Bunn DJ Company

Heather and Brian’s reception was in one of my favorite places, The Old Well Room at The Carolina Inn They were married at the inn and the reception then moved down the hall to the salon outside the Old Well Room where they had live musicians playing. They were introduced and went into their first dance “Everything” by Michael Buble. It is a great song! The crowd was eating it up and so was I. After a welcome and a blessing, the excellent food stations opened and everyone enjoyed. The toasts were hilarious and one of the groomsmen really nailed it. The event ran perfectly due to Cori Stocum with Stocum Consulting and Sara with the Carolina Inn. I’m not sure who did the cake, but “English Garden”http://www.englishgardenraleigh.com/ did the florals.

Once the dance floor opened, Heather left that part up to me. She said play great dance music, minus the line dances. So, that is exactly what I did. The crowd response was good for an afternoon wedding and all of the guests had a great time. I even got to see some of my friends, Joel and Sarah Jackson, and Dana from Alter Ego Salon there! Thanks for a great time Brian and Heather! Check out the pictures below from a friend and a great photographer Martha Manning.

If you read about Heather Ruggiero’s wedding, you’re probably realizing that I did 2 weddings on the same day. The best part-they were both in the same hotel in the same ballroom! I left my gear set up from the early wedding in the Old Well Room at The Carolina Inn and took a two hour break, watched some football, and ate a great burger in the hotel bar (no drinks though!). I met Courtney and Nick just a couple of weeks ago at Molly Reynolds wedding reception where Courtney was a bridesmaid. They area a great couple and looked great busting into the room to Dire Straits’ “Sultans of Swing”. My buddy Chris Perez from Azul Photography really nailed it with the pictures (see below)! After their intro, they went right into their first dance, an amazing classic and probably one of the best choices I’ve heard this year “Nothing Can Change This Love” by Sam Cooke. Perfect! Food stations were opened and then we knocked out the parent dances and cake cutting…boom, boom, boom so we could get to the good part…dancing!

She wanted the dance floor opened with “The Electric Slide” and so that’s what we did and it was a great party starter. I moved through her playlist that included all genres and decades of music and the dance floor stayed rocking all night. I love these pictures of a partying bride…nothing better! All in all, a fantastic reception!

Heather and Brian’s reception was in one of my favorite places, The Old Well Room at The Carolina Inn They were married at the inn and the reception then moved down the hall to the salon outside the Old Well Room where they had live musicians playing. They were introduced and went into their first dance “Everything” by Michael Buble. It is a great song! The crowd was eating it up and so was I. After a welcome and a blessing, the excellent food stations opened and everyone enjoyed. The toasts were hilarious and one of the groomsmen really nailed it. The event ran perfectly due to Cori Stocum with Stocum Consulting and Sara with the Carolina Inn. I’m not sure who did the cake, but “English Garden”http://www.englishgardenraleigh.com/ did the florals.

Once the dance floor opened, Heather left that part up to me. She said play great dance music, minus the line dances. So, that is exactly what I did. The crowd response was good for an afternoon wedding and all of the guests had a great time. I even got to see some of my friends, Joel and Sarah Jackson, and Dana from “Alter Ego Salon”: there! Thanks for a great time Brian and Heather! Check back on this blog soon for pictures from a great photographer Martha Manning

Jason and Jin Shin had their reception at Durham’s beautiful Washington Duke Inn, one of my favorite places to play. After setting up and talking to Diane Tighe there, I found out that they almost had not had a wedding at all. Jason and his groomsmen were in a head-on collision hours before the ceremony! Luckily, everyone was OK and they got married on time. The consultant on this wedding was Cara Zuehlke with A Southern Soiree. As usual, she killed it! The lighting and linens were amazing and the flowers by “Fresh Affairs”: set it off perfectly. Jason and Jin were very happy when they came into the room to practice their first dance to Sade’s “By Your Side” (my first dance over 5 years ago at my wedding…great song).

