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https://www.thepartydj.co.uk/creating-wow-wedding-20th-february/

Sheena’s 60th Party at The Ageas Bowl

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What makes a great party? Well, Sheena’s 60th Party at The Ageas Bowl last month is a good example.

From the moment the guests arrived to the moment the last one left, Sheena and I had made a plan to ensure something was happening. We squeezed a lot in but made sure nothing was rushed and that everyone felt a part of the celebration.

I arrived at The Ageas around 4pm to load in and set up in the first floor Robin Smith suite. By the time Sheena and her family arrived I was suited and booted with the music playing and a slideshow running on my big projector screen with over 400 pictures from the family album. Everything was ready for Sheena’s Party at The Ageas Bowl.

Once we had everyone seated, I introduced Sheena’s Uncle Pete who presented a brilliant quiz. When Sheena and I met to plan the party I mentioned a quiz and she told me all about her Uncle who is an excellent quizmaster and has done my family events in the past including her 50th. I had my colleague John with me who run quiz nights and we were both very impressed with Pete’s quiz. There were 9 tables of guests and the winners were invited to go to the warm buffet table first, runners up second, etc … the table that came last had to wait a while longer!

After the two course buffet it was time for the formalities. I introduced another of Sheena’s uncles, Malcolm, who had travelled from Canada to join in the celebrations and he gave a lovely speech. Then I had video messages I’d collected from friends and family who couldn’t be there – messages from Thailand, Hong Kong, more from the family in Canada and many other places – over 6 minutes of snippets! Finally Sheena said her thank you’s – with many lovely insights into her family and friendships.

Then we gathered everyone together so that the official photographers could get a big photo of everyone together. Two of the guests, Thelma and Jacob, were also celebrating birthdays and Sheena had cakes for both of them. Then, birthday girl, Thelma sang “Ain’t Missbeahvin'” acappella with everyone singing and clapping along.

Finally it time to get the dancing underway and it wasn’t long before the floor was busy and it stayed that way until the end at 12:30. I had plenty of requests from the birthday girl which I had in advance and I was able to add requests from the guests as the evening went on. We were also entertained with an excellent version of “Never Gonna Give you Up” by Gerry who sang over a backing track I had ready for him.

There were a few other things that we did to make the evening special – but if I tell you everything people will just copy and that wouldn’t be right 😉

That was Sheena’s fabulous Party at The Ageas Bowl, truly a night to remember.

8 Days Of 80’s ~ Day 4~ Theophilus P. Wildebeeste a.k.a. Lenny Henry ~ Big Love

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Day 4 of the 8 Days Of The 80’s FaceBook challenge ~ Lenny Henry ~ Big Love on Chrysalis Records.

After our wedding in 1983 I moved from A&M Records to work for a company called Tandem who promoted two record companies ~ Chrysalis and Arista. As I mentioned in my last post I left A&M the day before our wedding and I was actually unemployed until 10 days later when I started my new job at the Tandem annual sales conference. The Escort was replaced by a company Cavalier and I switched are slightly to cover Central Southern England. The company ran out of offices in Cavendish Square and I have many great memories from this time.

On the Chrysalis label were Spandau Ballet, Billy Idol, Huey lewis, Go West, Paul Hardcastle, David Grant, Pat Benatar and many more great acts. I helped promote numerous Top 10 singles, quite a few of which reached number one, but for todays entry I’ve decided to pick something that wasn’t quite so big.

Theophilus P. Wildebeeste (Lenny Henry) ~ Big Love

Big Love is taken from the 1983 “Stand up … Get Down” album, this track see’s Lenny as Theophilus P. Wildebeeste (his tribute to Teddy Pendergrass). This was one of his characters, along with pirate radio DJ Delbert Wilkins and newsreader Trevor MacDoughnut, who were featured the following year on his big hit BBC1 TV show. I got to see Lenny Henry a couple of times. The first was at a small comedy show over a pub in Croydon when he was working on his material, then at Surrey University in Guildford where I took a handful of the shop owners I called on and did a “meet and greet” after the show in his dressing room, he was very gracious and a lot of fun.

For more about Lenny Henry CLICK HERE

This picture hangs in our downstairs “toilet of fame”, it’s a bit faded now but still a cherished part of my collection of autographs and special gold and silver discs.

Lenny

This is day 4 ~ check back on the blog to see the previous three entries.

8 Days Of 80’s ~ Day 2 ~ Champaign ~ How ‘Bout Us

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8 Days Of 80’s ~ Day 2 ~ Champaign ~ How ‘Bout Us

It’s day two of my attempt to pick eight tracks from the eighties and share them on FaceBook. If you’d like to take part message me and I’ll nominate you.

