Pittsburgh Wedding Pro Blog

Guest Blog by Rebecca Druckenmiller – As published on the Cutting Edge DJs Blog

“Hey DJ just play that song, keep me dancing… all night long”-Tips from a planner on hiring your DJ…

It’s what we all want from our DJ at our wedding. We want our guests to have a blast and dance the night away. An experienced DJ will do that for you, you just have to find the right one for you! As an associate planner with Queen of Hearts Wedding Consultants, we’re always guiding our brides in the right direction when hiring their wedding professionals so I’m happy to pass along some tips and hints you’ll want to consider when hiring a DJ…

READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE at the CUTTING EDGE DJ BLOG

Found a great new resource for Pittsburgh Brides.  I can’t wait to pick up my copy.  Here is one of the online articles.

Welcome to the Best Reception

Locate a venue that’s perfectly you, whether
it’s for the ceremony, reception, or both!
By Nicole Barley

Read the Article at the WHIRL Magazine website here.

Just a reminder, the first big bridal show of the season is THIS SUNDAY from 11-4 at the new Monroeville Convention Center.

Here is a video on KDKA about some show details. KDKA Wedding Clickers Story.

Here is a link to the wedding clickers website for more information. Wedding Clickers

Continue Reading »

OneWed Kicks-Off Prime Wedding Planning Season on 2nd Annual Matrimony Monday

In Celebration of the Year’s Biggest Day of Wedding Planning, OneWed.com Toasts New Brides-to-be on January 4, 2010

Chicago, IL (December 16, 2009) /PRNewswire/ — OneWed.com, the ultimate online source for the truth in wedding planning, once again welcomes the year’s biggest day for wedding planning: January 4, 2010, the day OneWed has declared “Matrimony Monday.” According to TheWeddingReport.com, approximately 35-40 percent (550,000-650,000) of engagements in the US take place during the winter holiday season between Thanksgiving and Valentine’s Day*. Thanks to the romantic nature of the holiday season, the majority of proposals take place between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Eve, making the first Monday back at work the peak time to start searching online for planning ideas and inspiration.

“The holiday season traditionally attracts more proposals than any other time of the year,” says OneWed VP of Marketing Jennifer Napier. “As soon as these couples get engaged, they are anxious and excited to start researching for wedding dresses, venues, wedding vendors, honeymoon locales, and everything in between. OneWed knows that January 4th is a pivotal day for online research and we’re ready to help as their ultimate wedding resource.”

To celebrate the whirlwind of wedding planning activities, OneWed.com is thrilled to treat brides-to-be with a special wedding giveaway, with a grand prize featuring items that typically aren’t included in traditional wedding budgeting charts. The “Off-the-Chart” Wedding Giveaway, running through the month of January, provides future brides with the opportunity to win approximately $15,000 worth of wedding essentials like a honeymoon from Sandals Resorts, wedding bands from Whiteflash.com, dresses from The Dessy Group, and many more wedding essentials. Brides can automatically enter by simply creating their own Wedding Pre-Party, OneWed’s social wedding planning tools and platform connecting the couple, wedding party, wedding guests and vendors.

Just in time for Matrimony Monday, OneWed is excited to launch several new offerings:

Wedding Websites: New free wedding websites that can be easily customized and personalized to reflect any couple’s personality and their specific needs for information sharing.
Wedding Flowers: A partnership with Weddings by FlowerPetal that brings bridal and bridesmaid bouquets, centerpieces, corsages and boutonnieres direct to brides or their venues. With OneWed and Weddings by FlowerPetal, couples can browse hundreds of wedding flowers and styles, purchase online, and ship directly to you and your venue.
Wedding Venues: A partnership with VFM Leonardo, a technology leader in online visual content management and distribution for the hotel industry, offers couples access to photos, videos and virtual tours of over 10,000 wedding venues nationwide.
Wedding Dresses: Newly expanded wedding dress gallery searchable by designer, silhouette, neckline, length, fabric, embellishments, color, and price.
Party Planning: Plan, manage and throw any wedding-related celebration from engagement parties to wedding showers to bachelor parties.
As always, couples can turn to OneWed’s Savvy Scoop wedding blog, which provides daily planning advice, trend reports, expert commentary, wedding fashion round-ups, and more. Find this and a wealth of helpful planning tips and tools at OneWed.com.

