A Great Barn Wedding Venue Adams County, PA

http://www.gettysburgbattlefield.com/weddings/weddings-commitments-and-receptions.htm.

 And the best thing about it, the thing that made it fun for everyone, was that it was a unique & personalized Wedding Reception by the Bride & Groom

The wedding took place last Saturday at Gettysburg Battlefield Bed & Breakfast with our lovely Bride & Groom Mr. & Mrs. Brittany & Aaron Lamke.

Brittany & Aaron Lamke Wedding Ceremony at Battlefield Bed & Breakfast

The setting was amazing and allowed for a lot of roaming around for kids that were there and pic opportunities  

Directing to the Rockin Out DJ service dancing

We did the our game Sole Mates, also sometimes known as The Newlywed Game, and they submitted the questions themselves.  Some of the great ones were:

“Who gained the most weight since high school?”

“Who got the car stuck in in a flood and couldn’t get it out”

“Who has the nickname Turtle??”

Amazingly, Aaron & Brittany agreed on about 10 out of 12 questions.  And even though they agreed on them, the personal quality of the questions got a ton of laughs from the Wedding Reception Guests

We also had a great Garter Removal too!!  Didn’t throw the Bouquet, didn’t Re-apply it either, just removed and with this video, Aaron made it sooo worth it.  Unique and different and personal.

Take a peek at it on YouTube at the link below!!!

Brittany & Aaron Lamke Unique Garter Removal for Rockin Out DJ Service

Being a Wedding DJ at Wedding Receptions in Gettysburg or Camp Hill or Lititz, often the Bride & Groom want to Honor those who have passed on prior but yet, don’t want to do it with a song. Brittany incorporated a great idea, she did an all white Balloon release after the Ceremony.

Balloon release post ceremony to Honor those who have passed. A unique way to Honor those closest who are no longer with us

Balloons like these can be purchased from http://www.blondiesbridal.com/

Blondie’s Bridal Salon & Bakery in York, PA can incorporate any and all Balloon ideas for your unique and off-beat event..Check out Blondie’s Bridal Salon & Bakery Facebook page.

Another way they added personalization to this reception was the inclusion of a list of songs that Guests felt typified and described the unique relationship of the Bride & Groom to the Guests.  

Dinner was Buffet, and that always presents a unique challenge for the DJ to release tables to eat.  Normally, we just get on the mic and call out tables.  But Brittany’s idea was awesome.

She had her Guests submit a song that they thought described her’s and Aaron’s relationship!!  Then she sat the Guests at tables that instead of being numbered were titled with those songs. Then when they heard their tables song, they were released to the Buffet!

Some of them were:

Wanted – Hunter Hayes

Two Dozen Roses

Highway to Hell

Cowboys & Angels

Like A Virgin

Jessie’s Girl

Crazy Girl

And the song for the Head Table to go to the Buffet????  My Humps.  Ha.  I think I know what that had to do with!!!

All of them were unique and different and fun to hear at dinner and got the Guests into the music faster than just the typical music.  Which at Rockin Out DJ Service we always try to make Dinner Music fun way with inclusion of songs like All I want Is You from Juno or I Wanna Grow Old With You.  But this was fantastic.  What a great unique way to put your own personal stamp on your prefect day and make it yours.  So look for ideas and ways like this to incorporate your own unique personality.

And of course, there was awesome dancing and fun…..see below.  You can and should use these and other ideas to make your Wedding Reception unique and fun

YORK, PA – January 14, 2013 – WeddingWire, the nation’s leading online wedding marketplace, is thrilled to announce that Rockin Out DJ Service has been selected as a winner of the prestigious WeddingWire Bride’s Choice Awards® 2013 for Wedding DJ’s in York PA!
The esteemed annual awards program recognizes the top five percent of wedding professionals in the WeddingWire Network who demonstrate excellence in quality, service, responsiveness and professionalism. Rockin Out DJ Service’s selection as a Bride’s Choice Award 2013 winner was selected based on the positive experiences expressed by past clients on WeddingWire, the world’s largest wedding review site with over one million reviews. While many industry awards are given by the host organization, the WeddingWire Bride’s Choice Awards® winners are determined solely based on reviews from real newlyweds and their experiences working with Rockin Out DJ Service.

The WeddingWire Bride’s Choice Awards® 2013 are given to the top local wedding vendors in more than 20 service categories, from wedding venues to wedding photographers, based on professional achievements from the previous year. Award-winning vendors are distinguished for the quality, quantity, consistency and timeliness of the reviews they have received from their past clients. As a Bride’s Choice Awards winner, Rockin Out DJ Service is highlighted within the WeddingWire Network, which is comprised of over 200,000 wedding professionals throughout the United States, Canada and abroad.

