Chandra & James McTyre (12-27-2008)

Tonight I have a great honor. I am entertaining at a family friends wedding. Chandra has been friends with my wife for nearly 18 years. They met in the 4th grade and did everything together. When Leslie found out Chandra was getting married she immediately began to cry. This is truly an honor and privilege to me and I am so happy for Chandra and James.

Last night was the rehearsal and dinner which was held at the Oaisis which over looks lake Travis and one of the most beatiful sunsets I have ever witnessed. The Oaisis is a fantastic venue to host a rehearsal dinner or wedding for that matter. If you ever find yourself in Austin and thinking of something to do, The Oaisis is a must see.

I arrived at the wedding chapel at 1:30pm to start setting up for the event. I was preparing a suprise with some LED uplighting behind their alter setup for use durring the water ceremony.

As guests arrived we had the room dimmly lit with the alter area lit in blue. The ceremony began and Chandra & James shared vows which they had written themselves. James said his vows while choking up, come to find out he also cut the last lines because he was loosing the ability to speak through his emotions. As Chandra gave her vows I could hear the entire room fill with what can only be described as pure emotion. I, being the helpless romantic that I am, completely lost it. I haven’t cried at a wedding in a long time, but the words Chandra spoke to her true soul mate where…well I can’t even find the words to describe them, the only thing I can say is amazing.

As they progressed through the ceremony they did a water ceremony in place of a unity candle. This was the little suprise I programmed for the ceremony. As the minister started the water ceremony he began with a description of the water colors they each had. As this happenned I had each side of the alter light up in the colors each were holding. Then the minister described the meaning of the combining of the yellow and blue colors creating green. When this happened the entire alter area lit up in green. It was a great visual representation of what was happening since you really couldn’t see the water very well.

After pictures, which were being captured by my wife and talented photographer Leslie Wandel of Artistic Image Weddings, we really got the party started with their very first dance as husband and wife. This was followed by a shared mother/son & father/daughter dance which lead directly to a packed dance floor for open dancing.

I had such a great time watching the love shared between these two and the wonderful friends and family they share. It was truly my honor to be a part of this special event and my privillage to call Chandra & James friends.

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Ashley & Buck Wheat (12-13-2008)

Today I am the entertainer for a fantastic couple I began working with back in April. Ashley and Buck are a match made… well at Tarleton State, where they met and eventually fell in love. Ashley is a very orginized and planned out woman and Buck is a laid back hard working traditional style man. One must admire Buck’s personal qualities because they are those many of us wish we had or wish we did better.

There wedding and reception is being held at the Oaks Fellowship Church in Red Oak.

The ceremony was great. We started 30min from the processional with a slideshow of them growing up and then them together. Now the really neat part is that the slideshow was playing on all the TVs in the church’s lobby…the only drarw back was getting everyone to get inside to sit down. We had to assure them the slideshow was going on inside too.

The reception was a hoot and one of the bigger challenges of being an entertainer because we were not allowed to dance. Keeping guests involved and entertained was a lot of fun because it allowed me to break out from the “normal” confounds of a traditional wedding reception.

We began the evening with some fantatic and humorous introductions followed by an emotional love story of Buck and Ashley’s journey to this magical day. I had great connection with this couple and found myself on the verge of tears durring their exciting story.

Right at the end of the reception Buck’s family and friends wanted to make sure that Ashley felt welcome to the family so they gave her a special gift…

That’s right it’s a pink riffle! That just about sums up these two, they are truly made for each other and so very in love. It isn’t often when you see this type of deep understanding and love for each other, especially in such a young couple.

Thank you for a wonderful time and allowing me the opportunity serve as your MC.

A Helping Hand (12-6-2008)

Tonight I am lending a hand to a fellow entertainer named Shawn Kelly. He is the owner and operator of Platinum Sound.

It is always a treat to ride along and assist other disc jockeys as I find ways to improve myself. It’s like looking in on your own methods and finding or being motivated to new ideas and ways to solve problems. Anything we can do to add to our available tools is a very good thing, especially since the nature of wedding and event production can throw you some very interesting twists.

The client this evening was a lot of fun. During the course of the last several weeks they had a company jingle contest and the winners were announced tonight. In order to select a prize they had to sing their jingle. What a fun contest idea to generate some great entertainment moments and give away some fantastic prizes too.

The Ashton Hotel is a cozy place for a corporate function and small to medium sized wedding. Easy access, easy to find, and friendly staff make this a fabulous location and definitely a location I will be adding to my recommendations.

Huckabee Christmas Party (12-5-2008)

Tonight I have the please to work with the Design firm of Hucksbee Inc. This company is a model to their industry. Not only did they increase their business 20% this year, they were selected as one of the top 30 firms to work for in the country. Top that success off with their charitable actions for Happy Hill and you have a near perfect model of corporate success.

Tonight’s event was all about the future. They had the Happy Hills Choir start off our program with wonderful melodies of Christmas. After their performance we were treated with the vocal styling of a quartet called Killing Time.

The program for tonight was very focused on the employees and they had a blast. A few rounds of Name That Tune, and some gettin’ down finished out the night.

I can’t wait for next year and the opportunity to be of service to this fabulous company.