Gunter Sengel & Janet Bates 01.07.2012

Gunter and Janet decided to celebrate their wedding at the Naples Yacht Club, where they are members. The club is secluded behind the Naples Airport, on the Gordon River.

Gunter is from Germany, and he infused a few great German traditions into the meal and the fun. Guests enjoyed the buffet dinner, and were treated to special German pastries for dessert. There were plenty of desserts that night - new courses were put out throughout the evening.

When it came time to celebrate - they just wanted to have fun! There was a great mix of music from the 60's to today - and the crowd really enjoyed themselves. Gunter has a great sense of humor, and led the crowd in two German dance traditions, one to the "Lasso" song, and the other to the German Bird dance. Lots of laughs and lots of energy!

We were glad to be part of their special day. Best wishes to Mr. & Mrs. Sengel!

Brian Major & Tina McGiffin 12.10.11

Brian and Tina held their ceremony and reception at the Hilton Naples . It's always great to be at the Hilton - it's a comfortable place with a great staff. For the guests at the wedding, having their rooms at the receptions site is just so convenient. Besides being a great location, that is one of the reasons Brian and Tina chose the Hilton.

When meeting with them, we could tell Tina had a vision in her mind for the evening and knew what she wanted. When working with someone it's always nice to understand what they are looking for, and we were very much looking forward to their special day. We arrived on site 2 1/2 hours before the ceremony to find the reception room already set. The room was beautifully decorated with white and gold accents, beautiful flowered centerpieces, and personal accents. It looked so very elegant.

After setting up - we saw Tina and Brian on-site. Tina was wearing a classic, elegant antique white wedding dress which fits her personality exactly. Both were in great spirits as they were taking photos.

The ceremony was to be held outdoors poolside but it was raining on and off throughout the afternoon. About an hour before the ceremony began, Tina's mom made the final call to continue the ceremony outside. Great call! The weather soon cleared, the staff assembled the area - and the ceremony went off perfectly! It was a gorgeous setting.

Inside for the reception, the introductions were made to Tony Bennett & Michael Buble's duet of "Steppin' Out With My Baby" - from one of their favorite cds. Brian & Tina then shared their first dance to "Amazed" by Lonestar - but it was a particular release, not one often heard on the radio... we had to obtain this "more contemporary" version from the UK. Again, a great choice for them.

Both their families were very nice and seemed to be just happy people. Requests were made throughout the night which kept all ages partying throughout the evening. Guests were also treated to a photo booth - and we could tell how much they really enjoyed that. We had a lot of fun too! Congratulations Mr. & Mrs. Major!

Sean Hallihan and Lauren Dibisceglia 12.03.2011

This Saturday was the whole shebang for us! Lauren and Sean had us provide the ceremony music/system. The guests then went upstairs on the balcony at The Strand for cocktail hour. Then, everyone went in the main ballroom for the reception.

Their wedding colors were black, white and a deep purple. Lauren wanted to add some ambiance to the already beautiful room. She had us provide the purple uplighting for the room, which if I do say so myself, looks great! They also chose to add the monogram projection on the dance floor for something a bit different. The monogram gives a very classy look for such a special day.

Scott and I also provided the lighting for the dance floor. They had such a gorgeous cake for their day, so we also used pinspotting to highlight the cake, helping it stand out as the lights were dimmed in the room. The extra lighting really provided an elegant ambiance for the incredible celebration.

Lauren and Sean are from Boston, and they love their Boston Bruins. As the reception began with the introductions, the parents were introduced to "Baba O'Reilly" by The Who. When the Bruins score a goal, they play "Zombie Nation" - so that was used for the wedding party. In true Bruins style - they sound the fog horn after each goal - so it was just natural to transition into Sean & Lauren's introductions by using the same fog horn sound. And with the energy of the guests peaking they entered the reception with the Dropkick Murphy's "Shipping Up To Boston". Lauren got her intro song ideas from a video on Youtube. It was exactly as she envisioned and was so much fun!

Before the dinner Sean and Lauren did their First dance to "Me & You" by Kenny Chesney. After dinner were the parent dances to "My Little Girl" Tim McGraw and "My Wish" Rascal Flatts. The rest of the evening was dancing until it was time to go. To end such a special night, all the guests lined up outside with large sparklers - an incredible ending to an incredible evening. Congratulations Mr. & Mrs. Hallihan!

