Bunn DJ Company

I had the pleasure of DJ’ing Janet and Simon Bentley’s 10 year vow renewal in September of 2008. Last year, they contacted me to DJ Janet’s 50th birthday party. However, bad news happened. Janet was diagnosed with cancer. The good news? She’s beat it and this party was more of a celebration of that than the birthday! They had a great group of friends and family join them at the Hilton RTP also known as the “Mansion on the Hill”. This is quite a unique and cool hotel with an amazing Southern front porch. Their party took place in the Magnolia Room, which many years ago was actually a nightclub called Horsefeathers! It definitely doesn’t look like that place anymore!

After guests enjoyed cocktails outside on a steamy summer night, they came inside and were treated to a buffet dinner put on by the hotel. I actually was invited to eat, and the food was great! Simon then said a few words and the dancing started. I was open to any and all requests and said “I’m your human jukebox tonight!”. The catalyst that really started the party though was the live version of “Wonderful Tonight” by Dire Straits and Clapton. This was their song at their 10 year renewal party. A few tears were definitely shed. It was a great moment and a great dance. Another big song that people really got into was “Hi Ho Silver Lining” by Jeff Beck (must be a British thing, lol). All of the guests had a great time, and so did I. I’m so glad that they invited me to DJ for them again. They also re-hired photographer Shane Snider and he sent me a few awesome images (below).

Jessica and Graham’s reception yesterday was really top notch! I mean they had it all and with the best wedding vendors in the industry all represented! Grace Beason with Grace Leisure Events was on hand to make sure the day ran smoothly and she did a great job as usual.

Guests arrived to cocktail hour at American Tobacco’s Bay 7 in Durham as I played standards and drinks and light apps were served. As the bridal party started to arrive, guests found their seats upstairs and downstairs for the introductions. I introduced the party to “I’m Yours” by Jason Mraz and then the father of the bride gave a brief but humorous welcome. Shortly after, the incredible beef, seafood, and Asian stations were opened courtesy of Premiere Catering. Heather and her staff pulled out all the stops for this party! Great food! Near the end of dinner, we were ready for the “special” dances. Jessica and Graham danced to Lady Antebellum’s “When You Got a Good Thing”, Jessica and her dad danced to Heartland’s “I Loved Her First” and then Graham and his mom danced to “My Wish” by Rascal Flatts. Next up…open dancing! It took me a few songs to get people going, but once they did, it was a party!

We took a short break a half hour later to knock out the cake cutting (as I played “Lucky” by Jason Mraz). This cake was another masterpiece by Donna at Sweet Memories. Immediately after they cut the cake, another one was brought out. It was a surprise for Jessica’s brother Jay who was celebrating his 30th! It was a cool moment for sure! Next, back to dancing, and by this point, people were really ready to rock! The party took off and the only other stop was to do the bouquet toss (“Single Ladies”) and garter toss (“Eye of the Tiger”). In addition to great music, the room had incredible lighting by Jeff Simpson and his crew with Simpsound and they really made the LED uplighting go nuts during that final dance set.

I closed the night out to some of my favorite closers like “Shout”, “Hey Ya”, and “I Gotta Feeling”. Before I played their last dance, I played a huge sing along song “Chicken Fried” by Zac Brown Band. Everyone went nuts and then we brought it all back down with “At Last” for the final song. As guests filed out for the departure, I fired off the ECU and NCSU fight songs for the guests and bride and groom. What a great ending to a great party. Check out the killer photos from Tammy Wingo.

This story is one of true love and awesome commitment. Not that any other wedding that we take part in is less of love or commitment. But this is a little different.

The day before the wedding reception, the Groom, Patrick Cummings and a few of his groomsmen were en route to the rehearsal, when they were hit by another vehicle. Patrick suffered a head injury that kept him in the hospital, all night and most of the following day. His wedding day.

After an all day wait, the doctors finally agreed to release Patrick so that he could make it to his wedding on time. An amazing story that had his bride to be, on their last day of single life, clinging to each other even before their life together had even began.

