This gallery contains 18 photos.
DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island DJ & Boston DJ
This gallery contains 18 photos.
DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island DJ & Boston DJ
A professional Wedding DJ associate sent me an email about how outraged she was that ABC’s “20/20” did an expose called “Wedding Confidential: Industry Secrets” with Elizabeth Vargas. As what many of the high end professional Rhode Island Wedding DJ company call a ‘Lone Wolf’, meaning I run a one-person company myself, I immediately felt a wave of panic go through my body. I am a small Rhode Island Wedding DJ that makes my full-time income from my business and feared the expose may shed a bad light on the wedding industry. This might in turn effect my personal income. Like everybody else who loves their work, I too need to earn a living.
I watched the video of the expose tonight and was surprised that wedding industry professionals are offended by what was presented, most of it is true! There are may great wedding professionals who really care about the Brides and Grooms we work with, but I am sorry to say, we are the minority. They often speak about how easy it is to manipulate a young Brides vulnerability and wedding fantasy to making more money off her. Not all of the wedding industry works this way but there are enough of them for it to have merit. Please be careful when spending yours or your parents life savings away on your wedding. Check with your gut to see if this feels right for you. Your gut won’t lie, your fantasy of the dream wedding night may.
The truth is that one of the aspects that Elizabeth Vargas touched on, needs further exploration. She seemed disturbed that event industry professionals like Wedding DJs, photographers, florists and videographers charge ore for wedding than for other events. Well, DUH! The amount of work that goes into a wedding compared to a birthday party, sweet sixteen, anniversary or graduation party are immense differences. I typically invest anywhere from three to ten hours preparation for wedding. A wedding involves meeting with the Bride and Groom, many email exchanges and phone calls, creating a playlist, coordinating Bridal Party Introductions, First Dance, Father-Daughter Dance, Mother-Son Dance, Cake Cutting, Toasts, Blessings and oh yeah, producing great music and energy for friends and family to dance all night and have tons of fun! That is not even including probably the most important aspect, supporting and helping dissipate the Bride and Groom’s stress and concerns. A good Wedding DJ knows how to calm and guide a Bride and Groom towards their wedding,while making sure everything is planned to a “T”. As I say to my Brides and Grooms all the time, “We do not get a redo of your wedding. If we screw it up, we don’t get to do it again and provide a make-good”.
I love being a Wedding DJ. That does not mean there is not a lot of effort and focus involved with making your day just as you want it. A party that is not a wedding, typically requires just a few hours of prep and minimal, if not no stress and intensity the night of the party. Weddings take a total commitment. An exceptional Wedding DJ cannot just show-up, we need to be totally prepared for whatever twists and turns your wedding may produce; rain, power failures, plane delays, ill family members, birth of babies and who knows what else may transpire? The exceptional Wedding DJ needs to be the one that pulls it all together when the rain comes out of nowhere at an outdoor wedding. The exceptional Wedding DJ needs to have a back-up portable PA that operates off battery if the power fails suddenly. We must be ready with extra cables and microphones if the Bride and Groom forgot to tell me that they are having a family member sing songs on my DJ equipment during dinner.
I have no problem charging more money for weddings compared to other parties. In fact, I list the rates of mypackages both on the same page for all to see. I hide nothing and want you to know how much more I will dedicate to your wedding compared to a birthday party. It should be that way.
I invite you to watch the video of “Wedding Confidential: Industry Secrets” below. Let me know what you think!
It may appear obvious to most folks, but I am caught off-guard by the shear volume of contacts I receive from Brides and Grooms about their Weddings every winter at this time. I love it! There is something so exciting for me to answer a phone call or email from a Bride or Groom wanting information and guidance for their future Wedding. I feel totally of use as a professional Wedding DJ. My experience, knowledge and expertise are on full display and each Bride and Groom can feel the energy I create from the initial contact. I think that is one of the reasons I get hired for so many Rhode Island Weddings. Authenticity is a treasured commodity for planning a Rhode Island Wedding for a Bride or Groom. The Wedding industry is filled with ‘salespeople’ and ‘marketing pros’ that are smooth as silk in their presentation.
I think many Brides and Grooms today are looking for Wedding Professionals that are more authentic and offer simple and elegant Weddings for a fair price for the Bride and Groom and the Wedding Professional. It is my experience that you really do want to pay your Wedding DJ or Wedding Photographer what we are worth. As long as you are not being taken advantage of along the way. These days Brides get a bad rap in the media about being cheap and price-shoppers, without an eye for quality and taste. My Brides and Grooms are real people that want outstanding service and a very personal touch without acting like we are your brothers or sister; just an authentic professional co-creating an exceptional and unique Wedding with you. You want an experienced Wedding DJ that is fun, professional and authentic.
