I know "time flies when you're having fun" is cliché, but that's exactly how I felt at Erica and Grant's wedding reception at the Genesee Grande Ballroom inside the Collegian Hotel and Suites in Syracuse last weekend. My second wedding of 2017 also featured the début of some brand new equipment I purchased over the winter.
Although some of the new gear is "behind the scenes" stuff, the notable addition is a new dance floor light at the center of my overhead lighting truss. It's accompanied by a brand new lighting controller which lets me select more colors, movement and other effects than my previous lighting controller. Gone are some outdated lights which did a great job, but aren't compatible with the new stuff.
As for time flying, I can credit the bride and groom for a host of excellent song requests submitted in advance -- including a general request to play lots of 90s music, so I did roughly an entire hour of those. The dance floor was hopping from start to finish. And once nice perk about hosting your reception at a hotel -- most (the Genesee Grande included) have a separate bar right on the premises. That means guests looking for the afterparty needed only take a short walk down the hall to the hotel's 1060 Bar.
Key Wedding Song Selections
- Wedding Party Intros:
- Chvrches - The mother we share
- Notorious BIG / Big Poppa
- Marky Mark & Funky Bunch / Good Vibrations
- Bride and Groom Entrance: Justin Timberlake / Suit and Tie
- First Dance: Justin Timberlake / Mirrors (radio version)
- Bride / Father Dance: Stevie Wonder / Isn't She Lovely
- Groom / Mother Dance: Rod Stewart / Forever Young
- Cake Cutting: Bob Marley and The Wailers / Is This Love
- Last Dance of the Night for Everyone: John Legend / All of Me
If you know these songs well, you might be thinking the songs selected for the parent dances are rather lengthy. At the couple's request, I edited both songs in advance. "Isn't She Lovely" ran just less than 2½ minutes, but retained the original "cold" ending, so it didn't sound edited. Similar editing magic shaved nearly a full minute from "Forever Young."
Photo Gallery
Was a pleasure to work once again with Erica Hasenjager Photography. She did a great job with the ceremony, post-ceremony and part of the reception, but she was only contracted until 9:00, so I tried to take more photos than usual during the last two hours of the reception. Here are just some of my shots -- click the blue button below to see the entire album (and tag/share/like) on Facebook!
Click any photo below for a larger version.
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- Uplighting at the Genesee Grande Hotel, Syracuse, NY
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- Uplighting at the Genesee Grande Hotel, Syracuse, NY
As with every couple, I am thankful to Erica and Grant for choosing me as their wedding DJ! Had a blast working with them, and loved to see them and their guests having so much fun. I wish them all the best for many years of happiness together. Also great to play the Genesee Grande again -- hopefully it'll be less than another three years before my next visit! If you've found my blog because you're planning your own wedding there... let's talk!