Pascal Cote'-Julien and Heather Jorge 11.26.2011

Outside weddings have been popular lately, and i was another night of great weather! Heather and Pascal held their wedding at the beautiful Naples Botanical Gardens. Their reception was for about 70 guests on the Brazilian Lawn. The Botanical Gardens are very specific about keeping the site undisturbed, and they were not allowed to stake anything into the ground. This initially was a challenged, but the final product proved to be perfect - trussing totems draped in black were used to string the romantic lighting above the dinner tables. They are a very romantic couple too, so it really was fitting for their celebration.

Heather teaches French, and Pascal is a French Canadian. It was interesting to hear most of the guests speaking French throughout the evening. Pascal offered us suggestions of appropriate French music for us to mix in during the dinner reception, and it was a nice touch. His choices were very enjoyable to us, even though we had no idea what was being sung. :-). Pascal and Heather also offered an area for their guests to enjoy some fun photo shots with several different props.

The evening went smoothly, beautifully. The toasts were fun and heartfelt, the people were all smiles throughout the night, and the dance floor was filled with happy people having fun and celebrating. What fun, happy, friendly family and friends they have. We had a great time! We were excited to celebrate Heather and Pascal's love for each other, as Scott and I were celebrating our 17th wedding anniversary on that night also! We'd like to thank Pascal and Heather as they took a moment to wish us congratulations, and the guests all toasted to us! That was very special. Seeing how Heather and Pascal are around each other, we are confident they will be enjoying each other forever. Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Cote-Julian!

Jay Ethridge and Kristie Bowman 11.13.2011

Kristie and Jay had a destination wedding. trading the colder weather of Ohio for a beautiful beachfront wedding at the LaPlaya Resort in Naples. The wedding was perfect, held on the south lawn overlooking the Gulf of Mexico. When it was time for the reception, the guests walked across the street to enjoy views of the Naples Bay, and the reception was inside the Bayview ballroom. It was a beautiful Sunday evening.

For some extras, Kristie designed their monogram, which was projected onto the dance floor. As guests enter the room it's always fun to see their happy and surprised look to see the monogram, and the reaction was the same for their wedding.

Forty-five guests traveled with them to celebrate their special night. We even had a few singers in the room. It was a very fun group.

The introductions were done to "Dynamite" by Taio Cruz. The First dance was done right away to "Crazy Love" by Michael Buble'. The parent dances they chose "You've Got A Friend" James Taylor, and "Have I Told You Lately" by Rod Stewart.

We had a great time celebrating with Kristie and Jay! Congratulations Mr. & Mrs. Ethridge!

Joe Simard and Andrea Kolakowski 11.19.2011

Joe and Andrea held their wedding reception at the gorgeous Lely Players Club. What a truly romantic setting. The reception was held outside and poolside. The pools at the Players Club are adorned with gorgeous rock formations like you may see at a theme park. Overhead was ambient string lighting, near the sounds of the waterfall, and adjacent to the pool. Such a great setting. Joe and Andrea had about 110 guests to celebrate with them on their special day.

As guests arrived for cocktail hour, they enjoyed the beautiful setting with the outside bar and dinner tables while enjoying tropical, good mood music.

The evening began with the introductions, as the wedding party came in to "Whatever It Is" Zac Brown Band. Their First Dance was to "Me And You" by Kenny Chesney.

The guests enjoyed a beautiful buffet style dinner. We heard the guests just raving over the food - the prime rib in particular!

As dinner ended we moved on to the parent dances, which were done to "My Little Girl" Tim McGraw and "My Wish" Rascal Flatts. For the cake cutting Andrea wanted "Stuck Like Glue" by Sugarland - a real catchy tune.

They decided to do the Bouquet and Garter later in the evening, and wanted a Polka for their family. Andrea's family is from Pennsylvania and their were many Pittsburgh Steelers fans in attendance! For the last song of the evening Joe (a huge Red Sox fan) and Andrea wanted "Sweet Caroline". It was a perfect ending as the guests all circled around the dance area singing and hugging.

Everyone seemed to have a wonderful night, and I know they were able to enjoy a lot of their guests for longer since most were staying through Thanksgiving. Congratulations Mr. & Mrs. Simard!!!

Adam Rynsburger and Aimee Ellbeg 11.12.2011

LaPlaya Beach Resort is where we were this Saturday. Aimee and Adam's reception was outside, poolside. They had beautiful weather!

It was "Hey Ya" Outkast for the introductions of the wedding party. The First dance song was "Do You Remember" by Jack Johnson. During dinner Scott played Florida Island type music.

We did the parent dances to "I Loved Her First", and "In My Life". The rest of the night was a lot of dancing. The cake was gorgeous, and I enjoyed the desserts too!