Marino's Hawaii Wedding Emcee & DJ/Entertainment Blog

Aloha from the Valley Isle! I’m here today preparing for Janilee & Melvin’s Maui wedding this Saturday at the Wailuku Community Center, and I’m excited about it. They had their final planning meeting with me earlier today to go over any last minute changes for their wedding celebration, and we’re good to go! They are planning a really lively, original, and fun celebration: a unique trivia game to release the tables to the buffet, an original bouquet toss activity, Last Man Sitting for the garter giveaway, and much more!

On FRIDAY, I finalize their musical soundtrack, burn it onto two CDs, print & put together the “script” for the celebration, then rehearse, rehearse, rehearse! I pick up my assistant Lesley around 10pm, then get a good night’s rest.

On SATURDAY, I leisurely wake up, have a good breakfast, rehearse the presentation with Lesley a few more times (to make sure that we’ve coordinated the music cues to the presentation), and then get to the community center around 3pm. After helping my friend Bud set up his DJ system and checking to make sure all of the audiovisual logistics are in place…IT’S SHOWTIME!

The next few days will be intense, but the result, on Saturday at Janilee & Melvin’s wedding celebration, will be absolutely worth it.

How much time should a good emcee devote to something as important as your wedding?

If you want your wedding to turn out good, be like Janilee & Melvin: make sure that your Master of Ceremonies puts in the necessary preparation and rehearsal time in order to make your wedding as fun, stress-free, and perfect as can be.

Thanks for reading. Now I have to go rehearse.

written by Marino_NinjaEntertainment \\ tags: Advice, planning, preparation, stressfree, unique

Last June, I was the Master of Ceremonies for EVANGELINE & RODELIO’S wedding.

It was such a fun and lively wedding–nonstop laughter and enjoyable moments throughout the night. We did the Kissing Games countless times (each time brought upon by the newlyweds themselves!), and the Personalized Grand Entrance was a hit. Guests rolled with laughter when we introduced the Best Man and surprised him with his very own version of Bud Light’s Real Men of Genius commercial!

Recently, Vange & Rodelio received another great “blessing”…the birth of their daughter, AVA! Congratulations!

It’s always a blessing for me to hear about how well my friends are doing. Congratulations again on starting a family!

written by Marino_NinjaEntertainment \\ tags: babies, Family

Here’s a great tip to help make the wedding planning experience much more stress-free:

Create a free Yahoo! or Google G-Mail email address strictly for your wedding planning.

This is good for several reasons:

• You don’t clutter up your regular email address with wedding-related emails, especially if you plan to use the email address to sign up for various mailing lists.
• You can keep ALL of your wedding-related email correspondence from your wedding professionals and guests without having to worry about mailbox space.
• Since the emails you receive will be strictly wedding-related, it will be easier and faster to search for a particular wedding-related email if you need to look up something that was said a long time ago.
• You make the accounting & budgeting for your wedding easier and faster if all of your invoices and receipts are sent to the same email address.
• Use it also for your e-RSVPs, making it easier to track who’s coming to your wedding and who isn’t.

So simply sign up for a free Yahoo! or Google G-Mail email address, use it strictly for wedding-related business, and make your life easier!

written by Marino_NinjaEntertainment \\ tags: Advice, email, newsletter, planning, stressfree, VIP

Do you have a Devil’s Advocate in your wedding planning process? The DA is a person or group of people who assumes the negative perspective to squash your unique or creative ideas. He represents a subtle yet toxic danger to your wedding plans, minimizing your opportunity for a creative and memorable wedding celebration. The DA is the one who often reminds you that an idea or wedding professional is “too expensive,” “not important,” or “it won’t work,” without offering solutions as to how to make it work.

Such negativity will only hold you back from achieving your ideal wedding celebration.