About OneWed

OneWed is the ultimate online source for the truth in wedding planning, providing couples with a wealth of tips, advice, and creative suggestions to help personalize their wedding experience. The site’s newest platform, WeddingPreParty.com, is a virtual way for couples to start the celebration early and keep in contact with guests through a social wedding planning network. OneWed boasts the largest searchable directory of local wedding vendors with over 225,000 vendors nationwide with honest ratings and reviews. Additionally, the site features OneWed’s Savvy Scoop Wedding Blog, online wedding checklist, free wedding websites and ideas for everything from engagement rings to wedding flowers to honeymoon planning. OneWed can be found online at OneWed.com, facebook.com/Wedding.Planning, and twitter.com/OneWed.

Facebook® is a registered trademark of Facebook Inc.

*Statistics courtesy of TheWeddingReport.com

Jamie Simpson – Houserockers DJ

Every now and then a bride and groom surprises me.  When I first met with Matt and Sarah they seemed very nice and at least to me a little reserved.  Well, let me tell you they were on the dance floor ALL NIGHT!  Matt sang “Friends in Low Places” and Sarah was the leader in the YMCA.  They were great and the reception was fantastic from beginning to end!

Friends in Low Places – Matt is singing on the left side.

YMCA with Matt and Sarah

I know it’s hard to believe there is a “destination wedding” center right here in Western Pennsylvania.  Foxburg, PA has some great shops, the oldest golf course in America, a magnificent restaurant, inn, and winery all on the banks of the Allegheny River.  It was an easy choice for Megan and Shaun to hold their ceremony and reception at such an amazing site.  Megan and Shaun had an outdoor ceremony in the beautifully landscaped garden that sits between the Inn and the Resturant.  I provided music and a wireless lapel microphone for the pastor for the ceremony. 

The reception started immediately afterwards with some cool drinks on a hot day, while the couple took some post ceremony photographs around Foxburg with Aaron and Luke from Identitiy Studio and Design.  This is me taking a photo of them, taking a photo of Megan and Shaun. 

I also provided a projector and screen for Megan and Shaun to show two personalized slideshows that they produced.  I always worry about the weather when booking outdoor events, but the day was nothing short of spectacular.  The reception was tremendous with almost every guest dancing from the very first song to the very very last song.  I received a nice letter from Gwen the mother of the bride a few days after the wedding:

Where do we start – - Phenomenal !   Amazing !   Heartwarming !

 When we met with you 1 ½ years ago we implied that“Youwould be the Pesci wedding” that the wedding ceremony and reception was in “Jamie’s hands”!  We wanted this to be a celebration of a lifetime!

 Jamie, you Exceeded our Expectations!

 Our guest had a Fantastic, Memorable, Out of this World day!  Each moment was complete and totally organized.  We felt as though you were a close friend orchestrating every moment of our special occasion to the highest degree!  The time, patience and perseverance you extended in making our special presentations from the bride and mother-of the-bride are unbelievable!  We can not Thank You enough for the Fabulous job well done!  You have made our memories Unforgettable!

 From the bottom of our hearts –  Many Thanks with Much Appreciation and Gratitude !!

 Richard and Gwen (parents of the bride)

FIRST DANCE

First Fast Dance of the Night!

3 hours later ….

Last Dance

Shaun, Jamie, and Megan

Jamie did an awesome job at the wedding. He was very easy to work with and easy to get in touch with (Both over the phone and via email). He definitely knows how to take control of all the events at the reception so the bride and groom do not have to worry about things moving along. He keeps people entertained all night, I had so many compliments about him. I would definitely recommend his services to anyone getting married and looking to have a fun reception. 

It’s no secret.  I perform at a lot of weddings where past clients are in attendence.  Karissa and Rian’s wedding I had a chance to see two of my favorites, Megan and Meredeth.  A great letter is still on my Houserockers Testimonials page from the girls.

Megan, Jamie, and Meredeth

The Vagabonds Hall  in Butler, PA was decorated beautifully with a crisp red accent.  Rian and Karissa’s cake was very similar to my wedding cake … Rian and Karissa’s cake tasted better then mine.

A view looking towards the front door from the DJ table.

