Madison’s Best DJ

Wedding season is in full force and this year has been our busiest and most successful year yet in 19 years. This past Saturday I had the pleasure of working an event with Chris and Amber at The Wedding Flashers for Ian and Laura Behm’s wedding.

In the past, our two companies completed a case study on the lighting equipment that we use versus the competition. We found that the lighting that DJ Magic Entertainment has to offer creates better pictures for customers of The Wedding Flasher. There’s no doubt that no one in our competition can match how well we are able to light up dance floors with 1.2 million candle power. Anyways, this past weekend’s wedding was attended by about 180 people. It’s the first time in 19 years that I counted 180 people and the hype and enthusiasm of these guests felt like we had 350 guests. It was incredible.

One main reason that I would point to for this incredible phenomenon would be the love for our bride and groom, Laura and Ian.  But also our ability to lead and emcee an event to the point that every single soul in the room was enjoying his/herself. On top of that, we had one of the most beautiful days of the year and a staff at this venue that did a really nice job of making sure everyone’s needs were handled.

Ian and Laura planned out their event well. It started with a cocktail hour outside the dinner room near the bar. Guests were also able to head outside and enjoy the beautiful views of the Bergamont Golf Course and socialize. After the introductions were having fun with our Wedding Wheel game. We had contestants come up who wanted to see Ian and Laura kiss. This can be used as an alternative for those customers who do not want glass clinking at their event. Each contestant lined up to spin a game wheel and we emceed the results. For example, Ian’s Dad, Roger spun the wheel to a spot that allowed him to pick any couple at the event to kiss. To be original and not point to Ian and Laura, Roger pointed to Ian’s grandparents to rise and kiss and then the newly married copied that kiss. It was FUN!

Planning a wedding can be a lot of work and there is no way one can accurately plan out every single detail.  That’s why it is so important to hire vendors who are flexible and passionate about you and your needs is important. Just after dinner as we were preparing to start our first dances, The University of Wisconsin Marching Band showed up for a quick preamble to start the dance. What a great way to start a dance at a wedding!

It was also great to see some of our past customers at this event. Congratulations to Phil & Melissa Lindemann who will be celebrating their third anniversary. Check out their customer service survey too.

Below is a picture of The Legend at Bergamont in Oregon, Wisconsin taken by The Wedding Flashers:

Vendors:
Photographer, Chris and Amber Foss of The Wedding Flashers +
The Legend at Bergamont – Lisa, Kurt, Andrew and Risa +
The University of Wisconsin Marching Band +
Entertaiment, Andrew Accola of DJ Magic Entertainment +

It is not every year that July 4th aligns with a Saturday.  Plus the weather that day was perfect, not overbearingly hot and not too cool.  One can not complain about the location either. Right next to Lake Mendota, 2,000 people outside overlooking the lake and our wedding ceremony and reception inside.  Yes, that is correct, we performed at The University of Wisconsin’s Memorial Union Building with a wedding ceremony and reception in the Great Hall. It was an exciting day!

As we are a Premium Custom Service company, we pride ourselves in the fact that we are able to accommodate almost any request from a customer.  And for this customer, Jeff & Maria-Elise, it was not different. Below, I will provide a quick summary of some of the services we provided last weekend to Jefft & Maria-Elise on their special day:

