Tyler & Danielle 4.20.2013

This Saturday April 20th, 2013 Tyler & Danielle planned on celebrating there marriage at The Strand.  The reception was to take place downstairs in the Garden under the twinkle lights.  Unfortunately everyone was unsure of what the weather was going to be.  So, it was decided to have the reception in the main ballroom, which seemed to please everyone since it turned out to be a warm, muggy evening.  Everything went great!

Danielle and Tyler wanted to be part of there cocktail hour in order to mingle with their guests, so the two of them were introduced into cocktail hour on the terrace with a guitarist.

The reception started off with a speech from Danielle's Dad, and them toasts from the Best Man & Matron of Honor, a blessing and on to dinner!

After dinner is when they chose to have the cake cutting ("How Sweet It Is" by James Taylor).  Then, the First Dance!  Tyler & Danielle shared their dance to "Love Your Love The Most" by Eric Church.  Following that was the Parent Dances, the "Anniversary Dance" which acknowledges the couples who've been married the longest.

All the rest of the night was a lot of dancing!  They were all a great crowd of all ages enjoying themselves!

Michael & Laura 04.06.2013

 

 

On Saturday, April 6th, we were setting our equipment up out on the terrace by the pool at The Inn On 5th in Naples, Florida.  Meanwhile, Laura & Michael were downstairs getting married in beautiful lobby of the hotel.  Their photographer for the day/evening was Michael Schuhmann, who is from the Tampa area;  it was a pleasure meeting him.

After the ceremony the guests headed to the 2nd floor where they enjoyed the unique ambiance of the hotel's 5th Avenue terrace, which overlooks all the activity in busy downtown. We provided a sound system for their cocktail hour on the terrace. 

The guests were then led to the main terrace at the rear of the property.  The reception began at 7pm where guests enjoyed the sunset as the party was adjacent to the hotel's pool. Michael & Laura chose not to have official "Introductions" done.  Instead they had a receiving line as their guests entered the terrace.  Once everyone was greeted and seated the night proceeded with their First Dance ("At Last" by Beyonce), then the toasts and a buffet style dinner.  After dinner was the cake cutting (the cake was delicious-btw), the dances with their Dad, and Mom.  The rest of the evening was all dancing!  What a great crowd!  They danced the night away, and the next morning had scheduled a  breakfast for all the guests to gather together one more time.

Also as a treat for us we got to see two of Laura's cousins and their spouses, as we had previously performed for their weddings too.  It was great catching up with old friends.  

Two busy doctors celebrating their love in Naples, Florida.  Congratulations Laura & Micheal!

Chris and Elizabeth 3.9.2013

On Saturday March 9th, 2013 we were pleased to be involved with the wedding of Chris & Liz.  They had been working with Brett at the beautiful Kensington Country Club in Naples. For this location, there were actually five separate set-up areas - the main dining room, the adjacent dining room, the cocktail hour, the balcony and the putting green.  Liz and Chris chose to have blush/light pink colored uplighting to enhance the ambiance of their celebration.  In the main dining room we had our dance floor lighting stand with our speaker system.  We ran cables upstairs, where the main DJ system was set-up on the balcony overlooking the first floor.  As they had over 125 guests,  six guest tables were set up in the adjacent dining room, which required a wireless speaker set-up to let all the guests hear the music, announcements and the fun.  The cocktail hour was located in the bar area, which is also in a separate room;  we provided music and sound for the guests to enjoy as Chris & Liz continued with their photos.  And last, we had our ceremony system package set-up outside on the putting green.  There was no power close by, so we used the help of our ultra quiet Honda eu2000 generator.

After taking a few hours for set-up, it was time to begin the celebration.  The ceremony had excellent weather,  a bit cloudy (which photographers say is great for photos) and a constant breeze which felt wonderful!  They chose traditional wedding music set to strings as the ceremony included their closest friends and family.  All went off perfectly.

The cocktail hour was upstairs-inside next to the reception room and a patio area too.  We provided a mix of upbeat background music while their guests enjoyed snacks and drinks while mingling.

After the introductions of the parents and bridal attendants to "I Gotta Feeling" Black Eyed Peas.  Then, Liz and Chris to "Yeah" by Usher, they went into their First Dance which was "I Love the Way You Love Me" by John Michael Montgomery.

Dinner was plated and served;  the three toasts and the dances with their parents were done in between courses.  Guests were feeling the music early on the dance floor during dinner.  As dinner ended the dance floor was quickly crowded as the guests couldn't wait to celebrate.  Just prior to the time when the photographer Maria Glassford was set to leave we made sure to get in the Cake cutting and Bouquet and Garter toss.

At around ten o'clock Chef David set out another course of food, by putting out a buffet featuring meatball sliders, hamburger sliders and pizza for the guests to munch on while partying on until last call.  It was a great night of family, fun, and lots of dancing!