There is a video clip floating around the Internet about an ‘expose’ on Wedding Vendors conning Brides and Grooms. I saw a small clip of it and it broke my heart that this happens. Even if it is exaggerated grossly, the fact that this happens at all repulses me. How can somebody in clear conscious steal from a Bride and Groom trying to begin the next chapter of their life together? I will write more on this later in the week.
As we continue to explore the different possibilities for Wedding DJ Dance Songs, along with The Bridal Party Introduction Songs, First Dance Songs, Mother-Son Dance Songs, Bouquet Toss Songs, Garter Toss Songs, Cake Cutting Songs and Last Dance Songs, it seemed time to list the most popular Father Daughter Dance Songs.
I have included two separate lists of Father-Daughter Dance Songs for Wedding DJs below. The first list of Father-Daughter Dance Songs is taken from WeDj.com, a resource I use and am an active member. This list of Father-Daughter Dance Songs is more traditional and based on popularity. The secod list of Father-Daughter Dance Songs is taken from various wedding forums of Briddes conversations abouttheir upcoming weddings. They are alittle more off the beaten path and represent the non-traditonal Father-Daughter Dance Songs, Brides and Fathers. The non-traditional Father-Daughter Dance Songs also have a music player for you to listen to the Father-Daughter Dance Songs. There is some overlap but I wanted to keep the lists intact as they were for you.
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Many great Father-Daughter Dance Songs to choose from! What are your favorites or you used at your Wedding?
DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island DJ & NY DJ
Ask about my Rhode Island Wedding DJ & Rhode Island Party DJ Guarantee!
The Wedding Last Dance Songs are not as popular as The Bridal Party Introduction Songs, First Dance Songs, Father-Daughter Dance Songs, Mother-Son Dance Songs or Cake Cutting Songs but they are still an essential component of many Weddings. The Wedding Last Dance Song can be that moment when The Bride and Groom acknowledge what has just taken place and maybe even what is next for them.
The Weding Last Dance Song can be fast, slow or a combination fo fast ands slow like Donna Summer – Last Dance or Billy Medley & Jennifer Warnes – (I’ve Had) The Time Of My Life, which both start slow and become uptempo songs along the way. It can also be a Party Song for your Wedding Last Dance like Journey – Don’t Stop Believin’, Green Day – Time Of Your Life (Good Riddance), Garth Brooks – Friends In Low Places or Neil Diamond – Sweet Caroline that all your friends and family can join in celebrating the moment with you. Some Brides and Grooms prefer a nice quiet, still Wedding Last Dance Songs like Eric Clapton – Wonderful Tonight, Norah Jones – Come Away With Me or Lonestar – Amazed. One of my favorite Wedding Last Dance Songs is Jack Johnson – Better Together. I think it has such a nice vibe and feeling to end your special night!
Which are your favorite Wedding Last Dance Songs and which surprised that were not added to the list by DJ Intelligence?
DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island DJ & NY DJ
Ask about my Rhode Island Wedding DJ & Rhode Island Party DJ Guarantee!
It was a gorgeous Saturday Night closing out 2012 with a Fun Wedding and a great Bride and Groom. When I had first met with the Bride and Groom, the Bride smiled sheepishly and said, “Michael, I would be so happy if somehow it snowed really big flakes the morning of our Wedding, but not so much that it makes my friends and family not be able to attend our Fun Wedding. I think it would be so beautiful here at The Highlawn Pavilion to have thr grounds covered in snow!”
I laughed at the time at what seemed like a peculiar request. On the morning of their Fun Wedding, it snowed huge flakes and she was correct, it looked stunning at The Highlawn Pavilion in West Orange, New Jersey. When I drove in through the twisting road into Eagle Rock Reservation, where Highlawn Pavilion is nestled, I smiled from ear to ear as I approached the lights and snow-drifts. It looked like something out of a magazine. The New York City skyline in the background only added to the magical Winter landscape. I knew we were in for a special night, and I was correct this time.
Everything went perfect, as they typically do in well-managed venues like The Highlawn Pavilion in West Orange. Of course, the Bride looked amazing and so did the Groom! I am still a fool when it comes to simple and elegant Weddings. I know it is trendy to go over-the-top with Weddings these days, but for me, simple and elegant Fun Wedding are the my favorite.
From their First Dance at Fun Wedding:
Friends having fun at Fun Wedding:
The Groom getting down with an old friend at Fun Wedding:
The Bride Partying with Friends and Family too at Fun Wedding:
The Bride and Groom were not the only romance going on that night at Fun Wedding:
And the young couples were not the only ones enjoying the gorgeous Wedding Night at Fun Wedding:
And the partying at the Gorgeous Wedding went till they asked us to shut-down at Fun Wedding:
Finally, the joy and celebration expanded with Friends and Family sharing the gorgeous Fun Wedding Night together:
But they asked for one more song to dance at the gorgeous Fun Wedding, so we honored their request:
What a beautiful and gorgeous Fun Wedding Night!