• Wedding Ceremony – Not only did we provide the music for their ceremony we recorded the event and produced a nice CD for Jeff & Elise to archive now and remember later. Additionally, we also were able to provide lapel microphones and execute their special production.  By the way, if you are wondering they both said yes and are not Mr. & Mrs. Endres. Elise was not sure if she would be taking Jeff’s name or going the hyphenated route at our last meeting.
• Photography Services – Our great friend, Karen Beard, provided her expert skills throughout the evening to enact our “Live Photo Montage Display”.  This is much different than a static montage, rather, it is dynamic and occurs through out the evening as we mixed in special effects.  For example, we provided transitions from picture to picture, information slides and let us not forget the firework slides.  It was the 4th of July after all. Karen does a really nice job of capturing photos during the ceremony, cocktail hour, dinner and dancing and at the end of the night we provided Jeff and Maria-Elise a copy of our product.
• Cool Video Presentation – About 2 months ago, we obtained pictures of family, friends and Jeff & Elise together.  We worked our “magic” and produced them a static Cool Video Presentation that we played during dinner synced to music.  This is not the average presentation that one might see, instead one which is produced in four separate movie and graphic design programs fully integrated with our sound system.  And at the end of the evening we delivered two DVD’s for our couple to enjoy later.
• Audio Recording – Jeff & Elise wanted to capture special moments of time throughout the day.  For a minimal price, we provided them copies of the ceremony, special speeches by their Best Man – Joel, Maids of Honor Sarah & Amy and their parents speaking throughout the evening.  I wish this technology was available when I was married as my sister-n-law and best man gave great speeches and that is all I can remember – they were great.  Now, Jeff & Elise have physical copies and can cherish them forever.
• Video Productions – Our staff that evening was a bit larger than normal.  Just this 2009, we have rolled out an HD video production service. Want to catch excerpts throughout the evening?  Give me a call and we can go over this service more in detail.
• DJ / Entertainment – Dan Beard headed up our emceeing, event coordination and entertainer services that evening.  He played a variety of songs that evening which kept a mix of guests on the Great Hall’s floor while always integrating our Must Plays, Do Not Plays and our guests requests.
• Child Interaction – The UW Great Hall was really set-up well for a lot of guests including children.  DJ Magic helped provide supervision and some games for all the children at the reception.  This all occurred in a room next to our main reception hall.  One of the nice items I liked about Jeff & Elise’s planning for the children was that they had separate meals in a fun environment for the children.  Plus the meals were appropriately chosen to be different than the adult meals so that the kids would be excited about having their own room with different food and lots of games to play.  (Games included coloring books, Nintendo Wii and some other interactive games led by DJ Magic).
• Party Props – Our main focus that evening was not only to ensure a great time for Jeff, Elise and all of their guests, but also create a FUN environment.  We brought our party prop expertise and handed out over 125 props including glow sticks, air guitars, air saxophones, air rock guitars and a few other props.  This was a nice way to keep people engaged and reinforce the fun environment we had established.

All in all, a huge thank you goes out to Greg & Jennifer Larson for the referral (see our blog entry on their wedding or their satisfaction survey from their wedding last October).  And we wish Jeff & Maria-Elise nothing but the best for their new marriage.

Here is a list of the vendors we worked with from that evening:

+University of Wisconsin Great Hall
+Appletree Images – Lori Ronspiez
+DJ Magic Photography – Karen Beard
+DJ Magic Entertainment – Dan & Matt (That’s Us!)

I was thinking about how I would write 5 new blog entries for Madison’s Best DJ blog last Wednesday.  I mean, I think it would be cool to have an entry for every wedding I did while also inviting the other staff members to chirp in whenever they please.  Really though, it is not a reality.  Business pulls me away from my blog along with family responsibilities.  Yes, my garden is officially weeded after 3 full hours on the hottest morning of the year last week and I am catching up on some other personal household chores like tiling my kitchen (well not really, I am putting that off!)

June has been a really good month for Madison’s Best DJ and the crew.
So here is what my schedule looked like the week of June 13:

Wedding, Saturday, June 13 for Jeff & Marissa Schloesser.
Wedding, Sunday, June 14 for Maria & Greg Anilao.
Wedding Tuesday, June 16 for Mikaela and Anthony Figueroa.
Wedding Show, Wednesday, June 17 in West Madison.
Wedding, Saturday, June 20 for John & Kate Vasudevan.

That was just me and none of our other staff.  We also booked everyone out for the past few Saturdays too.  So I’ll just talk about me, I’m selfish….

So what is the best way to tell you about my busy week in the “usual way”? Let’s do a quick summary for each event, talk about some of the vendors and hit the highlights.

Jeff & Marissa Schloesser – Saturday
Large wedding at the Comfort Suites in Johnson Creek, Wisconsin.  I arrived early as I wanted to ensure we had our Montage Equipment set-up in time while also preparing to record all speeches and ensure a quality wedding reception video. (Early = Usually about 3 hours before the first guest)

It was quite apparent that their guests had a great time as we had a few referral calls the Monday after the wedding reception.

