Bunn DJ Company

One of my new endeavors is The Lincoln Agency. In a nutshell, we are now booking bands! Check out the website and contact lead agent Steve Stowe for more info. Anyway, the reason for this blog is to talk about the open house that Joe Bunn DJ Company and The Lincoln Agency had at The Lincoln Theatre last week. It was for all of our wedding vendor friends and we couldn’t have pulled it off without the help of some amazing friends, vendors, bands, and DJs!

From the start, this event was first class including the invites from The Green Kangaroo. Lyn Graves and Michael Whaley with Fresh Affairs really made this rock n’ roll club shine. They totally outdid themselves. It also helped that we uplit the entire room in red with our in-house lighting dept. The rentals came from Carol Klenke with Classic Party Rentals and they looked great. Heather and Gail with Premiere Catering really stepped up to the plate food-wise with tuna apps, sweet potato fries, mac n cheese puffs?, and more! Awesome eats! We also had a logo’d cake from Sweet Memories. Out front were the Rolls and the Lincoln brought out by Raleigh Wedding Cars and Kent was manning our always fun photo booth.

Our bands were Johnny White and the Elite Band, Magic Pipers, Frankie Faucet & The Drips, Time Machine and Robert Starling. I also had my DJs Randy Bennett, Jerry Thompson, and Mark Toney play between their breaks.

Check out the video below from Toni and Chris with Barton Creek Weddings and click here from Shane Snider Photography below. I’m already looking forward to next year’s open house!

Bunn DJ Co/The Lincoln Agency Open House from Barton Creek Weddings on Vimeo.

Meredith and Kevin had their reception at The State Club on NCSU’s Centennial Campus this past Saturday. It is an amazing room if you’ve never been there and looked really cool and “pink” with lighting around the perimeter by Jeff Simpson of Simpsound.

After I lined up the bridal party, they entered to “L.O.V.E.” by Nat King Cole and then went into a choreographed dance to “Everything” by Michael Buble. They had some moves! Mr. Jones, the father of the bride, then went into a nice welcome, there was a blessing and dinner was served!

After a lovely seated dinner, there were three toasts that were all very heartfelt. Meredith then danced with her dad to “My Little Girl” by Tim McGraw. Then Kevin danced with his mom to “It’s Your Song” by Garth Brooks. I opened the dance floor with “My Girl” by The Temptations and the dance floor stayed full all night. We did take a quick break cut the cake and to do the bouquet toss to “Single Ladies” by Beyonce and the garter toss to “Another One Bites the Dust” by Queen. I was all ready to wrap up at 10:30 with a rousing rendition of “Shout” when I found out the limo hadn’t showed, so I kept rocking. An hour later, they finally did show up and we wrapped the night with “Save the Last Dance for Me” by Michael Buble. An amazing ending to a great reception! Thanks for having me Meredith and Kevin! I am looking forward to post some photos from Dennis from Cinema One.

Bethany and Michael’s reception took place at Durham’s Greystone Inn. What an awesome place! This was my first time playing there. When I first arrived my table was in a weird place and I moved it. The lady there warned me that if it started pouring, the rain would come right into the side of the porch where I was set up. Let’s just say I didn’t heed the warning and paid the price later. I digress.

Guests were treated to dinner and drinks from Green Planet Catering as soon as they arrived. When the couple arrived, they entered the dance floor to “All I Do Is Dream of You“ by Michael Buble and then danced their first dance to “Hold On” also by Buble. Next, Bethany danced with her dad to “Cinderella” by Steven Curtis Chapman. He then gave a welcome and I played tons of songs from their songlist which mostly consisted of standards and a little country.

The guests had a great time outside on the porch right up until the nastiest thunderstorm ever came up. When it did, it was nuts! Photographer James Walters with Walters & Walters jumped over the side of the porch to unplug my system. Their wedding planer Cara from A Southern Soiree took off running with my macbook. Guests were grabbing speakers, microphones and headphones. It was insane, but we managed to get my gear to higher ground! After a few minutes, I set up a mini system inside and the best man and maid of honor gave toasts. Bethany and Michael then cut their cupcake and everyone got treated to them. They were great! Thanks to Ashley Cakes.

In the end, they left under a shower of marshmallows to “This Will Be An Everlasting Love” by Natalie Cole. This was a great, laid back, classy afternoon reception. Congrats to the new Mr. and Mrs. Schneider! I will post some photos from James and Meridith Walters!

Repeat business is what drives a company. It’s the life blood of what we do. However, in the wedding industry you typically avoid repeat business from the same client. Unless they are like the couple in the event that I performed at this weekend. The Father of the Bride hired me a few years ago to perform at his company’s Holiday party. So when he called and asked me to perform again at his daughter’s wedding, I was more than happy to jump on board.

