Pamela and Mark

Back in September I had the pleasure of working at The Merion. We work there a lot and Cliff and the crew always do a fabulous job. The food is great, the attention to detail is always spot on and the little touches they add to eachevent always make it memorable.





This wedding was for Pam and Mark and I met them last year at our new office, which if you haven’t seen you have to come stop by, and we clicked right away.





In our office you are not only able to relax and get a chance to meet us, but you are able to see all of our lighting options, as well as see how we mix. Our new DreamSpace is even bigger now, over 1000 square feet! During the meeting I was really able to get to know them and they were able to get to know me, which is the most important. Feeling comfortable with your DJ is key!





It was good that they were able to see the lighting too because Pam had always wanted to have pin spotting. We were able to show her that, as well as the up lighting. She had been to a few other places that offered up lighting, but was very impressed by the way we brought more fixtures and were able to make it look more like a wash and not a column like effect.





The day of the event was busy. We had four guys there to get the show up and with the tight turn around time we had, it took all of us the whole time to get it up and set. The result was awesomeness! The room looked great.





Our dance floor was full too! Like most of the couples that hire Synergetic, Pam and Mark allowed me to program most of the night myself. I was able to mix in older songs like "Run Around Sue," and "I Want You Back," as well as new songs like "Give Me Everything" and "Raise Your Glass." I was shocked on one song though, they loved ""Shake Shake Senora! There is always one song that just does it at a wedding.





We worked with Jennifer Childress on this wedding and she got some great shots. Working with her is so much fun and makes for a great night. When we work with friends and people we know well the end result is always that much better.





If you are looking for a DJ, I would love the chance to sit down and talk to you. Just call Kelly in the office and she'll get the process started.



-Kurt

Lighthing Before & After

We thought we would take some time and show you, as well as explain to you, how and why lighting can make a difference. Most people can easily “see” how lighting changes a room, but they don’t necessarily know why. So let me help you with that.

We will start with up lighting. The most popular option and the basic foundation of most lighting designs for weddings/event. I want to show you how just adding something as simple as up lighting, can make not only your eye, but the camera see a totally different room. For example, in the picture below, there is no up lighting behind the pin spotted centerpiece.

In looking at this picture, it is hard to tell the depth of the room. The background looks flat, the picture is very black and white and the room just doesn’t jump out at you. While many may think the up lighting's only purpose is to simply put color on a wall, its other purpose is to create the depth and add light to dark areas. While your guests notice the color and “oooh and ah”, the photographer and videographer will love the light in the background for better pictures and video, as well as that field depth.

As you can see in the above picture, adding a simple amber up lighting package makes a big difference.

Camera lenses aren’t built like our eyes. They need as much light as they can get. So the more light they can use in the background, the better your pictures will look, as in the picture above.

The above picture shows you how no lighting at all just makes for a typical room. It is hard to see or tell any of the features of the room,the floral’s, or each other.

When we add the up lighting, the room gets that first layer of depth. You can clearly see the depth of the room, what the walls look like, the simple details become more visible.

The only hard part to see are the flower arrangements, the dance floor, the tablescapes or anything inside the room. Up lighting shuts down our iris to take in the extra lighting in the room. So anything in front of the up lighting tends to look dark or hard to see. So now we have to bring the pin spotting in to get some more direct light in the areas we need. For this instance, it would be the flowers.

As you can see, the light for the flowers doesn’t just brighten up the flower arrangements, but it also lights up the table and some of the area around it. This adds the next level of depth, allows our eyes to focus on different parts of the room and most importantly really makes your guests go “wow.”

Lighting is important. Whether it is the natural room lighting or professional lighting, the need for lighting can be for much more than just to see. If you can’t afford to hire a professional lighting company like ours, just make sure you keep control over the natural room lighting. Simple fades throughout the night can evoke emotion and give the other professionals the perfect light they need.

And if you do hire a professional lighting company, remember that we are looking at the room, taking into consideration the other professionals, the physics of the lighting, etc., our number one goal is to evoke emotion and make the room come alive! We hope these pictures helped to show you what a difference lighting makes.

