Brian & Adley
The Scene
OK, The DoubleTree is seriously a venue that will leave your guests with their mouths hanging open. Their team had the entire place looking like something from a movie. Our uplighting was just the dash of Tony’s on (anything of course).
The Reception
Guests started flowing in at 7:30 on the dot. Now, just one of a DJ’s many skills :o) is the ability to read people. Wether it be by drinks, clothing, interactions, etc. And with this group, upfront, we had not the slightest clue where this night was going end up. Younger people; older people, all backgrounds. We were just going to have to feel it out. Kind of like ‘BirdBox’.
Given the look and feel of The DoubleTree, during the cocktail hour, we played some Nat King Cole, Beegie Adair, Louis Armstrong, etc.
Dances
When Adley and Brian were announced into the reception and and their first dance, thats when their smiles lite up the room and I don’t think I seen them all night without that smile on. Looked like the happiest two people in the world. Their first dance was a song by Leon Bridges - Beyond. Brian then danced with his mother Jolie to Days Like This by Van Morrison.
“I’m scared to death that she might be it
That the love is real, that the shoe might fit
She might just be my everything and beyond”
The Party
As I mentioned earlier, we were going in blind, but we knew we wanted to start a little more modern than usual. One of those, let’s see how this goes type things. So we started with Can’t Stop the Feeling by Justin Timberlake, then Uptown Funk. But then we noticed something…. Adley wasn’t leaving the floor to mingle…. —To Future Brides, you not leaving the dance floor sets the tone for the evening!!— As always, and if you read any of our other features I’m sure we’ve mentioned it before. If the bride is dancing and happy, its going to be a great night. To get back on track:We knew we could keep the modern dance up for too long as we had a variety of groups to accommodate. Therefore, we migrated back to a little older soul with the likes of September - Earth, Wind and Fire and PYT - Michael Jackson. After a bout of that style, it may have been Adley that requested Vivir Mi Vida - Marc Anthony. Coming off of Cupid Shuffle was a trick but when it dropped everyone hit the floor. The salsa was a huge hit. the floor filled instantaneously. We trailed out of the hispanic flavor with Timber by Pitbull.
The bouquet toss was definitely a first for us…. ADley told us to play what we thought was right for the moment during the toss, and given their guest’s energy, we decided to play, Milkshake by Kelis. That part wasn’t the first I mentioned. Adley tossed her bouquet into the crown molding of the venue! Unless the venue went and grabbed a 14’+ foot ladder, its still there now. That is certainly going to be something talked about for years to come.
Now after the bouquet, it was chaos (good chaos). This wedding was what we describe when were asked to describe the perfect reception. We fed our energy off the group and vice versa. You could see the exhaustion on some people, but when the next track dropped, we got looks like “Why are you doing this to me” as they hit the floor some more. The trick is to move in and out of genres and BPMs while keeping people engaged, not tiring them out ‘completely’, and within the tastes provided by the couple. Our genre journey started with some hip hop including Yeah! - Usher. I love trying out tracks that either no one has heard for what would seem like forever or just haven’t heard before. So we tried Make Em Say Uhh - Master P. Buutttt, that one didn’t fare as well as hoped. Luckily Brian and Adley and their guests didn’t loose faith. We then moved back into some Enrique Iglesias - Bailando. Then worked our way into EVERYONE singing I Want It That Way - Backstreet Boys. Somehow still found time to mix in Got Money - lil Wayne and Tootsee Roll - 69 Boyz and finish out with Brian and Adley strutting their happiness around the building to The Second Line.
The takeaway from Brian and Adley’s wedding. Be happy. As I mentioned earlier, these two were smiling from the moment they walked in, until the moment Allie and I left. It was really a joy for us to have the opportunity to share this day with them and their guests.
What song(s) do you think we should we have played. (We’re always on the hunt for tracks) What was your favorite track played?
Thank You again to Brian & Adley for having us! We thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. Congratulations & Best Wishes.
And a big thank you to Kenisha and her team @ The DoubleTree New Orleans for taking such good care of us.