Vendors:
Heidi Lee Photography – Jason
Comfort Suites, Johnson Creek – Kim Mungen
DJ Magic Entertainment – Matt Long

Maria & Greg Anilao – Sunday
Andrew and I left early around 12 pm Sunday. This was a super special day for Greg and Maria.  Their facility, Parkway Banquets, is nicely located near Lake Long in Ingleside, Illinois.  Plus it is highly recognized by many national wedding publications such as The Knot dot com and Wedding Channel dot com.

Our first order of business that day was to assist providing ceremony music, wireless microphones and audio recording services for their wedding ceremony.  Our banquet manager, Jerry, was handling almost all of the coordination activities.  We were happy to work with Jerry that way but also recognized that this was highly out of the ordinary. Bottom line though is that we are highly flexible and able to adapt to various ways of business.

Greg and Maria’s wedding had a few special needs and was quite culturally diverse. Fifty percent of our wedding guests were of Mexican heritage while the other 50% were of Philippine backgrounds.  Plus, Maria, who had an unfortunate disability, was deaf.  One of the ways we accommodated everyone was to not only provide our emceeing by microphone but we also had a person who knew sign language and was able to speak both Philippine and Spanish. Through all of these unique additions and special accommodations it did not stop everyone from having a great time.  It was great to see everyone using all of their senses that evening.

Did you know we not only played Salsa, Meringue and other South American music but we also played a lot of Philippine music.  I can honestly say that we are probably the most flexible entertainment company you will have the pleasure to work with in planning and following-through in a wedding.  Don’t believe me, check out our references! Click here.

Vendors:
- Parkway Banquets – Jerry
+ Sharrett Studios – Tammy Sharrett
+ DJ Magic Enterprises, Inc. – Andrew Accola

Mikaela & Anthony Figueroa – Tuesday
A Tuesday wedding occurred at the beautiful Monona Terrace in Madison, Wisconsin.  Being that it was a Tuesday, we did not let that stop us from providing the absolute best customer services in Southern Wisconsin!

Let me tell you a little about our bride and groom.  Mikaela comes from Wisconsin and within the last few years fell madly in love with Anthony.  Anthony’s family came all the way from New York.  Many people of Puerto Rican decent came from the Bronx to help celebrate.  It was great to see the two sides, who were of completely different backgrounds come together.

We kept everyone on the floor the whole evening.  One of the custom services that we were able to offer Mikaela and Anthony was our custom recording services.  When Mikaela initially contacted us she wanted to take 20 songs from totally different genres but with similar lyrics and sounds and mix them together. Check our her customer service survey, we exceeded her expectations.  Are you interested in doing something like this?  Let us know, we have the whole compilation on Audio and we also made the extra effort to record the event so you can see us in action.

Vendors:
+ Monona Terrace – Sales Manager: Edit Lonkay
+ Images by Joe – Joe DeGroot
+ DJ Magic Enterprises, Inc. – Andrew Accola

Madison Summer Wedding Show – Wednesday
So at this point you are probably thinking we are running out of gas.  Nope, we filled up last night and we found a good deal on East Washing Avenue near Blockbuster. Anyways, this show went really well to the point that we have set-up several meetings and have reserved a handful of new customers.

Below is a link to a picture of our ice sculpture that we made for showing at our booth.  By the way, we do Ice Sculptures too.

Awesome Wedding Ice Sculpture Picture Link

John & Kate Vasudevan – Saturday
Classic scenery for a wedding in a good way is what we had at Madison’s Masonic Center near beautiful downtown.  Our bride and groom were originally from Wisconsin and had worked with us planning their wedding all the way from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Definitely call me if you are reading this and are from out of state wondering how the dynamics might work.  I would be happy to direct you to John and Kate for their opinion on our awesome experiences together.

The evening started upstairs at the Masonic Center for a Cocktail hour.  Although a bit warm that day, it did not stop their guests from getting to know each other and preparing for a fun celebration downstairs in our main reception hall.  Our cocktail hour music consisted of great artists like Harry Belafonte, Ella Fitzgerald, Jimmy Dorsey, Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington, Artie Shaw, Frank Sinatra, Nat “King” Cole and Tommy Dorsey. Timeless music!

