Kenny Casanova – The DJ Service

In the Black Eyed Peas smash hit single, “I Gotta Feeling,” we hear the words, “Mazel Tov.” Even if you have no Jewish background, you probably can guess that this term is associated with celebration. This term, however, is the same term used with “The Breaking Glass Jewish Wedding Tradition.”

The breaking of the drinking glass occurs at the end of the Jewish wedding ceremony when the groom stomps down on a glass to crush it, and thereafter the guests shout, “Mazel Tov!” Have you ever wondered where the breaking glass Jewish wedding tradition comes from and what it means?

There are many explanations of why we do this and where the actual Jewish wedding tradition came from. Here are a few of the most popular explanations:

• Superstition: A loud noise is thought to drive away evil spirits that may slow down the celebration.
• Consummation of Marriage: A breaking of the glass represents symbolically the virginal bride giving herself to the groom and the consummation of the marriage.
• Fragility: The glass symbolizes the love of the bride and groom and breaking the glass shows how this love is fragile, so it must be cared for that it not be broken.
• Broken World: A reminder that although this couple came together as a strong single union, the world as a whole is broken and needs mending done, together.
• Foreverness: A broken Jewish wedding glass is forever changed, likewise, the couple are forever changed by the marriage and take on a new form.
• Many Children: Be Fruitful. A hope that your happiness will be as plentiful as the shards of glass…or that your children will be as plentiful as the shards of glass.
• Sadness/Joy: A reminder that even in times of great joy that there is sadness. That life will bring sadness as well as joy.

So which do you choose? Couples should choose the interpretation that resonates with them and this will make that part of your ceremony more meaningful. Many couples like to include a brief explanation in their wedding program that describes which interpretation they have chosen and what it means to them.

Any glass may be used for the Jewish wedding glass, although most couples choose a special glass, perhaps colored glass. Make certain the glass you choose is not too thick. (Remember, it needs to be easily broken when stepped on!) It is typically wrapped in a cloth napkin to avoid dangerous flying glass shards. Sometimes it is enclosed in a pre-made cloth bag.

Learn a little more about Jewish wedding traditions: Guide to the Jewish Wedding.

Good luck with your wedding planning….Mazel Tov!

Do you remember the kid’s version of the wedding march? “Here Comes the Bride, All Fat and Wide!” This version of Wagner’s classic may have ruined it for everybody! So… What are other good wedding songs for walking down the aisle? Of course the obvious answer is that any song that is meaningful to the two of you is perfect.

Making a list of songs that aren’t usually played at weddings seems like an oxymoron. It’s therefore an anti-list. If it isn’t a song you usually hear, then it could be anything! Anyhow, there are actually a handful of songs that do seem to see some regularity in non traditional wedding ceremonies, despite the fact that they are not the norm. Here are a few:

Only Time – Enya
I Wanna Grow Old With You – Adam Sandler
At Last – Etta James
I Want To Spend My Lifetime Loving You – Josh Groban
Unchained Melody – Righteous Brothers or Il Divo
The Prayer – Andrea Bocelli & Celine Dion
Warmness on the Soul – Avenged Sevenfold
For My Wedding – Don Henley
You Are So Beautiful – Joe Cocker
You And I – Michael Bublé
Love Me Tender – Norah Jones ft Adam Levy
You Are The One – Elliott Yamin
The Luckiest – Ben Folds Five
Heavenly Day – Patty Griffin
I will be here – Steven Curtis Chapman
I’ll Be – Edwin McCain’s
Happy Together – The Turtles
Time of Your Life – Green Day
I will Follow You into The Dark – Death Cab for Cutie
Love And Marriage – Freank Sinatra
Wonderwall – Oasis
Slide – GooGoo Dolls
When I see You Smile – Bad English
Extraordinary – Better than Ezra
Everybody Loves Somebody – Dean Martin
Crush – Dave Matthews
Bring Me to Life – Evanescence
She will be Loved – Maroon 5
Beautiful Day – U2
Silverstein – still dreaming
Bob Marley- is this love
Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop – Landon Pigg
Born for You – David Pomeranz
A Moment Like This – Kelly Clarkson

It is funny how since the last episode of The Sopranos, everyone and there mom loves the song “Don’t Stop Believing” by Journey. If you have a song that is “your song,” then an instrumental version of it might be perfect for you. There are classical bands like Vitamin String Quartet who do songs like “You Shook Me All Night Long” by AC-DC, but in an elegant arrangement. This could sooth the older guests, while also make the younger ones smile.

