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”.

Cindy Guessford was the photographer for the evening , and Mondo Video Production provided videography.

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.

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

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 33^rd 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)

Stephanie Sudzina, originally from the Philadelphia area but now living in Sidney, Australia and her fiance Anthony Campanale also from Sidney, Australia had been planning a Christmas Wedding in Philadelphia for almost two years. 

They had planned on a 1:00 pm ceremony at the Cathedral Basilica of Ss. Peter and Paul with a 3:00 pm reception to follow at the historic Glen Foerd Mansion on the Delaware in Northeast Philadelphia with STRANGERS as their entertainment for the evening. What they didn’t plan on was the second worst snow storm ever to hit Philadelphia on the same day. 

Around 10:00 that morning it had become apparent to Anthony that, despite their carefully preparations, things were NOT going to go as planned. That was about that time that he found out that the transportation that was supposed to take their family and guests, who were staying at the Ritz-Carlton of Philadelphia on the Avenue of the Arts, to the ceramony and then to the reception had cancelled. Anthony, determined to make this wedding happen, got together with the folks at the Ritz-Carlton to see if they could accommodate his guests in the hotel dinning room. The Ritz-Carlton instead offered to set them up in the Grand Ballroom!

Anthony called me around 10:35 that morning to tell me he was planning to change the venue. I then worked out the details with the folks at the Ritz and we were on our way. I had already been in contact with every band member the night before and again early that morning with updates and to check on their travel plans. When I called everyone back to tell them of the change of venue, some were already on the road.

 

To make a long story just a little shorter (you can read all the details in the accompanying stories), the staff at the Ritz-Carlton pulled off what would normally have been considered impossible. In only a couple of hours they put together an incredible reception. Fortunately the amazing Marie Labbancz of Marie Labbancz Photography managed to brave the elements to document the entire day. The multi-talented Marie also offered to help out if we a needed singer but we managed OK without her and she spent the time instead taking beautiful photographs of the newlyweds. Donna O’Brien from Beautiful Blooms also battled the storm to get the beautiful flower arrangements there, as did makeup and hair stylist Claudia Seyler, and of course STRANGERS were there too. 

What an absolutely amazingly beautiful evening!!! And it’s clear I’m not the only one who thought so. 

Anthony and Stephanie’s wedding story was the cover story of the December 23rd issue of The Philadelphia Daily News with a Follow Up Story by writer Ronnie Polaneczky on Christmas Day.

Anthony and Stephanie were also guests on the local Fox Channel Good Morning Philadelphia on the 23rd and on the national Fox News Network on December 24th.

Stephanie told me she had assured Anthony that the weather would not be an issue for their wedding because “it never snows in Philadelphia in December”. Maybe Anthony should have been a little more suspicious of the Philly weather. He told me he had been to Philadelphia only once before, that was in January 1996, during the worst snow storm ever to hit Philadelphia!

Photos courtesy of Marie Labbancz Photography 

Every year, Jerry puts up a huge display of Christmas lights on his lawn in East Bradford (near West Chester).  He really gets into it, and his lawn show is second to none.  The local television news stations frequently come to get shots of his lawn, as do the local papers.  Jerry spends untold hours setting up the lights, the inflatable figures, etc., and then he’s out there maintaining them just about every day from Thanksgiving through New Year’s Day.  He even had extra electrical power installed in his house just to support the Christmas lights he puts up each year. 

The lights attract people from all over … they come and park out in front of Jerry’s house with their kids and just stare at the incredible lights.  Every night, you’ll see as many as 10 or 20 cars lined up at different times of the night to look at the lights.

This year, Jerry and his wife Joan had the idea to ask those people to bring along a toy to donate to the pediatric unit of Chester County Hospital.  It was a wonderful idea, and a huge success; they collected almost 200 toys for the kids, and delivered them throughout December to the hospital.

The Daily Local News of Chester County ran a story about Jerry and his wife Joan in December that tells a little more about their great contributions … here’s a link to that story:

Article about Rooster’s Toy Drive

So, the next time you see our guitar player, give Rooster a much deserved pat on the back for doing something special this year to bring cheer to some sick children during the holidays.  Way to go, Rooster and Joan!

Since the event took place in New Jersey, and the Bride was a huge Bruce Springsteen fan, Jellyroll decided to bring back an old favorite, paying tribute to The Boss by playing Springsteen’s “10th Avenue Freeze Out“. This song was a great hit, encouraging guests to fill the dance floor, which was jam packed with guests dancing and having a ball for the entire remainder of the night.  Jellyroll, also, performed “Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You” by Frankie Valli as a special first dance for the Bride and Groom.

On Saturday, November 14th, Jellyroll performed at the wedding of Zara Rosenberg and Zachary Shapiro at the Ritz-Carlton Philadelphia.  Maitre d’, Aric, did a wonderful job of pulling together all the detials of the evening and making sure everything was perfect for the bride and groom. Lauren Lerner was the planning contact for Jellyroll at the Ritz-Carlton. She worked with the band to make sure the evening was well coordinated.

Kosher catering was provided by Berel Fischler at Prestige. Prestige Caterers are known for their creativity, and in admiring the delicious spread of food offered at the Rosenberg-Shapiro wedding, it is obvious why. 

Shea Roggio, of Wonderful Machine, was the photographer for the evening, and Jeff Ashe, of Ashe Productions, provided the videography.

The bride and groom’s first dance song was a Jellyroll favorite, “Feels Like Home to Me” by Chantal Kreviazuk. The couple decided on a joint parent dance to Lee Ann Womack’s “I Hope You Dance“.

This traditional Jewish wedding included an exciting 20-minute Hora.

Here are some pictures from the Rosenberg-Shapiro wedding taking by members of Jellyroll:

The Bride and Groom joining the band on stage.

Jellyroll’s horn section

Joe Blues on the Sax

Guests dancing to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”

Catering was provided by Kathleen Kelly of Finley Catering, and the spread of food looked absolutely delicious.  Foschi Photography provided both photography and videography for the evening, and floral arrangements were assembled by Ten Pennies.

The reception was extremely high energy.  Guests were on their feet and dancing the whole night through.  Everyone was so smitten with the evening of great music and company, that Jellyroll performed an extra forty minutes–plus an encore!

Special dances for the evening included “Thank You for Loving Me”by Bon Jovi for the bride and groom’s first dance, and “Wind Beneath My Wings” and “Simple Man” as the parent dances.

Here are some photos from the reception!