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Since I last wrote, I have been all over the map as far as events, site visits, and yes, I even got a vacation in there! So...here goes.
I visited a new venue that is still in the works that is amazing. It's called the Moon Mansion, run by my new friends Heidi and Paul Moon. It's in North Bend and worth a visit for anyone looking to have a wedding in a remote location with a view, yet not too far from Seattle.
That same week I spun some tunes for Eastlake H.S.'s class of 1999 at Pravda Studios in Seattle. Very fun event! The next night, I showed off my DJ skills for a fun group of wedding guests at The Lakeside in Seattle.
The next week, I attended our Seattle NACE meeting at the Lynnwood Convention Center. There was a cooking contest, and one of our own members (Mindy Milton) faced off against a young, up and coming chef and she won! A couple days later, I attended a wedding vendor function hosted by TheKnot.com at Hotel 1000 in Seattle. Not only is The Knot a great national website and resource for brides, but Hotel 1000 is one of the coolest hotels in Seattle! Friday the 16th of October, I DJ'd at a friend's wedding at the Antheia Ballroom in Snohomish. My friend Tanya Davis (formerly Tanya Stone) is also my favorite florist to recommend to brides. The name of her company is Elements In Bloom. The wedding was a great success and I'm happy I was able to provide what her and her husband Marty wanted for their event. The following day was one of the busiest of the year for me personally. After my P90X workout in the morning, my cousins Justin and Eric helped me set up a sound PA rental for Tacoma Kendo at Washington H.S. in Parkland. Then I went home for a shower and a change of clothes prior to a pre-school Trike-a-Thon for the Mountain View Co-Op here in Milton. Then I headed back to pick up the gear from the rental, then on to my favorite Italian restaurant in Bellevue to DJ a wedding at Maggiano's. Boy was I pooped after this long day!
The following week was filled with more fun events! Monday night I attended ABC at Emerald Downs in Auburn. The following night was our Tacoma NACE auction at the McGavick Center in Lakewood (at CPTC). It went off with a bang as we generated lots of funding for the scholarship we award to a lucky culinary arts student there. The next day was a 3-event day for me, 2 of which I DJ'd at! First, it was an event for my friend Eddy who owns Party Outfitters. It was a mid-day event for some students at the Griffin School in Olympia. Event #2 that day was the Lakewood Chamber of Commerce's annual Boo Bash at the Great American Casino. Event #3 was a Puget Sound Wedding Vendor meetup that took place at Suite One Hundered in Tacoma. Some great food and good company! Another long day in the books! Thursday that week I attended an open house at one of my favorite little venues in all of Seattle, Acalia. Chef Shelby Sewell always makes some great, unique food! Friday night that week I DJ'd a wedding at TPC Snoqualmie Ridge Golf Club. It's always a treat to do events there as the staff is great and the food is good! Plus, I had the pleasure of working with one of my favorite photographers that night, Loren Callahan of Alante Photography. We get silly sometimes (see pic below)!
That night, one of our DJs worked on board the Emerald Star for City Lights Cruises, too. We'll continue DJing for them as long as they're in town, I hope!
The next night, we provided sound and lighting equipment for an event a friend from Phoenix flew up to DJ @ the Spirit of WA Event Center(Jeff Jones with Direct Sounds). One of our DJs, Lars, also rented some equipment this day for en entire week's production at PLU where he attends. A couple of our DJs helped with a wedding that took place at two venues: Willows Lodge (ceremony) and Delille Cellars (reception), and I hear that event went really well. I myself donated my services to the MDA that night by helping put on the Masquerade Ball @ the Columbia Tower Club in Seattle.
I wrapped up that busy week Sunday by DJing at a Halloween event for a charity called Three Feet of Sunshine @ St. Stephen's Church in Seattle. I was able to bring my wife and daughter...and yes, we dressed up and had lots of fun!
The following week was filled with family time, networking functions, Halloween events and car trouble (thank you Les Schwab!). This week, the winners of King 5's Best of Western Washington were announced, and I'm pleased that we had enough support from our clients, vendor partners, friends and family to get 2nd place in the Wedding DJ category! On top of that, probably the most unique, memorable wedding took place on Halloween this year. Here's how it went down: Imagine a cool couple who have been together for 10 years but not officially tied the knot. They invite you to a "Halloween Party" via a pretty fancy invitation. The event is to include drinks, dinner and entertainment like a magician (my friend Nash Fung), jugglers, a contortionist and a great MC dressed up like a circus ring-leader from Pure Cirkus (Armitage Shanks). The first two hours are drinks, food and mingling. Then the costume contest with prizes for scariest, funniest and most original costumes. And then a skit only the DJ (me!), MC and the bride and groom know about - and by the way, our groom is Frankenstein and our bride is the Bride of Frankenstein! Armitage pulls up two people to the stage (best man and maid of honor) for a "special award," but needs help from a monster to decide how this will happen. But the monster is fierce and needs a mate first! Ah ha! Armitage, also a licensed officiant, leads this right into a surprise wedding ceremony in Halloween fashion! It was a party from that point on and a very fun and memorable event overall. Many great costumes, great people and simply a well planned event that the clients were very happy with. By the way, the bride and groom (John & Jen Cook) went so far out of their way with this event, they had their makeup done by Brian Sipe, an artist who helped with makeup in movies like Pirates of the Caribbean, Ali, Van Helsing, Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Star Trek 2009! Other vendors from this Halloween Wedding included the Pickering Barn, Prop Gallery West, Aaron Warder Photography, Countryside Floral and Remmy's Catering. I wish I had more pics from this event, but for now, check these out!
So that event capped the busiest October ever for us. The first week of November I attended the launch of the Wedding Network USA at the CTC in Seattle. I am a founding member and proud to be a part of this organization. Like NACE and ABC, I'm sure it will be a good thing to contribute to. Friday November 6th I'd like to forget. Trying to get to Olympia for a school dance at the Griffin School, all the lanes on I5 were blocked near Fort Lewis due to a jack-knifed semi truck. Trying to take a back road, I encountered a dead end due to construction. With no way over the base to I5, I proceeded the only other way I know...through Roy and Yelm. What a mistake this was, because everyone was going this way. It took me 3.5 hours to get to Olympia and I was late to an event for the first time EVER! I felt so bad, but luckily the students and the principal were satisfied with the rest of the night. With that said, Saturday November 7th, we had 3 events as a company. My event started at the Grand Holiday Ballroom in Olympia (ceremony) and ended at Indian Summer Golf Club. This was a wedding for a daughter of my friend Suzy Justin, who owns Black Tie Espresso Catering.
Then early the next morning on less than two hours of sleep, it was off to the airport with the family: A weeks vacation in California! We visited Sea World, Disneyland, California Adventure and Universal Studios. Unfortunately, upon our return, we learned that our home had been burglarized and some DJ equipment stolen. Luckily, that equipment has been recovered thanks to some great teamwork and communication. Thanks to Joel, Petey, Ben, Ellen and Amy for putting it all together. Unfortunately, the trail led to someone we know and our relationship with that person is no longer. But thankfully, no one got hurt and we're back to square one with our gear. November 14th was our last busy weekend until December 5th...a wedding at Kensington Gardens, a charity event at Annie Wright and another wedding at the Pagoda at Point Defiance. For now, Thanksgiving is near and Christmas shortly thereafter. I'll write again after our crazy December...lots of holiday parties, weddings and other fine events! Take care and please contact Adam's DJ Service if you have a need for music at an event.
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