For example, let’s say that you meet a really awesome Certified Professional Master of Ceremonies who can help you create a fun, memorable celebration that YOU want. He has a lot of creative and fresh ideas to make your party very entertaining, enjoyable, and stress-free. He has the experience to make it happen. You want to hire him. But your mother-in-law constantly tells you that it won’t work.

• “He’s too expensive.”
• “You can get Uncle Kekoa & Aunty Lynn to do it for free.”
• “A photographer is more important because you need great pictures.”

In this example, your mother-in-law is the Devil’s Advocate. All she does is highlight what won’t work without offering any solutions or ideas on how to make your idea work.

You need to make sure the Devil’s Advocate isn’t too active in the wedding planning process. Her negativity will prevent you from having the wedding you want, since she will always give you doubts about your decisions. keep her as far away from you, if possible!

If you want to have someone take a negative position to keep you on track, choose a person who not only criticizes, but also helps you find solutions on how to make your ideas work. Using the above example, let’s say your BFF brings up the same objections as your mother-in-law, but she also offers ideas on how to make it work:

• “If you really want that emcee, we can cut from another part of the budget that is less important.”
• “Can we get the professional emcee to do all of the formal stuff, and have Aunty Lynn & Uncle Kekoa do the personal stories and stuff?”
• “Let’s go for a cheaper package from the photographer, so you can have your favorite photographer AND that Master of Ceremonies that you want.”

In this case, instead of shooting down your great idea, you have someone help you to make it happen.

And when your wedding happens the way you want it to happen, you’ll be much happier with the result, won’t you?

So lose the Devil’s Advocate, and have Your Dream Wedding Reception.

written by Marino_NinjaEntertainment \\ tags: Advice, creative, Fun, stressfree, unique

This week’s Weekly Wedding Tip has just been released! If you’re a Wedding VIP Club member, check your inboxes for it. This week’s article covers live music; it contains tips on choosing the right live band for your reception, when to program it during the celebration, and other important questions you should be aware of. If you are considering hiring live music for your celebration, this week’s tip will be very insightful!

If you aren’t a member of my Wedding VIP Club and would like to receive these free wedding tips, becoming a member is simple and easy! Just surf on over to

http://weddingvip.ninjaentertainment.com

Fill out all of the requested information, and then check your email for a confirmation email. Click the link in the confirmation email, and you should be good to go!

written by Marino_NinjaEntertainment \\ tags: Advice, free, music

Last Saturday, I had the honor of hosting the Kahala Mall Wedding Spectacular, providing DJ services, and serving as the “warmup act” for Sweetie Pacarro from KSSK Radio. We had a great time.

My dealings with the production actually started much earlier. Julie, the publisher from Hawaii Bride & Groom Magazine, asked me sometime in April if I wanted to participate, and of course I said yes! As we got closer to the date, my role evolved from simply having a booth to eventually helping the show producers create an entertaining and elaborate “stage show” that would keep the audience entertained for the duration of the event.

On Tuesday (May 5), I met Kelly & Jennifer from Kahala Mall to go over the presentation, and they gave me the main “bullet points” that I needed to cover. With that information, I “scripted” my part of the presentation, added musical cues to enhance the production, and prepared some wedding games to involve the audience in.

On the day of the event, I loaded in around 8am, quickly set up the sound equipment, ran through a soundcheck, got dressed in my tux, and mentally went over the production. At 10:00am, I started playing music from Mamma Mia, the hit Broadway musical and one of the sponsors to the event.

Around 10:30am, the party started! After welcoming the audience, I explained the first game we would play throughout the day: The Cell Phone Game. After getting my cell phone number, audience members would call in with correct answers to trivia questions I would ask, and the first caller won raffle tickets for prizes later that day. The audience also played through a version of the Anniversary Game (with the winner ultimately announcing that she has been married 52 years) and Last Man Sitting (a garter giveaway game).

I also introduced Jayne & Kahele, Hawaii Bride & Groom’s Wedding of a Lifetime sweepstakes winner, to say a few words, as well as Matt & Cara, the stars of Oceanic Time Warner Cable’s hilarious digital TV commercials.