Overall, realize that music sets the mood. Think about the atmosphere you absolutely want for your wedding ceremony. Is it elegant, rocking, fun, festive, friendly, classy, one of a kind, Celtic, Italian, natural, unique? Think of music that fits with how you want your guests to feel and how you’ll want to feel that day. Don’t feel forced. You don’t have to choose something from those silly wedding music CDs, it doesn’t have to say “wedding” on it at all, as long as it says you.

The wedding ceremony was beautiful. The food was great. People are having a good time. The cake was delicious. Everything seemed just right, but then all of the sudden… UGH! It’s The Dreaded Chicken Dance!

The bride looks at the groom and says, “This is the one song I hate more than anything in the world.”

While it may sound simple, not everyone thinks to make… THE DO NOT PLAY LIST!

If you want to be really prepared, make a list of songs that you actually loath. Give your DJ the list. This way when the party part of your big day comes about, it’s only what you really want.

While your must-hear song list may seem very important, a do not play list in many situations, may be even more important!

The Karaoke Crocodile Show – Villa Valenti Pub – Pawling Ave – Troy, NY

Come check us out for yourself… Every Friday and Saturday. Starting at 1opm!

http://www.karaokecrocodile.com

(Some Saturday nights the fun starts an hour or so without me, as I have many weddings to DJ. But fear not… If you are showing up for the Karaoke Jam – DJ Kenny Casanova will be there shortly.)

Ceremony Music – The Basics

Music for your wedding ceremony is important. This part of the day is the serious time set aside where the bride and groom express their feelings for one another and exchange their vows. That means, all in all,  the ceremony is the time set aside for the mushy stuff. Therefore, you probably want to think about slower classical wedding music, new age, or very slow classic rock or pop ballads.

No matter how you look at, there are a few stages to a wedding ceremony, before the bride and groom say I do:

PRELUDE – There should be about four or five songs played as a prelude when the guests are seated. This sets the atmosphere for the guests. If you have no music playing, it feels more like a funeral than a wedding! The music selections should be light and elegant.  A different song is often selected when the mothers of the bride and groom are seated.

PROCESSIONAL – The groomsmen and the groom usualy move to the front from the side. They do not walk down the aisle, This signifies that the ceremony is about to formally begin. There are two songs during the processional: one song is chosen for when the bridesmaids enter, and the other song is to be the most dramatic choice, selected for play when the bride walks down the aisle.

RECESSIONAL - One last song is played after the kiss for the bride and groom  to walk back up the aisle to. Think happy!  The music played in the recessional, should symbolize the happiness of the couple’s new life together.

If you are like many, you probably want the traditional classic wedding music, but have NO CLUE what the songs are called. Here is my playlist when I am told to play the traditional favorites:

1) PRELUDE: Spring, Canon in D,  Four Seasons Winter, Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring,

2) PROCESSIONAL – Air of The G String

3) BRIDAL MARCH – Traditional Bridal March Song “Bridal Chorus from Lohengrin” Richard Wagner (also known as “Here Comes the Bride.“)

4) RECESSIONAL – The main one is Mendelssohn— “ Wedding March” from Midsummer Night’s Dream (Traditional Recessional), some also select Beethoven’s “Ode To Joy” from Symphony No. 9: Movement 4.

EXTRA SELECTIONS – There can be additional specialized songs selecte at different points in the ceremony, depending on the actual ceremony itself. Sometimes a special song can be played during or after the exchanging the rings and vows, and the lighting a unity candle.

RESTRICTIONS – Some churches have rules about wedding songs used during your ceremony so be sure to ask your clergy person or officiant! Remember, if you are non-traditional, you might get a kick out of white wedding, but your reverend may very well not be a Billy Idol fan.

There is a growing trend to get away from the traditional classic music. However, it is recommended that you shy away from anything upbeat. Adding too much craziness to the ceremony is not recommended, because it takes away from the seriousness of the union at hand. For your wedding ceremony, your music selections should all probably still be softer and with a slower tempo. However, that doesn’t mean you have do the same thing everyone does.

You can totally customize the song selection to fit your taste.  There is plenty of good music out there that may be better suited for you than classical music.   One of the most moving bridal marches I have seen was set to Enya’s “Only Time.”  However, the most memorable one was last summer, when I had a bride who walked down the aisle to Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire,” so go figure.

Say cheese!

When you book a photographer, they usually do a super job focusing on the ceremony shots. However, come the end of the night, they are usually gone before the end of the reception occurs. As you well know, the crazy shots happen at the end of the night. If the photographer is gone by then, you have to rely on your guests to take the shots.

This is why we offer a photography package now. For $150, we take 300-500 shots at the reception with professional nikons. There are no watermarks or print packages to worry about. It is very simple. At the end of the night we give you a disc with the pictures for immediate sharing. You have the rights to the shots. The end.

This package is also a great alternative to leaving disposables on the tables and getting back who-knows-what from the best man’s trip to the men’s room.

Email or call us for more intormation. Under certain circumstances, we can also cover the ceremony for an additional charge!

When planning your wedding, you spend a lot of time looking at ideas.  Often those magazines, websites, and uncatalogued have beautiful things, but they are WAY over budget.

I suggest checking out flickr for wedding ideas.  You can get ideas for decorating the venue, the cake, the favors, how to pose for photos, everything.  Flickr lets ANYONE post their photos.  It is great to see what people are actually doing (not just what the magazines want them to be doing).

Here are some great photos on flickr that can get your mind cranking about what IS possible:

Interesting Photo Booth Set-up
Heart Shaped Aerial View
Casual Beachy Sunset Wedding Party
Ladies on the Move -  Men on the Move
Clothespin Placecards
Carnations…and pretty!
Bridal Party from Above – photos from above focus more on faces and less on bodies (they flatter the wrinkly and overweight!)

Photo Pools:

Wedding Details and Ideas
Offbeat Brides
Wedding Photography
Wedding Planners

Well blow me down! You are actually thinking of planning a wedding reception with a pirate theme? Arrrgghh! Well, after all, with the huge box-office smash Pirates of the Caribbean , the pirate-themed reception has sparked new interest, of late. And by pillaging and plundering around, it will be really easy to steal yourself some great tips for your party! Below I have categorized each  aspect of a wedding reception, through the eye patch of a pirate.

INVITATIONS - For wedding invitations, live the gimmick. Print them up on antique looking paper-stock, or age the paper yourself by staining with in coffee (How to Antique Paper). For the intro, start with an eye-catcher like ,”Ahoy! Come walk the plank” or, “Shake your Pirate booty!” Chart a course to your reception with location, time and date in the form of a treasure map. If you want to be REALLY creative and can afford a little extra postage, go to the dollar store and put the map-like invitation into bottles with corks and mail them out!

Any Pirate reception invitation will look more authentic when printed on tan paper at the edges, and maybe made wet with coffee or tea stains. This is normal. You can literally dip each invitation into tea or coffee water and then let it dry to make each invitation look antiquated with age. The older they look, the more convincing they are! You can also add some sand and little tiny decorative seashells or gold covered chocolate coins to each invitation.

COSTUMES - Guests in costumes… You gotta do it! Nuff said!

PLACE CARDS – On each of the place cards, you can opt to write each guest’s name by adding “Pirate” or “Buccaneer” before their name (for example: “Pirate Paul” or “Buccaneer Bob”). You can also make up Pirate-related sounding names like “Peg-Leg Pete”, “Captain Carrie,” “Long-Tooth Larry”, “Blind-Eye Barbie”, “Scarface Sammy”, “Dirty Dog Donny”, and so on and so forth.

