Andrea & Rafael – June 22, 2008

This was one of my Sunday weddings this year, of which I have a few. I had my gear packed and ready to go Saturday night so Sunday morning was going to be a relaxed affair… or so I thought. About 9:30am I received a phone call from the father of the bride who was very concerned about the ceremony and whether or not sound amplification would be necessary and if so, what could be done at this late hour since the ceremony was only 5 hours away. I gave the situation a thorough going over in my head and concluded that with the size of the guest list (about 88) that there wasn’t really any need for additional amplification since the depth of the rows for guest seating would only be about four or five rows, given 10 seat rows and considering that there would be seating on the left and right sides of the center aisle. Crisis averted, father and mother of the bride relieved and my anxiety level was returned to normal.

What happened next is that I made the BIG mistake of turning on the TV. The weatherman was making a lengthy statement about how the conditions of the atmosphere were such that severe thunderstorms with damaging winds accompanied by hail were a very likely possibility. This was not what I was hoping to hear moments before leaving for the ceremony and reception being held outside and in a tent respectively. Some crises you can take care of while others are totally out of your control. I just had to hop in the car, leave, and let the weather do whatever it was going to do.

About 8 miles north from Sheldrake Point Vineyard, big fat raindrops began to hit my windshield thus seemingly affirming the weatherman’s dire prediction. I was greatly relieved when a few miles further along the way, the drops stopped and no further rain ensued. Crisis number two eliminated.

What followed was a beautiful ceremony on the grassy knoll overlooking Cayuga Lake and here are a few of the photos from that moment.

After the ceremony, the reception began and the weather continued to cooperate much to everyone’s relief. The bride and groom had one of most unique and fun party favors I’ve ever seen. It was an entire table filled with different types of candy, all in old style glass jars. There was a nice sign with a poem introducing the concept, along with cute little bags and silver twist ties to scoop the assorted candies into. Really cool concept and fun to boot!

Andrea and Rafael had an amazingly choreographed first dance to “Sh-Boom” by the Crew Cuts. This was followed by a couple great toasts by the Best Man and Maid of Honor and followed by a cute poem read by the Mother of the Bride. All of this leading up to amazing meal. Following the meal was another nice dance that Andrea had with her father.

My thanks to the Sharkness family for making me feel so welcome at this special event. I’ve worked for them numerous times over the years. Being able to DJ this wedding was the icing on the cake. Speaking of cake, here it is…

Here are a few more photos of Andrea and Rafael’s wedding day…

David & Adriana – June 14, 2008

Sheldrake Point Vineyard was the location for both the ceremony and wedding reception for David and Adriana.

I’ve known David, the groom, for many years going back to when I lived in Ithaca. We lost track of each other when I moved to Syracuse (after getting married myself) almost 5 years ago. Several weeks ago, David reconsidered having someone else DJ the reception and called me, which was a wonderful surprise. We spent some time catching up with each other and began making plans for the wedding reception.

It’s a bit funny how you can plan and plan and plan for a wedding reception, carefully plotting out a perfect timeline…. revise it, adjust it, move it and then see the whole thing fall apart the day of the wedding due to unforeseen circumstances. That’s pretty much what happened. David had sent me several timeline changes as we approached the wedding day and with the latest, most up to the minute timeline in my hand, I hopped in my car and headed off to Sheldrake Point.

The weather was hot and humid with the forecast calling for thundershowers. The ceremony was to be outside on the lawns of Sheldrake Point Vineyard which overlook Cayuga Lake. It’s quite beautiful. As guests were being seated, the clouds fulfilled their mission of bringing rain, but only a little bit of rain, just enough to cause everyone to begin wondering if it was going to get worse. A decision was made to relocate the ceremony to the reception tent. Even as the guests were making their way from the lawn to the tent the rain sprinkle was diminishing. And of course, the rain eventually stopped and it didn’t rain a drop more after the move. But this wasn’t about the weather, it was about David and Adriana and in the end it was a minor inconvenience that didn’t impact the wonderful ceremony that took place in any way whatsoever, except to alter the meticulously planned timeline.

Just a side note to other prospective brides and grooms… when planning your timeline, don’t agonize over milli-second perfection of timing when the various events will occur as there will inevitably be instances where events will be delayed by a few minutes here and there. Rest assured that the professionals you have hired will be able to handle such timing adjustments with aplomb.

After the excellent meal, dancing ensued and a fine time was had by all.

Thank you David and Adriana for allowing me to be a part of your amazing wedding. Enjoy some of the photos that I took during the course of the day…