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December weddings

Christmas Parties at The Port House

This is my third year of Christmas Parties at The Port House in Port Solent.

The Port House is a cafe, bar and restaurant and home to the Portsmouth Harbour Yacht Club. It’s located in Port Solent passed the Broadwalk shopping and bars area in the heart of the marina.
CLICK HERE for more information about The Port House.

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Most of this years Christmas Parties at The Port House were for individual companies or groups from the Q.A.Hospital although we did have one night of mixed tables.
paul-taylor-a4-xmas-request-sheet
Every night I use these cards >>>
so that I get as many requests as possible – hopefully something for everyone!

I’ve found everyone to be really friendly and absolutely lovely but the cards indicate that around 80% of the guests attending have been naughty and this is usually borne out by what they’d like for Christmas (most of which I couldn’t write here for you!).

I’m actually amazed that my picture (at the bottom) has only been “tampered with” a few times and I actually quite like the additions that were made.

Guests usually arrive between 7pm and 7:30pm for arrival drinks and are then seated for 8pm ready for their meals. I cannot speak highly enough of the quality of food and standard of service by the team from Vanilla Catering at The Port House – it’s brilliant. There are several guests who attend more than one Christmas party every year and some of them have been coming for almost a decade – praise indeed. Christmas Parties at The Port House with Sally, Kit, Laura and the team is great fun.

I thought it would be fun to share my playlist from one of the nights, so here you go …

Following on from background music during the arrival and meal, I started the dancing at around 9:40pm
Mariah Carey – All I Want For Christmas Is You
Van Morrison – Brown Eyed Girl
Pharrell Williams – Happy
Lou Bega – Mambo No.5 (A Little Bit Of…)
Michael Jackson – Rockin’ Robin
The Jackson 5 – I Want You Back
Stevie Wonder – Superstition
Dolly Parton – 9 to 5
Nolans – I’m In The Mood For Dancing
Which took us to 10:00pm
S Club 7 – DJ Beats: Bring It All Back
Bruno Mars – DJ Beats: 24k Magic
Justin Timberlake – Can’t Stop The Feeling!
Kool & the Gang – Ladies Night
Shalamar – A Night To Remember
Sister Sledge – We Are Family
Gloria Gaynor – I Will Survive
OMI – Cheerleader (Felix Jaehn Remix)
DNCE – Cake By The Ocean
Prince – 1999
David Bowie – Let’s Dance
Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars – Uptown Funk
Calvin Harris – My Way
Daft Punk – One More Time
Faithless – Insomnia
Five – Keep On Moving
Five – Everybody Get Up
Busted – Busted – Year 3000
Reef – Place Your Hands
Spice Girls – Wannabe
which brought us to 11:00pm and into the last hour …
Spice Girls – Who Do You Think You Are
Wham! – Club Tropicana
Whitney Houston – I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)
Robin S – Show Me Love
Jess Glynne – Hold My Hand
Lulu & Take That – Relight My Fire
Village People – Y.M.C.A.
Whigfield – Saturday Night
DJ Casper – Cha Cha Slide
Walk The Moon – Shut Up and Dance
The Weather Girls – It’s Raining Men
The Foundations – Build Me Up Buttercup
S Club 7 – Reach
Olivia Newton-John & John Travolta – Grease Megamix
Dexy’s Midnight Runners – Come On Eileen
Take That – Never Forget
The Pogues – Fairytale Of New York

Looking at it now, it appears I played 46 songs in about 140 minutes so an average of just over 3 minutes of every song. The reason I chose this night to share is that every one of those songs was requested by someone on the cards I handed out, obviously lots of them were track’s I probably played anyway but I love looking into this kind of information to help me work out what I might play next time.

Other more random songs I’ve had requested and managed to fit in over the party season include …
Curtis Mayfield – Move On Up
M – Pop Music
Coldplay – Hymn For The Weekend
Chumbawamba – Tub Thumping
Jim Jamison – I’m Always Here (Baywatch Theme)
Vanessa Amorosi – Absolutely Everybody
The Black Keys – Lonely Boy
Smash Mouth – All Star
DeBarge – Rhythm Of The Night

I’ve still got a couple more Christmas Parties at The Port House to go … I wonder what the request cards will bring up 😉

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Wedding Fair Weekend In Hampshire!

I think this weekend is Wedding Fair Weekend! As I’ve already posted we are planning to be at two events on Sunday and now there’s a third one we would have loved to attend.

For Wedding Fair Weekend Ce, my wonderful wife, will be at Ampfield Golf Club while I’ll be at Rhinefield House and now we find out that The Port House at Port Solent is also holding a showcase and we were invited to attend that one too as a recommend supplier. Oh, to be in three places at once!

These three very different venues all offer unique options when it comes to weddings and I’d recommend them all.

The Port House can cater for up to 300 people - this was their Christmas Party marquee last year

The Port House can cater for up to 300 people – this was their Christmas Party marquee built on to the clubhouse last year

The Port House
The Port House is a modern cafe, bar and restaurant located at the water’s edge with views over the marina. It’s part of Vanilla Catering and the food is amazing! With its beautifully refurbished interior, bright modern bar, and extensive outside patio, it provides a flexible wedding venue whatever the season or weather. They are licensed to hold cicil ceremonies and can accommodate guest numbers up to 160 for formal dining and with the addition of a marquee attached to the building up to 300 people!

Once again this year I’m booked to provide the entertainment at The Port House Christmas Party nights, so if you haven’t got your celebration booked yet they are well worth a look – as I say, they can cater for up to 300 people and there are also “mixed night” spaces still available if you just want to book for a small group (CLICK HERE). Enquiries should be addressed to sally@vanillacatering.co.uk or phone 01489 589 275 – tell her I sent you.

The Port House wedding showcase on Sunday is between 11am and 3pm the address is The Port House, Marina Keep, Portsmouth PO6 4TH

Wedding Fair Weekend

Ampfield Golf Club
As a founding member of The Hampshire Wedding Group I’ve has quite a lot to do with planning our Autumn event at Ampfield and as usual it will be well worth a visit. Not only will you get a chance to talk to our experts and find out about the brilliant range of services they offer, you’ll also get a chance to win some amazing prizes – for more details click here.

It’s always a joy to work with Kris and the team at Ampfield and they have amazing plans for the future, so make sure you visit this event.

That’s the Hampshire Wedding Group Autumn Fair at Ampfield Golf Club on Sunday is between 11am and 3pm, the address is Winchester Rd, Romsey SO51 9BQ.

The ceremony room with my kit tucked away at the back on the left

The ceremony room at Rhinefield with my kit tucked away at the back on the left

Rhinefield House
Rhinefield House is one of the top hotels in Hampshire. It’s part of the Handpicked Hotels chain and offers a real fairy tale wedding setting.

I seem to get a wedding a year at Rhinefield – this year it was Sherry and Mandy’s back in March, and I look forward to meeting plenty of new couples there on Sunday.

The Stylish Events Rhinefield Autumn Fair is on Sunday is between 10:30am and 3pm the address is Rhinefield Road, Brockenhurst, Hampshire, S042 7QB

So three very different venues all offering great wedding options for you to visit this Wedding Fair Weekend in Hampshire – if I can help please let me know ~ paul@thepartydj.co.uk or 07973 617153

P.S. Don’t forget Tuesday 15th November CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION