Heather and Michael

Tucked away in the rolling hills of New Hope is a great venue that very few people know about. Ten minutes north of the shopping district and secluded off the road in natures beauty is a venue by the name of Holly Hedge Estates. Leaving all the hustle and bustle behind, the location, the staff and of course the food at Holly Hedge is just awesome. One of the really cool things about this venue is the old upper “barn” that they have. In this barn, you have your cocktail hour and, if you want, your ceremony. This is exactly what Heather and Michael did.

Heather and Michael were much like most of the couples I work with. They trusted me with the music selections. They had met me, they had asked all of their questions the and they let me do what I do best, spin a rocking wedding. Like many couples, they had a few requests, but for the most part, they let me do my job and they danced.

As I said before the ceremony and cocktail hour were held about 1000 feet away from the main ballroom in an old, vintage style barn. I actually wouldn’t mind using that for a small, intimate reception, that is how cool it is! The ballroom is a completely different story with vaulted 20 foot ceilings, huge dance floor and spacious bar.

Heather and Michael also wanted us to design and light the ballroom, which of course we did. An amber dance floor wash and amber up lighting is what we designed for them and boy did it make the room look amazing. Something so simple (as long as it is done right), really makes the room come alive. And I say “done right” for a few reasons. You see, even though there isn’t technically a lot going on, it is all in the details. Let me explain. This room was white, all white. Anything other than a white fixture would have stood out tremendously. Amber is a tough color to get with the new “LED” lighting. So we needed to use an older style of fixture and strategically place them in order to make the room look the best. With the LED fixtures on the market today, it would be hard to achieve the look we were going for. So, please don’t be fooled by companies telling you how great LED lighting is. Each event needs to be designed based on what that specific event calls for. You can’t just assume that one type of fixture is the end all be all. We were really happy Heather and Michael allowed us to professionally light the room.

This wedding was rocking too. I’m not going to lie, I put together some really serious sets and had fun taking my dance floor on quite a journey. I mixed a pretty good dinner set that included MJ’s “Rock With You,” into “Everything,” by Michael Bubble into “Proud Mary,” by CCR. And after dinner, I was even more creative. I threw in a little Black Eyed Peas “Dirty Bit,” some Ceelo “Forget You,” and of course “Don’t stop believing,” by Journey. And in case you weren’t sure, everything we mix at Synergetic (well almost everything) is beat-mixed. It goes from one song to another song without stopping. If you are not sure what we mean, check out this blog post, and stay tuned as we will be sharing with you what that sounds like.

And best of all, all of this was documented by one of my favorite photographers, Rebecca Barger! Awesome personality, awesome work ethic and of course awesome photographs. We had a blast working with her. When we work with other professionals we know and like, it makes for such a good night.

Thank you to Michael and Heather for choosing me to spin. I hope you both have some great memories!

-Jason

Thanks to Rebecca Barger Photography for the images!

{Guest Post} Wedding Lighting from a Photographers Perspective

Lighting is kind of a big deal for photographers. Scratch that, lighting is EVERYTHING. (Hello … the prefix “photo” means light).

Not only can lighting make or break the feel of your wedding, it can do the same for your wedding photography. It’s something that can transform and personalize a venue and give you images unlike anyone else’s – even couples who were at the same place last week. Ambiance is more than turning down the chandelier.

A few important things to note … go with a company that knows what it’s doing. You want someone who will lead you in the right direction – matching tones and ideas with your venue, colors, and style. Lighting can take you anywhere from classy and subtle to more energetic and upscale lounge-y. A good company can also shift your lighting as the night progresses from ceremony to cocktail hour to your reception. It’s all about knowing the crowd and leading them into the party with the cohesion of light and sound.

From my experience, up lighting can change a room from “oh, how pretty” to gasp-inducing “oh, holy cow” like nothing else. It makes the room yours. Period.

Pin spotting is a great way to focus attention on those incredible centerpieces that you agonized over for 3 months straight or the cake that you fell in love with after your statewide hunt for the perfect confection. You can have the most expensive hand watered Tazmanian orchids in the world, but they’re not going to really impress until you highlight them properly.

Washes are another gorgeous option. It’s like infusing texture into your lighting – they give off a rich depth and drama that you can’t recreate any other way.

