Each year, The Knot holds a party in Dallas for all the wedding vendors in our market. This year’s party was planned by my good friend, Dana Carroll of Social by Dana Carroll.  She and Shana Thomas of The Urban Blossom really went above and beyond with the Cirque theme.  And, of course, a cool event like this needs a cool venue – The W / Victory hotel in Dallas.  I hadn’t been to The W in a while, but it looks like I’ll be back:

Good Morning Tommy!

Thank you! Your skills last night really contributed to the success of our event and everyone was really pleased with the overall outcome.

Do you mind if I add you to our preferred social catering vendor list? Your professionalism and style is much appreciated and I would like to work with you again soon on another event!

Warm Regards,

Trish | Catering Sales Manager | The W Dallas – Victory

Unfortunately, I don’t have many photos to share.  I was quite busy once the event got going between DJ’ing and visiting with people who came up.  It was amazing!

I absolutely LOVE City Club of Fort Worth.  For many reasons.  Firstly, I’ve been one of their preferred vendors for quite a long time.  And, because of that, it’s that feeling of going home for Thanksgiving every time I’m there.  (Not the “Oh, no, I have to eat Aunt May’s jello mold” – but the “I’m coming home to family” feeling. )
The staff there are wonderful, and truly amazing at their work.

So I was thrilled to hear that they were putting together the Best in Bridal show this year, and asked me to be a part – both as an exhibitor, and to DJ the Fashion Show.

It was very chic and trendy – they had LCD TVs in every room of the show, with a moderated Twitter feed taking place.  They would make a comment, or ask a question, and the brides and vendors could answer the question or make further comments.  How cool is that?

Here are a few pics from the show.  Many, many thanks to City Club management (Amy, Heather, Sara, Peggie) and the staff (Duncan, Jose, Estella, Ramesh), and all the many contributing vendors that made this One Amazing Bridal Event!

(Click on an image to view my comments)

“Broadway Meets Backyard Barbecue” – that’s how Natalie and Andy described to me their dream reception, and what a reception it was!  Natalie and Any both live in New York, and I had a great time planning their reception.  We had a couple of meetings, a couple of phonecalls, and many conversations over Facebook!  Natalie is a dancer on the New York Jets Flight Crew- Andy does something in the corporate world.  (I mean, can he seriously compete with Natalie?)

It was a beautiful reception, complete with a purple wall washes and a custom-designed GOBO on the dance floor.

 

Here, Natalie and a few of her girlfriends bust out the Texas Tech fight song.

Enjoy the photos:

The Team:

Venue: Katherine Majeed-Ali, Marriott Legacy North Dallas (Plano)
Photographer: Stacy Reeves
Check out her blog pics for Natalie and Andy.

The Music:

Cocktail Music: Jazz Instrumentals
First Dance: “Sea of Love”, Cat Power
Cake Cutting: “Sugar, Sugar”, The Archies
Stepdad / Daughter Dance: “My Girl”, The Temptations
Mother / Son Dance: “My Wish”, Rascal Flatts
Dance Floor Opener: “Old Time Rock & Roll”, Bob Seger
Garter Toss: “I Make Him Feel Good”, Bernadette Peters and “Tops Drop”, Fat Pat
(Garter was tossed on a NY Jets football, signed by Nick Mangold and Kris Jenkins)
Bouquet Toss: “Girls, Girls, Girls”, Motley Crue
Last Slow Song: “At Last”, Etta James
Exit Song: “(Turn Out the Lights) The Party’s Over”, Willie Nelson

Totally Useless Information:

Number of Speakers: 10 (four mains, four zones in ballroom, two in lobby)
Number of LED Uplights: 16
Length of Speaker Cable: 355
Color of Gaff Tape: Brown

I had such a good time with Pam and Onel this past weekend.  Her mom, pamm (yes – that’s lowercase with to m’s) is owner of Bridal Blooms & Creations in Dallas, a  good friend, and co-conspirator on the board for June Weddings with me.  I can honestly say that that is the first wedding where the bride and her mom have the same name, so I called Pam (that’s capital P, one m) “Junior” all through the planning process.

Anyway – they had such a fun crowd and a wedding party bent on making this a fabulously fun reception.  The Grand Ballroom had alot of rustic charm to it, which added to the Rustic Chic theme of the evening.

This is our debut event for table lighting – pamm (the mom) called me on Friday morning and asked if we could pinspot the table centerpieces.  Well, at the time, we didn’t own the equipment but a few stops later and an investment into some lighting gear, and we got it all set up and ready to go in time for the festivities!