These folks are from Joe’s neck of the woods, Wilson, NC. And the setting was the stunning Rose Hill Farm and Conference Center in Nashville. Nashville, North Carolina, that is. This outdoor setting has it all, Southern Charm with modern amenities. But a truly awesome location.

My first glimpse of Dana, was as she exited the southern Plantation house to board the horse drawn carriage from Cowboy Bob Horse Wagon and Carriage Rides from Rocky Mount, NC. The black carriage with red pinstripe was pulled by a simply beautiful and gentle black draft horse named Bolt. Just watching Dana walk down the sidewalk with her classic dress made me think about days long ago, when taking the walk to a carriage was an everyday occurrence, not the once in a lifetime occasion that today is.

As the ceremony took place by the pond, I continued to get set up regaled by stories from the florist Eddie Sloop of Distinctive Designs of Wake Forest, of their previous venture to Rose Hill where the bride (and her Vera Wang gown) was tossed into the swimming pool. Soon enough, the guests were filing in for the reception to begin. The introductions were short and sweet to the Black Eyed Peas’ “I Gotta Feeling” and then on to the couples first dance to “At Last” from Etta James. Chris and Dana then took their dances with their parents to “My Little Girl” by Tim McGraw, and Natalie Cole’s “I Wish You Love”.

Dana had requested that the dancing opened immediately after dinner, and we hit it hard with “Let’s Get It Started” from the Black Eyed Peas and not long after that, we cut the cake to James Taylor’s “How Sweet It Is”.

Before we resumed the dancing, the Bride’s Mother asked if I would make a short announcement that Dana’s Grandmother was 87 years young on her wedding day! What a treat! We started it back up again with “September” from Earth Wind and Fire while the bouquet was tossed to Beyonce’s “Single Ladies” and the garter tossed to “You Shook Me All Night Long” from rock legends AC/DC. With limited slow songs requested, the night was over almost as quickly as it began as the couple and the remaining guests danced to “Last Dance” by Donna Summer.

I want to thank my friend Cara Galat with F8 Studios for providing me with these amazing pictures from the wedding that one of my DJs, Jerry Thompson, played last weekend at The Washington Duke Inn. My lighting guy, Joe C., did a fantastic job of uplighting the perimeter of the room with LED cans which changed color throughout the night! They also ordered dance floor lighting which Jerry fired up when the dance floor opened!

Megan and Nicholas held their reception Saturday at The Sutherland in Wake Forest. If you have never been out there, you really should…it’s amazing. A beautiful historic home and property are the perfect setting for a spring reception. Donna and Ashlee do a great job out there! When guests arrived, they were treated to Firefly sweet tea vodka, lemonade, and Cokes and Cheerwine in glass bottles (my all time favorite). After they had a few drinks and hors d’oeuvres, I invited them around to the other side of the house for dinner under the tent, which was all decked out by Mel Day of Dogwood Florals. I went inside and lined up the bridal party and they came out to “Linus & Lucy” and then went into their first dance “With This Ring” by The Platters. Afterwards, Nicholas and Megan danced with their folks to “How Sweet It Is” by James Taylor. The father of the bride gave a welcome, the father of the groom gave a blessing and dinner began compliments of Tudi and her crew from Ladyfingers. Dinner went smoothly and the cake was cut to “1,2,3,4” by the Plain White Tees. Three people gave toasts and then we opened the dance floor…and the ice cream bar (which was a huge hit!). The couple created a great playlist with everything from Motown to beach to country and their guests had a great time dancing until after 10:00. For the departure, the guests lined the brick walkway and grabbed noisemakers to send the new Mr. and Mrs. Thorpe off! What a great ending to a great Saturday. I am looking forward to seeing the photos from Mel and Kristine from Kristine Dittmer Photography.

Well, I have to say, what a great way to start May. Hey that rhymed. Sima and Michael’s incredible reception was held at Durham’s gorgeous Washington Duke Inn. The afternoon began with a Christian ceremony, followed later by a Persian ceremony that we did the music and mics for. The cocktail hour was in the area outside the President’s ballrooms. Great food and drinks were served before the guest were allowed into the ballroom. Lyn Graves with Fresh Affairs really did an incredible job on this room! Wow! Huge centerpieces on each table made the room incredible along with the amber uplighting. The introductions happened soon after everyone came in. The song they picked for the bridal party was “All You Need Is Love” by The Beatles and then a Persian song for the bride and groom’s big entrance! Everyone went nuts! A seated dinner was served, some great toasts and then a really cool dance with the cake knife before the cake cutting. That was the first time I’ve seen that! After the cake, the special dances took place. The bride and groom’s song was “Moondance” by Van Morrison, Michael’s dance with his mom was to “Evergreen” by Barbra Streisand. Finally, Sima danced with her dad to a Persian song she picked which had everyone up on their feet. We then asked them all to join in on the dance. What a great way to start the party! I will have to say, this wedding was a challenge, but I pulled it off, and it rocked! I was going back and forth between some wedding classics to Persian to Top 40 and the dance floor stayed packed! I’m really looking forward to seeing video from my friends Toni and Chris at Barton Creek Weddings. Check out some of the pictures below from Neil Boyd. This was a great way to start the month! Congrats to Sima and Michael.

Fearrington Barn in Pittsboro was the location of this amazing ceremony and reception for Kate Stroup and Matt Berger. In this business, every now and then I run into a couple that are a little spunky. I’m not referring to the usual flip-flops or Converse All Stars spunky, I’m talking retro, do things a little different type of spunky.

The ceremony started promptly at 5:30pm (you’ll see why in a moment) in Fearrington’s garden and the guests were greeted with Lemonade and Vodka Iced Tea, amid love songs from the 50’s and 60’s. The parents were seated to Vivaldi’s Four Seasons “Spring”. And here is where the quirkiess begins. The Bride entered the garden wearing a stunning crinoline dress carrying a vintage copy of “Pride and Prejudice” (given to her by the Groom) to the song “To Know Him is to Love Him” performed by Amy Winehouse. Once the ceremony was completed, the bridal party exited to Prince’s “Kiss” and proceeded to the Fearrington Barn Patio for cocktails.

During the cocktail hour I played Motown love songs, and at a very specific time the guests were hurried, Mint Juleps in hand, into the barn to view the 136th running of the Kentucky Derby. And while the trumpeter opened the derby race at Churchill Downs, a trumpeter also performed the opening on Fearrington’s stage. The guest’s programs had numbers corresponding to the horses for them to cheer on. As we know now, Horse 4, Super Saver won the derby that day, and the cocktail hour resumed on the patio.

No formal introduction was needed, since the bridal party viewed the race with the guests, but Kate and Matt danced their first dance to “Lay Lady Lay” by Bob Dylan, and the parent dances to “In My Life” by the Beatles. I changed gears again during dinner to instrumental classic Jazz with Miles Davis and John Coltrane and the cake was cut to “Sugar Sugar” by The Archies.

Kate had requested that the dancing portion of the reception be “off the chain” so we started off with her request of “Get Up Offa That Thing” by the Godfather of Soul, James Brown. From that point on, it was on! We covered the spectrum with a few oldies, but they were a huge fan of 80’s pop, so faves like “It Takes Two”, “Push It”, and House of Pain’s “Jump” cranked off the night. We later moved up to current hits like “Tik Tok” and Hot N Cold” were joined by “Right Round”, “Fire Burning”, “I Know You Want Me”, and “Boom Boom Pow”.

A truly fantastic evening that quickly escalated to one of my all time favorite gigs. This one was so much fun, and Bride and Groom were wonderful to work with. When I receive some photos from the photographer, I’ll be sure to post them.

The Greenfield School prom has been a gig that I’ve been doing for many, many years. It’s one of only two proms that I do each year. They are fun, but alot of work since you have to be VERY current with your music! This year’s prom took place at the Wilson Country Club in my hometown of Wilson, NC. They had a ton of glow necklaces and sticks around the room and it looked really cool, especially with all of my lights set up on the dance floor. From the very beginning, the kids started dancing and pretty much stuck around until midnight. This is a small private school, but they love to have a good time. I think I had almost all of their requests too!

When Frank and Elizabeth of Sweet Life Photo approached me to perform at their daughter’s Sweet 16 birthday party, I jumped at the opportunity. Not only are they great folks and good parents (for daring to organize such a daunting task) but they are extremely talented photographers. But when parties for teenagers come together they are usually rather polar. Either they aren’t interested and the boys sit on one side of the room and the girls sit on the other…or it totally rocks and they jump and scream and party the evening away. Luckily for me, the latter was the case.

The location was Raleigh’s Lake Wheeler Waterfront Program Center and the weather couldn’t be better for an outdoor party like this. Kat indicated that she would like the party hopping early and that’s just what we did. Starting off with Ke$sha’s “Tik Tok” and we didn’t stop for the next 4 hours. I even played “Happy Birthday” performed by NSync (a fave of the birthday girl!) and we ended the party with Journey’s epic “Don’t Stop Believin’”.

Craig Carpenter of Luster Studios joined us and as a good photographer took some great photos along with Elizabeth shown below. Happy Birthday Kat!