Angie and Ryan’s Wedding at the Seville in Streamwood

This past weekend myself and DJ Tim were thrilled to rock Angie and Ryan’s Chicagoland wedding. The couple had their ceremony at Congregation Etz Chaim in Lombard, IL and then they all  relocated for their wedding reception at the Seville in Streamwood, IL. 

We had a blast celebrating with the couple and all their family and friends. Angie and Ryan came to us as a referral from Sarah (Angie’s sister, and maid of honor) who had seen us previously and knew that her sister would be in great hands with us! As you can see in the pictures, we had everyone dancing until the very last minute, which always makes us feel great, especially on a Sunday wedding when everyone has work the next day!

Angie and Ryan – It was great to get to know you, especially having known your family for so long (Angie). I’m so glad that I was able to help turn your dream wedding into reality!

 

Vendors we had the pleasure of working with:
Venue: The Seville in Streamwood, IL
Photography: Johna R. Bradley Photography

 

Check out some of our candid pictures below and feel free to tag yourselves on social media! The pictures below were taken by us, and not by the event photographer. Click here to see the facebook album which includes some of these pictures!

Alissa and Justin’s Brookfield Zoo Wedding

Happy Wedding Couple with Great Wedding DJ Entertainment Brookfield Zoo Lyons

I just completed another wedding at Brookfield Zoo assisted by DJ Terry for my friends Alissa and Justin who said “I do” at the Zoo!

The story of how I know the couple is actually one of the more interesting ones. I met Justin my freshmen year of high school (which now seems like it was ages ago) from a youth group we were both involved in, and I met Alissa in college at Bradley University. When I saw the two of them were dating, I felt like my worlds were colliding! This is the world of online dating, and I am fully supportive. 🙂

Their ceremony was one to remember since it was in the underwater observatory for the dolphins. They had the chuppah (Jewish wedding tradition) set up and right behind the couple there were literally dolphins swimming in the background! How amazing is that?

For cocktail hour, the couple and their guests moved to the primate house and got to see some very cool animals up close! After cocktail hour, everyone moved to the discovery center for the reception.

As a special effect, we used the “Dancing on the Clouds” effect during their first dance which was a surprise to nearly everyone (Justin only found out about it the day before the wedding). The effect looked amazing, but sadly we don’t have any pictures of this since both Terry and I were busy at the time. If I can find some pictures from guests or from the professional photographer, I’ll try to include them later.

Everyone danced all night and we had an absolutely packed dance floor until the very last minute (including when Justin’s shirt came off!)
Alissa and Justin – Thank you for letting me have the honor of not only being your DJ for your wedding, but also a friend through the years.

Vendors we had the pleasure of working with:
Venue: Brookfield Zoo – Brookfield, IL
Photography: Concept One Photography – Bloomingdale, IL
Florist: Shamrock Garden Florist – Riverside, IL

Check out some of our candid pictures below and feel free to tag yourselves on social media! The pictures below were taken by us, and not by the event photographer. Click here to see the facebook album which includes some of these pictures!

Jessica and David’s Wedding

Bride and Groom with DJ Paul Le Meridien Oak Brook Blog Cover

Kicking off the busy October month, assistant Justin and I just celebrated the marriage of Jessica and David with their wedding at the Le Meridien in Oakbrook Center.
We provided wedding audio coverage and services for the ceremony, cocktail hour, and reception which were all at the hotel.

Jessica and David came to me as a referral from their photographer, Ashley of Rising Sun Photography. Ashley is actually a past client of mine from when I DJed her wedding at the end of 2015. Having past clients refer me is always an honor, but it’s even more of an honor when that past client happens to also be a wedding professional!

For this wedding it involved a “room flip” since the room where the ceremony was held was also going to be used for the reception. This means that during the cocktail hour, both myself and Justin, as well as the hotel staff worked diligently to turn a beautiful ceremony area into a completely different setting for the reception. During this time we completed our lighting set up and customization, re-arranged speakers, taped down all of our wires for guest safety, and set up all of our full room uplighting. To the guests, this was completely seamless as they were in the hallway for cocktail hour, where we provided cocktail hour audio coverage wirelessly.