GUEST BOOK – You can also have your whole guest population sign their good luck wishes in a book with a huge feather pen… Or how about on a real Pirate flag, posted to the wall. If it’s a typical Jolly Roger flag with the white skull and crossbones on a black flag, it’s best to use a white-out, fabric pen or one of those metallic silver pens for their writing. These can then be attached to feather sticks and left on the tables.

DECORATIONS - To decorate your hall, you know what to do, matey. Think about sailing the sea! You can use anything from sand and sea shells, to bowls of live gold fish. Also, remember to hang pirate flags and fishing nets all around the reception, for that extra finishing touch.

And for that eerie atmosphere, you can take out some of your Halloween decorations (cobwebs, spiders, skeletons, etc.). Here’s a great selection of skeletons. On a skeleton you can put an eye patch around it’s head, a bandana and/or hoop earring, color a few of the teeth with a gold marker, and hang Mardi Gras necklaces around it’s neck.

GUEST TABLES – It would also fun to disperse those gold foil-wrapped chocolate coins, plastic jewels, and a bit of sand and seashells onto your tables. You can also use fishing nets over any kind of tablecloth for your tables. Stick rubber fish, seahorses, plastic oyster shells, lobsters and crabs in the fish net.

PIRATE BOAT PICTURE BOOTH – Picture booths are HUGE at weddings now (awesome example). Now add pirate theme, and BANG! You have a Kodak moment in the making. Have each of your guests pose as a pirate at a ship wheel with some kind of mast or pirate flag in the background. (If Uncle Jerry didn’t come in costume, remember to have extra pirate hats or bandannas around.) Make sure to have each guest ham it up and say, “Aaaargh” while posing for the shot.

If you are creative, you can also make a whole Pirate ship out of cardboard. You’ll need a few refrigerator boxes. Use a hot glue gun and/or duct tape to attach everything together is probably your best bet. Paint it up nice.  It won’t take much, just decorate the Pirate ship with a Pirate flag, a mast, a plank (just a piece of long cardboard) and you should be good to go.

MUSIC - Music will really help the atmosphere and set the mood to your pirate wedding reception. You can either have the DJ mix in music from any kind of Pirate movie you can think of, or throw in an occasional Peter Pan, Captain Bogg & Salty, Toucan Pirates, or Jimmy Buffet. (Just make sure to only do it here and there between good songs, to add to the flavor.)

GAMES AND ACTIVITIES – should be lots of fun for everyone, if many guests arrive in costume. You can add pirates to any line dance with instant success. Also, you can try some kind of pirate Scavenger Hunt, or something to do with walking a plank, or picking something up with a hook set to music.

CANDY TABLE – BOOTY BAGS –You have seen the candy tables, right? When the reception is over, thank your guests for coming with booty bags filled with goofy prizes pirate booty such as toy compasses, foil-wrapped candy coins, or other treasures.

FOOD – Good seafood, of course, needs to be at least one of the choices! Ask your caterer on this one.

BEVERAGES – Pirates love their bottles of rum. It won’t be a pirate-theme without beverages inside real sweet treasure chests. If you’re not up to making your own treasure chest, there are a few really nice Treasure Chests can be found online. You can, however, easily make your own. Take a Styrofoam cooler and paint it brown. You can use gold ribbon to trim the lid and the base of the chest. Then take craft foam and glue panels on to the center of the lid in the front and the other directly below to make the lock. Around the treasure chests, throw around your gold chocolate coins, gummy fish, starburst candies (they look like little treasures), colored beaded necklaces and whatever cool treasures you can find. Then add the ultimate treasure, beverage bottles that only pirates would like. (Maybe Pete’s wicked Ale?)

PUNCH BOWL – Serve your sea faring guests grog or bumboo, made with Caribbean coconut rum for the adults and make soda based for the kids, from the bowls marked with or without an “XXX”.