About Highlawn Pavilion, a Fun Wedding Venue:
Situated at the top of Eagle Rock Reservation, the building today known as Highlawn Pavilion, and the property around it, has a storied past.
“In 1909, an open masonry shelter affixed with a series of arches dubbed “the casino” was built on the crest of the Reservation and to this day serves as the bones of the structure that is Highlawn Pavilion.
The term “casino” refers to an Italian style county dwelling or summer house. As the Reservation became a popular spot where week-enders congregated the Italian term proved to be an accurate description.
Automobile enthusiasts of that period held races up the cobblestone roadway of Eagle Rock Avenue with the finish line in Eagle Rock Park, near where Highlawn is situated today.
After years of neglect, the casino was acquired by the Knowles family whose extensive renovation resulted in the creation of the restaurant known today as Highlawn.”
The following are the Top 50 Most Requested Cake Cutting Songs for 2011 as compiled by DJ Intelligence. Cake Cutting is a fun and honored tradition at most Western Weddings.
The wedding cake is often a multi-tiered layer cake that is elaborately decorated with white frosting. Some couples have a smaller display cake, which is supplemented by sheet cake.
The groom’s cake is a tradition observed mainly in the southern United States. In the Colonial and Victorian eras, the white-iced bride’s cake was considered “too light” for male tastes, and a second cake choice—usually a dark, liquor-soaked fruitcake—was also offered. Today, chocolate is popular, although the groom’s cake may be in any flavor and is usually shaped or decorated as something significant to the groom, such as a favorite hobby or sport.
If a full meal is served, the wedding cake is usually served after the meal. Otherwise, the cake may be served as soon as the family has received all of the guests.
Commonly, the couple ceremonially cut the first piece of the cake, and in a nod to an ancient Roman wedding rite, may feed a bite to one another and perhaps sip a glass of wine or other drink with linked arms. Then the cake is served to the guests. Like being asked to pour tea at a formal tea party, being asked to serve the cake is generally considered an honor
I noticed that The Beatles “In My Life” is not on the list for 2011 Cake Cutting Songs, but I am pretty sure it was for 2012. It is a beautiful song and becoming very popular again as a Cake Cutting Song. It is always interesting to me as a professional Wedding DJ when old songs get a second life, years later for what seems out of the blue.
Here are other blog posts that may be helpful to you Top 50 DJ Wedding Last Dance Songs, Popular Garter Toss Songs, Wedding DJ Father-Daughter Dance Songs, DJ Wedding Mother-Son Dance Songs, Popular Bridal Party Introduction Songs for Wedding DJs and Popular Bouquet Toss Songs.
What is your favorite Wedding Cake Cutting Song?
DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island DJ & NY DJ
Ask about my Rhode Island Wedding DJ & Rhode Island Party DJ Guarantee!
I remember in my twenties, how the Garter Toss and subsequent putting the Garter onto the woman who caught the Bouquet Toss was such a fun and exciting moment at Weddings. As young guys, anything that involved competition, better yet, competition for a single woman, was totally a blast. Half the fun was laughing at each other while diving for a little garter from the leg of the woman a friend had just married added to the goofiness of the event. I doubt very much any of us knew the tradition behind the Bouquet Toss and Garter Toss.
It used to be believed that the woman who caught the Bouquet Toss at Weddings would be the next single woman to get married. BUT, did you know the same was true of the man who caught the Garter Toss as well? It’s true, the man who caught the Garter Toss was also believed to be the next single man to marry. I am sure that if we knew this tradition back then, none of us would have put in as much effort to catch the Garter Toss. Another Garter Toss tradition includes the Garter being raffled off after being removed from the Bride to help offset the financial burdens that the young couple would now endure. This is instead of having the Garter Toss placed on another woman. Of course today, couples get married older and often are financially solid already at the time of their wedding.
Let’s take a closer look at The Garter Toss based on experience as a professional Wedding DJ in the New Jersey, New York and Philly area and some social shifts that may have made the Garter Toss a little behind the times. I am not going to explore issues related to how this may or may not devalue women, that is a different topic than what is being reviewed in this piece.
When men and women were typcially only single till their early to mid-twenties, the man and woman that would be the participants in the man placing the Garter Toss on the woman’s leg would be of similar age and ‘readiness’ to get married next. It was fun, playful, sexy and represented a set of values at the time. Today, we have many men that are single due to divorce and lifestyle choices in middle age. This creates a unique situation when the female that catches the Bouquet is possibly in her late teens or early twenties and the man who will be putting his hands and the Garter Toss up her leg in middle age. It can feel and be somewhat yucky, and maybe even creepy to watch.
