On Saturday, October 17th, Jellyroll performed at the wedding reception of Judy Wang and Andrew Mayer. This beautiful wedding was held at the Hyatt Regency at Penn’s Landing. The Hyatt is a wonderful venue with a talented and professional staff working to ensure perfection at each and every wedding. Some staff members who did a truly phenomenal job in putting together a successful night were Gian Carlo and Michael.
Jonathan Rubin, of Studio Nine Photography, took beautiful photos and was able to capture many special moments between the bride and groom and their guests. And this wedding certainly had some special and memorable moments! One of the highlights of the evening for Jellyroll occurred when Tesa, one of the groups female vocalists, sang “The Moon Represents My Heart” in Mandarin Chinese at the Bride’s request. Tesa nailed it and received a standing ovation from guests from across the world. The multicultural customs continued throughout the night and included a traditional Jewish Hora followed by a Chinese Lion Dance performed by the CACC Dragon and Lion Dance Club.
The Bride and Groom shared their first dance together to “Everything” by Michael Buble, sung by Jellyroll’s male vocalist, Dondi. The parent dances were “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” and “Song for My Son”.
Jellyroll performed at two exciting weddings this weekend for two wonderful couples. The first wedding was that of Lynn Ravert and Tom Curran, and it was held at the beautiful Crystal Tea Room. Maitre d’ Miguel, ensured the evening was a flawless success, as he always does. The rest of the Crystal Tea Room staff was fantastic as well, especially Nicole Festa.
The professionals working to make this wedding reception a great one were all very high level and some of the best in the business. Tim Sudall, of Video One Productions, was the videographer for the evening, along with his assistant, Nick. Tony Baiada was the photographer, and he had his son, Sal, helping him out. Gina Sole was the wedding planner coordinating the event. Flowers were brought in by Ring of Roses, and the room was beautifully lit by the lighting specialists at Eventions.
Special dances for the night included the bride and groom’s first dance to “Someone Like You” by Van Morrison, and the parent dances to “Forever Young” and “Find Your Wings”. “Find Your Wings”, by Mark Harris, was a new song for Jellyroll which they learned special for the groom and his mother. The groom had another special request and asked Jellyroll to perform “High Hopes” to start the dancing for the night. He had noticed on Facebook that Jellyroll had performed this song the weekend before at a gala honoring Harry Kalas. Of course, Jellyroll was happy to oblige and all the Phillies fans at the reception loved it.
Jellyroll also performed at the wedding of Erika Beasley and Thomas Allen this weekend. The reception was held at the Cescaphe Ballroom, which is a beautiful, new event location that is both a popular and unique venue. It is located in the trendy Northern Liberty section of Philadelphia. The Maitre d’ at Cescaphe, Mike, is a talented man with great attention to detail. He never fails to put together a less than phenomenal wedding reception.
Andy Todes was the photographer for the event, and he took lots of great shots of the bride and groom. Check back in a couple of weeks to view some of the pictures he took. The videographer was Scott Randolph of Arrival Video Production, and floral arrangements were done by Alicia Martino of Il Fiore Bianco.
The bride and groom shared their first dance together to a Jellyroll favorite, “Into the Mystic” by Van Morrison. They also shared meaningful dances with their parents to Jellyroll’s renditions of “You are So Beautiful”, and Rascal Flatts’ “My Wish”.
Tom and Erika are not only a beautiful couple, but giving too. In lieu of traditional wedding gifts they made donations to The Philadelphia Breast Cancer 3-Day benefitting Susan G. Komen for the Cure and The Long Island/Queens Lupus Alliance of America. These are two great causes that Jellyroll was happy to see donations go to.
Another great weekend … on Saturday October 24, 2009, Midnight Hour was honored to perform at Fiddler’s Elbow Country Club for the wedding reception of Ryan and Deborah Montgomery. There’s so much to share about this fantastic evening …
This was our first performance at Fiddler’s Elbow – the largest corporate membership country club in the world. Founded in 1965, the club is well known for its extravagant wedding receptions and corporate golf outings. Fiddler’s Elbow is frequented by many famous people, including Steven Van Zandt (of The Sopranos, The E Street Band) and former New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman. Former Presidents Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush have also visited the club on many occasions. The Somerset Ballroom was absolutely beautiful, with many connecting rooms offering a wonderful setting for guests to mingle and enjoy the evening. The staff and services at Fiddler’s Elbow were second to none. As you can imagine, we loved playing there and we look forward to returning to their beautiful club in the near future.
