Matthew and Samantha's First Dance
Matthew and Samantha’s First Dance

At one point in Matthew and Samantha’s wedding I called it a “night of surprises” and I’m proud of that spontaneous description.  Matthew and Samantha planned so many unique and fun moments that the evening surely was unlike any other reception I’ve ever DJed!

Matthew and Samantha celebrated their marriage at The Sterling Ballroom at the Double Tree in Tinton Falls.  It was my penultimate wedding of 2016, a thought I shared on Facebook and was then called a “word nerd” by a friend of mine.  I never knew penultimate was that nerdy a word but ok.

Ruben and Bob playing Matthew and Samantha's First Dance
Ruben and Bob playing Matthew and Samantha’s First Dance

I knew from the planning process that the night would be filled with lots of different moments.  For example, I wasn’t playing the wedding song for Matthew and Samantha, they had two friends who were performing Billy Joel’s “You’re My Home” for them.  They did an amazing job with the song and it added an awesome personal touch to that moment.   Plus Matthew (who is quite the outgoing guy) did an amazing performance to Michael Jackson’s “Billy Jean” (sequined glove and all) and he and his best man Ruben performed a hilarious recreation of  the video to Paul Simon’s “You Can Call Me Al.”   There were also plenty of special songs Matthew and Samantha wanted played and dedicated, including a beautiful dance that Samantha did with five of her uncles to a  song that one of those uncle’s had written when she was born.  You can’t personalize a moment much more than that!

Any DJ who has been working for long enough will tell you that one of the coolest things is bumping into past brides and grooms at events.  At Matthew and Samantha’s wedding I got to see Jason and Lauren who’s wedding I did over three years ago (I wrote a blog about their wedding too)  They informed me that they’d just had their first baby.  It was so great to see them.

I always love working at The Double Tree. The staff is so awesome there, from the Maitre D Nemo to his entire crew.  I also had the pleasure of working with two photographers I’d never worked with before.  Megan Connaughton was the main shooter.  It looked like they were getting plenty of great shots.  Can’t wait to see their finished work.  As for the pictures in this blog they are from my iPhone.  I got a few of Matthew’s “Billie Jean” routine and made this little collage of him in action:slide3