Rocio & Aaron's Copper River Wedding
Rocio and Aaron were recommended to me by Roberto Vaca a longtime friend since the Fresno State days. Him and I actually put together an event with some other friends and came up with the name “Michisco Entertainment” as our promotional team name. We collaborated on a few other events since he was also in the DJ scene at the time and the relationship has been maintained throughout the years but I digress, enough about the heydays and back to the couples’ special day.
They were set to wed on Friday, March 18, 2016 at the Copper River Country Club. I hadn’t yet been a part of an event at this venue so I got some footage for a gig log of it as a reference point for some other entertainer that might need it in the future. Rocio, Aaron, and I originally met at the Starbucks in Sanger. I essentially showed him what I do which time and time again I say, “I don’t show up, set up, and just push play.” I’m highly involved in the proper reception agenda performance as I’ll get into a bit later. He liked what he saw but had to check with venue to see if I could perform at their wedding since I wasn’t on their vendor list (another blog in the works).
After meeting with his photographers Lomeli Images, Aaron was more convinced as to allow me to be a part of their special day. I officially met the couple from Lomeli Images at a wedding show and unbeknown to both of us we had worked together in the past for Hugo and Crystal’s wedding in Hanford. The Lomeli Team spoke highly of my work which I believed helped Aaron feel that much more comfortable with booking the service. He got the final yes from venue and we charted the course for their Big Day.
A week before the wedding we met and went over final details for itinerary and bounced some ideas off each other to find the best flow. I worked with what they wanted to be a part of their reception events and edited items so that the flow was bit more organic and so that the photographers could capture all the most memorable moments before their contract time expired.
The nature of a wedding is that it rarely begins at the time the couple intends it to start. A big reason is that the bride and groom have an enormous amount of things on their plate that day and time is just not on your side when it’s time to implement the vision. The ceremony took place right a few steps below outside of where the reception was going to follow and it overlooked the lush green golf course.
The reception décor featured fresh flower center pieces, peach colored napkins wrapped in a rustic like yarn, and an elegantly white four tiered cake that highlighted the couples’ initials. Along the walls I symmetrically placed 10 wireless uplights to highlight the natural architecture of the venue according to the couples’ wedding color.
The agenda was eventful with a live Mariachi, 2 videos to be displayed, one during first dance and another after Aaron’s welcome speech and since we were running a bit behind schedule I informed the couple it would be best to do certain items sooner than later. Key points that I really felt the couple got the most value for the service where:
Adjusting schedule to implement some open dancing to break the restlessness
Choosing an appropriate Spanish Mother-Son dance song
Coordinating with Lomeli Images on schedule changes and cuing them in a timely manner to prepare for the epic wedding shots
Asking the couple how they are doing, if they need anything at all (goes such a long way because sometimes they just a drink and are too busy to get it themselves)
Reminding groom on someone whom he forgot to thank during his welcome speech
Providing Black velour DJ Headphone bag as the “Money Bag” for their Honeymoon dance (hasn’t been the first time and will not be the last J )
Coordinating with caterers to best accomplish plate service, cake cutting, and pouring for toast
The end result was that the photographers were able to capture all the shots and stayed a bit over to capture some night shots of the couple as well. The guests enjoyed the multiple genres of music while the couple was getting their last shots taken and the sister of the Bride even sang to them a couple of songs. The reception time was scheduled to end at 11pm which disappointed some guests that wanted to keep on grooving but the venue’s rules are there for a reason. I was blessed to receive numerous amount of positive feedback from the couple, the friend wedding coordinator Marla, the guests, and even a fellow DJ in the crowd, all in all it was a GREAT way to start the 2016 wedding season! Thank you Rocio and Aaron for allowing me to be a part of your new beginning.
