It of course has been Christmas party season and our DJs sure did do some rocking around the Christmas tree!

Paul provided our DJ & disco lighting services to our very good friends at the Milsom Hotels Group for their party nights at Le Talbooth in Dedham. Paul played a mixture of classic Christmas & swing music while guests enjoyed their drinks reception and dinner throughout the evening. Then it was time for dancing in the marquee as Paul entertained the many guests each night filling the floor every time.

Dave provided our DJ Only service to The Freelove Group. The Hertfordshire based production company provides the sound & lighting to the Best Parties Ever sites across the country. These parties are on a very large scale, each with their own theme. Dave DJed at the Billericay, Barleylands site in Essex where he entertained over 11,000 guests throughout the month.

Martin and the rest of the team were kept busy with our DJ & lighting hire services at a number of private Christmas parties and winter weddings that took place at Hintlesham Hall, Frinton Golf Club, Hengrave Hall, Channels Golf Club, Le Talbooth and other private venues within the Essex & Suffolk area.

We hope you like the pictures we have added below from a selection of the parties and events.

2012 is going to be a very exciting year for us. We have three big announcements for you in January.

Happy New Year to you all!

This first video was taken from this Saturdays (24^th September) wedding at the Best Western Marks Tey Hotel near Colchester with our DJ Paul Pollard.

Enjoy…

Colchester Gazette Wedding Show – Sunday 2^nd October 2011. This is taking place at Charter Hall (Leisure World) from 10:00am until 4:00pm.

The Suffolk Wedding Show – Sunday 16^th October 2011. This is taking place at Wherstead Park from 11:00am until 3:30pm.

And looking forward to 2012 we are also exhibiting at…

The Spring Wedding Expo in association with Milsom Hotels and the Suffolk Wedding Fairy at Kesgrave Hall on 19^th February 2012.

More information about the shows can be found on the links above. We look forward to talking with you about our professional services.

Paul was asked to make the days announcements in the informal yet professional manner we are known for:  including announcing the bride & groom into their wedding breakfast, introducing the speeches and cutting of the cake.  The selection of background music played during dinner was very fitting for the theme with a mixture of classical, modern jazz and swing.   This moved to more modern acoustic version of popular tracks as the day progressed.  The first dance came and from there the dance-floor was not empty all night! Guests were even dancing outside and into the bar area. The selection of music played was a complete mix of the classic wedding floor fillers and today’s hits.

We hope you like the pictures below of our stylish and contempory set-up with the white LED DJ booth and the great pictures of the packed dance-floor with all guests enjoying the amazing day!  We would like to say a big thank you to Michael and his staff and the golf club for looking after us and we look forward to providing our services with them again soon.

To finish off this blog entry it was such a nice surprise to receive a phone call at the office a few days after the wedding from the father of the bride to say how much he appreciated our service and how pleased he was that his daughter’s wedding had such a fantastic evening party!!

Paul regularly provides his wedding photography services at Hengrave Hall in Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk and he was kind enough to provide us with these stunning images he has taken over the last few months while we have been there together.

We hope you enjoy this selection of first dance and dancing couples from the Banqueting Hall at Hengrave…

From speaking with clients we found out that especially with weddings the drinks reception was a very important part of the day and that couples were planning to have some kind of entertainment while photographs were being taken and their guests were enjoying the reception drinks and canapés, either out on a lawn terrace or inside a dedicated function room. 

It became clear that not everyone would prefer more traditional entertainment such as small bands, duo’s string quartets or harpists.  Some clients wanted different types of music to be playing in the background. 

We wanted our cocktail DJ service to look the part, and to create that special feel that they had their very own personal DJ entertaining them.  We realised that we could provide much more than just a PA system with a MP3 player plugged in. We all have very high standards of beat –mixing skills and the experience to be able to play the correct styles and at the right volume to suit, along with a very professional manner when performing.  It made sense to put these great qualities to good use.

So the service was born!   -  Dreamwave Events Cocktail DJ Service @ £195.00

The price is based on a performance time of up to 3 hours and includes…

A small and discreet sound system and DJ equipment set up 1 hour prior to the start of any proceedings. Generally the CD players and mixer are on show to add to the atmosphere so everyone can see the DJ at work.  The equipment can also be hidden behind a screen booth on request.

