It was an African safari theme at Melanie’s Bat Mitzvah this past Saturday night at Rancho Bernardo Inn. DJ Cameron, party pumper Anna Z and myself arrived to find the room set up with zebra balloons and centerpieces on all tables courtesy of Sherril Kinsler and her wonderful staff at Behind The Scenes. Out on the patio was an airbrush tattoo station, a photo booth provided by Classy Photo Booths and the magical stylings of “Magic” Mike Stilwell.

The night began with a grand entrance by the family followed by the guest of honor, Melanie. We formed a tunnel on each side of the dance floor with the adults on one side and Melanie’s friends on the other. We went directly into the Horah and proceeded into a dance set and play a game of Scramblegories with Melanie and her friends.

As the night went on, Melanie did a great job with her candle lighting ceremony and was the life of the party on the dance floor along with her big sister Gillian and her little sister Vanessa. Below is a highlight video that I put together with photos, audio and video of the evening. DJ Cameron, Anna and myself had a blast and are looking forward to coming back in a few years for the final Belk Family Bat Mitzvah!

I have never seen a room full of people who make a living off of concrete, sawing and drilling have so much fun! Saturday, March 6th was the CSDA‘s annual gala held at Loews Coronado in Coronado. The ballroom was set up very nicely by the staff at Loews and they were very accommodating with having a stage and table already set up for me when I got there. Here’s the short video of my set up that I took before the doors opened:

Once dinner was served and awards were given out, it was time to party. The guests flocked to the dance floor and even broke into a conga line during “Kiss” by Prince:

Since there were so many couples in attendance, I made sure to play a few slow songs for them to dance to:

As the night went on and the energy level began to grow, I hit them with the classic “Shout” by the Isley Brothers:

Toward the end of the night, I stepped out on the floor and taught the guests how to do the “Cupid Shuffle” and they picked it up almost instantly. All in all it was an amazing night and I hope to once again get the chance to work with this group in the future.

I had the honor of being the DJ at an event for the Meeting Architects held at BELO Night Club in Downtown San Diego. The theme of the party was “Alice In Wonderland” and many of the guests were dressed up as characters from the book and movie. It was a networking event to begin and gradually turned into a dance party. I took a video of the decor, dance floor lighting and ambient lighting as well as a video at the very beginning of the dance set. The music requests ranged from current Top 40 to Disco and Oldies to Alternative 80′s Rock like the Violent Femmes. I had a great time and I look forward to working with the Meeting Architects again in the future.

I had the best time presiding as the MC for Naomi’s Bat Mitzvah on Saturday, February 6th alongside DJ Dan. We arrived and began setting up at The Farms Golf Club in Rancho Santa Fe as the rain was pretty much drenching us from head to toe. Once inside we were greeted by coordinator Lydia Krasner of Mitzvah Event Productions who then introduced us to Scott Pease of The Farms Golf Club. We shared time with Yochanan Sebastian Winston and his 3-piece band who played music for the guests for the first two hours of the event as well as performing the Horah.

The primary colors for Naomi’s Mitzvah were blue and purple and the flowers on the tables, provided by Flowers by Qsm, were a nice touch to add to the festive decor. We provided the up lighting around the room and chose a baby blue color to make the walls pop. The kids had plenty of activities to keep them busy the entire night. They seemed to thoroughly enjoy the photo opportunity provided by Blue Sky Studios as well as candid photography provided by Daniel Del Rio of Del Rio Studios. They even had a wax hands station set up near the front door which was provided by We Create Fun.

Once the party got started, the kids were eager to get on the dance floor. I got them all out on the floor for a game of Scattegories with the winning team receiving Starbucks gift cards. We did a bit more dancing afterward and once the parents finished up dinner, I invited them all onto the floor for a game of Generation Gap. This was a great opportunity to get the parents and the kids mingling and dancing together.

As the night went on, DJ Dan took requests from the kids and I took the opportunity to capture some video footage. I put much of it together in a video that reflects the mood and energy for the entire evening.