What does this all mean at the end of the day? It means we worked hard in the background to make Jessica and David’s wedding totally amazing and exactly what they had been dreaming of, which is exactly what I love doing!

Jessica and David – It was an honor to work with you to pull off your dream wedding! Looking forward to seeing you both at your friends’ weddings in the future!

Vendors we had the pleasure of working with:
Venue: Le Méridien Chicago – Oakbrook Center
Photography: Ashley of Rising Sun Photography
Florist: Betty’s Flower and Gifts – Brookfield, IL

Check out some of our candid pictures below and feel free to tag yourselves on social media! The pictures below were taken by us, and not by the event photographer. Click here to see the facebook album which includes some of these pictures!

Asha and Dustin’s Wedding

Asha, Dustin, and Paul together after the wedding

I recently had the pleasure of providing DJ and Lighting Services at Esplanade Lakes in Downers Grove, IL for two good friends of mine from college. This amazing Downers Grove Wedding venue has some beautiful views of their pond with some very nice fountains surrounding the reception hall.

Asha and Dustin got married in the morning in the main reception hall. The ceremony consisted of a traditional Hindu ceremony, which was quite an experience for many of their friends. The day was full of festivities for them and their guests, who were able to enjoy a nice lunch in between the ceremony and the reception later in the evening.

For this wedding, the cocktail hour was held in the atrium not far from the reception hall. Because we knew announcements would need to be made during cocktail hour, we used our wireless audio satellite speakers to run a live audio feed from the main room. This allowed me to have more control over the audio and announcements in the cocktail hour area. It also gave me more flexibility in order to place the cocktail hour speakers exactly where it would cover the area best without being too loud for anyone. We also provided full uplighting (in addition to uplighting provided by Yanni Design Studios, the decor company) for the main room. This looked wonderful, especially during the later portion of the night when we wirelessly changed the colors of the lights. This made the venue have a special glow which really added to the beauty that Yanni Designs created and delivered for Asha and Dustin.

Asha and Dustin: It was an honor to work with you and be such a large part of your special day. I’m so happy for you both, and am grateful for the friendship we’ve been able to keep up over the years.

Vendors we had the pleasure of working with:
Venue: Esplanade Lakes @ DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Hotel – Downers Grove, IL
Photography: Jason Kaczorowski Photography – Chicago, IL
Videography: Delack Media Group – Barrington, IL
Photobooth: Photobooth Time – Lincolnwood, IL
Cake: The Baking Institute – Northbrook, IL
Decor/Flowers: Yanni Design Studio – Chicago, IL and Northbrook, IL

Check out some of our candid pictures below and feel free to tag yourselves on social media! The pictures below were taken by us, and not by the event photographer. Click here to see the facebook album which includes some of these pictures!

Ashleigh and Justin’s Channahon Wedding at Four Rivers Educational Center

Four Rivers Channahon Great Wedding Dancing Blog Cover

As wedding season is coming to an end (as it gets cold here in Chicagoland), we just completed our last outdoor ceremony for the season as we celebrated with Ashleigh and Justin. Picking an October date for an outdoor ceremony can be a gamble here, but the weather fully cooperated with us to provide us some gorgeous fall weather for Ashleigh and Justin’s wedding at the Four Rivers Educational Center in Channahon, IL. The ceremony went off without a hitch and no one got too cold in the process!  After the ceremony, we all made our way inside to enjoy the cocktail hour and then reception.

I have actually never performed at this venue before, and I will say it was a really nice place to work. When looking at the head table you could see outside on to a pond in a very nice, natural setting. Ashleigh and Justin partied with their guests all night and had a great time. Inside, assistant Amir and I were able to set up the speakers and lighting totems on each side of the head table, in order to keep all attention directed to the bridal party, instead of me as the DJ (our table was in the corner). We also used the wireless uplighting to give the entire room a very nice purple glow. For dinner, Ashleigh and Justin picked Uncle Bub’s Catering, which I loved as a very welcomed change in pace (from what most of us have come to expect at weddings)!