Of course, when I arrived at the University Club on the 17th floor University Tower in Durham Jessica Santel informed me of the news. Thankful that even was going on without even a minor glitch, I introduced the couple to “I Gotta Feeling” by the Black Eyed Peas, and just as the lyric indicates, tonight was a good night. The couple took their first dance to Michelle Featherstone’s “We Are Man and Wife” immediately followed by Tim McGraw’s “My Little Girl”. After Patrick Danced with his mother to “Song for Mama” by Boyz II Men, Heather’s parents said a brief welcome, then a blessing by the Minister. Heather and Patrick wanted this event to be more informal, so the dance floor was immediately opened as soon as a special song, “Never Alone” by Jim Brickman with Lady Antebellum, was played specially for the bridal party and the couple’s parents.

With more than 4 1/2 hours of music picked for this event, Heather and Patrick had a great song selection and it showed me that they came to party. I started with some of the rock and non-danceable music that they chose, but quickly moved into The Killers’ “Mr. Brightside” and Sublime’s “What You Got” which really stirred up the guys and had the floor packed in no time! It seemed that every song I played, was their favorite and that they loved it!

We finished the evening off with the Bride’s Father’s only request: “I’m Shipping Up To Boston” by the Dropkick Murphys. This song was the theme song for the movie “The Departed” and proved to be the hit of the evening!

A perfect end to a perfect day, and the beginning of the fairy tale life for Heather and Patrick. David Kuhn of Kuhn Photography recorded the event, and a selection of photos are shown below.

Leah and Thomas’ reception was on a Friday in Charlotte. The location was Byron’s South End. This was my first time there and I will have to say, it’s really cool. They came in to U2’s “Beautiful Day” and went right into their first dance, Van Morrison’s “Into the Mystic” (what a great song). Leah then danced with her dad to Bing Crosby’s “Let Me Call You Sweetheart” and Thomas danced with his mom to “What a Wonderful World” by Louis Armstrong. And other than the cake cutting, those were the only formalities! After everyone got full off the food stations, it was time to dance!

Thomas and Leah had picked a ton of songs from the online music planner, and I tried my best to get through all of them. It ranged from Alternative Rock to Top 40 and almost everything in between. I loved mixing all the genres. The other big hit of the party was our awesome photo booth which was located at the other end of the room and operated by our very own Kent Bloms. He brought a ton of props from cowboy hats to shades and boas. The guests ate it up! They were running all over that place wearing the stuff and getting in the booth all now. I’m sure Leah and Thomas got an amazing scrapbook with all of the photo strips!

Thanks to the new Mr. and Mrs. Campbell for allowing me and Kent to be a part of their reception. Check out the pictures below from Lora Denton Photography

Niki Leigh and Thomas had their reception this past Saturday at The Sutherland in Wake Forest. To say this plantation is gorgeous is an understatement. It is just so well done out there. It was a HOT day, but the guests made it through the ceremony with only one fainting! They made their way around the other side of the house afterwards where I was set up under a large tent. Catering Works was on hand to provide cold drinks and passed apps. After their formal photos, the bridal party was ready to be introduced.

I brought in the bridal party with the super high energy “I Gotta Feeling” by Black Eyed Peas. Everyone cheered when Niki and Thomas hit the dance floor. The first dance was actually a surprise for Niki. It was “That’s All” by Michael Buble and it was very sweet. After the blessing, guests were treated to great food stations like a mashed potato bar and quesadilla station. We picked it back up later on with Niki and her father’s dance to “My Girl” and then Thomas and his mom really stole the show dancing to “How Sweet It Is” by Michael Buble. They actually shagged to it. If you haven’t heard this version of this classic song, download it, it’s excellent! The cake cutting was next inside the house and I played “Accidentally in Love” by The Counting Crows. Next up was open dancing! The couple didn’t pick a ton of songs, but the ones they did pick went over really well. A few beach and a few ballads.

The next thing we did was the bouquet toss to Martina McBride’s “This One’s for The Girls” and the garter to Van Halen’s “Hot for Teacher”. Next up was my favorite part of the night. FIREWORKS!!! Yep, and I’m talking good ones too. In fact, the backdrop to the tent had been covered all day, but after they uncovered it and lit it up, it was NIKI & THOMAS lit up in fireworks! Awesome! I played a few marches by Sousa to really set the mood, and everyone loved it! I cannot wait to see the pictures and Mike Bayley and his son took of this reception!

After a few more fast dances, we closed out the night with Buble’s live version of “Everything” and sent the couple off down the long walkway under a barrage of glow sticks! It looked really cool! Thanks to the new Mr. & Mrs. Cooper for having me! It was quite a night!