We are very open to play the music styles requested by clients and have found that the below popular selections are perfect for this type of DJ service…

Classic & Modern Jazz,   Smooth Grooves,  Funk Soul,   Classic acoustic and chilled Remixes,   Chill-out,   Funky House,   Hed Kandi,   Smooth D&B    and Classical

This service is very versatile and can also be booked with a twist and used in different ways other than an afternoon drinks reception, such as a formal luncheon or a shop opening or promotional day.  We hope you have found this extra information helpful and enjoy the pictures

We knew our clients Sally & Warren’s wedding was going to be amazing from the moment they enquired and filled us in on how they wanted the day to run.  The whole day had a very traditional English feel to it but with many twists that made it very unique, including the bridal party arriving to the venue in London Black cabs!  The reception venue was the exclusive Le Talbooth in Dedham on the Essex, Suffolk border and took place in the Milsoms marquee on the lawn.  It was our DJ Dave Drane who provided the days services which included…

Cocktail DJing on the lawn while guests were arriving and enjoying Champagne and canapés.  Sally & Warren asked Dave to DJ and beat-mix Hed Kandi, Funky House and Ibiza Chillout, this was very well received and all the guests were wowed with the fact that they had their very own personal DJ on the lawn mixing the tunes up while the enjoyed the drinks reception.  Dave said the music made a nice change from playing styles we normally do like Swing, Jazz and Classical and that it was great to see guests have a little ‘jig-around’ on the lawn

Then came the wedding breakfast in the marquee and as well as providing background music while guests were eating Dave had the job of keeping a very important secret!  Some of the staff working that day was not quite what they seemed!?!  Sally & Warren had booked Tenors Incognito Singing Waiters  to perform during the meal, so the element of surprise was key.  We provided a quad PA sound system, mixing desk with effects and each performer with broadcast quality radio microphones to complete the showcase.  The look on the guest’s faces was of utter amazement that the guy who just brought out the meals caused a scene and then blasted out classic opera hits with his colleagues!

Then on to the party!  The feeling throughout the day was fun and very high energy; Dave knew that the evening party was going to be one that was not going to be forgotten easily.  We provided our disco lighting and sound system with the white DJ booth.  The dance floor was packed from the first dance at 8:00pm until midnight and everyone partied very hard!  The mix of music was everything from the Baywatch theme to Party Rock Anthem.  Sally & Warren picked a number of ‘must play tracks’ that Dave mixed in during the evening.

It was such a pleasure to be working alongside Craig & Kate who are very good friends of ours.  Their unique approach to wedding photography is making them one of the best wedding photography companies in the UK.  The way they work with clients and also just seem to blend in to the background when needed is very professional to see.  As well and working hard all day Craig & Kate provided a fun service that was a relaxed alternatively to a photo booth.  They set up a ‘retro shimmer curtain’ as a backdrop and had a big box of props, which included some old records from Dave’s collection! :)  Guests jumped at the chance of having their photos taken throughout the evening with some very amusing results!   A big, big thank you to Craig & Kate for very kindly provided us with the images below of this fantastic day for you all to see.  You guys truly do take amazing pictures!!

We wish Sally & Warren all the best as they start out their new life together as husband & wife and thank you very much for partying very hard. You really rocked it!

With this fantastic weather we have been having the wedding ceremony took place outside on the great lawn. Here we provided our ceremony music service which includes a small PA sound system set up to one side with a colour-coded control booth: background music while guest are arriving, entrance of the bride, signing of the register and the recessional music.

Paul was also asked by the bride and groom to take control of the ‘informal toastmaster duties’ this was well received and included the arranging of the receiving line, announcing the bride and groom into their wedding breakfast, the introducing of the speeches and general announcements. 

After the wedding breakfast the guests moved into the evening reception room where set up was our evening DJ & lighting equipment.

You will see from the pictures below the wedding had bright and bold colours to suite the spring theme. Our lighting was programmed to complement these colours.

A big thank you to all the team at Woodhall manor they made us feel very welcome. It was also great to work alongside Carl from Bushfire photography again.  A great evening was had by all and the whole day was perfect!

As a recommended suppliers at this amazing venue we will be showing how we can create a fantastic atmosphere with our lighting a professional DJ’s.

We look forward to seeing you there! More information can be found at this link.