{Testimonial} Rebecca and Dan

It is always nice to receive a kind letter from a client about the services we provided for their event. But when you receive a kind letter from a fellow industry professional about the services you provided for their personal event, it is amazing. We've had the pleasure of getting to know and work with Rebecca, from The Queen of Hearts Wedding Consultants, over the past few years, and we were thrilled when she hired us to do the lighting for her wedding this past March. Getting a referral from a fellow professional is one thing, but having them hire you for their personal events is quite another. We're so thankful for the friendships we've made in this industry and the trust our colleagues have in us.

“Jason and Synergetic Team

We really can’t thank you enough for all of the work you did at our wedding. When we began to discuss décor for our March wedding at the Knowlton Mansion I knew as a wedding planner that lighting was absolutely essential to creating the perfect ambience in my venue. As a bride I of course was conscious about cost throughout the planning process but I knew the money that I would spend on lighting would be some of the best money spent at our wedding. I wanted to create a warm, inviting atmosphere for my guests; I wanted guests to feel as though they were coming into our home and joining us for dinner and lighting was key to creating that atmosphere. The amber lighting you chose really warmed up the room and by dimming the house lights the color really popped in the room and created just the atmosphere I had been dreaming about. It all looked like it was candlelit which was just what I was going for. I also think the draping for the ceremony space was just perfect. I didn’t want our guests to get a sneak peek of the reception area and I wanted to try and create a separate space for ceremony and the draping did just the job.

I’ve known and worked with Synergetic for some time now so I know how easy you all are to work with. It’s always a smooth process, never any bumps in the road but as a bride I was able to see it from another perspective. You treated me as you would any other bride, with care, professionalism and always with our best interests in mind. Thank you so much for all the work you did for us! -Rebecca”

Rebecca and Dan hired a number of outstanding professionals, among them, The Queen of Hearts (wedding planning) and Laura Eaton of Laura Eaton Photography.

-Becky

Wish Upon A Wedding

Last week Kelly and I attended the Philadelphia Wish Upon A Wedding Launch Party at Top of the Tower. It was a wonderful event to introduce and show off an amazing organization. Wish Upon a Wedding is a nonprofit organization that provides weddings and vow renewals to couples facing terminal illness or other serious life-threatening circumstances, regardless of sexual orientation.

When I first saw talk of Wish Upon A Wedding last year, I immediately signed Synergetic Sounds up as a Wish Granter and asked how we could get involved. I cannot imagine what it feels like to be told your days are numbered, especially when that means leaving behind someone you love. With the help of Wish Upon A Wedding and Wish Granters, these couples can have the wedding of their dreams and create memories to last a lifetime. It is an honor to be a part of an organization like this.

It took a lot of people to make this party happen, and it was incredible. Mark Kingsdorf, owner of Queen of Hearts Wedding Consultants, and President of the Philadelphia Chapter of Wish Upon A Wedding, gave a beautiful presentation and showed a video of past wish receivers, which left us all in tears.

Ed of Branded Productions was there recording the event and he and his team put together this wonderful video. Pay close attention, you might see someone you know :). And Paul of Unique Concepts Studio, Inc. captured the event beautifully.

To learn more about Wish Upon A Wedding or to get involved, visit the website.

-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

A Beautiful Society Hill Wedding

In January, we were able to provide lighting to one of our good friends Natalie Morin Hirsch. Many of you may know her, as she is the owner of Go Festive (one of the best Photobooth companies around!).

She called us wanting to do a few things that included up lighting, pin spotting the centerpieces and doing a dance floor wash. Everything was held at the Society Hill Sheraton. She also hired the king himself, Mr. Mark Kingsdorf, as her day of consultant.

The reception really turned out beautiful and Natalie had a blast. Susan Stripling did a great job with the photographs and we appreciate her getting them to us.

We love working with our partners in the industry! We love even more that they trust us to make "it" happen. Natalie, thanks for letting us be a part of your day.

All photos by Susan Stripling Photography

He did it!

So he finally popped the question and you said yes! I have noticed that many of my friends have recently been engaged and I have been giving them some advice and I thought I might share that with you as a newly engaged couple.

I think the first instinct when someone gets engaged is to immediately start planning. Get the church, the hall, the photographer, etc. (of course the entertainment and lighting too!). With that, there comes a ton of stress. Which professional to pick? Who to invite? Figure out a bridal party? And, well, I can go on and on. But what is forgotten are a few important and key things.

