Learn to hire a wedding dj

A google search for “Hire a wedding dj” brings up over 2,700,000 posts -most do little to help you do that. I set out to change that.

I barricaded myself in my office for the last three days. “How to hire a wedding dj in 7 easy steps” are the fruits of my labor. The methods are mostly unconventional but will yield great results if you are trying to find a dj for your wedding. [ continue reading ]

White Cliffs Country Club – Re-Revisited

I was looking over my upcoming schedule and was excited to see that a White Cliffs Country Club wedding was in my near future. Although, I am mostly know for my work as a Boston DJ, I’m actually a long time Plymouth resident. White Cliffs is only about a twenty minute ride and I love it when I can work that close to home.

So I’ve decided to reach back to my old website and repost some blog posts I wrote several years ago about White Cliffs. Over the years many have commented about how helpful the articles were for them. I hope they help you in some way. Here is the first of several that I’ll publish over the coming months. [ continue reading ]

I had the pleasure of working with Jamie and the JPod Productions team at the Four Seasons Boston over Valentine’s day weekend. Please check out JPod’s short teaser film at: http://jpodproductions.com/blog/2012/03/emily-andrew-wedding-trailer-four-seasons-boston-wedding-video/.

In addition, I’m happy and proud to announce that 5 Star Events was chosen as the “Vendor of the Month” by the amazing cinematographers at JPod Productions. Please follow this link to here JPod’s review of our company: http://jpodproductions.com/blog/2012/03/vendor-of-the-month-5-star-events/

Nick & Nikki’s Lakeview Pavilion reception – Outstanding!!

Great Music

First, as a dj I’m a fan of great music and Nick & Nikki picked a ton of it for their Lakeview Pavilion wedding. Here are some highlights:

First Dance:  “Helpless” by Niel Young & the Band

Cake Cutting: “I Second That Emotion” by Smokey Robinson & the Miracles

Introduction Music: “Long Way to the Top” by AC-DC & “Baba O’Reilly” by the Who

A Packed Dance Floor

For dancing the request list had a predominantly classic Soul, Motown, R&B feel. The dance floor started out packed with Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell’s “Ain’t no Mountain High Enough”.  The crowd went crazy to the follow up “I Want You Back” by the Jackson 5. The frenzy continued right through to the very last song – “No Diggity” by Blackstreet feat. Dr. Dre. Crowd favorites included “Get up Offa That Thing” by James Brown, “California Love” by tupac, “Magic Dance” by David Bowie, “Shout” by Otis Day & the Nights & “Ain’t Too Proud To Beg” by The Temptations to name a few. [ continue reading ]

Creative Uplighting – Special Event Lighting

Dave took the long ride to Warwick,  to setup the Aldrich Mansion, RI uplighting on this past snowy Saturday. If you’re new to 5 Star Events and haven’t heard, our company offers fantastic special event lighting for weddings including uplighting, projected gobo monograms and paper hanging lanterns through our sister company Creative Uplighting. In addition to lighting options, we also provide a beautiful black & white checkerboard dance floor to complete a breathtaking lighting design.

Lighting Design

For this event, our clients wanted white uplighting to accent their winter theme. To achieve the look,  Dave created a color wash in the larger spaces with our wide beamed Color Maker uplights. Our company uses several different types of uplighting fixtures, each has a different color range, brightness and beam spread. He used our new narrow beamed Astera puck shaped lights to light the smaller or more delicate spaces and to highlight some of the architectural elements. These lights also are amazing at creating white light. They one of the few led uplights that have a dedicated white LED. Most LED uplights create white by mixing the right combination of Red, Green & Blue. The three color approach works pretty well but can’t match the light quality of the Astera fixtures. [ continue reading ]

Boston DJ company offers wedding planning ideas for the Red Sox fan

If you’re a Red Sox fan and Fenway Park is out of your budget or logistically impossible for your wedding, there are some other ways to incorporate your favorite team into your big day.

Option 1: Consider hiring Red Sox announcer Carl Beane to introduce your wedding party. He’s available for hire provided it’s off season, the Sox aren’t playing,  or the team is playing an away game. [ continue reading ]

This Indian Pond reception was fun from the start.  Mike & Liz entered the room to thunderous applause as Young M.C.’s “Bust a Move” set the groove. Their first dance was to Ray LaMontagne’s break out hit “You are the Best Thing”. The guests were ready and the new Mr. & Mrs. Watts didn’t disappoint. They didn’t waste an inch of the dance floor.

Above you’ll see their awesome fall themed cake. I loved the autumn leaves. But even better, below you’ll see the groom’s cake. Go Pats!!

From the very beginning, the giant dance floor at Indian Pond Country Club was packed!! It was a djs dream wedding. Below you’ll see some fun pics of the dancing.

Above you’ll see the fun, fall-themed, sign in board from Jeff & Holly’s reception at Andover Country Club. Guests were asked to make a finger print “leaf” with the various fall colored ink stamping pads. The “leaf” would serve as the spot for a signature. I particularly liked the carved heart & initials J&H on the tree as well as the available & handy wet naps.

In the picture above you’ll also see Holly & her girls as well as Jeff & Holly having their first dance. Their song choice was one I had never heard,  “Words can not Describe” by Mirah, but liked a lot.   Give it a listen – I attached the link on Itunes. It had a very 30’s, 40’s speak easy like sound.

I also loved how Jeff and Holly included the kids in the reception. They were definitely a big part of the dance party as you’ll see below.  The photo of the 4 boys was unforgettable. I hope someone put it on youtube!! The boys were in the middle of the circle poppin’,  lockin’ & breakin’.

Below are a pics of the dancing and fun!!

And another fall themed idea… Below you’ll see the escort cards is a forest of trees. The different tables each had a tree type as an identifier. Great idea Holly!!

As dj at thousands of events, I’ve seen lots of fun ways to present seating/escort cards at weddings. I snapped the photo below at Dave & Liz Gogoi’s Wollaston Golf Club wedding reception.  Basically each of the escort cards had part of an image printed on it. When placed together on the seating board they formed the larger image shown in the photo. To keep the image visible after the cards were removed, a duplicate image was printed beneath. Sadly the photo is from my phone. I wish the resolution was better but I think you can get the idea.

Check back for more images from Liz & Dave’s wedding. Wollaston Golf Club is a fantastic venue in Milton, MA (about 10 miles south of Boston). It was my first time playing there but I hope to be back again soon. I really enjoyed it!!

Here’s a few songs you won’t find on many dj playlists. They’re songs I’ve picked from movies, commercials, shazaam’d from the radio, heard in restaurants or played at weddings. Each has the potential to play an important part in somebody’s wedding. Please search them out on Itunes and give them a listen (I’ve attached the links). Let me know if one makes it onto your playlist.

Matt Nathansan – Faster
Gin Wigmore – Don’t Stop
Lennings – You’re the One That I Want
Arctic Monkeys – Baby I’m Yours
Bob Dylan – If Not For You
Iron & Wine – Such Great Heights
Jimmy Eat World – For Me This is Heaven
Jamiroquai – I’m In The Mood For Love