At 11:30am, with the audience sufficiently primed and ready to go, I turned the microphone over to Sweetie Pacarro from KSSK, who continued the fun by announcing the KSSK Prize Wheel and hosting a Mamma Mia dance contest. Contestants strutted their stuff and showed off their best dance moves to win tickets to Mamma Mia.

In the end, it was a lot of fun! I enjoyed it because I got to work with some wonderful professionals. And the audience had a great time with the games, dance contest, prize wheel, and more!

written by Marino_NinjaEntertainment \\ tags: event, Fun, kahala, planning

This month’s Wedding VIP Club newsletter just went out yesterday, and it’s full of great information:

• Rehearsal tips for your Master of Ceremonies;
• Ideas to bring on some romance this summer;
• For your husband-to-be: a link and/or video clip about choosing the right tuxedo;
• And much more.

Of course, we recognize recently married couples, celebrate anniversaries, announce “Save The Dates”,welcome our new Wedding VIP Club members, and more!

So if you are current member of the Wedding VIP Club, check your inboxes for the latest issue of the newsletter. If it isn’t in your inbox, it may have been placed in your bulk mail folder by accident.

If you aren’t yet a member and want to join, simply surf on over to

http://weddingvip.ninjaentertainment.com

Fill out all of the requested information, and then check your email for a confirmation email. Click the link in the confirmation email, and you should be good to go!

If you have any questions or comments about the articles on the newsletter, please feel free to ask!

written by Marino_NinjaEntertainment \\ tags: Advice, news, newsletter, VIP

This Saturday, May 9, from 10:00am-2:00pm, I will be the “warmup act” and provide Hawaii DJ Services for a FREE bridal spectacular at Kahala Mall, produced by Kahala Mall & Mama Mia! (The upcoming musical at the Blaisdell) in partnership with Hawaii Bride & Groom Magazine and KSSK Radio. This is your invitation; come on down and join in the fun!

From 10:00-11:00am, I will present wedding games and activities that you can participate in and win great prizes. You can also meet Jayne & Kahele, Hawaii Bride & Groom’s Wedding of a Lifetime winners, and hear about their experience. You also will meet Matt & Cara, Oceanic’s HILARIOUS married couple (you’ve seen their TV ads promoting digital cable), as they talk about their own “wedding” and how life is like now that they are “married” and having to share the cable box!

From 11:00am-2:00pm, Sweetie Pacarro from KSSK will host a great dance contest to win tickets to Mamma Mia, Kahala Mall gift certificates, and more! KGMB’s weather anchor Guy Hagi and his wife Kim Gennaula will be the guest judges. Also, come meet the lovely contestants of the 2009 Mrs. Hawaii Pageant!

In addition, you will see display booths by Hawaii Bride & Groom advertisers, an awesome sidewalk sale/trunk show by Kahala Mall merchants, and much, much more.

Get more info by visiting http://www.kahalamallcenter.com/cms/index.php?page=mall-promotions

I’ll be there serving as the “warmup act” and also providing Hawaii DJ services as well. I’ll see you there!

written by Marino_NinjaEntertainment \\ tags: Emcee, Fun, games, kahala, Partnerships, sound

My good friends Cecilia & Joyce from the Bridal Boutique just announced a special on their spring lines of bridesmaid dresses: If you buy three dresses for your ladies, you get a fourth dress FREE.

So if you haven’t found your girls a dress yet, now is the time to do so! Dresses from the Bridal Boutique are made of good quality fabric, come in a wonderful assortment of colors & styles, and provide a good value for your investment. And getting a fourth dress for FREE is always nice!

Check out their blog at

http://www.thebridalboutique.wordpress.com

Tell ‘em Marino sent you!

written by Marino_NinjaEntertainment \\ tags: Advice, bridesmaid, dress, free, Partnerships