The night was almost over, but not before an amazing photo montage put together by the videographer Bob Hoffman of Bob Hoffman Video Productions. As the event winded down, the kids and adults danced the night away and the event ended up being a huge success.

It was a festive occasion last night as I had the pleasure of DJing the Valentine’s Day dance for the 7th and 8th graders at the Bishops School in La Jolla. This is my third time spinning for the 7th and 8th graders and I always enjoy returning to the school. The volunteers and parents warned me that because of the rain the turn out wouldn’t be as good as usual and they were correct. There were a good 130 or so kids in there, but just enough to rally them together and get them dancing and singing.

Once I completed my setup,

the kids started trickling in and immediately began making requests. The bigger songs of the evening were the ones I expected, such as “Tik Tok” by Ke$ha

and “You Belong With Me” by Taylor Swift.

I even threw in “Krazy” by Pitbull later in the evening to mix it up a bit.

But by far the most surprising hit of the night was Train’s new single “Hey, Soul Sister.” The kids loved it and sang every single word!

The kids definitely put on their Sunday’s best for this dance with the boys wearing dress shirts, ties and jeans and the girls wearing dresses, skirts and some even had on high heels. I ended the dance with a slow love song in honor of Valentine’s Day and the kids paired off and slow danced to “Two Is Better Than One” by Boys Like Girls featuring Taylor Swift.

We didn’t let the rain put a damper on our spirits and the kids danced the entire time. I’m looking forward to returning to Bishops very soon.

Setup Photo #1

Setup Photo #2

Dance Photo #1

Dance Photo #2

I made my first (and hopefully not last) visit to The Ritz Carlton, Laguna Niguel to DJ/MC the reception of Seth Sproul and Aimee Alarcon on January 2nd. They couldn’t have picked a more perfect place to get married, the view from the ballroom was breathtaking and the decor inside the room was gorgeous. The linens, provided by Fusion Linen, perfectly complemented the flowers (provided by Elegant by Design) on the guest tables and cake table.

Eryin Choi and the staff from The Ritz Carlton Laguna Niguel was very helpful in making sure I had what I needed for set up and they also provided the beautiful cake and the up-lighting around the room. Once the reception began, the videographer Daniel Boswell of dvArtistry and Michael Svoboda from True Photography, did an excellent job of capturing every moment of the events throughout the event.

I was honored to work alongside Lisa Moon of Lisa Moon Events throughout the afternoon and she was a very competent coordinator and a joy to work with.

Aimee decided to have a special Bridal Party dance to kick off the first dance set and chose “Como Ves” by Ozomatli. Halfway through the song I invited the rest of the guests to join the Bridal Party on the dance floor and playing off of the energy from that song, I mixed in “I Gotta Feeling” by Black Eyed Peas. That caused a huge reaction from the crowd as they danced and sang every lyric from the song. From there on out it was all about me since the bride and groom didn’t submit a request list beforehand because they were confident that I could handle it on my own, and handle it I did. With the exception of the bouquet toss, garter removal and toss and same-day video montage prepared by Daniel Boswell, I kept the floor packed the entire night playing everything from Top 40, 80′s and 90′s music.

One of the highlights of the evening was Seth requesting “Sweet Caroline” by Neil Diamond even though Aimee had vetoed that song previously. So before I played it I asked Seth and Aimee to come to the middle of the dance floor and instructed everyone to create a circle around them and sing it to them. The song was a huge success and Aimee seemed to enjoy it even more than Seth did!

I ended the evening with “Don’t Stop Believin’” by Journey and got out on the floor and got everyone holding hands in a circle with the Bride and Groom in the middle again. I probably could have gotten away with playing the instrumental of the song with how loud and verbatim everyone was singing the song.

Every feature went off without a hitch and Seth and Aimee seemed very pleased with the way things went. Seth told me that his sister commented that she was happy to go to a wedding where the DJ was good and played good music, and that put a smile on my face. I had an amazing time and hope that I was able to provide the couple with the reception they had always dreamed of.

Seth & Aimee Sproul and J. Soul

Photo provided by True Photography

Photo provided by True Photography

Photo provided by True Photography

Photo provided by True Photography

Photo provided by True Photography