Once our cocktail hour was over, I led our guests to our wonderfully air conditioned reception hall (and if you were there you would also agree that it was wonderfully cool and a nice change).  All in all, our speeches and dinner went well. Dancing started and we kept everyone on the dance floor all evening.  Our groom, John, commented that he noticed we played their must play list and he was worried because some of the songs he listed he advised he was not sure if his crowd was dance to all night.  No worries, that’s our specialty in knowing when to play the right song at the right time and reading crowds.  It’s priceless!  Anyone can go our and purchase the equipment but do they have the skills to motivate your guests? May be worth the money to pay for the Best Service in Madison – DJ Magic Entertainment!

Check out John and Kate’s customer survey.

Having grown up not too far from Rockford, Illinois, I had heard of Anderson Gardens. Even during my time dating my wife and driving past it every visit, I have forgotten how much natural beauty that was housed there. This past weekend, I had the pleasure of performing at a wedding ceremony and reception for Lori and Danny Robinson.

Lori and Danny planned their wedding and reception at this facility and if one is planning a wedding in Rockford, by far, Anderson Garden’s should be at the top of any lists. They easily can accommodate a small to medium sized wedding while comfortably serving everyone very well. Even vendors! From our initial contact with Julie Pastore at Anderson Garden’s to discuss the Event Time Line, I could easily tell they were easy to work with to plan an event. To support this further, I was shown around the property and their staff served a healthy and tasty reception meal to all the guests. Anderson Gardens stands out in my mind as a top facility in Rockford.

Take a look at some photographs I took before all the guests arrived in the Japanese Gardens area:

(We are currently fixing our blog to upload the photos – Stay Tuned!)

Some of the other vendors we had the opportunity to work with include:
+ Kara Schultz of Karatography (Kara is willing to travel just about anywhere!)
+ Pastor Don Lyons – Don is the founder of Faith Center church in Rockford and also helped start 88.3 FM.
+ Julie Pastore of Anderson Gardens – Julie is professional and friendly. She will provide you the best
service possible while exceeding your expectations.
+ Andrew Aacola & Matt Long of DJ Magic Enterprises – “Hire the Best & Forget the Rest!”

This past weekend’s event started for me on Thursday.  Our two companies were involved, DJ Magic Enterprises, Incorporated and Solid Ice Displays.  It is not everyday that a family member is married, therefore, I wanted to make sure it was even more special to all involved, especially Brynn and Andrew.

Thursday morning started out with a 45 minute trailer loading session.  Not only were we bringing down our entertainment equipment, but we would also be packing the Photo Montage gear, Ice Sculpture gear, Cameras, and Video Camera.  Once loaded, we were on the road and delivering our Claddagh Ring Ice Sculpture to a good friend, John Hayes of Cafe 20 in Marengo, Illinois, who graciously allowed us to store our sculpture overnight in his walk in freezer. (Thanks John!)  He really came through for us as our facility in Rockford, The Radisson Hotel & Banquet Center, did not have a walk in freezer.  Can you believe that?

One unique thing we did to make Brynn and Andrew’s wedding weekend special was we created a Photo Montage.  This was no ordinary montage though; I ended up using four separate programs to edit our pictures and add our music effects.  Did you know most well prepared photo montages can take up to 10-20 hours of time, while we only charge $150 for that service?  What a deal!

We decided to show the montage at Kiki B’s in Rockford, Illinois during the rehearsal dinner.  This is somewhat more intimate and does not take away from the time at the wedding reception.  Have you ever been to a wedding, eaten dinner and then had to watch a montage?  If the montage is not scheduled at the right time, it can adversely affect the guests’ moods by adding too much time sitting when in actuality those guests are ready to dance.  For this reason among others, we decided to show the montage at the rehearsal dinner.  It was great!