#1-It really should be fun. Planning your wedding needs to be fun. The two of you are going to be planning for such a fun day, for such an important reason. You are getting married! Remember to keep that in mind. Take time throughout the process to make each other smile. You will only do this once and you want to keep those memories for the rest of your lives.

#2-Don’t let others get you stressed out. For as much as they want to help, the day really is about you. You should make decisions that you are comfortable with and you shouldn’t do things because you are being forced to.

#3-He might not be that into the planning as you are. And that is normal. Most guys will want to do whatever makes you happy. And I mean that. They don’t just say that. They want to truly make the day special for both you and him. One of the things you can do to help him get involved is to run things by him and make sure he knows what part of the process you are working on. This way he can tell you how he feels about it.

#5-The whole process will go by so fast. Slow down and take it all in. Take your time and don’t rush things. Enjoy each moment that you will have. When the day comes, you will blink and it will be over, so make sure you spend some quality time with each other when the day comes.

#6- Make sure to sit down and have “the talk” to come up with a rough budget…know what’s important to each of you and make a working budget to keep you on track.

A couple hundred dollars over on one contract is OK, but without a guide you can easily go thousands over budget by the end of the planning.

#7-The people that you choose to work with (your team of professionals), make sure you click with them. Price is one thing, but you want to feel completely relaxed the day of your wedding, but you want to know that you hired people that will make sure you have incredible memories!

I wish you luck in the planning process and if you find our company one that you want to surround yourself by, we look forward to talking to you more about your style and personality. And, of course, congratulations on a wonderful road your life has taken! Enjoy it.

Thanks to Mark Kingsdorf of the Queen of Hearts Wedding Consultants. If it is in the budget, a wedding consultant makes your life so much easier! Thanks to Rebecca Druckenmiller and Dan Richman for letting us use one of Laura Eaton's awesome photograph's from the night of their engagement.

Jason

Summer and Marc

Summer and Marc were married in a beautiful ceremony at the Philopatrian Literary Institute - Stotesbury Mansion, in Philadelphia.

We uplit the ceremony area as well as the reception room and also double pin spotted each centerpiece. Jason kept the dance floor packed with a lot of old school R&B. We got to work on this great wedding with our friend Mark Kingsdorf of The Queen of Hearts.

Summer and Marc, thanks so much for letting us be part of your special day. We wish you (and your beautiful family) all the best!

Thanks to Craig Single of Single Exposure for the great images!

-Becky

Q&A with Mark Kingsdorf

I recently asked Mark Kingsdorf of The Queen of Hearts Wedding Consultants some questions about the use of lighting at weddings - trends he's seeing, suggestions he has, etc. With over 30 years in the event industry and 10 years with The Queen of Hearts, who better to ask?

Becky: If you had to estimate, how many weddings have you worked on?
Mark Kingsdorf: When we did the math – Queen of Hearts has worked with nearly 250 couples on planning Philadelphia weddings (ok a couple in south Jersey and Delaware too).

Becky: What are the emerging trends in terms of lighting for ceremonies and receptions?
MK: In general I think planners and couples finally see lighting as a really cost effective way to transform a room – to change color in a blah catering hall, to add focus to centerpieces or to add interest to the dance floor.

Becky: Do you have any creative suggestions for ceremony lighting?
MK: I don’t like to ‘over dress’ a ceremony … up lighting on architectural elements like columns or a light color wash on the wall behind the couple – especially if it's in a hotel ballroom with flat blah walls ... and some pin spotting on the arch, trellis or chuppah they are getting married in front of or under helps make photos pop.

Becky: Have you seen lighting used in an unusual way that you think more people should consider?
MK: I’m not sure how unusual it is but I ALWAYS urge clients to do some kind of lighting wash on the dance floor. When they don't, you end up with a 'black hole' in the middle of the room. Not only does it look odd in photos but I think photographers and videographers have to use more light to shoot people dancing, ( and then brides wonder why they see these huge flashes all night).

Becky: How about any unique lighting techniques you’ve seen?
MK: I really like when clients work with intelligent lighting and can change the colors of the wall washes part way through the event … it’s fun when people can transition from one space to another in a venue but not every space can accommodate that, so lighting changes the look of the room.

Becky: How has the use of lighting (for décor or conventional reasons) changed over the past few years? Are you seeing more or less of it?
MK: I'm seeing a TON more lighting – when I started some people were using it – mostly up lighting and some cheesy old school disco lights (I'm old), now I see a much wider use. There are more products available and I think people realize how affordable it really is.

Thanks so much Mark for taking the time to answer my questions!