Ashleigh and Justin actually saw me at Justin’s cousin’s wedding (who it was awesome to see again!) just over a year prior. After they saw me, they almost immediately booked me for their wedding! They also used Liz of Eddie’s Photography who was not only really nice to work with, but did a great job capturing the day and night’s events!

Congratulations again to Ashleigh and Justin! You were an excellent couple to work with over the course of a year and a half and I hope to see you both again in the future!

Check out some of our candid pictures below and feel free to tag yourselves on social media! The pictures below were taken by us, and not by the event photographers. Click here to see the facebook album which includes some of these pictures!

Nancy and Brian’s Wedding

Hilton Orrington Evanston Wedding DJ Blog Cover

Right in the peak of the Chicago wedding season for 2015 I recently performed as the Evanston Wedding DJ for Brian and Nancy at the Hilton Orrington in Evanston, IL. Assistant Jon helped me out with this event to make sure we delivered as promised and made the night perfect for Nancy and Brian. The couple was an awesome couple to work with, who actually booked me just after they saw me perform live near the end of the year (2014) at the Matzo Bash at Castle Nightclub. Nancy and Brian told me that I’d have my work cut out for me since they knew their guest list would be diverse in music styles. Either way, I made sure we had a packed dance floor all night!

This was a Jewish wedding, so as you’ll see in the pictures below, they had a beautiful chuppah to stand beneath for the ceremony. Both the ceremony and reception were done in the same physical space, so we did have a cocktail hour just down the hallway in a separated area, which worked out wonderfully.

For the first half of the day (before we arrived), Nancy and Brian worked with Emma from Wrap it Up to handle the day of wedding coordination and make sure all issues were resolved before they (Nancy and Brian) even knew about them. We also worked with Brian of Brian Kinyon Photography who was able to capture Nancy and Brian’s special moments all day long! If you’re wondering who made the really amazing cakes (seen below), be sure to check out Amy Beck Cake Design. Amy really did a fantastic job with these. Both Brian (photographer) and I were commenting about how the detail in the cake was beyond belief!

Please check out the pictures below and feel free to share on social media! 

November 2014 Wedding News Digest

The Monthly Wedding News posts contain a few relevant articles and links that DJ Paul Michaels has found may be informational (or provide some laughter and entertainment) relating to Chicago Weddings.

 

 

Wedding Planning Tip: Interested in staying with the current ‘hip’ accent colors for your wedding? Use an accent of Purple!

Pantone (known as the global authority on color) has decided (through extensive research) that purple (or more specifically, “Radiant Orchid”) is the color of the year for 2014!  “An enchanting harmony of fuchsia, purple and pink undertones, Radiant Orchid inspires confidence and emanates great joy, love and health. It is a captivating purple, one that draws you in with its beguiling charm.”

Wedding Planning Tip: WeddingWire posted a great list of 16 Details Every Couple Forgets but Shouldn’t

 

Viral Video: One creative couple really wanted to document the other (less documented) side of their wedding by strapping a GoPro camera to a bottle of whiskey

It now seems to be an ongoing fad to create videos based off the one above!

Celebrity News: Snoop Dogg decided to crash an Hindu wedding in Chicago. Full story here.

Anna and Chris’s Chicago Wedding at Promontory Point

Promontory Point Chicago Wedding Dancing DJ Blog cover

This October (2014) I was honored to be the Wedding DJ for Anna and Chris’s wedding at Promontory Point in Chicago.  Promontory Point is at Burnham Park right off Lake Shore Drive in Hyde Park.

I’ve known Chris since 2006 when we used to DJ weddings together for another DJ company in the suburbs (Naperville). I mentioned earlier that I was honored to be the DJ for this wedding, which is really true. To be picked by a fellow DJ as the only person that he would trust with his wedding is honestly an honor.

I worked with Erin and her assistant of F/stop Poetry Photography who did an excellent job capturing all of the special moments for Anna and Chris.

After doing a site-walk of the venue a few months beforehand, I chatted with the couple and discussed how I felt uplighting would really help change the ambiance of the room. We did end up adding uplighting to their package which gave the room the beautiful purple glow that Anna dreamed about!

Anna and Chris: Thanks for choosing me as your Chicago wedding DJ. It truly was an honor!