On the day of the wedding, I had no worries as our DJ, Dan “The Man” Beard, was in charge of this wedding.  I met him early in the morning to set-up the reception site and then I promptly drove to St. Peter’s Cathedral in Rockford for the wedding.  Everyone played a role in the wedding: my wife was the Matron of Honor and I was in charge of watching JJ, my mother-in-law’s three year old.  The bride’s mother (kind of like Mother Teresa to some) adopted three children a few years ago and already had raised 5 kids.  Yes, a total of 8 lives blessed by this woman!  JJ did very well for a three year old.  We ended up in the balcony of the church and I was able to record Brynn’s brother Greg singing Ave Maria.  See the video below (and see if you can hear JJ try to sing along).  Being that this was an Irish wedding, JJ and I were pleasantly surprised with the cool sounds and were lucky to have a first row seat to see Greg sing and listen to the bag piper in the balcony.

Before, during and after the ceremony, Dan Royer of Dan Royer Photography, did a great job coordinating all of the family members. All in all, the reception flowed perfectly.  So well that our ending time changed from 8 pm to 11:30 pm.  Yes, everyone stuck around and enjoyed themselves greatly.  Below, I also posted a picture that my brother-in-law’s girlfriend, Hillary of Dallas, Texas, graciously shared with me, showing everyone literally ‘getting down’ and having a great evening.

Vendors:
Banquet Hall: Radisson, Rockford, IL
Music: DJ Magic Enterprises, Incorporated
Ice Sculpture: Solid Ice Displays
Photography: Dan Royer Photography

It is not too often a perfect storm rolls into Madison in February.  The day started out with me snow blowing the driveway which after last year prompted us to purchase a snow blower.  (In case you are not aware, we had over 100 inches of snow last year which left our shovels dilapidated.  Poor shovels.)

Two O’clock rolled around and it was game time for me.  The trailer was already hooked up to our 4X4 Chevy Silverado and I was on my way to the Holiday Inn, West Madison.    I must say that I pay attention to a lot of the other companies in Madison in regards to what they use to transport equipment with and it is nowhere near the power and strength we are packing in my V-8 Z71 black truck.  I can honestly say that weather will never hold us back from making it an event.

Now to the fun part of the blog.  Our couple, Danie and Heidi, were married at a church on Madison’s west side.  When they arrived to the site, not only were they beaming with happiness of being married but also happiness of having the snowy weather they wanted for their big day.  Their reception had approximately 110 guest everywhere from Ohio to Minnesota.  The event started with a cocktail hour just outside the main reception hall room.  It was a nice effect considering the weather was 20 degrees and snow covered everywhere and the room had a great wall of windows that the guests were able to look out and imagine being snowed in for the evening and many were as the snow kept falling!

Heidi and Daniel did not have a standard wedding, they chose to be original and non-traditional with a few aspects of the reception.  Becoming more common is not making a big introduction for the bride and groom, instead, Heidi and Daniel made a point to visit with every single one of their guests.  One could tell the people they had invited were all intimate friends and family.  Heidi and Daniel are very genuine people.

The party was filled with a lot of relatives ranging in all ages.  One of the unique things that Daniel and Heidi decided to make important during their event was their first formal dance.  Over the past year, I have noticed many couples adding this special production to their weddings.  If you are in need of direction on who can help you with your choreographing feel free to email me.  There is no doubt that our first dance was well choreographed.  Heidi and Daniel danced to Sarah McLachlan’s, “Ordinary Miracle”.  They were so cute in that one could easily see that the first dance was important to them and they did a marvelous job.  It almost made me feel like I was a part of Dancing with The Stars, the ABC hit reality television show.  More and more we are seeing couples choreograph their first dance songs and even having us add a recording (First Dance Over Recording Services – YES! We offer that:)

Another aspect of the reception was the bouquet presentation.  Instead of inviting all of the guests up who were single and female, Daniel’s brother was engaged and the couple instead presented the bouquet to Elizabeth Kuehl (last name “Cool”, my hooked on phoenix way of making sure I am accurate with my announcements – Ha ha!).