One of the biggest deals to the couple was the introduction to a song called “The Adventure” by Angels & Airwaves. I love this band, so this was perfect for me to talk over. It had about 47 seconds at the beginning that just builds and builds and then kicks in! They wanted to bust through the doors right at that time, and we pulled it off. It was a great intro! I nailed it. After their first dance, the father of the bride welcomed everyone, the blessing was said, and then dinner was served. After they danced with their parents, we opened the dance floor and that’s when this party TOOK OFF! The crowd was a mix of Brits, Koreans, Persians, Americans, and every other nationality, and they all loved to dance! I was mixing just about every thing I could think of along with Persian music supplied by the mother of the groom. I knew it was going to be a rocking night when the dance floor was overflowing on the very first song. Wow. I have to say that this group came to party. Both Jin Shin and Jason are physicians and so I was nervous going into the event, but obviously, physicians know how to rock! I am anxious to get some photos from Leah with Neil Boyd Photography soon so I can show them to you guys.

Once again, I had the pleasure to be at Cary’s Umstead Hotel this past Friday. The occasion was not a wedding, but a 10 year vow renewal. Simon and Janet Bentley were married 10 years ago in England and promised each other that in 10 years they would have a big party for everyone that was not able to be there. They had about 45 guests including their kids for the event. The ceremony was presided over by Kayelily Middleton out on the lawn on the most perfect night of the summer. I played “What a Wonderful World” when they walked in and Brother Iz’s “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” when they recessed.

Once inside, guests had cocktails and hors d’oeuvres and then moved into the salon where Donna from Sweet Memories had set up a tremendous cake and cupcake display and Lyn Graves with Fresh Affairs had decked out the room in florals. It was awesome! After a blessing and seated dinner, Janet and Simon danced to a live version of “Wonderful Tonight” by Eric Clapton and invited their kids in to dance with them. It was a great first dance. After that, it was party time! They had picked a great list of songs from different genres and generations and I filled in the blanks. Some of the younger Brits stumped me on some of the 80’s alternative groups and songs, but I think I pulled it off. By the end of the night, everyone was partying and dancing to “Shout”. I am going to be posting several shots from my buddy and officemate Shane Snider in the next couple of days, so check back soon.

A good friend of mine, Erica Walker, booked me for her brother’s wedding reception and ceremony many months ago. Linda and Jacob were the bride and groom and they are a great couple. I usually do most of my weddings in The Triangle, but will travel if someone really wants me for their wedding, and they did. So, I took off for Charlotte, NC right after lunch on Saturday to go to their venue Roof with a View. The pictures on their site don’t do it justice, but it is literally in the shadows of Panther Stadium and once the sun went down (wow it was hot that day), the view was awesome. The ceremony was complicated due to the layout of the roof, but it went really well. They had a great singer do “When You Say Nothing At All” by Alison Krauss. She nailed it. After the ceremony, they took family pictures and then came into the reception the the “Monday Night Football Theme”, then into their first dance “With our Without You” by U2. This was the first time I’ve played that as a first dance, but it worked. I love U2! After everyone got their fill of being on the roof and got some drinks in them, they came inside for an awesome dance party! Jacob really got things started when he grabbed the mic and did the full version of “Baby Got Back” word for word! I played alot of 80’s and hip hop, and everyone went nuts. I got to see some great friends from Raleigh, Amanda, Jackie, and Erica that I haven’t seen in too long. All in all, a great Saturday!

My wife and I got her parents to come all the way from Victoria, BC to stay with our two boys (God Bless ‘em) so we could take a few days off down in Cabo San Lucas Mexico. We stayed at the Pueblo Bonito Pacifica . This place was unreal. It was called a holistic retreat and spa and it couldn’t have been more relaxing. We sat by the pool, drank fruity daiquiris, and got spa treatments pretty much every day. We did venture out to the marina one night and got serenaded by a Mariachi band, it was hilarious and made me think of that Ben Stiller movie where he goes off on one of those guys, I actually liked it (see pic below). We usually do nothing on vacation, but I just had to try and catch a sailfish or marlin since you only have to go offshore a few yards to do so. So, we chartered a boat and went out one morning before sunrise to snag one of these elusive fish. At first, I will admit it, I was seasick as hell and almost made him turn the boat around. When the wind finally calmed down, we caught a couple of tiny fish and I started getting nervous. I said, “I can catch these in Morehead City dude! Where are the big boys?” After another hour, the reel spun and I looked out the back of the boat to see a sailfish head coming out of the water. Nice! He handed me the rod and I sat down to fight him. It only took a few minutes, but these fish are very strong. Anyway, we brought him on board for pictures and then released him right after. What a thrill. Ainsley did a great job taking a bunch of pictures. All in all, a great trip and I would recommend Cabo to anyone looking for relaxation or adventure. They’ve got it all down there.

