This past Saturday evening, I had the pleasure to be a part of Erin & Dan’s special evening at Loose Mansion. Although heavy rain greeted the guests upon arrival, the Mansion was in it’s usual spectacular form. As the guests arrived, I noticed something about this group, they were truely excited to be at the Mansion with Erin & Dan and families.
GAMETIME:
As the guests mingled & visited with each other, I began the formalities. From the middle of the steps I addressed the 190ppl and gave them a quick overview of the evening to help make this reception more spectacular. With the greeting over, it was time to get the crowd ready for an energetic entrance by the Bridal Party. As I announced the Bridal Party members they strutted and danced their way down the beautiful mansion staircase to “Sexyback”. By the time I got to the last couple (Best Man & Maid of Honor) the Mansion was filled with eletricity & anticipation for our Guests of Honor. The song switched over to “Can’t get enough of your love, baby” by Barry White, “Ladies & Gentleman it’s an honor to introduce to you, Mr. & Mrs. Dan Smith” as the last name was said, the 190 guests screamed it along with me. Here they come down the staircase, strutting, dancing and celebrating what is going to be a wonderful marriage.
As the evening progressed on the new 3rd floor addition, I witnessed 2 firsts. The very first first, was a bride’s maid doing the chorographed step-by-step dance to “Bye Bye Bye” by N’sync, and receiving a rousing ovation. The second firsts, was when guests were in a circle dancing, a gentleman with a prostetic leg brought his chair to the center, loosened his leg, spun it around, reattached it and went back to his table. From that point on, I knew this was the party crowd they showed they were going to be during the entrance.
With all the guests fully engaged in dancing, I looked around and said to myself “this IS truely an ENCORE event”.

This past weekend, I took my family out to western Kansas to see some of our old college friends and see the sights. Saturday afternoon I noticed a wedding reception was being set-up by the staff. Now I’m snooping around like the CIA. I proceed to speak with the event coordinator and ask “Did the emcee/dj contact you prior to the event?” I got a look that still hurts my eyes. “Did the emcee/dj send you a copy of the reception planner?” She asks “what are you talking about & why?”. I’m sure you see where I am going with this. I explained who I was, where I’m from & the level of service we offer our clients. If I lived in that area, she told me I would be booked year around, Friday & Saturday nights.
I admit, I’m a telephone book junkie. I look at the DJ’s and entertainment companies, and called 1 in particular that has a “5Star rating” in the phone book. He told me he got this from “some friends that said he was really good”. OK ??
We receive several calls daily requesting information for our services. The most frequent statement we hear lately is “well, what would it cost for 4hrs instead of 6?” Let me ask the general question: Do you really want your dj/emcee stomping thru your dinner,cake cutting or toast to set-up gear? If a company is guoting you 4hrs, a red flag should come-up. This should mean this individual is looking for the quick buck, and doesn’t have the experience to manage a quality reception. As I was on my road trip, I witnessed this dj setting-up his gear while the guests were having dinner. Classy right? As he was finishing, he reached in his truck, grabbed his shirt & tie, and got dressed between the head table & dance floor.
As our Saturday evening in Western Kansas progressed, my wife & friends kept looking noticing how “figitty” I was, I have to admit, I wanted to get back to that reception and show the dj how to make his reception and Encore event.
p.s. I brought the phone book home.

Encore,
I never got a chance to properly thank you for help in making my wedding the most fantastic day of my life! Everyone was impressed with the way you ran the show. If you can remember, I was having such a good time dancing, I didn’t even realize the limo was outside ready to pick us up! ha ha. I would highly recommend you for any event. You are awesome!
Sincerely
Amy Faustino

Brad,
We can’t thank you enough! You helped make our night amazing! we were worried when only half of our guests showed up, but we didn’t even notice later! The music was awesome and everyone commented on how fun you were and how you involved everyone! We will definitely recommend you to anyone we know looking for a wonderful DJ!

Nick & Rachel had their reception this past weekend at one of my absolute favorite locations the Loose Mansion . Nick & Rachel were so much fun they seemed to always have a smile on their face and a big hug for everyone. The tables were decorated wonderfully with Orange (a favorite of Rachel’s) and they were also numbered. Along with the numbers were little trivia questions about Nick & Rachel with the answers on the back. This was a great idea. It got the tables all talking and having a good time sharing their own stories about the happy couple.

Nick was such a gentleman the whole night. When Nick & Rachel started their first dance, Nick presented Rachel with a single red rose. Jeremy & Ashley Parsons were the photographers for Nick & Rachel visit their blog and see some of the amazing photos that were taken.

During the night, I always check with my Bride and Groom to see how things are going and if there is anything that I can do for them. It was getting late and as I made my last rounds for the night I asked Nick if there was anything I could do for him. He said everything was great but he wanted to know if he could hear “Piano Man” by Billy Joel. When I met with Nick and Rachel to plan their reception, that was his single song request for the night. I had that in my planner and was holding on to it for the right time of the night. The dance floor was full and there were about 25 guests seated at the tables. So I walked out to the tables and asked that everyone seated take a hold of their drink on the table in front of them and raise it above their head. Then I asked them to stand and follow me. I took them to the dance floor to join the others. When they were all there, I said this is a song that we all know and is special to Nick so let’s sing along. I then played “Piano Man” and all the guests gathered around Nick & Rachel and sang. The best memory I will carry with me forever of Nick & Rachel is the huge smile Nick had on his face as they all stood with their arms around each others shoulders and sang Nick’s Song with him.