A big thank you goes out to all of the vendors that day.  I think the evening went well.  Here are the vendors:

Reception Venue & Catering – Victoria Shostak of the Holiday Inn West
Photographer – Paul Toepfer of Paul Toepfer Photography
Music, Entertainment & Emcee – Matt Long & Andrew Accola of DJ Magic

It seems like most of my Saturdays that I have been djing this year tend to be the most beautiful days of the year.  It is good for business and bad for my boat!  Of course, this is most excellent for my customers on their special days.  Today, I left the house at 12:30 pm to head over to the Brink Lounge.  This facility is huge!  It spans the whole base of the building at 701 East Washington.  This business shares the old remodeled building with the High Noon Saloon, Brass Ring pool hall and some other commercial tenants.  There is no doubt that the owners did a nice job when they remodeled this building.  The evidence shows from the two toned metal winding stair cases to the granite tile and Frank Lloyd Wright decor.

Our couple Greg and Jennifer had their ceremony and reception at the same location.  It was a rather interesting ceremony from the standpoint that our groom was from a Christian background and our bride from a Jewish background.  We frequently are a part of interfaith weddings.  The nice aspect of their ceremony though was that they had a Rabbi and a Reverend.  I have included a copy of the ceremony if you would like to listen to it.  (Yes, that is right, if one hires us we offer recording services. Everything from recording special events to the First Dance Voice Over Service)

Click here to listen an excerpt from Greg and Jennifer’s wedding ceremony:

Aaron’s Blessing and Breaking of the Glass at Greg and Jennifer’s wedding ceremony by Rabbi Tillman and Reverend Wolfe.

Vendors we enjoyed working with:

-Appletree Photography – Photographer
-Sweet Sophies – Catering
+Brink Lounge – Ceremony & Reception Facility
+DJ Magic Enterprises, Inc. – Ceremony & Reception Music

Classy in an old-world Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Tony Bennett kind of way. That’s what I thought when I walked into the foyer to start setting up for Anne-Marie and Andrew’s wedding on Friday afternoon at the Orpheum Theatre in beautiful Madison, Wisconsin. What a great way to escape the day-to-day world to really celebrate something special: walking into a venue that reeked style and elegance. I felt my coolness factor increase two notches just walking into the place. The detailed carvings in the woodwork along the hallway lines, the polished marble twin staircases that framed the tabletops adorned with fresh flowers, everywhere I looked I could just imagine the memories that were made in this place, and those to be made…. Ah, enough time for introspection; I had work to do to make sure my part in the wedding was to exceed expectations. And with this fun crowd, I knew I had high expectations to uphold.

When I first met Andrew and Anne-Marie back in February, I knew that their event would be lots of fun to be a part of. There were a lot of clues that tipped me off: their great selection of songs included in their “Must Play” list, their playful affection for one another, the easy conversation that we had during their planning meeting (sharing favorite Parisian restaurants to help them prepare for their honeymoon was also a fun diversion for all during the pre-wedding planning stresses), and their very creative wedding invite they generously shared with me, among others. Even with these various clues, I did not expect to have such a fantastic time as I did last Friday night.

After set up, I set the mood by playing an eclectic, if esoteric, mix of indie artists (The Avett Brothers,  Postal Service, The Shins and The Rose Buds )hand-selected by the bridal couple. Playing the modern music with a classic jazzy beat fit the venue perfectly, and set the mood for the first guest to walk in. The crowd mingled while enjoying the music, the company, the appetizers, and eagerly anticipated the bridal party’s arrival. As people explored the foyer, theater and hidden hallways, there was a buzz in the air awaiting the evening’s fun. The grand entrance merited the buzz, as each couple in the party had their moments to shine from the upper balcony spotlight. After I introduced Anne-Marie and Andrew, they invited their party to join them on the balcony and it was as though we were eager spectators to a Tony -winning cast taking their third bow. I felt honored to stand on the stage and introduce such a fantastic group of people, and observe the beaming crowd from my vantage point.

The fabulous meal went off without a hitch. Family members gave touching speeches while the delicious cake was served. My favorite part of the toasts, though it was a hard favorite to pick, included Steve Koehn’s recollection of his daughter’s first date with her now husband. When asked by her mother as she prepared for the date why she asked him instead of the other way around, she replied frankly: “Mom, I’m a woman of the ‘90’s!” As the perfectly planned evening continued, the wedding guests relaxed into the theater seats to watch “A Wedding” film prepared by Mr. Koehn. A very special twist on the nouveau traditional practice of a family photo montage– very well done and very entertaining.

