The weekend before the Christmas holiday, December 18th and 19th, 2009, included several very festive and fun weddings that wwere phenomenal in spite of Mother Nature’s plans!  Read below for more.

Rachel and Stefan, 12/18/2009, Belmont Country Club, Ashburn, VA

DJ: Evan Reitmeyer

The setting: A beautiful and historic golf club set on a championship golf course in Ashburn, VA.

The first dance: “Whatever It Is” by the Zac Brown Band

The music: Everything from big band to Black Eyed Peas – the guests were really grooving on the dance floor!

An unexpected surprise:  That would be the massive blizzard that rolled in while we were at the reception.  I expected more guests to leave early, but a lot of them stayed to tough it out on the dance floor!  The ride home to Columbia took me 2 1/2 hours, but well worth it for a great wedding and a happy couple.

Grace and Garrett, 12/19/09 – Harbor Court Hotel, Baltimore, MD

DJ:  Evan Reitmeyer

The setting: One of Baltimore’s most beautiful and storied hotels, in the middle of the worst blizzard to hit the area in five years.

The first dance: “The Rest of My Life” by Blessid Union of Souls

The music: An eclectic mix of classic party songs, 90’s alternative, and Christmas music.  This was a great crowd and probably would’ve danced to anything I played!

An unexpected surprise: We knew the snow was going to be bad early in the week, but I was really surprised by how many of their guests still came out in the blizzard!  By my count, they had roughly 130 of 160 guests, which was outstanding given the condition of the roads.  This weekend was a great testament to our company’s dedication to our clients – we have no “back out” clause in our contract and our DJs took special measures to ensure the success of every single wedding on our schedule that went forward as planned. 

Outstanding vendors: Everyone involved gets a gold star for dedication on this one, over 15 inches of snow in less than 24 hours and nobody backed out.  Melanie Davis and her entire crew at the Harbor Court were great, and it was such a pleasure to work with photographer Anne Sachs again, who gave us pictures!

Emily and Chris, 12/19/09 – Chesapeake Bay Beach Club, Stevensville, MD

DJ: Jeff Brown

The setting: All of the snow and ice didn’t at all diminish the elegance, warmth and charm of the Chesapeake Bay Beach Club.

The first dance: “Dance All Night” by Ryan Adams

The music: The couple had put a tremendous amount of work into carefully designing their own specific set list, which reflected the mood they wished to set for each part of the evening.

A touching moment: The bride and groom made some special remarks in honor of their grandparents, and played a special song for them to dance to (”Moonlight Serenade” by Glenn Miller)

A fun surprise: The sparkler sendoff the couple had planned still took place, in spite of the weather!

Outstanding vendors: As usual the CBBC staff was on the ball, and did an amazing job given the circumstances.  Photographer pal John Waire was fabulous as well, and even gave us pictures!

Katie and Kaipo, 12/19/09 – Navy Marine Corps Stadium, Annapolis, MD

DJ: David Johnson

The setting: The fourth floor of the stadium offered a beautiful view of the snowstorm outside!

The first dance: “More” by Bobby Darin

A special touch: The groom was a recent graduate of the Naval Academy and had been the quarterback of the academy’s football team.  The bride had his jersey framed and put on display at the wedding, had a helmet set out for guests to sign with their well wishes, and had a personalized groom’s cake made in the shape of a football on the Navy stadium field!

A unique tradition: The groom’s family is Hawaiian, and in honor of his heritage, his mother presented the bride with a lei, and the bride’s mother presented the groom with one as well.

Outstanding vendors:  Obviously the entire team gets kudos for pulling off a great wedding under some pretty tough circumstances!  Wedding planner Raquel Shutt was fabulous, as she always is, and photographer pals Jen Cody and Sam Taylor of egomedia photography were great and gave us pictures!

UPDATE 1/4/2010: It’s official!  We stil have some formatting issues to clean up, but otherwise the site upgrade and new design is up and running.  Enjoy!

UPDATE 1/1/2010: The backend was updated successfully and now we’re working with our web developer on the new design. You’ll probably notice some display issues, hopefully nothing too major. We’re very excited about the changes, let us know if you run into any problems!

We’re in the process of upgrading our content management system and blog backend today, so you may notice some display issues on our website.  Please pardon our dust, we should have all of the kinks worked out by tomorrow morning!

~Evan

It’s Real Wedding Wednesday, and we have two beautiful weddings from the weekend of December 12th to share with you:

Erica and Andrew, 12/12/09 – Tremont Grand, Baltimore, MD

DJ: Jeff Brown

The setting: The lovingly restored, historic Tremont Grand hotel with beautifully appointed themed ballrooms.