As a professional Wedding DJ, I have a found a solution to those Brides and Grooms that still want to have the option of the Garter Toss being placed on the woman. If this kind of situation occurs, we have a predetermined, non-verbal hand signal that we give to each other to acknowledge and agree if it is good to go ahead or not, depending on how things worked out. I know this sounds funny but it works!
I have experienced this a few times and the Bride and Groom were both so grateful we had come up with a plan in advance, to save everyone. This is especially true for the young woman, and an uncomfortable situation. In fact, I had a wedding this past Spring that the man and woman that caught the Bouquet Toss ad Garter Toss were a couple that just broke up recently and both were at the wedding with other dates! We all laughed later on after the Reception but at that moment, it was such a relief to have a system already in place.
Each Bride and Groom must make your own decision whether to include the Garter Toss and/or Garter Placement but I invite you to create a system you and your Wedding DJ agree on, in case something goes in a direction that you do not want at your wedding.
Very few musical artists can take over the Billboard Charts and demonstrate talent like on Boyz II Men A Song For Mama. Often we as consumers have to choose between the two. It was amazing watching these young men truly grow up before our eyes while producing some great jams. Professional DJs utilize Boyz II Men A Song For Mama in many events and weddings.
I remember the first time I heard Boyz II Men A Song For Mama, I was like “Wow!”. This was how I felt about my mother in words and emotion. I missed her when I was living in The Midwest. On her birthday and Mother’s Day, I would play Boyz II Men A Song For Mama to feel closer to her when the phone wasn’t enough. I still miss her.
And no one else can be
What you have been to me you will always be
You will always be the girl
In my life for all times
Mama, Mama you know I love you
Mama, Mama you’re the queen of my heart
Your love is like tears from the stars
Mama I just want you to know lovin’ you is like food to my soul
Yes it is, yes it is, oh, yes it is, yes it is, yes it is oh
You’re always there for me
Have always been around for me even when I was bad
You showed me right from my wrong
Yes you did
And you took up for me
When everyone was downin’ me
You always did understand
You gave me strength to go on
There was so many times
Looking back when I was so afraid
And then you come to me and say to me
I can face anything
And no one else can do
What you have done for me
You’ll always be, you will always be
The girl in my life, ooh oh
Mama, Mama you know I love you
Mama, Mama you’re the queen of my heart
Your love is like tears from the stars
Mama I just want you to know lovin’ you is like food to my soul
Never gonna go a day without you
Fills me up just thinkin’ about you
I’ll never go a day
Without my mama
Mama, Mama you know I love you
Mama, Mama you’re the queen of my heart
Your love is like tears from the stars
Mama I just want you to know lovin’ you is like food to my soul
Lovin’ you is like food to my soul, oh yeah
You are the food to my soul, yes you are
The Bride’s Uncle approached me while I was setting-up my BOSE L1 Audio System up an hour before his niece’s Wedding. He was one of three Uncles that helped raise her after her father died as a young child. Each man represented a different aspect of her life and she wanted to have a “Father’Daughter Dance” with each one. Together we selected songs that would accurately fit the meaning they had for her. She was ecstatic with the songs and knew they were perfect. Uncle Jon and I were talking and he asked me if I had a CD player in my system for something for The Bridal Party. I do and I asked why he wanted to know?
“Well, me and the Bridal Party got together and rehearsed a Bridal Party Flash Mob Dance that is a surprise to Nikki and Jon. It is based on “Gangnam Style” but we did a voice over of their names and call it “Jon and Nikki Style”. It is really fun and The Bridal Party and I put a lot of work into. If you can’t do it on CD, I have also put the file on a USB stick drive too.”
“Wow! That sounds like so much fun! We can do it either way but CD would be better. This is such a sweet thing for all of you to do and she will love it”
We proceeded to download the song and discuss the specifics including when and how we would pull it off without her knowing with the whole Bridal Party present later tonight night after dinner. When we both felt like our plan was set, we returned to our respective tasks to prepare for the Wedding Cocktail Hour and Reception.
At around 8:30, we connected again to make sure everything was ready and he had communicated with all the Bridal Party and they were all present and prepared. We went over the visual cue I would give him so he can then offer the Bridal Party another cue. We both walked away from our conversation with big, silly grins on our faces.
I could barely contain my excitement as I gave him the nod of my head and eye contact and cued the song. I pressed play and all twelve members of the Bridal Party came from all different directions meeting on the dance floor and to do their choreographed dance. It was fantastic and I had to hold back the tears of laughter and joy. What a beautiful gift to the Bride and Groom! Everybody had so much fun and the smiles and laughs filled the room. Jon and Nikki were the happiest. She came up to me with tears in her eyes and a big hug and asked how I put this together with The Bridal Party. I explained that her Uncle was the man, not me. She didn’t believe me.