Ah—it was finally the time that I had been waiting for—the big dance! “A and A” chose a great Ray LaMontagne song. I love the artist so much, we were able to enjoy even more of him as a prelude to the first dance!  As the evening drew on, you never would have guessed it was a Friday night and many of the guests arose early that day to have at least a partial day in the office working the grind. The floor was packed as we rolled on until 1am, enjoying every minute of it!  I must also give props out to another couple who attended this wedding, Phil & Melissa who are also known as Philissa.  Please take a look at their post event survey that they completed and is listed on our web site.  A thank you for the referral and a congratulations goes out to them also for 18 months of marriage.

In closing, I am excited to hear how Paris treats Anne-Marie and Andrew, the two lovebirds. I wish them as much fun throughout their lives as I and their guests had on their special day.

Vendors we enjoyed working with:
Michael Krakora Photography
Jackie Suska of The Orpheum
Don Cady – Private Videographer
DJ Matt Long – DJ Magic Enterprises, Inc.

Nights like last night make me remember why I am an Entertainer.  Why I started to DJ 17 years ago and why I still do it almost every weekend today.  It brings back a child-like excitement, fun and energy.  Nights like last night make me wish they would never end.

The day started off at 3 pm pulling into Morels in Middleton, Wisconsin.  A nice drive into the Wisconsin countryside, it took me back to my roots, and almost made me feel like I was going home to Marengo, Illinois.  It was a summer day better than you could order, or imagine yourself.  The kind of day that makes the long, wintery days of 100 plus inches of snowfall all worth it and then some!

The early evening event started off with Blues, Jazz and the kind of music that is great for socializing and getting ready for the party later.  There was a buzz of excitement in the air, and you could tell everyone was ready to celebrate and have a good time.

One of the highlights of the evening, though there were many, was Wayne Kosbau, the father of the bride’s speech.  I introduce parents and bridal party members all the time with warm emcee welcomes where sometimes I just run on auto pilot, but it is occasions like these that stop and make me remember just how special a wedding is (listen to his poignant speech here: Father of the Bride Wayne Kosbau’s Toast.  During the speech, I looked around and my wife was controlling the sound at our console and seeing my wife close to tears made me realize I was not the only one being touched by the thoughtful toast.

Throughout the evening, everyone danced and had a great time.  The door to the outdoor patio right next to the dance floor was kept open, to cool off the place a little bit, and people occasionally would step outside for a breather.  You could tell it was a beautiful evening to compliment the awesome day.  It reminded me of my wife’s favorite song for her favorite season, Lil Rob’s “Summer Nights”, where we wanted to party until the sun comes up again, “eight more months and once again it’s on”.

I can’t wait until next Saturday!

Vendors:
Misty Bindl of Lasting Impressions Photography
Morels
DJ Magic Entertainment

The day started early, 9:45 am treck from Madison, Wisconsin to Green Lake, Wisconsin to the Heidel House.  On tap was a wedding ceremony, cocktail hour outside and a reception.  The trip up went well, a nice change from the usual traffic in Madtown.

The ceremony was set in a most beatiful place, right off Green Lake and about 500 yards from the reception facility.  We microphoned the officiant and saw one of our favorite vendors, Becky and Chris of Appleby Photography.The day could not have went any more perfect and better planned.  The ceremony went off without any issues and Adam and Melanie looked great.

Dancing went even better.  We played all the hits for their crowd of over 300 patrons.  Many of them from out of state from places like Arizona, Maine, Washington, Illinois and even out of the country visitors from Egypt. WOW!  Bottom line is we had a wonderful time entertaining everyone that evening.  This couple was truly in love and really reinforces what a great pleasure it is to serve people who have such strong feelings for each other.

Here is a wedding picture:

Bottom line, as our URL states, Madisons Best DJ is for real. We were contracted til midnight and ended up keeping 100% of their guest there on the floor dancing until after 12:30 AM.