-Jason

{Video} Lighting at Celebrations

Michelle and Sam

It took six workers and almost six hours of labor, but when our team was done setting up for Michelle and Sam’s wedding, we knew we had created something extraordinary.

They had their ceremony and reception at the Loews Hotel at 12^th and Market Street. The Loews is quite an impressive venue and it’s perfect for weddings of 300+ guests like Michelle and Sam’s. Located in the oldest skyscraper in Philadelphia (the PSFS building), the Loews links history and modern elegance as its immaculate renovations deliver a very sleek and contemporary feel. Michelle and Sam came to Synergetic to enhance this beautiful venue with added lighting, draping, A/V upgrades, and of course, good music.

The production crew and I arrived at the Loews at 11:30am. We had a lot of work to do before the ceremony at 6:00pm. We first got to work on the lighting in the Millennium Ballroom where the reception was held. Michelle and Sam added up-lighting in amber, a dance floor wash, and pin-spotting to highlight their 27 centerpieces. We also set up a projector screen directly over the DJ booth that allowed guests to view slideshows of Michelle and Sam throughout the night. Their guests really got a kick out of that!

We also contributed to the ceremony by setting up 40 feet of drape with amber up-lighting.This created a beautiful backdrop that made for some wonderful pictures of Michelle and Sam exchanging their vows.

During the cocktail hour in the Millennium Foyer, I brought Sam into the ballroom to make sure he was satisfied with all the work we had done. He was speechless! The room itself accompanied by the city-scape that surrounds the ballroom made for an amazing sight. After all that work, the party was just getting started.

Michelle and Sam had a lot they wanted to do throughout the reception. They had parent dances, bouquet and garter toss, a traditional tea ceremony, and several slide shows that we projected on our screen. It was important that I kept strong communication between myself and the staff at the Loews to make sure we stayed on schedule. When there is a lack of organization among vendors, a wedding will tend to drag, usually resulting in less dance time at the end of the evening. Dance time is my favorite part of the night! So, before every wedding, I always review the timeline with photographers, videographers, day of coordinators, maître Ds, and any other professional involved in the reception.

On this night, I was able to get a solid two and a half hours of dance time. This is the point where the DJ can make or break your reception. I was recently at a wedding where the DJ was very professional: well-dressed, well-spoken, and handled formalities well. But at the end of the night when he had to show his true DJ skills, he was exposed. If you have guests at your wedding, like Michelle and Sam’s, who are expecting to dance, you need a DJ who can deliver in this spot. It’s these last two to three hours that separates me from your average wedding DJ. So what do I do to keep your guests on the floor?

Before anything, I come to the wedding prepared. Michelle, Sam, and I talked about songs and genres that they thought would work really well with their guests. We also discussed other factors that would contribute to my song selection: the length of the reception, demographic breakdown of guests, and their overall vision of what they wanted from me as a DJ. This information allows me to make a mental blueprint for where I should take the night weeks before the event.

When I’m spinning my music, I try to put myself in the position of the guests on the dance floor. If I was out there with them, what would I want the DJ to do? When mixing song to song, I am constantly aware of tempo, dynamics, and rhythm. By managing these factors, I make seamless transitions and can continuously build the energy in the room without any awkward breaks in the music. This the part of the night your guests will remember the most, so make sure you have a DJ that can keep the dance floor alive.

Michelle and Sam’s wedding was one that I will always remember. It was certainly quite a production! I was very pleased that the Synergetic team and I were able to meet and exceed their expectations with our lighting design and my service as a DJ. Best of luck to them in the future!

For more information on Synergetic, or to set up an appointment, contact Kelly at our office: 215-633-1200.

-Kyle

Thanks so much to Jea Lee Photography for the images.

{Video} Lighting at Holly Hedge Estate

{Video} Lighting at The Inn at Penn

Candice and Daniel

We had the pleasure of providing the lighting for Candice and Daniel's special day at the beautiful Crystal Tea Room. We up lit the ballroom, did a dance floor wash with the couples monogram on top, and we also pin spotted their beautiful centerpieces.

Thanks so much to Matthew Andrews of The Artist Group for the images!