New at the Naples Beach Hotel

 

 On Thursday evening we were invited by the Naples Beach Hotel to check out their newest renovations, having completely redesigned the famed "Everglades Room" and adjoining spaces.

The Naples Beach Hotel's Everglades room is just off the lobby and features panoramic views to the Gulf of Mexico.  It is also the room most chosen for wedding receptions.  It is now an entirely new space. 

The room's updates included an expansion of the room, and a raised ceiling highlighted by beautiful chandeliers and providing increased acoustical enhancements.  The lighting control has always been very good in the room, and the on-site A/V manager Kenny Graham was raving to me about the expanded abilities the new room offers with directional lighting and built in A/V capabilities. . 

Chef had provided a wonderful spread for the guests, from sushi to jumbo shrimp.  The hotel's owner Michael Watkins came by to say hello and to see the new space.

The staff at the Naples Beach Hotel is both excellent and friendly.  As the room has been closed since the summer of 2012, we are looking forward to our next celebration in this beautiful space. 

Byran and Carolina 02.09.13

 

 

 

 

 

Byran and Carolina are out-of-towners who set their sights on a southwest Florida wedding.  With that they reserved the Hilton Marco Island as their destination for their celebration.  Byran met Carolina over ten years ago while they both attended the University of Alabama.  From his words, when he met her he knew she was special - sometimes, one just knows.

We worked with the Hilton's event coordinator Asha, who was so pleasant to work with.  The wedding day featured perfect weather, sunny blue skies with a slight constant breeze from the east.  The ceremony was held on the wide, white sand beachfront of the Hilton Marco Island, as Byran's father officiated the wedding and shared some excellent words of advice.  Byran knows music quite well, and chose special songs to create a wonderful mood for the ceremony.  Their hand written vows were exchanged as a backdrop of slow, rolling waves gently collided into the shore.

After the ceremony, all their guests joined the new couple for a champagne toast out right on the beach.  As Byran and Carolina continued their photo shoot with talented photographer Rhoda Parcon, the guests went up to the Hilton's penthouse level, with the celebration being held eleven floors upstairs, outside on the balcony overlooking the water.

Carolina chose tiffany blue and white to decorate with, and we provided tiffany blue uplighting to add to the ambiance.  Further, she designed a monogram recognizing their day.  A Sound Choice Entertainment provided these extra lighting choices, and we heard comments throughout the evening just how much the lighting enhanced the already gorgeous space..

Carolina and Byran danced their way into the reception to Justin Timberlake's "Suit and Tie" as their guests lined up on each side with lit sparklers in the air - what a great beginning.  Their first dance followed as they shared John Legend's "So High."  After toasts and a blessing, guests enjoyed a multi-station buffet dinner as their guests enjoyed the sunset and the beautiful view of the southern end of Marco Island.

Guests had a good time dancing and singing to "Sweet Home Alabama" chanting "Roll Tide Roll" at the chorus (Byran played football for the Crimson Tide).  The rest of the evening the guests enjoyed grooving to great music.  We want to thank them for allowing us to be part of their special day.  Congratulations Carolina and Byran!

Kevin and Kathryn 1.26.13

Kevin and Katie traveled from Canada to enjoy their wedding day in beautiful and warm Naples, Florida.  They picked a beautiful day for their outdoor ceremony at the beach at 8th Avenue South.  The weather was perfect.  Scott and I provided the setup for the ceremony including the sound system, microphones, the electrical power and the music.  The ceremony was coordinated by Catherine from A Beautiful Florida Wedding.com and performed by Bob Mitchell who is with the same company.  It's always great to work with professionals!  They chose Charlie McDonald as their photographer - he is always fun to work with.

Katie walked down the lawn aisle to Ben Harper's "Waiting On An Angel" escorted by both her Mother and her Father.  After the ceremony they chose Weezer's "Islands In The Sun" to walk out to --- perfect!

The cocktail hour and reception were both held at the Lakewood Country Club here in Naples, Florida.  It was a pleasure meeting and working with Beverly there and her upbeat staff.

The introduction of the Bridal Attendants was the first thing we did.  It was started a bit earlier than planned since it started to get cool outside after the sun went down.  Everyone came into the party dancing to "What I Like About You" by The Romantics.

Most everyone at the reception was also from Canada.  We've seen this before, where the bridal couple has one or two emcee's (friend(s) from the bridal party) for the night (other than the DJ) that emcee and lead the speeches and toasts.  Instead of their guest clinking glasses to get them to kiss, they had to come up to the podium and give the newly wedded couple some words of advice.  Then... they kissed!

The reception consisted of approximately 70 guests, all had a great sense of humor shown throughout the evening - and everyone enjoyed their celebration with Kevin & Katie!