Hamels Foundation Event

We had the pleasure of doing the lighting, staging and sound for an event for the Hamels Foundation at the Crystal Tea Room last month.

The Hamels Foundation is a wonderful cause with a dual mission to provide support for quality education in the United States and establish a school in Malawi, Africa. The Hamels Foundation is dedicated to enriching the lives of children and giving them the tools to achieve their goals.
At the event, we had the chance to work with Country superstar Martina McBride for a 30 minute set towards the end of the evening.

We put together a really good design and addressed the needs of having over 800 people in one room. We hope we are asked to be a part of it again next year.

-Jason

{Video} Sweet 16 at The Buck Hotel

Lighting Trends

Almost everybody is doing uplighting, so I can’t exactly call it a trend - it is almost a standard. But, one of the things we have been seeing more of for weddings is intelligent lighting. While this trend is a more expensive one, it's gaining popularity.

Intelligent lighting gives you the best of both worlds. You have a very elegant, sophisticated look for the traditional parts of the wedding and then when the dancing starts, you can switch to an energized, lounge type look and feel.

Intelligent lighting comes in all shapes, sizes, options and looks. But I think one of the main reasons people like it, is because of its programmability. Having a Lighting Designer at your wedding, running the lights is different - and brides and grooms tend to want something different. And if you do get intelligent lighting, make sure there is a programmer!

If you are not sure exactly what intelligent lighting is, check out the following videos, or give us a call.

-Becky

Lauren and Rob

This blog is long overdue. Every year there are a few couples that I do not forget. Sometimes they have great personalities, while other times their wedding goes way above anyones expectations. Lauren and Rob were both. I initially met Lauren at one of our Lighting Demonstrations and she fell in love with our intelligent lighting. Her theme was winter wonderland and we immediately clicked on how to design her ballroom with lighting.

Lauren and Rob's wedding was to be held at the Emerald Room in Northeast Philadelphia. The room was great on its own, but when design lighting was brought into the mix it really popped out. Lauren had booked uplighting around the entire ballroom and intelligent lighting set on the corners of the dance floor supported with trussing. She had went with the “house” DJ initially as it was built into her package with the Emerald Room. As Lauren and I continued to correspond about her lighting design, music was brought up. The best part of intelligent lighting isn’t its ability to change color, or have specific movements; its about the lighting designer who is controlling the lights. You could drive the fastest car in the world, but if you don't know how to shift properly, you will not get the full performance out of the car. The same goes for intelligent lighting, music, and the lighting designer. Music was a very important part of Lauren’s wedding as she was a huge MJ fan.

When I met Rob, he explained to me that he really wanted the lighting to accent the room and also energize the dance floor. After that initial meeting I had a feeling that our package was going to change. Lauren called me the next day to tell me they wanted to go with me as their DJ. I was very excited as I knew I could now personally ensure that their wedding was a success on all levels.

Our design was to have snowflakes rotating around the room in a light blue accenting the darker blue down lighting (that actually was provided by the Emerald room). During cocktail hour I could tell right away that the crowd was going to be a good one. They say it’s a DJ’s dream to be able to play anything you want and the dance floor energy rises with every new song. This was the case for Lauren and Rob’s wedding. During dinner we played a great mix of old and new music to get everyone to dance. Once dinner was over Lauren and Rob wanted the reception to take on a “club” atmosphere. Jessica (our expert lighting designer) was on point with her cues as it seemed as though everytime I was ready to mix a new song she had the lights strobing or was changing movements and colors.

The Dance music had such a Vegas vibe to it because I was able to mix out of each song after 30-45 seconds while hitting the best part of each. Once set that shook the room (with guests jumping and fist pumping) was Firework (Jump Smokers RMX), by Katy Perry into Party Rock Anthem, by LMFAO.

There are weddings where you go home after and are satisfied with the job you did, and there are others that you can’t go straight home after because you are way too strung up with energy. Lauren and Rob had one of those weddings. I’ll never forget the good time I had DJing their wedding, and I’ll certainly remember how cool of a couple they are.

On a side note, weeks after her wedding we became friends on Facebook, and realize that she is related to me (by marriage). I guess me DJing her wedding was meant to be.

-Matt

Thanks so much to Barnyard Photography for the images!

Melissa and Ian

Melissa and Ian had a beautiful wedding at The Downtown Club in Philadelphia. Mark and Kyle kept the dance floor busy all night and also added to the overall look of the wedding with up lighting, a dance floor wash and the couples monogram. Jessica was also on hand to do the programming as the couple had chosen intelligent lighting.

We got this nice note from the couple:
"Mark and his team were outstanding from start to finish! The lighting, ceremony music and reception all were perfect! I've never been to a wedding before where the dancefloor was filled the entire night. Thank you so much for contributing to our beautiful and fun-filled wedding!"

Thanks so much to Tom Gooch and everyone at Clair Pruett for the beautiful images!

-Becky

Christina and Jonathan

Christina and Jonathan had a beautiful wedding at Brantwyn Mansion in Wilmington back in October. Christina was a very easy bride to work with. She came in to meet with us armed with a vision for her wedding and we are so glad we were able to bring that vision to life - although it was slightly tricky to execute as we were lighting each room of the mansion in a different way.

The pin spotting, up lighting and gobo projections were all set based on particular specifications. Our crew, led by Jess G., also had to set up up lighting and intelligent lighting in the 60x40 tent.
Now, not many of our clients choose to use intelligent lighting. We do try to push it as it gives you complete control over the lighting for the entire evening, but most of the time it comes down to budget. However, if you can swing it, it really does makes a difference.

Jessica was our programmer for the night and she had the tent looking amazing! Even the band felt like the energy from the lighting as each song had a completely different feel based on the lighting Jessica had going. The whole top of the tent came alive.

Christina and Jonathan, thank you so much for allowing us to be a part of your special day. It was an amazing wedding and we had a great time working on it. We also got to work with a great team of professionals! Thanks so much to, Jenna from Brantwyn Mansion, Sabrina from The Blushing Bride and Alicia from Blossom Productions.

Here is a sneak peak at Christina and Jonathan's wedding! Thanks so much Alicia!

Kari and Esteban

Kari and Esteban live in South Africa, but had their beautiful wedding at Esteban's parents house in New jersey. The house and land is absolutely beautiful, as was the attention to detail. The couple and their guests danced the night away to Fantasy, a Barry Herman band. We were so happy to be a part of their big day. We did all of the lighting in the tent, and thanks to Geri Nelson Photography, we have some wonderful pictures of it!

Kari and Esteban, we wish you all the best!


-Becky

Senior Prom, Sheraton Center City

We did a Senior Prom on Saturday night at the Sheraton City Center for about 800 students. They booked our truss rig that is put up around the entire dance floor. We used 100 feet of truss, 10 intelligent lighting fixtures and about 48 par cans for up lighting. Our PA system consisted of the JBL VRX Line Array speakers, one of the best small line arrays available. That room was jumpin!

Here are some pictures of the set up and the prom.

-Jason