Being a New Yorker, I just love any of the banquet halls that line the Hudson River and provide a great view of Manhattan.  When I got married earlier this year Kelly and I chose Maritime Parc for just that reason.  I’ve also played at The Liberty House and The Chart House and enjoyed similar views.  So as I was preparing for Rich and Elsa’s wedding I realized I had never played before at their location: Waterside in North Bergen.  One look at their website and I knew I’d be in for a similar treat.

I enjoyed my initial planning session with Rich and Elsa.  They are a great couple, lots of fun and easy to talk to and  I loved the vision they had for their reception:  they wanted a fun party that included ALL of their guests, young and old.  They’d even asked their guests prior to the wedding to submit requests so I had some songs to play that Rich and Elsa wanted and others that their family and friends requested.  Plus Elsa’s mom (and a number of the guests as well) loves ballroom dance so they gave me a few Waltz’ and Cha Chas.  My playlist was full that night!

Another unique request came from Rich and it was for their grand introduction.  Rich loves Game of Thrones and he also plays a video game called Final Fantasy.  He asked if, when I introduced them, I could play the Game of Thrones theme and then as they entered the room play the Final Fantasy VI theme.  I was raised on the mantra “never say No to a client” so of course I said “Sure!” And, we pulled it off.  The introduction went very smoothly and I was thrilled when Rich mentioned it in his Wedding Wire review.

One of my favorite moments of the night came late in the party.  Elsa had changed dresses into her traditional red wedding dress and a guest asked me if I could have everyone face the DJ table so we could get a picture.  I said “Sure.  Who’s going to take the picture?” (the photographers had left by this point) and this guest handed me her phone and said, “you are!”   I did exactly that and the shot came out very well.  Then when I gave her back her phone I also handed her my business card and asked if she’d email the picture to me. She said she would.  I was so curious wondering whether she would or not that I even created a little poll on Facebook when I got home that night, telling this story and asking if she’d email it or not.  It was about 50/50 with some people saying Yes and others saying Probably not.  Well, I was thrilled the next morning when I woke up and found this in my email:

Thanks Susan for sending the picture and reminding me why I give people the benefit of the doubt all the time!

Anyway here’s the awesome review Rich and Elsa wrote about me for Wedding Wire.  I wish this amazing couple nothing but the best in their new lives together as husband and wife.