By: Every year we’re asked to DJ a special wedding or two around this time of year, and this year was no different as Sue and Joel asked us to help make their wedding day dreams come true by DJing their wedding and reception at the Virginia Portuguese Soccer Club in Manassas, Va.
We first met Sue a couple of years ago at her daughter’s elementary school when the school’s PTA put together a graduation celebration. At the celebration, Sue assisted us with drawings, organized dancing and was a great help on a hectic afternoon with over 200 6th graders looking forward to middle school the next year.
One member of the school’s PTA was Anne Bronaugh who we’ve known for a very long time. Her, her husband Tim, and their children have been great friends for many years. Their youngest children were in the wedding ceremony for our owner Jarrod and his wife Spring. Anne heard Sue was looking for a DJ and suggested she contact us.
“When Sue called, she described herself and I knew right away who she was,” said Jarrod Wronski, owner of Metro DC DJs. “There are times that you meet someone that you remember forever, and Sue is one of those people.”
Sue arranged for a meeting with Jarrod and her fiance, Joel in the spring of 2014 to go over the details of the wedding, and this wasn’t going to be a traditional wedding with all of the ideas Sue & Joel were hoping they might be able to do. We’re happy to say, they were able to do them all!
Shortly after a wedding in April in which we’d produced a customized first dance song for Ross & Kristin, Sue asked us to do the same for her. This was a fairly easy task as she knew what songs, what parts of the songs and how she wanted everyone to join her and Joel on the dance floor. They worked out a great dance.
They also wanted to do a special garter removal that featured many elements. Using “Mission Impossible”, was the first part. Then after hearing their ideas, we added U2’s “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” before a chorus of “We Are The Champions” by Queen.
Another important piece of their dream was to incorporate Joel’s service with the United States Marine Corps, and Sue’s love of Virginia Tech with the grand entrance. The opening of the “Marine Corps Hymn” was used and quickly transitioned to Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” for the grand announcement and entrance.
With all of these special edits and collaborations down on paper, it was time to put them all together. Even after some technological glitches having to do with our old web site, we were able to produce a track for the first dance that they were able practice throughout the summer and early autumn to get ready for the big day.
Once the big day arrived, it was time to start setting up for the ceremony and reception which took place in the ballroom at the VPSC. An interesting twist was the tables were set-up and decorated in the back of the hall as the chairs were situated in the front, ready for the ceremony. Our position was on the stage, while the altar was in front. The happy couple chose to have their sweetheart table at what would have been the back of the seating area for the ceremony, allowing for a large dance floor, which we placed a special stock gobo on the dance floor. The gobo was not used for the ceremony, only the reception.
From the stage, we used the curtains to hide all the “behind the scenes” items and placed a light stand in front of the curtain. There was a speaker placed in the lobby so guests who were mingling during cocktail hour could hear the music, and the happy couple could hear the introductions during their grand entrance. The groom’s cousin, Paolo served as a terrific coordinator for the wedding and reception. It’s rare a family member hits the number of details Paolo does!
The ceremony was very simple with nice music during sitting, one song to bring the bridal party, groom, and bride to the altar. A hint of things to come, “Gonna Fly Now” from the Rocky movies was played as the recessional.
During the transition, the ballroom was open to allow guests to put their place cards on the tables. A quick 10-minute transition allowed the room to be used for cocktail hour and guests to sit comfortably while the bride and groom took a few moments to themselves before joining their friends and family. Once it was time for the introductions, all guests took their seats. Following the introductions, the bride and groom held their first dance which incorporated all of their children, an excellent personal touch.
Toasts were delivered by several friends and family from both sides as DJ Jarrod was swiftly moving about the room to make sure all who wanted to send their best wishes could do so. Then it was time for the kids to give theirs. A lot of hugs, a lot of laughter and then the blessing before dinner.
As guests were dismissed to dinner, each table was labeled with a song, and its lyrics. The song on the table was played when it was time to dismiss the tables. This was a different method of doing so, but worked really well and the guests enjoyed hearing their table’s song.
When it was time for special dances, the bride chose to dance with five important men in her life. From family to close friends, all danced with Sue before Joel’s mother joined him on the dance floor. Because one of the Sue’s friends wanted to “dance” with Joel, we started “Sexy Back” to which Zeta, Joel’s mother, really began dancing to. A quick transition to the Paul Anka song of her choice led to a beautiful mother-son dance.
Then it was special kids dance to “I Hope You Dance” which was capped off by inviting all the guests to bring their children to the dance floor and dance with them. After which, the dance floor and photo booth opened.
Typically, we slow down the music a little on the dance floor after a couple of songs, but everyone was up and dancing right from the get-go. Kind of hard to slow that down, and the kids in attendance got to hear some of their choices early. After a pair of slower songs, the cake was cut to the left of the stage. After a little more dancing, another choreographed portion of the night with the garter removal.
Joel decided not to just pull off the garter, but instead, hid a bag underneath the chair Sue sat in that had several items including a pair of underwear, candle, lighter, glasses and bottle of champagne which he all pulled out to “Mission Impossible”. After the champagne, U2 dropped before Joel found the garter which he held up to “We Are the Champions”. It was truly another of several great personal touches Sue and Joel put on the wedding.
We’d like to thank Sue and Joel for choosing us to DJ their wedding and working together on all the fun events.
