The Cescaphe Ballroom is venue with which Jellyroll has grown very familiar since its opening in 2004. Every event there is more lovely than the last. On January 22, Stephanie Cahill and Paul Shea held their wedding reception in the Ballroom. Jen, of JW Photography, captured precious moments of the evening with her camera, while Endeavor After Digital Productions caught these moments on film. The beautiful floral arrangements were provided by Cescaphe’s personal premier staff florist, Alicia, of Il Fiore Bianco.
The bride and groom’s first dance was to “I’ll be the One” by Warren Haynes. Other special dances that evening were shared to “My Little Girl” by Tim McGraw, “It’s Your Song” by Garth Brooks, and the always classic, “The Way You Look Tonight”.
Jellyroll preformed their first wedding of 2010 on January 2nd at the Springfield Country Club, where Janet Richards and the rest of the staff did a wonderful job of executing the evening. The reception was for Elizabeth Kubasko and Tom Lanzilotti, one of the sweetest couples for whom Jellyroll has had the pleasure of providing entertainment. The couple shared their first dance together as husband and wife to “My First, My Last, My Everything”. They later danced with their parents to “I Loved Her First” and “Song For My Son”.
Cindy Guessford was the photographer for the evening , and Mondo Video Production provided videography.
December was a busy month for Jellyroll with six wedding performances, as well as some corporate events and holiday parties. They started the month full swing with a wedding each night of the first weekend and kept on playing throughout the month.
December 4th - Jellyroll performed at the wedding of Ashley Sanginiti and Andrew Wright. The reception was held at the stunning Down Town Club where photographer Charles Conrad, of Conrad Louis, capture the night by photo and videographer, Tim Sudall of Video One, provided the couple with a video diary of the evening. Special dances for the evening included “Endless Love”, “I Loved Her First”, and “My Wish”.
December 5th - Jellyroll preformed at the wedding of Julie Myers and Mark Gutierrez. Jellyroll became very friendly with Julie’s parents, Bob and Sherrie, through the planning process. It was a pleasure to play their daughter’s beautiful Jewish wedding. The event was held at Radnor Valley Country Club where Chuck Miller did an outstanding job with catering. Photography and videography were both provided by The Pros. The bride and groom’s first dance was to “At Last”, and Julie and her father shared a dance to “Sunrise, Sunset”.
December 7th - The weekend festivities did not stop on Sunday for Jellyroll, they performed for a fourth day in a row at the retirement party for David St. Claire on Monday, December 7th. David is former CEO of MEDecision and a big Jellyroll fan. Such a fan in fact, his co-workers decided to hire Jellyroll as a big surprise at his retirement party. Jellyroll was honored by this sentiment.
December 11th – It had been a couple of years since Jellyroll had last played at Deerfield Golf and Tennis Club, and when they returned for the wedding of Erica Hayman and Kevin Meme the establishment was just as picturesque as the band members remembered. Erica and Kevin incorporated some holiday cheer into their reception by having the band play holiday-themed jazz music during the cocktail hour. The couple’s first dance was to the always classic, “At Last”. The couple shared dances with their couples to “I Loved Her First” and “The Way You Look Tonight”.
December 12th – Jellyroll performed at Harry’s Savoy Ballroom for the PSCI holiday party. This is the 8th consecutive year Jellyroll has been asked to perform at this event. It is always great for them to see and reconnect with CEO, Chris O’Neil and the rest of the PSCI staff.
December 18th – Jellyroll performed at Knowlton Mansion for the wedding of Jennifer Wolk and Jeff Ruspantine. Photography was provided by Andrew Graham Todes. The bride and groom’s first dance was to one of Jellyroll’s favorite songs, “You Are The Best Thing” by Ray Lamontagne. The parent dances were done to the songs “My Little Girl” and “Through the Years”. This was a fun wedding Jellyroll enjoyed being a part of. Read some kind words of appreciation offered by Jennifer and Jeff:
Dear Kurt & Jellyroll, Jeff and I wanted to say thank you again for playing at our wedding on 12/18/09 at the Knowlton Mansion. Your professionalism and enthusiasm added to the best night of our lives. People are still talking about how awesome you guys were and I’m sure they will for a very long time. I will be sure to recommend you guys to anyone that asks about a band. Again, thank you for making our special day even better! Sincerely, Jeff and Jen Ruspantine
December 20th – Jellyroll braved the elements and made their way through the snow to perform at a holiday party for the staff of the Cescaphe Ballroom and the Curtis Center. These are two venues BVT bands, and Jellyroll in particular, play at frequently and their presence at the event was requested by owner, Joe Volpe. Jellyroll was happy to oblige and it was great to see the staff enjoying themselves rather than catering to others for an evening. The event was held at The Mask & Wig Club at the University of Pennsylvania. This is a really unique venue with a lot of history, which made performing this event even more of a treat.
December 26th – Jellyroll’s final wedding of 2009 was that of Hilary Werner and Don Zajac. This wedding was particularly special because Hilary is past president of NACE (National Association of Catering Executives), to which Kurt, Jellyroll’s bandleader, is a proud member. The reception took place at the Drexelbrook in Drexel Hill PA. Special dances for the evening included “How Can I Tell You?” by Cat Stevens, “You’re Gonna Miss This” by Trace Adkins, and “I Hope You Dance”.
