Michael & Laura, 5-09-09

This weekend we were at Ventosa Vineyardsfor Mike & Laura’s Wedding Reception. This was not only my kick-off wedding of ’09, but Ventosa’s as well.

Mike and Laura were a lot of fun to plan with. They incorporated a number of cool features into their reception, including Name in Lights, up-lighting, a video slideshow during dinner and multi-song Grand Entrances. They also had a string quartet entertain their guests for cocktail hour. The original plan was to have to quartet on the outside patio for cocktail hour, at which point they would finish and we would provide outside sound via our wireless speaker capabilities for the remainder of the evening. Unfortunately, the wind and weather brought the quartet in right away, and shortly thereafter, once the wind had blown over our outside speaker, ended up having us bring that in as well.

Specialty songs for the evening included:

• Grandparents intro: “In the mood” – Columbia Ballroom
• Parents of the Bride intro: “Pon de replay” – Rihanna
• Parents fo the Groom intro: “Eye of the tiger” - Survivor
• Flower girl & Ring Bearer intro: “Peanut butter, jelly time”

The Bridesmaids and Groomsman’s introductions included, Welcome to the jungle, Yeah – Usher, Not Tonight remix, Party like a Rockstar and Pull over by Trick Daddy for the Maids of Honor and Best Man.

Michael and Laura came in to Thunderstruck by AC/DC and we went right in to their first dance, “My Best Friend” by Tim McGraw.

Michael & Laura's First Dance

     We followed the first dance with the Parent Dances and then in to toasts and dinner.

Father & Daughter dance, "Because you loved me" by Celine Dion

Mother & Son dance, "My Wish" by Rascal Flatts

Garter Removal

After the bouquet and garter, we went right into the Cake Cutting Ceremony and then followed that up with the Anniversary Dance. It was really quite cool to be part of this one, as the Grandparent of the Bride had been married the longest. 61 years!

Mike and Laura also purchased our up-lighting package for their Reception. The up-lighting really did a nice job of adding a touch of elegance to the room.

Uplighting the Sweetheart Table

Uplighting the Cake table

Once we finished the formalities, it was right in to open dance for the remainder of the evening. With only an hour and a half left for open dance, I was quick to move through the oldies, into a little country favorites, a quick stop in the 80′s era and into todays modern hits.

Name in Lights

The Set-Up.

I ran a slightly different set-up for this reception. I opted to leave the truss wraps off because when I arrived, I noticed the couple had chosen a black and white color scheme for their Reception colors. So with the black truss and white table skirt, I think I was able to blend in a little better with their colors.

The set-up against the room decor, with the String Quartet

I’d like to say Thank You to Mike and Laura for having Fingerlakes Entertainment out for their big day. You guys were a lot of fun and your group of friends was equally as enjoyable. I only wish we had some more time at the end of the evening.

Congratulations to you both!

Jason