Karissa and Rian’s Wedding Cake.

There is no doubt Rian and Karissa are amazing people.  Their reception was a reflection of how wonderful they are.  While Karissa has this warm glowing type of personality, Rian is a “Vince Vaughn” type of guy… a man’s man that can make you laugh or cut you in half with his wit.  It was a great experience getting to know them and celebrating their reception with them…. because as Karrissa puts it…  It was the best reception ever… even better than Megan and Meredeth’s!

Well … from my point of view…. I love all my children (receptions) the same… and they are all equally as good. : )

Liz and Brian had a beautiful wedding reception at the Mayernik Center just outside of Pittsburgh in Avonworth Park.  Here is a note I got from them after the wedding …

Jamie,
 
We can not thank you enough for the tremendous job you did at our wedding!!!  All week our families have been getting emails and phone calls and texts about what an amazing time they had!  People who came and thought they would say hello and have some dinner ended up staying almost the whole evening because the atmosphere was just that enticing!  Our friends loved the costumes and didn’t want to give them up.  There was something for everyone all night long! 
 
The slideshow turned out even better than we anticipated.  You set exactly the mood we were looking for and kept it going the whole night.  We have been going over everything again and again and thinking of all the fun we had.  The DJ definitely makes the reception, and boy did you ever MAKE IT!!!  We could not be happier with the way everything turned and you played one of the biggest roles in that happening!
 
We attached a couple of pictures, and I’ll let you know when we get more!
 
THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts for EVERYTHING!!!
 
 
 Liz and Brian

I was also the DJ for Lindsey and Brandon (Brian’s sister) back in October of 2007.  Lindsey wanted to make sure she made it on my website. : )

Brian, Liz, Jamie, Lindsey, and Brandon

What made it so much fun working with Brian and Liz was that not only did we have this history together, but they had their own unique vision of how they wanted their reception.  It’s very inspiring as a performer when a great client comes to you with an idea and now MY JOB is to see it thru and make it everything they wanted.  For example,  Liz and Brian wanted a very personal photo montage developed with my assistance and played immediately before their grand introduction.  This built energy and excitement for their arrival thru the use of some of their favorite songs and “theme-ing” the arrival music with the montage (Dave Matthews Band).  It was a spectacular way to kick off the night!

What made things a bit of a challenge was the layout of the room and the placement of my equipment.  After a few trials, this seemed to be the most un-intrusive set up at the Mayernik Center.

Notice the projector set up ON the head table.  A pull up screen located on the floor behind the head table was used for the montage.  This was the only location that could have been used because of how the Mayernik Center is set up and also being that the montage was shown before the Bridal Party’s arrival.

DJ set up to the right and behind the head table

Let the Party Begin …………………….

First Open Slow Dance!!!!

Last Fast Dance!!!!

Last minute instructions for this guy

The Disco Man with Liz!

Thanks Liz and Brian – Jamie Simpson – Houserockers DJ

Alex and Laura went above and beyond with the planning, detailing, and production of their recent wedding reception in DuBois, PA.  While I do many events at the DuBois County Club, this event raised the bar with all of their unique touches.  Alex and Laura reserved the Houserockers DJ 6 hour premium package that included matching pink uplighting and a custom gobo projection.  Their reception was sooooo good they still needed 2 additional hours of overtime because no one was ready to go home.

View of the room from my perspective.

View of the room as the guests entered.

Centerpieces

Favor #1 – Monogram Golf Ball

Favor #2 – Monogram Wine Glass

First Dance – notice the monogram projection on the wall.

Father/Daughter Dance

Mother/Son Dance

Party Time! – Notice the matching pink uplighting.

Is the party really complete until Alex and one of his buddies decides to dance on the tables???

My friend Joelle Watt shoots amazing photos…. not like these snapshots with my little camera.  Check out HER photos from the event… HERE.  Simply AMAZING!!!!!!!!!

Alex and ME … he is squeezing my cheeks by the way.

ME and Laura!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Another full house at the Crown Church Hall.  Dave and Abby were married at the 150 year old St. Marys Roman Catholic Church in Crown, PA.  The reception followed next door in the spacious social hall that can accomidate 400 people.  As you can tell by the pictures below, a great time was had by all.

Jamie Simpson – Houserockers DJ