“Each year, WeddingWire looks forward to celebrating the success of the top-rated wedding professionals within the WeddingWire Network,” said Timothy Chi, CEO, WeddingWire. “Now in its fifth year, the Bride’s Choice Awards® program continues to recognize the elite wedding professionals who exemplify a commitment to quality, service and professionalism. These businesses were chosen by our bridal community for their responsiveness and dedication to their clients over the past year. We are honored to recognize Rockin Out DJ Service for their impressive achievements within the wedding industry.”

Rockin Out DJ Service is thrilled to be one of the top Wedding DJ in York, PA in the WeddingWire Network of sites, which include leading wedding sites such as WeddingWire, Project Wedding, Brides.com, Martha Stewart Weddings, and Weddingbee. We would like to thank our past clients for taking the time to review our business on WeddingWire. We value all of our clients and truly appreciate the positive feedback that helped us earn the WeddingWire Bride’s Choice Awards® for 2013.

For more information about Rockin Out DJ Service, please visit our WeddingWire Storefront today at www.weddingwire.com/rockinoutdjservice.

To learn more about the Bride’s Choice Awards®, please visit www.WeddingWire.com/brides-choice-awards.

About WeddingWire, Inc.
WeddingWire®, the nation’s leading marketplace serving the $70 billion wedding industry, is the only online wedding planning resource designed to empower both engaged couples and wedding professionals. For engaged couples, WeddingWire offers the ability to search, compare and book over 200,000 reviewed wedding vendors, from wedding venues to wedding photographers. WeddingWire also offers a comprehensive suite of online planning tools for weddings, including wedding websites and wedding checklists, all at no charge. For wedding professionals, WeddingWire is the only all-in-one marketing platform for businesses online and on-the-go. WeddingWire offers one simple solution to build a professional network, improve search visibility, manage social media and reach mobile consumers. Businesses that advertise with WeddingWire appear on WeddingWire.com, ProjectWedding.com and other leading sites, including MarthaStewartWeddings.com (NYSE: MSO), Brides.com and Weddingbee.com.

by Rich Berkheimer

Wow!  I think I’m finally able to catch my breath after a terrific year of what seemed like non-stop events.  This year included 3 Events at Moose Lodges, 4 new wedding venues, our usual slew of Pool Parties at Pine Ridge Swim Club and 47, count ‘em, 47 WEDDINGS!!  Hooray!!

This year we had everything from a Bride’s Dad sing the Bridal Recessional for her ceremony to a Cameroonian event to begin the year.

We rose to the challenge this year of having to provide a slide show combined with a Parents’ and First dance at Lauxmont Farms in Wrightsville.  We did that by pointing the projector at the ceiling of the tent.  And then we did a special mix for that event as well. We played everything from the traditional, Blake Shelton to the Ultra-Hip and Modern The Xx and Bon Iver at a Ceremony.  Plus we had a Dance Instructor Bride dance a choreographed First Dance with her Groom to Call Me Irresponsible by Bobby Darin.So many great and new and avant- garde songs were provided by our Brides.  I sooo rely on those suggestions to become a better DJ.  Thank you guys and gals. We met soo many new Brides and became new friends with over 42 new Friends on Facebook.

Next year, 2013, we already have 15 great Couples booked for Wedding Receptions in the York, Lancaster & Hanover areas.  I am soo thankful for all of them.  Plus we have three new activities included FOR FREE in our Wedding Receptions including an acutal Garter Toss where we put the Garter on a Football and throw it while we play a hyped remix of your college’s fight song.  Plus we’ve hired a Dance Instructor to provide at small fee a correograpahed First Dance for you and your Groom.  And we now have a Pianist on staff should you choose that for your Ceremony as well.

Not to mention our new association / collaboration with Blondie’s Wedding Salon and Planners in York, PA.  They are a unique  new, boutique style Wedding & Bridesmaids Gown & Dress shop complete with “one-stop” planning for your big day.  We are so excited to collaborate with many of York PA’s most unique and wonderful Wedding Vendors.  The shop should be open in January of 2013.  I am soo pumped for that.

Look for this and soo many other improvements and fun, new dance ideas for your Wedding Receptions in 2013. Plus as always your input, your time, are all so valuable and important as we all help to make Rockin’ Out DJ Service the #1 Wedding Reception DJ in York PA in 2013.

So I was trying to think of a way to help Brides and Grooms shop for a Wedding Reception Vendor and then I was eating a donut, and it came it to me.  Poof! Out of the blue, I thought of the best question to ask a potential wedding vendor.  And man was that donut good!

First. Do NOT  have your first question to any potential wedding vendor, even a wedding dj, be, “So how much do you charge??“

I know that’s the compulsion, but do NOT ask that, AT FIRST, not of me, not of any vendor be they Caterers, Florists, Cake People, Bakers, Tent Rentals, or even Venues..  And I’ll tell ya why.  If you ask that, the answer will color what services you’re looking for in a vendor.  And more importantly, you don’t know what you’re looking for.  No ya don’t.  Ya don’t. You don’t like everything you liked at age 13 or age 22, or even the same music you may have liked two years ago.  Right??  You like new things all the time. Right.