Back to our clients, Ryan and Deborah, who were the perfect wedding clients – they put a lot of thought into their reception in advance, and helped the band to put together a great plan. The bridal party walked into the room to the sounds of The Black Eyed Peas, and then the bride and groom entered to U2’s “Beautiful Day”. For their first dance, Ryan and Deborah chose “When You Say Nothing At All” by Ronan Keating, and the band played it beautifully. Later in the evening, we had a lot of fun playing some specific requests for the happy couple – “It’s My Life” by Bon Jovi, “Hungry like the Wolf” by Duran Duran, and “Eye of the Tiger” by Survivor. For “Eye of the Tiger”, the bride and groom joined us on stage, along with the best man and maid of honor, and the entire crowd pressed up against the stage with fists pumping in the air – it was a full blown 80’s concert moment. We closed the night with another special request, “Take Me Home Country Road” by John Denver, and the crowd sang the last choruses at the top of their voices, arm in arm on the dance floor, without any help from the band.
We worked with a wonderful wedding planner, Nicole Spagnoli of The Finishing Touch Wedding and Event Planning. Nicole was terrific, and we worked together for weeks in advance of the reception to make sure the timeline for the reception was accurate and included all of the key moments we wanted to build into the plan.
We also loved working with Alicia Nathanson of Blossom Productions, a top notch videographer. I can’t wait to see what Alicia and her team captured – they seemed to have that special knack that the best videographers have for being in the just right place in the room at the right time, and we loved working with them.
It was a great night for the Montgomery and Yu families, and we were so happy to have played a part in their celebration.
What a Fall 2009 we’re all having! The Phillies! The Eagles! The cool weather! The band loves this time of year because we are busier than ever, playing weddings each week at some of the most beautiful locations in the Philadelphia area.
This past week, Midnight Hour performed on Saturday October 17th at Huntingdon Valley Country Club for the wedding reception of Josh and Eileen Albillar. We had a great time with Eileen and Josh, their friends and their families.
The band performed Frank Sinatra’s version of “As Time Goes By” for Josh and Eileen’s first dance. Eileen’s parents, John and Kathryn, had just celebrated their 37th anniversary, so we surprised them by playing their wedding song, “Color My World” by Chicago. Naturally, we had to play “Come on Eileen” for Eileen and her girl friends, and they also loved the new songs we played by The Black Eyed Peas and Lady Gaga.
For Josh, we were thrilled to learn “Baba O’Riley” by The Who. I have to give a lot of credit to our keyboardist, Vinny Dimento, who worked overtime to sequence the trademark synthesizer opening to “Baba O’Riley”. Also, great job to Nick, our drummer, for the great Keith Moon impression. Josh and his friends loved it – they were all singing “Teenage Wasteland” together at the top of their voices.
We thank the great staff at The Huntingdon Valley Country Club, especially Carol Keene who ran things for HVCC that evening. Carol, you did a wonderful job as always, and we appreciate you asking for the stack of business cards at the end of the night. We look forward to coming back to HVCC soon!
Pictured: I took this shot from the stage at the end of the night – it’s Josh and Eileen, the bride and groom, surrounded by their friends and family on the dance floor.
The Midnight Hour Band had a fantastic time on Saturday night, October 9th at The Curtis Center in Philadelphia, playing for the wedding reception of our new friends, Ben and Kim Rock.
For Ben and Kim Rock, their last name is both a noun and a verb – they Rock! We met them earlier this year, and we got to know them as we worked with them to plan their reception details. The Curtis Center was absolutely beautifully decorated, and their staff, led by Natalie and Sonny, was wonderful.
Ben and Kim shared a special first dance, “You and Me” by Lifehouse. For Kim’s dance with her father, I prepared a medley of three songs; “Isn’t She Lovely”, “Daddy’s Little Girl”, and “My Wish” – each of the three had special meaning for Kim’s father, so it was a special surprise I had arranged with Kim’s mother prior to the reception.
