Jellyroll performed on Saturday, November 21, 2009, for Erica Sorensen and Fran Wurster Jr.’s family and friends during the couple’s wedding reception. Fran and Erica worked very closely with Jellyroll during the wedding planning process, growing to know each other well, which made performing at the wedding a true pleasure for Jellyroll. The reception was hosted at the Ballroom at the Ben, where Ott did a wonderful job of executing the event, as he always does.
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!
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”.
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.