I had the opportunity to be a part of Grant & Emily Karr’s reception on 8/9/08 at the Hilton President downtown KC. Emily and Melanie (Emily’s mom) were the two I meet with to plan their reception. Grant is a proud member of our great nations military and was unable to attend our planning meetings. In these meetings it was clear that they did not want the standard songs you may hear at a reception and they wanted to make sure every guest felt apart of their special day. That night was wonderful and the President as usual looked fabulous. I have the chance to hear many toasts and many are outstanding. I was lucky to hear a toast given by Grant’s Best Man that was so heart felt that it brought me to tears. I saw first hand the brotherhood of the military shine through the toast. Every man and woman there was jealous of the friendship. It was followed by a great night of dancing and not a single cliche song was played. We went late into the night ending at 1am and the crowd was yelling for more. Grant and Emily have a great life ahead of them and an exceptional group of family and friends to share it with.

In my 12 years of wedding entertainment, I have seen many family traditions. Some really sentimental, a few on the weird side, and some national traditions that are tailored to the family. Many Brides and Grooms may already be familiar with the Grand Cake March or Grand March. In all my years, not one family has performed the Grand cake march the same as any other. This seems to be one of those traditions that is tailored by the family over many generations. But by far, the Grand Cake March from the Mangino family has got to be the best yet. A key to this tradition is having a family member lead the march who really knows what he/she is doing. In the case of the Mangino family, Grandmother Connie was very excited to lead the Grand Cake March for Tommy and Danielle, as she has done for so many other weddings in her family. Like the pro that she is, she led the cake march around the dance floor making different patterns with the lines. She led the couples’ line into single file, making circles that surrounded the bride and then surrounded the groom, honoring them separately and then honoring their new union together. Hearing the crowd join in clapping to the music, laughing and enjoying the traditional march made us all feel like we were a part of the family. A favorite of this crowd was leading the family in a single file line around the tables parading through the reception, as the parade passed each table you could see the guests smile and cheer the wedding party on with clapping. Another great touch that the Mangino family used is a change in the music from “When the Saints Go Marching in” to “Here Comes the Bride” as Tommy and Danielle walked through a canopy of arms from the participating wedding party and family. The Canopy of arms leads the Bride and Groom to the Cake table, where they share the traditional first piece of cake.

From the entrance announcement to the traditional Cake March and the final dance, this crowd was a lot of fun. The night was truly a celebration for Tommy and Danielle’s new union. To end the evening we had all of the guests line up just outside the entrance to the building ready to see the newly weds off. Just as the couple exited the building smiling ear to ear in anticipation to the new adventures ahead, BAM! Fireworks lit up the sky! The surprise rushed through the crowd with excited Ooooo and Ahhhhhh’s. Wow, what a fantastic ending to a magical day!

Just last night at David and Kristan’s wedding (Loose Mansion) we had a chance to really customize a traditional wedding event that many people see as a standard event with little opportunity to personalize. David and Kristan started out their wedding reception with a grand entrance coming down the gorgeous staircase in Loose Mansion. Starting out the entrance announcement by introducing all of the bridesmaids first to “Oh, Pretty Woman”. As each of the bridesmaids were announced they gracefully descended the staircase and stood picturesque on the staircase to the left. We then mixed in the song “These are my people” for the Groomsmen to enter and stand on the opposite side of the staircase as the women. Now that we had all of their closest friends poised on the staircase, it was time to introduce the Bride and Groom. As they entered to their song “It, Had to be you” by Harry Connick Jr. the very dramatic intro to the song matched their Grand entrance down the large staircase with all their friends standing ready on each side of the staircase. David and Kristan paused as the flashes from the cameras popped, immediately moving to the cake cutting, which was located at the bottom of the staircase.

The backdrop for the cake cutting not only included the gorgeous setting at Loose Mansion, but also included their close friends standing behind them all neatly ordered. The cake cutting was very elegant as they shared the traditional poses and feeding of the first piece of cake. David and Kristan have a set of grandparents that just happened to be sharing their 50th wedding anniversary this same evening. Since, 50 years is so un-common these days, we didn’t want this special occasion to go unnoticed. After David and Kristan finished their cake cutting ceremony, Encore Elite Entertainment announced that we had another couple to honor this evening. We then introduced their grandparents, explained that they were sharing their 50th anniversary, and had them stand next to the newly wedded couple. Just as David and Kristan finished sharing the first piece of wedding cakes the grandparents shared the same ceremonial cake cutting and feeding of the cake. The Grandparents were photographed just as if this was their wedding taking place all over again. Wow, the pictures they will have to remember this event are amazing. David and Kristan’s grandparents being honored at their wedding, the gorgeous setting at Loose Mansion, friends that have been with them for many years in the background, and a grandmother tearing up with pride, love and honor!

I had the chance to work with Justin & Sara on their reception at Lake Quivera. They as many others are Youtube fans and had watched a few first dances so they had an idea of their own. They wanted to put together a surprise for the guest and choreograph their first dance using a montage of songs. We started with a beautiful slow song “Feels Like Home” by Chantal Kreviazuk then after every one has fallen completely into the romatic moment the song started to skip, the guests were horrified as they feared the memories that Sara & Justin would have from this mistake. Just then we mixed in their surprise “Jump on it” then into “The Hokey Pokey” then “YMCA” then “Thriller” then “Macarena” Then “Can’t Touch This” and finishing with the end of their original song “Feels Like Home”. The Guests erupted with applause and circled the dance floor when they realized that it was planned. What an exciting evening to remember for many years to come. Thank you Justin and Sara.