Amanda and Wesley had their reception at Graylyn Conference Center in Winston Salem, NC. I had not been there in a long time, but this place is very cool. The load in, however, was NOT! Talk about a hot day and a long haul for the gear. Anyway, no more complaining because once I got the gear set up, this was an awesome reception! I had a speaker outside on the terrace, one out behind the ballroom and one inside the upstairs area where the food was. It was needed for such a huge place! I hooked my stuff into the band’s PA and changed just in time for the guest arrival. They were treated to great food and cocktails right when they arrived. The linens and lanterns were also some amazing elements in this reception and Cara Zuehlke and her team from A Southern Soiree worked hard all day to make the venue really shine. Of course they were on hand all day to make sure that the ceremony and reception ran smoothly…mission accomplished!

The “ballroom” that I mentioned earlier, the Atlantis Room, is actually a very old tiled indoor pool that is covered for parties with a wooden floor. I’m talking mermaids and sharks painted on the wall! Amanda didn’t want us to cover it up which I understand most people do. She wanted to embrace it! So, we lit it up! I took 12 LED lights and went all the way around the perimeter alternating green and blue. It looked incredible!

I introduced the couple and they walked in and went right into their first dance “At Last” played by The Adrian Duke Project. I have seen alot of bands at weddings, but this was one of my favorites! They had a great setlist and Adrian sounds like a mix between Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder! Killer voice! After that dance, the father of the bride welcomed everyone and then Amanda danced with her dad to “Wonderful Tonight” Next, Wesley danced with his mom to “What a Wonderful World”. Adrian opened the dance floor and had ‘em going! I stepped in with an 80’s set when the band took a break, and rocked it! We also had the cake cutting, bouquet and garter during the dance set, then Adrian finished out the night. We lit sparklers at the end and sent the new Mr. and Mrs. Givens off in their Audi convertible. What a great night, I’m so glad I was a part of it.

Kate Fuquay and Ben Reid were married May 29th at Chapel Hill’s historic Carolina Inn. This blog post isn’t really about the reception because I didn’t DJ it, Jim Unger did. However, what I loved about this reception is that they used almost every service we had! As I said, Jim DJ’ed it, the lighting was done by our very own Joe C., and they also rented a photo booth! That’s not all! They even used the 1966 Lincoln Continental convertible from Raleigh Wedding Cars, one of our “sister” companies. Thanks to Katie Cathey of La Fete for booking us and also thank you Cris Perez with Azul Photography for these amazing images!

Look at that lighting during the first dance-killer!

Jim was rocking it out!

Having fun in the photo booth.

Rolling out in the Lincoln!

Lauren and Derrik, currently living in San Francisco, had their reception all the way back over this way at Grandover Resort in Greensboro. I had never played there, and other than the horrendous load in, this place is awesome! What a lovely lobby and ballroom. When guests arrived, I had a speaker set up by the bar to entertain them with music. Another really cool feature of the cocktail hour was the two live white doves in a gorgeous cage near the ballroom entrance.

The bridal party arrived and I lined them up after rounding everyone up. They were introduced to “Stolen” by Dashboard Confessional and then went right into their first dance “Blue Eyes” by the Cary Brothers from the Garden State Soundtrack (great record). Lauren’s dad gave a welcome and Derrik’s uncle then gave a blessing which led into dinner.

Dinner was served at record speed and consisted of a iceberg wedge salad (my favorite, sidebar: all time greatest is at Sullivan’s), sorbet and an entree. We were right on schedule for the cake cutting to James Taylor’s “How Sweet It Is” and then Lauren danced with her dad to “My Wish” by Rascal Flatts after cleaning the cake off of her!

Next up, open dancing! I started off with some oldies and ballads and went through a few other songs before one of Lauren’s friends, Debbie, came up with three karaoke tracks to sing to! Lauren had told me she was going to sing and as usual, I was skeptical. But when she hit the first notes of “All The Way”, I knew she was a pro! She also did “I’m So Excited” by The Pointer Sisters and “Last Dance” by Donna Summer. Nailed them all, the crowd loved it. I started back into open dancing with Top 40 and then there was a brief break as the best man and maid of honor gave toasts on the terrace and also for Steve Exum from Exum Photography to show a 4 minute slideshow of pictures from the day…it was incredible! Some of them are below! The party went until midnight when the hotel finally shut us down…what a party. Congrats Lauren & Derrik!

What a beautiful bridal party

Check out the dove release

A rarity, me with my jacket off, must have been hot!