Enjoy the photos!

Rick and Kelly were really a fun couple to work with, and incorporated several fun and creative ideas into their reception.

For starters, the tables were named after some of their favorite places – complete with a photo and paragraph explaining why that locale was important to them.

Secondly – they loved the spotlight!  Rick busted out in a rendition of “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’”, Top Gun Style.  During their first dance, they had a group of guests (which I jokingly referred to as the “Pointer Sisters”), singing along on the sidelines.

The wedding party couldn’t help but dance – no matter where they were.  I had a blast!

The Team:

The Venue: Sky Creek Ranch
Photograph: Scott Young Photography
Cakes: Opulent Cakes

The Music:

First Dance: “Then”, Brad Paisley
Dinner Music: Adult contemporary, Christian Adult Contemporary (Jeremy Camp, etc)
Cake Cutting: “Recipe for Love”, Harry Connick, Jr.
Father / Daughter Dance: “I Loved Her First”, Heartland
Mother / Son Dance: “Do I Make You Proud”, Taylor Hicks
First Open Dance: “Better Together”, Jack Johnson
Bouquet Toss: “Single Ladies”, Beyonce and “I Know What Boys Like”, The Waitresses
Last Slow Song: “You Had Me at Hello”, Kenny Chesney
Last Song: “Send Me On My Way”, Rusted Root

This is truly one of the most beautiful outside weddings that I’ve been a part of.  The ceremony was adjacent to the Camp House near the waterfall, with the guests seated on the lawn overlooking White Rock Lake.  The decor was stunning and very “spring-ish”, with lots of oranges and natural decor.

Haley and John were such a fun couple to work with! They really wanted to do whatever it took to make sure their guests had a fabulous time.

The evening began with a ceremony in Delaney Vineyards, complete with a beautiful string quartet, and a solo on Baritone from a family member.

After the ceremony, guests were invited out to the “crush pad” (terrace area) for cocktails and socializing, accompanied by some wonderful jazz instrumentals. On the inside, the photography was finishing up as the room was turned from Ceremony to Celebration.

The architecture of the room was enhanced with some red uplighting behind the casks of wine that are stored in there, and the floral decor included some fabulous LED-lit centerpieces. A funky black & white cake created a great conversation piece, and the party was on.

The wedding party was introduced with some fun music, and the bride & groom had challenged them to a dance contest as they made their way in. After the father / daughter dance and welcome, dinner was served – followed by cake and toasts. The party got started with Haley & John began their first dance, only to abruptly seque into “Gonna Make You Sweat” and a mashup of other songs from rock to Hip-Hop.

Needless to say, it was a very fun and memorable night!

Here are more photos from the wedding and reception:
(Click any image to enlarge)

The Team:

• Venue: Linda at Delaney Vineyards
• Caterer: Morris Salerno, The Grotto
• Photographer: Huy Nguyen, f8 Studio
• Videographer: Mike Foster

Music of the Night:

• Ceremony: provided by string quartet
• Father / Daughter Dance: “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”, Carly Simon
• Mother / Son Dance: “What a Wonderful World”, Louis Armstrong
• Cake Cutting: “Sweet Emotion”, Aerosmith
• First Dance: “Have a Little Faith in You”, John Hiatt mixed into several other songs, including “Gonna Make You Sweat”, “2 step”, “Walk it Out”, and more
• Garter Toss: “Thong Song”, Sisqo
• Bouquet Toss: “Girls, Girls, Girls”, Motley Crue

Totally Useless Information:

• Color of Gaff Tape used for taping cords: black and gray
• Number of speakers: ten
• Number of Par-64 Uplights: eight
• Uplight color: Rosco 22 (red)
• Amount of Speaker Cable used: 325 feet

CityClub of Fort Worth is one of my favorite venues to work at.  It’s literally like my “home away from home.”  Every single member of their staff is wonderful, and I know each of them by name.  I just love being there!

A few times each year, City Club hosts an open house for brides to come in and visit with the preferred vendors and taste some of the fabulous faire that the Club has to offer.

This year, Amy, Heather and Sara went all out with a wonderful new idea…  Instead of “just” an open house, they invited several great planners and designers to design a table in their own style.  Other vendors attended as well, from photographers, to florists, to cake companies and, of course, entertainment.  (Not to mention the box of cupcakes I got to bring home with me – yummy!)

Amy was gracious enough to offer me the privilege of  providing sound and some lighting for both the social time in the ballroom, as well as a surprise fashion show on the fourth floor, in a wedding-ceremony arranged area.