December 31st – Jellyroll was able to end the decade with their great friends at the Concordville Inn. The dance floor was packed throughout the night, as Jellyroll kept the crowd dancing into the New Year! Jellyroll performed many hit songs, as well as their rendition of the traditional New Year’s favorite, “Auld Lang Syne”. A special thanks to Kim Pagliaro and Steve Angeline for inviting Jellyroll to perform at this event.
Our first wedding reception of 2010 couldn’t have been more fun. On January 23rd, Midnight Hour headed out west … well, fine, not very far west, but it was west nonetheless. We headed out to Lancaster, PA to the beautiful Riverdale Manor.
First off, you have to see this facility some time. It’s really beautiful – for me, it was the perfect mix of country charm and modern amenities. I arrived and met the owner, Maureen Raezer, who showed me around and told me about the property. Maureen knows a thing or two about top-notch catering – she used to be the Catering Director at The Smithsonian in Washington, DC. She and her husband / co-owner John Raezer opened Riverdale Manor just about four years ago to accommodate the growth of their catering business. They recently expanded it to include a beautiful room called The Pavillion, and it was in that new room that our bride and groom had their ceremony.
Which brings me to our bride and groom, Loren and Jennifer — what a great couple they are. As always, we worked with Loren and Jennifer in advance to review their tastes and to select music they wanted for their reception. They chose some great songs. Their first dance was James Taylor’s “Whenever I See Your Smiling Face”, which we performed for them … and as they danced for the first time as husband and wife, their guests all clapped and watched. Later, for Jennifer and her father we performed Billy Joel’s “Lullabye (Goodnight My Angel)”, which we had learned at Jennifer’s request. My hat is off once again to our talented keyboardist, Vincent Dimento, for a flawless performance of that song. Loren and his mother danced to “In My Life” by The Beatles, one of our favorites.
We ended the night with another special request – Pat Benatar’s “We Belong”, and as the song was ending the guests formed a “tunnel of love” through which Loren and Jennifer left the room to wild applause. The guests then headed out to the parking lot for a chilly but wonderful sparkler send-off.
Each wedding has its special moments, and for us, we’ll always remember Loren and Jennifer walking hand in hand through that tunnel of arms that was built by their family and friends, as we sang their last song:
We belong to the light; we belong to the thunder,
We belong to the sound of the words we’ve both fallen under,
Whatever we deny or embrace, for worse or for better,
We belong, we belong,
We belong together
On January 20th, 2010, The Midnight Hour Band performed at the new Parx Casino in Bensalem, PA. If you haven’t been to Parx yet, you should plan a trip there some time. The place just oozes fun. The band played in the hot new dance club at Parx, called Three Sixty (360). The name says it all … sitting in this hip club, you can see everything. It’s a wide open club that looks out over a massive casino floor full of great games.
We had a great time, and we really got to let our hair down and play some material that we can’t always play at weddings. One of the things I’m most proud of with Midnight Hour is that we’ve been together for just about 20 years, so we have a deep well of music from which to draw when we play out in dance clubs. We played everything from Lady Gaga to The Temptations, and the diverse and fun crowd at Parx Three Sixty danced all night long.
If you were there, thanks for coming! If you weren’t there, we hope we see you next time!
The bands of BVT had a great weekend of giving back to the community. On Saturday evening, Strangers headlined The Lemon Ball, a yellow-tie gala supporting Alex’s Lemonade and raising funds to fight childhood cancer. The evening went off without a hitch. The event was held at the beautiful Philadelphia Marriott Downtown and included dinner, dancing, a silent auction, and a touching awards presentation that brought a tear many an eye in the audience.
Strangers was pleased to have the opportunity to perform at such an inspiring and giving event. There were about 800 people in attendance and the Strangers band kept them dancing and having a good time. Strangers also had the opportunity to meet American Idol Star, Jordan Sparks, at the event. See some pictures of the band with Jordan below.
Sunday was the 33rd Annual Flyers’ Wives’ Carnival held to support the Flyers’ Wives’ Fight for Lives charity fund. This was Brandywine Valley Talent’s fourth year being a part of the event, and we are very proud of our partnership with the Flyers’ Wives’ organization. The carnival was a great family event and brought in Flyer’s fans of all ages. Guests participated in activities such as a Dunk Tank, Shot-on-Goal, Rock Band, and many Carnival Games. There were also live and silent auctions throughout the day and opportunities to receive autographs from and pictures with favorite Flyers players.
BVT provided all the entertainment for the evening. Exclusive bands, Contagious, City Rhythm, and Midnight Hour provided high energy dance music on the main stage in the Wachovia Center. The Britton Brothers, Mike Budzia, and Kurt Manderbach could also be found performing at various locations around the Center. Toner Sound worked in conjunction with BVT to supply DJs in certain areas. Tony Forliano provided entertainment at the carnival’s after-party.
All the bands and performers did a spectacular job and had a great time at the carnival. It really is a fun event, not just for the guests but the entertainers as well. Not to mention, the satisfaction that come with the knowledge of supporting a good cause.
Parts of the carnival were shown on Comcast Sports Net, and Kurt Titchenell, BVT’s owner and president, and bandleader of Jellyroll, was even interviewed on TV by Jim Jackson!
Here are some pictures of the event!
City Rhythm on Stage!
Contagious performing in their Flyers gear!
Contagious on the JumboTron!!
Award Presentations - Midnight Hour on Stage with the Flyers’ Wives
Midnight Hour performing!
Holly Cote (Flyers Wife) with Maura (Wachovia Center Staff Member)