Another important piece of this is hiring the right photographer for the job (*cough* Lindsay Docherty Photography *cough*). A good photographer is able to capture the ambiance of any situation - from wine cave ceremony to jazzy reception. Photographers who only use room lights will blast away all of the other lighting in the room. You’ve seen this – you go to a wedding that has been given an incredible purple wash on the dancefloor or a romantic amber candlelit ceremony but the pictures don’t show any of this. All you have is crisp, stark lighting that does a great job of showcasing the venue, but has completely overpowered the subtleties of the room. Experience, creativity, and flexibility are key to handling the myriad of lighting situations on any given day.

Can you have a wonderful and happy wedding without springing for additional lighting? Of course! Will supplementary lighting push your event over the edge to extraordinary? Definitely.

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Thanks so much to our friend Lindsay Docherty for writing this post and giving us a photographers perspective on event lighting.

Lindsay shoots people. She is the owner and primary photographer at Lindsay Docherty Photography, based out of Philadelphia and available worldwide for blissful couples and incredible events.

If you're looking for a photographer for an upcoming event check out Lindsay's site. She's highly talented and incredibly sweet. You won't be sorry!

Production Terms Explained

Us production people tend to use words that are uncommon to normal people in the world. In fact, a typical sentence could go like this:
“I need the grip to gaffe that Edison to the stand that the leko is on, then strike it in 2 hours.”
Chances are, you have no idea what that means. So I thought I would give you some definitions of the commonly used words in our industry.

-GOBO: This is short for "go between." This is usually a piece of metal or glass that goes in the light (leko) to project an image. For example, your company’s logo could be cut out of the metal part of the gobo - it would then be placed in the light and your company's logo would be projected onto the wall or floor.

-LEKO: This is short for a light that holds the gobo. They come in all different sizes and shapes, but their general purpose is for light projection.

-Gaffe: This is simply the tape that we use to hold down cables. It is unique because this tape generally doesn’t leave any residue when pulled up.

-Strike: This is the term used when it is time to take the equipment down/apart.

-Grip: This is person on site to help the management on the show set up and strike.

We have terminology for everything. Even clothespins. That’s right, a clothespin. It is referred to as a C47.

Now you know a few more terms from the production world.

-Jason

Diana and Matt

Diana and Matt had a beautiful reception at the Radisson Warwick-Plaza Hotel. We uplit the room in amber and did a wash on the dancefloor - Chris and Ed also packed the dance floor. We'll be sharing some of the images from Diana and Matt's wedding soon, but for now, check out the Coming Soon Trailer from CinemaCake.

{Tune in Tuesday} Parent dance songs

Some ideas for parent dance songs:

-Wagonwheel – Old Crow Medicine Show

-Simple Man – Lynrd Skynrd (check spelling)

-Forever Young – Rod Stewart

-My Wish – Rascall Flatts

-Mama – Boyz II men

-The Perfect Fan – The Backstreet Boys

Kristie and Lester

This wedding had it all! From the soft red up lighting , to the dance floor wash and monogram, to the LCD screens for a slide show presentation, it was awesome. We worked at Deerfield Golf Club, an absolutely incredible place to light and DJ. Steve and the staff there really work with us - they understand that it isn’t all about them and that all of the professionals are there to make the day perfect for the bride and groom. One of the really interesting things we did with this wedding was let the photographer use the screens. They edited their pictures throughout the night, so that the guests could see the pictures that were taken during the day while they were eating. They were all very impressed. Steve Newbert of AOV productions was able to use the screens for live video transmission, always a crowd pleaser. And let’s not forgot about the DJ’ing ... 300 people at a wedding means there is going to be some serious dancing. And boy did they dance. Old school hip hop, some R & B and a few current tracks kept them at the same place the whole night, the dance floor! Make sure to check out the video blog we did a few months back on this event as well. And a big thanks to Rodrick Moore Photography for the images.

-Jason

Erin and Rob

Erin and Rob were married in December and had their reception at the Valley Forge Military Academy and College. The ladies of Proud to Plan did a wonderful job, as always, with the details and making sure the day went smoothly. We did the up lighting and dance floor wash to finish off the room.

Thanks to Joe Capasso Photography for the images.

-Becky