PIRATE LANGUAGE LIST – You may wish to name your tables, or just have pirate language printed out for people to get into the spirit. Here’s a list full of Pirate phrases that could liven up the party:

Avast! (Hey!)
Aye (another way to say – “Yes!”)
Ahoy, me Hearties! (just like saying – Hello, my friends)
Blow me down! (expression of shock, disbelief, strong emotion, surprise)
Booty (treasure)
Buccaneer (a Pirate)
Dead men tell no tales (expression indicating to leave no survivors)
Fair winds! (goodbye, good luck!)Thar’ she blows! (whale sighting)
Grog (generally, any alcoholic drink Pirate’s drink)
Grub (food)
Heave Ho (give it some strength and muscle)
Jolly Roger (a Pirate’s flag – one with a white skull and crossbones over black)
Lookout (someone posted to keep watch on the horizon for signs of land or other ships)
Swab the deck (to clean the deck)
Shiver me timbers! (expression of shock, disbelief, strong emotion, surprise)
Sea-dog (an experienced sea-man)
Me (my)
Me Hearties (a typical way for a Pirate to address his crew)
Shark bait (foes)
Sail ho! (I see a ship!)
Shipshape (well organized, finished, under control…)
Yo-ho-ho (something Pirate’s tend to say, whether it actually means anything or not)

Have fun with whatever you do, and don’t be afraid to be different. Non-traditional wedding receptions are the ones people always remember, and isn’t that the point?

It’s been a couple of decades since The Who (or what’s left of The Who) was relevant in the pop eye. Why did the NFL feel the need to travel back in time to find it’s half time music act? While they were an awesome live band in their prime of the 70’s, by the early 1980s, old age, arthritis, and other various ailments have stricken the band and many members have been replaced. While this is understandable in show business, the Superbowl’s rendition of the band made me wonder just WHO is now in charge of the once great band.

A few months ago, THE WHO, was billed as the half-time performers at this year’s 2110 Super Bowl. At that time I was like, “Man, they are going to have to get out the Geritol for this one.” I had seen some current pictures of Roger Daltry and Pete Townsend and honestly had no idea how they were going to pull if off.

But come on! Did the NFL really think we would fall for it? Who is fooling who? While the band sounded okay due in part to Millie Vanilli lip-sync technology, the entire segment was bizarre to watch with the replacement of the band’s front man. I don’t get it. It is mind-boggling to me why Roger Daltry and Pete Townsend would allow Tom Baker, aka Doctor Who, to replace Daltry, as lead singer. I mean, do they really think we wouldn’t notice?

I don’t begrudge the duo for wanting to keep the band performing. But it’s clear that their best days (or even okay days) are way behind them, and that a time travel exposition to the past may not be one that should be revisited.

It was a total mystery to me why the NFL booked The Who in the first place, until I saw Tom Baker complete with his Austin Powers scarf, filling in for the 65-yer-old Roger Daltry who no longer has it in him. Then it came to me. If one of the buttons popped on Tom Baker’s shirt, no one would have any Janet Jackson flash backs.

All joking aside, as a DJ in my thirties, I feel a lot of sympathy for those aging rockers who want to rock out and look like they did years ago. I am sure that being fifty or sixty on the outside doesn’t matter to most of them, as they still like the teenager idol superstar they once were. However, Tom “Doctor Who” Baker should lose the microphone and stick with traveling the space time continuum in his little green phone booth, robotic dogs and sonic screwdrivers.

A DJ has to keep up on music. It’s not optional. In fact, any good DJ should love music so much they couldn’t not keep up on music.

A few nights ago, I watched the Grammy Awards. There were some great performances, and a lot of talent featured. I love how the Grammys feature all different genres of music and expose amazing musicians to people whose natural inclination would not be to gravitate in their direction.

Here are the artists that were nominated for Best New Artist this year at the 2010 Grammys. Even if it is does not seem like your genre, give it a try. You just might like it.

We’ll start with the winner, the Zac Brown Band, playing Chicken Fried. I also love their Toes.

Next up is Keri Hilson singing Energy. She also did Knock You Down featuring Kanye West and Ne-Yo.

Third we have MGMT aka “The Management” with Kids. Also check out Time to Pretend.

Next on the list is alternative rock band Silversun Pickups. Here they are with Panic Switch. Also check out Lazy Eye.

Last but not least is The Ting Tings. Here they are with That’s Not My Name, and you might also like Great DJ.