Champaign ~ How ‘Bout Us
This was released early in 1981 and was a top 10 hit here. The group named themselves after their hometown of Champaign, Illinois, and featured Pauli Carman and Rena Jones on vocals. “How ‘Bout Us” was written by keyboard player Dana Walden.

The significance to me was that it was one of the big ballads of that year, the year I went to DJ full time in Jersey and met Ce, my wife. This was the song we picked for our first dance when we married in 1983.

CLICK HERE to find out more about my time in Jersey.

The Party DJ July Newsletter

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Better late than never … it’s The Party DJ July Newsletter!

Did you notice I hadn’t posted … probably not, but I did, so here it is a few days late.

In fairness I have been busy, not always with work but there’s been plenty going on at Taylor Towers.

Looking back …
Weather-wise the Summer of 2016 has been a bit of a disappointment so far. It was hardly “Flaming June” but the weather was relatively kind for the two weddings I had at the beginning of the month. I was at The Domus, Beaulieu for Hannah and Dan’s reception on Saturday 4th June following their ceremony at Romsey Abbey. I first met Hannah and Dan at one of my “Creating Your WOW Wedding events in February 2015 and helping them to plan their wedding has been fantastic. I promise I will get around to doing a full post on this beautiful day, but for now here’s a snap I took of Hannah and Dan’s first dance.

Beaulieu Wedding DJ

Then, just over a week later, it was back to the stunning Audleys Wood just outside of Basingstoke for Gemma and Brian’s wedding. Audley’s Wood is one of my favourite venues, I really like the mix of the Conservatory Restaurant in the main building for the ceremony and the spacious Garden Room marquee in the grounds for the wedding breakfast and evening party. Gemma and Brian found me through a Trip Advisor review from Kat and Gareth following their wedding at Audley’s and again booked well in advance so I was very involved in helping them throughout their planning. Again, a full post will follow soon.

Audleys Wood DJ

On a more personal note I managed to surprise my wife, Ce, with a few days in Cornwall. We stayed in Porth Wenn (Port Issac), home of TV’s Doc Martin, at The Slipway pub next to the lifeboat station and visited many of the locations used in the series including Doc’s house, the School and Mrs Tychall’s Pharmacy. If you’d like to know more about the area and our tips please get in touch – just email or call, we had a lovely time and would love to tell you more.

The Party DJ July Newsletter

We also visited The Eden Project – I can’t believe we’ve never done it before. It’s a very well run attraction full of great art, good food as well as the amazing collection of plants. There is also an outdoor concert facility and Lionel Richie was there for the two previous nights, we hope to go again and it would be great to combine the visit with a show night. You can also get married at The Eden Project … I’d love to do one! If you’ve never been we totally recommend it.

Eden Project Wedding DJ

We also took in a couple of concerts – typical that they were just a few days apart! We went to Brighton to see Ben Folds perform in The Dome – a venue we had never visited before. CLICK HERE to see Ben Folds performing One Angry Dwarf and 200 Solemn Faces. This was the second time we’ve seen Ben, the last time was eleven years ago on 10th June 2005.

Then, after a days break, it was off to Bath to see the legendary Art Garfunkel. One of the first concerts Ce and I went to together was Simon & Garfunkel at Wembley Stadium on Saturday 19th June 1982 (34 years ago!), so this was an opportunity not to be missed. This rare opportunity to see Art was a warm-up for the Glastonbury Festival where he was playing the next day. He did not disappoint, even at 74 years old. He performed for about 90 minutes with a set of classic songs and fascinating readings about his observations from his life – it was magical. CLICK HERE to see a video of Art performing Kathy’s Song in 2014.

The month ended with a 50th party for Angela just outside of Warminster. I was the DJ for Angela’s son’s wedding back in 2013 – CLICK HERE for my post about Kyrah and James’ wonderful Wick Barn Wedding! It was really great to see the family and their friends again. A good time was had by all and I couldn’t resist getting everyone in a “Circle of Love” ending – here’s another snap.

Warminster Party DJ

Looking forward …
So, to come in the next few weeks there will be plenty of new content here including more detailed posts about Hannah & Dan’s wedding at Beaulieu and Gemma and Brian’s wedding at Audleys Wood, as well as a review of our July trip to Liverpool and a quick look at how the City changed the World.

I’ve also been challenged on FaceBook by my good friend, colleague and UK Wedding DJ of the year total part in the “8 Day’s of Eighties”, and I’ll be posting more detailed entries here about the tracks I’ve picked and what they mean to me.

Plus … well you’ll have to wait and see.