I got right off the plane from my vacation and basically changed and went to the Carolina Country Club to DJ a party that I do every year for the Terps. They are the group responsible for putting on the Debutante Ball here in NC. I know a ton of these people from my college years which makes it a very, very tough group to play for. At a typical event, I might know one person. At this party, I know probably a hundred and they all want to talk, make requests, and party hard…not to mention most started drinking at noon and I started at 10pm! LOL. It is nuts, but always a great party and I get to play music from Motown to the newest Top 40. I worked my butt off at that show!

Sophia and Gordon’s reception and ceremony were at the lovely Duke Gardens It was a hot day, but gorgeous outside. After their ceremony, the guests came inside to a beautiful reception. They had a huge buffet both inside and outside under the tent. After everyone got some food, they did their first dance to Frank Sinatra. They had created a great songlist and their guests were into almost all of the songs, including 80’s and some top 40. Sophia is Greek and she gave me a couple of traditional Greek CD’s that really got the crowd going in a circle dance. It was great! Rick Bryda was on hand from Total Production Services for lighting, and Marthanna Yater sent the lovely photo of “the kiss” below.

Being that Monday was Labor Day, Molly and Brian planned their wedding for a Sunday evening. I was hired to do the ceremony as well and it went great after a bit of a lightning scare/golf course clearing at The Governors Club After that passed, they got hitched! The reception moved quickly inside because another storm was supposedly coming. They chose to just do an introduction of the bride and groom and then went right into their first dance (always smart) “When You Say Nothing At All” by Allison Kraus. After the parent dances, father of the bride welcome, and blessing the dinner began. I can always tell that a reception is going to be good when guests are dancing during dinner! There were alot of great guests and bridal party members including Courtney, whose wedding I am doing at the end of September.

As soon as dinner ended, the dance floor opened and I hit them early with alot of oldies, Motown, and some beach. They ate it up. We took a break for the cutting of the cake and then more dancing until 10pm when they had their sparkler sendoff at the front of the club. This was a great reception that stayed on track even with a rain delay. I have to give it up to the staff at the GC and to Scotti Bond that works there as well. I look forward to getting some great pictures from Logan Wallace

I am sitting here on vacation with a few minutes and wanted to spit out a few blogs while these receptions are fresh in my brain. Jason and Heidi were an awesome couple to work for with some really fun ideas. The day began at Fearrington which of course is one of my favorite reception places. I actually was providing the sound for the ceremony which was pretty traditional classical, but they did want “In My Life” by the Beatles and “Seasons of Love” from the Rent Soundtrack during the prelude. Great choices.

Let me fast forward to the reception. This introduction was one for the ages. Apparently, Jason is a huge wrestling fan and wanted to songs that a couple of wrestlers come into the ring with (sorry, not enough into WWE to tell you who they are). In any case, they were GREAT! I used one for the bridal party and then we killed the lights and they came into another one of the intro songs. The best part…they were carrying authentic championship wrestling belts! I actually intro’d them as the tag team champions of the world! The belts were awesome and Heidi had no idea until about 30 seconds before I called their names that Jason had bought them. It was epic. Their first dance was also classic, Firehouse “When I Look Into Your Eyes”, what a throwback to my hair band days, nice. This was a very long reception and I didn’t think that it would make it until 1am, but it surely did. I don’t know if that means I’m that good or this crowd just loved to party. Heidi hit the dance floor with a passion and wore her unbustled dress over her shoulder for a good part of the night making it look like a toga party in there! She rocked! I hope to post some of the pictures from their photographer once I get her name again. Also, once again I worked with Cara and her crew from A Southern Soiree. She was on board from the start and put together a gorgeous reception and once again picked a great DJ for her client…me! Check out the pictures from Lynette Mittendorf.