The first dance: “Long December” by Counting Crows

A unique touch: The room was impeccably decorated with dramatic lighting and rich whites, beiges and blues, and accented by a six-tier wedding cake!

A fun surprise: The bride and groom choreographed their last dance to “Say Hey (I Love You)” by Michael Franti, and invited their guests to join halfway through — it was lots of fun!

Anne and Chris, 12/12/09 – Sheraton Hotel, Reston, VA

DJ: David Johnson

The setting: The elegant Diamond Ballroom at the Sheraton was complemented by the couple’s beautiful red rose centerpieces and rose-accented cake.

The first dance: “At Last” by Etta James

The music: Lots of Motown, 80s and hip hop kept everyone on their feet!

An interesting fact: The couple traveled up to Maryland from their home in warm, sunny Florida, just to be married close to their families and friends!

A touching moment: The bride and her sister, who was the maid of honor, brought each other to tears during the sister’s beautiful toast.

The weekend of December 5th, 2009 was another leisurely one for us, though the one wedding was gorgeous and fun!  My recap is below.

Dianna and Bjorn, 12/5/2009, Tremont Grand, Baltimore, MD

DJ:  Evan Reitmeyer

The setting:  The beautifully appointed Corinthian Ballroom at this historic Baltimore hotel.

The first dance: “You Are the Best Thing” by Ray LaMontagne

The music: An awesome mix of everything, and the crowd was fantastic.  I had a blast playing for them!

Outstanding vendors: Lauren Thurston and Julie Brown-Edwards from the Tremont Grand were fantastic to work with, and photographer Phil Savard of Artistic Difference was great as well!

The weekend after Thanksgiving was a quiet one for us, except for one spectacular wedding on November 27th, 2009!  Read below for our recap!

Carrie and Roddy, 11/27/09 – Ceresville Mansion, Frederick, MD

DJ: Michael Bell

The setting: Ceresville Mansion, a beautiful colonial style building with lush gardens and water features on the surrounding landscaped grounds.

The first dance: “This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)” by the Talking Heads

The music: An eclectic mix of indie and old school — everything from Wilco to Michael Jackson, Prince to Stevie Wonder.

A funny moment: The groom and his mother did a very fun, upbeat dance to “Oh Mother of Mine” by The Temptations.

A touching surprise: The bride and her brother and sister presented their parents with a portrait from their own wedding, in honor of their 40th anniversary.

We were fortunate to be part of several gorgeous weddings on November 20th and 21st, 2009.  Our Real Wedding Wednesday recaps are below!

Meredith and Noel, 11/20/09 – Ritz-Carlton Tyson’s Corner, McLean, VA

DJ: Evan Reitmeyer

The setting: A beautifully decorated ballroom at one of the DC area’s very best hotels.

The first dance: A special rendition of the Marie Digby version of “Umbrella,” performed and recorded by the bride!

The music: A balanced mix of older classics and current hits kept the crowd going on the dance floor well past their bedtimes.

Outstanding vendors:  Pat Wilson and her staff at the Ritz-Carlton were fabulous to work with, and photographer (and all-around good guy) Jaron Bushman of CB Photography was great to see again.

Amanda and Frank, 11/21/09 – Elkridge Furnace Inn, Elkridge, MD

DJ: Michael Bell

The setting: Rustic and tasteful, with a ceremony locale on the banks of the Patapsco River, the Elkridge Furnace Inn was ideal.

The first dance: “Into the Mystic” by Van Morrison

The music: Lots of fun party songs, oldies and rock and roll.

A unique touch: The couple had an elegant, understated color palette of whites and creams, with one-of-a-kind tissue paper corsages and boutonnieres.

Outstanding vendors: Becky and the staff at Elkridge Furnace Inn provided wonderful service and amazing food, and Heather from Heather Z Photography was a joy to work with!

Jennifer and Brent, 11/21/09 – The Barns at Wolf Trap, Vienna, VA

DJ: David Johnson

The setting: A beautiful old barn that had been moved from its original site, reassembled in a new location and converted to an event venue — it had wonderful acoustics!

The first dance: “You Send Me” by Sam Cooke

The music:  This wedding had a very warm and receptive crowd, who really got down to Motown, 80s pop, disco and hip hop music.

A fun moment: The bride and groom got their groove on to what seemed to be at least a semi-choreographed routine to “Crank Dat” by Soulja Boy — the guests were definitely cheering them on!

An unexpected surprise: The hit of the night was probably Miley Cyrus’ “Party in the USA,” from the couple’s request list.  The bride and her girlfriends packed the dance floor and belted out the song!