke University. I had not played there in a while, and I must say, it is very nice. The evening started out with an authentic bluegrass band playing acoustic outside of the main ballroom. Once the doors opened to my room, I started a nice mix of Rat Pack era songs that they had picked mixed with some of my favorites. They went right into their first dance after the intros and I could tell they had been practicing! They were great! Their song was “Book of Love” by the Magnetic Fields. I’ve heard this song by Peter Gabriel before, but not this version.

The rest of the reception was a different order than I usually do, but it worked really well. After the salads were cleared, Libby (who looked amazing) danced with her father and then her sister gave a toast. Then, after dinner, Tony danced with his mom. It was a nice flow. Now, this was a really long reception and I thought there’s no way it can last until 12:30am…that’s a 4 hour dance set! But, let me tell you folks, it did and this crowd ate it up! Libby and Tony picked a ton of music and over half of it I had never played at a reception. Alot of 80’s and 90’s rock, and very little traditional wedding stuff. It was a nice change of pace, and like I said, the guests loved it! Awesome reception. The photographer was Kristine Dittmer and I hope to be getting some pictures from her soon to post here on my blog!

I guess this is a personal post, but that’s ok, I do what I want! This is my blog darnit! Yesterday, I took the day completely off (very rare) and took my son fishing at one of my buddy’s farms. We caught several small bass and we had a great time. It is days like this that I know I’m blessed. Just look at this kid. These are taken with my iPhone so forgive the quality.

One of my favorite gigs that I do about once a quarter is playing hot hip hop in a women’s boutique at North Hills Mall called Gena Chandler. I have done a ton of open houses and sales there. I remember asking them before I did the first one, “what are you looking for from me?” Chandler replied, “hip hop and loud”. I was like, “this is my kinda place!” Ladies, their clothes are awesome and guys, you should just come by to see the girls working there! I’m married so I don’t look, but I’ve heard they are beautiful. LOL! Here is a picture from the last time I played there. I think I was standing on my tiptoes to try and look taller…classic.

If you have never been to Hi5 located at 510 Glenwood Avenue in Raleigh, you’re missing out. Not only is it a great sports bar, but it has a killer sound system/dance club in the back room. Plus, it’s the only place you can see DJ Joe Bunn in a club setting from 10pm-2am every Thursday night! One of my other jobs is installing sound systems in clubs. I have started Eclipse Sound to fill the void in the area for high quality sound installations. Our new website will be up and running in the next week or so, so check back to that link soon! Anyway, we have added all new speakers to the club and are redoing alot of other elements of the front bar DJ booth as well. It’s been alot of work, but it’s all worth it when you hear it. New lighting comes next!

Grant and Kathrine’s Sunday afternoon wedding was located at the Carrboro Century Center. A really cool venue located in the heart of Carrboro beside the police station (in case anyone gets too rowdy). They both looked amazing during the ceremony (located in the same room as the reception). I handled the music and the mics for this portion of the day too. Their day was photographed by Amy Williams of Go Getter Digital.

The reception began immediately after the ceremony as the bridal party left to take photos. The food and drinks looked great and were brought in by an outside caterer (sorry, didn’t catch their name). They had about 60 guests there and the majority of them danced at one time or another. At one point, her cousin came in with his guitar and requested to play them a song. I obliged and he did a great acoustic version of “Time Of Your Life” by Green Day. Very cool! All in all, a great reception for a very nice couple. Thanks!

Heather and Tom Davis are a great couple that I booked several months ago. Their wedding on the 23rd was great. I provided the music and the mic for their ceremony out behind Delightful Inspirations. It was short, but sweet, my favorite kind. Immediately afterwards, the guests made their way inside for the reception. The room was full of lawyers, judges, and sheriff’s since the groom is an attorney himself. Now I know who to call if I ever get in trouble! This guy knows everyone! Their first dances all went great and the guests hit the dance floor right after the food plates were cleared. John Martinez and his wife were there to photograph the whole day. All in all, a great reception.

Katie and Kurtis were such a young, cute couple. It reminded me of when I used to be beautiful, LOL! Anyway, they were great to work with and had an awesome reception photographed by Tina Loebach. One of the best parts of this reception was when Mr. and Mrs. Wolf came in to the NC State fight song during the end of dinner to deliver the groom’s cake. Hilarious! The groom and guests had no idea it was coming. They stuck around to dance and take pictures with the guests afterwards.

Their first dance was well rehearsed and they looked perfect together…very classy! Then, on the other side of things, they insisted on playing Soulja Boy’s “Crank That”, everyone got involved. It is always funny to see a bride doing “superman”! I loved it and the crowd ate it up. We wrapped up the whole night by playing the long version of “American Pie” and everyone sang along. Great party Katie and Kurtis!