Sooooo how you want to shop is based on what the vendor offers.  There are  Features and Benefits.  A Feature is LED lights, Ceremony Music, Envelopes, Hot Hors D’Overures, what have you.  But Benefits are: Wedding Reception Music Guide, Specially Mixed Slideshow Music, Constant Contact with your Vendor, their cell phone # and such.  These are the things that save you time, effort and money.  This is the “price vs. cost” arguement, which says basically, there’s PRICE, what the vendor charges, and then there’s COST, which is what they’re lack of planning, and lack of effort would end up costing you in the long run in terms of time, energy and most importantly MONEY.  All three of which you do not have when planning and event.  You wanna good price, yes.  But you also wanna avoid COST too.

So the single best question to ask any and every wedding reception vendor is:  “What are your Features and Benefits??”

Ask them that question and then see how eloquent they are about their business.  If they can’t answer that or distinguish between the two, you may want to find another vendor.  But ask them that question.  Ask that of every vendor and THEN after gathering all of that information, then call them back and ask for price.  Because then you’ll truly be making a quality decision about which wedding reception vendor to trust. And you’ll be making the decision based on the features you want in a vendor. Plus then you’ll be judging everyone equally across the board and not giving up something you may really want in your event without having PRICE color the discussion.

 If the price is less than the cost AND the Features AND Benefits  save you time, effort, AND MONEY, then book that vendor

The Wedding Reception crowd is the hardest most demanding crowd for which to dj, but also the most rewarding.  You learn soo many things in a short amount of time.  Sometimes…the hard way.  But one way or the other you learn.

One of the best lessons I learned was when I was 19.  It was my first wedding with my first employer.  It took place in York, PA.  My first of my now 1000 plus weddings.  My boss at the time just gave me the name of the venue and pointed me in a general direction.  I couldn’t get everything set up until about 15 minutes before introductions.  Nothing worked.   My boss at the time provided me no Wedding Reception Music Guide as we do now at Rockin Out DJ Service, no list of must plays from the bride.  It was my first wedding after doing nothing but high school dances.  I had nothing but all the hits of 1991 with me….you know, Gonna Make You Sweat, One More Try by Timmy T, and Touch Me All Night Long by Cathy Dennis.  You know, all the GREAT songs.

So armed with only about 200 songs I attempted to get these people to dance with no Classic Rock, no R&B, no Motown, none of the classic wedding songs from every conceivable genre, including the brides and the brides guests requests, you now would hear in abundance with Rockin Out DJ Service.  The bride and groom came in and just SAT DOWN.  I had not learned yet that a great dj was to greet them, introduce myself to the bridal party, line them up, ensure the best man was ready with his speech, give the matron of honor our 3rd microphone, coordinate with the photographer, the caterer to ensure the toast is poured and supper is on the way, the videogrpaher to see if the lighting was correct…..THEN with great exuberance matched only by a heavyweight fight, introduce the Bridal Party. They had waited outside soo long for me they just came in and sat down.  As I looked up from my Do Anything by Natural Selection a roar went up from the crowd, I turned the music down with stunned fear, and then turned it back up.  To put it in terms of another song of that time by EMF….. Unbelievable.  I was a no nothing idiot. I don’t remember how the rest of the evening went….and I’m glad for that now

But NOW I know.  Now, along with this and other bumps and bruises over my 19 year DJ career, and now in 3 plus years with our own ever-evolving, ever-growing,  premier wedding reception dj company, and with the Grace and Mercy of God,  I’m more humble, more caring, a great listener for our Brides and Grooms annnnd a much better DJ and Wedding Professional.

THINGS I’VE LEARNED FROM DJ’ING WEDDING RECEPTIONS

1.  The Bride is right.  She gets the final say over what you play.  It’s HER wedding. Not the DJ’s.  No matter what anyone says.

2.  R&B for 4 straight hours just won’t do.

3.  Event Pre-Planning is essential and will make or break the wedding reception

4.  I’ll only be remembered for two things at a wedding…the problems solved, or the ones created.

5.  I don’t have to play every note of every song.

6.  Don’t make it a scratch fest.

7.  If a request comes in, I play it…NOW.

8.  I Have fun.  Because the pressure is off and it’s my life blood.  It  shows on my face.

9.  I Cater to allllll tastes.  Every genre.  I Don’t hang out in any one musical genre all night.

10. I  Get everybody to sing along at some point.  I make it a true FAMILY moment.  Everyone will remember how much fun they had with their relative and not the NAME of the DJ.