Here are just a few photos from that night.  City Club – I love you!

(Click the image below to browse through larger photos)

I have the privilege every so often to work with some of the best agencies in Dallas.  This particular wedding reception was at the Ritz Carlton in Dallas, with The Project (band) playing for the reception.  I was hired on as the Master of Ceremonies, and then we DJ’d the After Party in the pre-function space after the reception. It was a great time working with some truly great vendors – I had a blast!

The decor was simply beautiful.  The foyer (pre-function space) was used for cocktails prior to the reception.

The ballroom featured beautiful floral design, as well as decor lighting in the way of uplights, pinspot table lighting, and dance lighting.

The bride, Dyan, loves to cook and she and her family made a wonderful assortment of baked goodies for the guests to enjoy along with the cake.

Then, during the reception, the foyer was transformed into a groovy lounge area for the after-party.

Another cool thing we did was to shoot some candid photography during the reception, and the family had arranged for a few people to shoot some pics of the ceremony.  So, we pooled all those shots and displayed them on a plasma TV during the after-party, as a montage “day of”.

More Photos

The Team

• Wedding Planner Extraordinare: (and lover of the Aggie War Hymn) Emily Youngblood,  Blessed Unions
• Venue: The Ritz Carlton, Dallas
• The Band: Dave von Blohn, Absolute Entertainment / The Project Band
• Decor Lighting: Lite Dallas
• Photographer: Scott Hagar
• Videographer: Gustavo

Totally Useless Technical Information

Other than having to setup the After-Party during the reception, this particular event wasn’t too technically challenging.  We brought in a small system that we connected to the band’s sound system for the one band break, and then set up our normal system at the dance floor.  The only challenge that we faced was finding enough electrical, in a room that wasn’t designed for alot of power.

Jamie and Chris met in Las Vegas at the Hard Rock Hotel Bar.  They struck up a conversation and ended up closing down the bar.  Chris lives in California, and Jamie was in Fort Worth at the time.  They enjoyed their conversation so much, that it wasn’t long before Jamie paid him a visit and eventually moved to California to be with her beaux.

The reception was a wonderful mix of guests from all over the US – California, Oklahoma, Washington, and New York to name a few.  They really had a great time.  During dinner, we navigated into some fun songs like “That’s Amore” by Dean Martin and “PIano Man” by Billy Joel, which had the air of a piano bar because all the guests were singing and swaying to the music.

The ceremony was held just outside the Yellow Rose ballroom at the Gaylord Texan Resort, with cocktails just around the corner in a semi-secluded area of the hotel.

Here are a few select photos.  Scroll to the bottom of this post for the slideshow.

Here’s their gobo on the side wall during the cake cutting.

Jamie & Chris – having a “moment”

Our fab coordinator for the evening – Shanna Marko!
(Photographer Steve Cooley is looking on)

It was a great mix of both young and “not so young” on the dance floor.

Here we see Chris’ brother, Sean making his move.
Tori Timberlake Mitzel (top center,
former Catering Director at the Marriott Solana)
was in the wedding party.

Some funky group circly huggy thing to “Sweet Home Alabama”

Just pretend that, in place of our Matron of Honor, Jenny -
you are looking at Chris, the groom. He was busy directing guests to
the after-party at the Glass Cactus.

The Team

Venue: Jeff Worthington, The Gaylord Texan Resort
Coordinaor: Shanna Marko, The Organized Event
Photographers: Steve and Kim Cooley, Carpe Vita Photography
Videographer: Some dude named Daniel

The Music

First Dance: “Cross My Heart”, George Strait
Father / Daughter Dance: “Butterfly Kisses”, Bob Carlisle
Mother / Son Dance: “Simple Man”, Lynyrd Skynyrd
Cake Cutting: “When I’m 64″, The Beatles
Bouquet / Garter Toss: We skipped these at Jamie’s request – she was having too much fun to “spoil the vibe”
Last Slow Song: “I Need You”, Tim McGraw & Faith Hill
Last Dance: “Last Dance”, Donna Summer

Totally Useless Technical Info:

Introduction style: Bio’s of each wedding party member, introduced in couples with fun music for each couple.
Speakers: 10 (two mains, two subs, two zones in the ballroom; four in the cocktail area)
Speaker Cable: 375 feet
DMX Cable: 275 feet
LED Uplights: six
Monster KHAOS drinks consumed: one (I learned my lesson last time)

The Slideshow