From start to finish, the guests had a blast, and so did we. We can’t thank The Rocks enough for having us. Thank you!
Pictured: Our lead singer, Joanne Farrell, singing to a packed dance floor at The Curtis Center on 9-Oct-2009.
If you want to talk about unusual events, than you should hear about the fundraising event Jellyroll performed at on Friday, October 2nd, to benefit the Friends of Laurel Hill Cemetery. It is not every day you hear about a gala for a cemetery, but Laurel Hill is a truly unique and special place. Laurel Hill is one of the only cemeteries in the country that is a National Historic Landmark, and the Friends of Laurel Hill work to preserve and promote the establishment. This was the 5th annual Gravediggers’ Ball held to benefit the landmark, and this year’s event was held in memory of Harry Kalas whose final resting place is at Laurel Hill. It was inspiring for Jellyroll to be a part of this event, honoring the beloved Philadelphia broadcaster.
The evening started with a moving tribute to Harry, followed by Jellyroll playing “High Hopes,” a known favorite of Mr. Kalas. Guests, many of whom were dressed in costume, really enjoyed this. Everyone sang along, and then stayed on the dance floor to dance the night away. Here is an excerpt from the Kalas family testimonial to the Friends of Laurel Hill: “I loved how the band asked everyone to sing along to High Hopes. Sometimes it can seem kind of cheesy when people do High Hopes in honor of Harry, but because it was such a great band, and what they said before they started singing, it really felt like a loving tribute and I have to commend the band for that because that’s not easy to do. So it was really an incredible night and we were so pleased to be a part of it.”
The following evening, on October 3rd, Jellyroll performed at the wedding of Kristen Bowers and Keith Griesbaum at the Hotel du Pont. The evening was entirely enjoyable as the bride and groom were a pleasure to work with, and Jillian, a member of the Hotel du Pont staff, ran a great show. Linda Simunov, the couple’s wedding planner, ensured that all the details came together to create a flawless and memorable evening for the bride and groom. Michael Kehr was the photographer for the evening, and he took some great shots of the happy couple with their friends and family. Below are a few of his photos from the wedding!
The special dances of the night included the bride and groom’s first dance to “Can’t Help Falling in Love with You” by Elvis. The bride and her father danced to “The Way You Look Tonight”, and the groom and his mother danced to “Wonderful Tonight”. The rest of the night Jellyroll performed high-energy dance songs that really got the crowd moving. Jellyroll experienced one of their most exciting endings to a reception when the bride and groom joined them on stage in front of a packed crowd of guests for the last song of the night, Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing”.
On Friday, September 25th, Jellyroll performed at the Food Bank of Delaware’s Blue Jean Ball. The Food Bank is a wonderful organization with an important cause, and Jellyroll is proud of their partnership with them. This is the fourth consecutive year that Jellyroll has performed at the Food Bank’s gala. Jellyroll supplied music entertainment and got the crowd dancing at this 1950’s themed party.
The event was held in the warehouse of the Food Bank. It is very rare to see Jellyroll perform in such a location. The room looked great though! The Food Bank staff did a fabulous job of transforming the warehouse into a rocking 50’s style diner!
On Saturday, September 26th, Jellyroll performed at the National Constitution Center for the wedding of Annemarie Murphy and Giovanni Leone. This beautiful and fun wedding reception strayed a bit from the traditional reception format. The bride and groom chose to forgo wedding introductions; the guests were assigned seating sections rather than tables to encourage mingling; and the delicious food, prepared by Max & Me Catering, was stationed around the room and available for guests to eat at their leisure throughout the evening. This all worked out very well and helped to create a fun and inviting atmosphere. Also helping to enhance the atmosphere for the evening was florist, Donna O’Brien of Beautiful Blooms, who did a truly fantastic job on the floral arrangements and décor.
The dancing for the evening began as the bride and groom shared their first dance together as a married couple to “You Are the Best Thing” by Ray LaMontagne. Following this, Jellyroll began performing faster songs and the dance floor quickly filled with energetic guests. The evening was thoroughly enjoyable, and Jellyroll was happy to get a chance to interact with guests who came from all over the world!
Below are some pictures that were taken by the amazing photographer, Jen Woodruff.