-Becky

a gen’ l profile of Anatomy’s purpose {Guest Post}

Anatomy Of An Event is the initial ‘salvo across the bow’ of the status quo in the events industry; this particular workshop opened a dialogue about cost and effect with University of Pennsylvania campus events planners.

Anatomy’s purpose is to honestly discuss event perspective from the caterer’s point of view – giving over to planners an assessment of what they should expect as opposed to what they have actually been getting in the way of quality service, design, and cuisine.

In the extremely competitive Philadelphia events and catering industry, sometimes the bottom line, and profits, trump long standing relationships; one less waiter, less design effort, cheaper food sourcing.

Anatomy also examines how ‘in shape’ a caterer is – literally. How often does a particular caterer sub contract staff ? How often do caterers train existing staff?

Can the industry handle the truth ?



Thanks so much to Christopher of Christofer + Janesson for writing this post and sharing the video with us!

Matt attended this event and spoke about how lighting can transform a space. We also did some up lighting, pin spotting and projected break up patterns along the back wall.

-Becky

Lighting at The Merion

If you have been to The Merion before, you know how awesome it is! For this wedding, we did purple up lighting on the main walls, red in the corners and pin spotted every other table. The color combination turned out really nice and the pin spotting of the taller center pieces really made them stand out.

Randi and Steve at Talamore

Randi and Steve were married on June 18 at Talamore Country Club. Jason and Ed kept them dancing and added to the beauty of the room with some lighting.

Talamore is a great place work. The ballroom has a huge dance floor and a setup that is perfect for lighting. With the upper balcony area, we can really get the lighting design to look its best.
This was a great wedding too! It was an intimate crowd, so we were able to play the exact music they guests wanted to hear and not worry about trying to please various groups of people. The room really looked awesome. We did up lighting in purple on both floors and a very ambient dance floor wash in amber that gave it just enough light. We try very hard not to "over do" the lighting and from the pictures, I think you can see that this was just perfect.

And where do I begin about the staff and food at Talamore? Jim, Mark and Jennifer do an outstanding job. Every time I eat there (which is every single time because they love to take care of the professionals) I am never disappointed! Incredible food! We also had the pleasure of working with Bart of Barton Paul Photography - thanks so much for the beautiful images!

-Jason

Danielle and Devin at Trust

We recently did a lighting and production job at Trust for our friend Leigh of La Petite Fleur.

Here's more about the event straight from Leigh.

What a couple! What a venue! What a wedding!

Danielle and Devin’s big day at TRUST in historic Philadelphia was filled with romance, style and, of course, great lighting!

Synergetic’s Dan and Ed teamed-up with myself and the design team from La Petite Fleur, weddings and special events, to create a stunning atmosphere for this July wedding. White draping enhanced the entryway and added dimension to the ceremony, lounge and dancefloor, while lemon-yellow up lighting gave the space a warm glow. Pin spotting played its part — perfectly complementing La Petite Fleur’s cocktail lounge décor and reception tablescapes, which included soft melon and lime linens and unique centerpieces.

Whether you were upstairs or down at this grand location, the look of the event was amazing (as you’ll see below courtesy of SAS Becker Creative Photography for La Petite Fleur). Thank you to all the great professionals we partnered with on this elegant event.

Best wishes Danielle and Devin!

Thanks so much Leigh! Sounds like it was a wonderful event and we're so glad to have been a part of it!

-Becky

Heather and Kevin

Heather and Kevin had a beautiful reception at The Sofitel in Center City. They also picked some wonderful professionals to help them throughout their special day. Mark Kingsdorf of The Queen of Hearts was on hand that day to keep everything on track (he also helped them throughout the planning process), Clair Pruett was there capturing each moment and Eric and Kyle of Synergetic enhanced the look and feel of the room and kept the dance floor busy. The dance floor was draped in white and down lit in a soft blue. That same blue was used to up light the entire room. They also pin spotted the centerpieces. The room looked absolutely beautiful!

Congratulations Heather and Kevin! We wish you all the best! Thank you so much for choosing us to be part of your special day!

-Becky