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All images courtesy JOANNE & WILL ROSS

The Hawaii wedding of Joanne & Will Ross was truly an international affair, with guests coming from both sides of the Pacific Ocean to witness and celebrate the event, so it was truly fitting for them to have their wedding in Hawaii, almost halfway between their countries. They first met in 2008 in Greece, on a random holiday in which Joanne, traveling solo, was invited to join the group that Will was traveling in. A connection was made, and at the end of the trip, both Joanne & Will agreed to stay in touch. Not even an ocean and a 17+ hour time difference could have prevented what happened next: a long-distance friendship blossomed into love, and when they reconnected in person in Hawaii a year later, it was evident that this would be more than simply a passing romance. By the end of their trip, Will had proposed, and Joanne had accepted…

Which led to an incredibly lovely Hawaii destination wedding in August 2010 at St. Augustine’s Church in Honolulu, HI, followed by a fun & elegant celebration at the Hilton Hawaiian Village that evening. With almost all of their guests traveling in from Australia and the Continental US, it was very important to Joanne & Will for their audience to feel involved and have fun. So as their Hawaii wedding DJ and Master of Ceremonies, I helped them to create a very fun, lively, and elegant event that was reflective of their passions and personalities, and got their audience involved in the presentation!

The Grand Entrance set the tone of the day, as guests cheered for the wedding party. It was a standing ovation for Will & Joanne as they entered to the iconic Hawaii Five-O Theme–guests who knew Joanne appreciated the song choice, as Joanne is a big TV trivia buff and used the Hawaii Five-O theme as her ringtone for her cell phone!

 
The First Dance followed, and it was a perfectly romantic moment.

One of Joanne’s passions is playing trivia, so her guests were able to partake in Joanne’s passion by answering fun trivia questions about the newlyweds throughout the night to decide who goes next to the buffet and to win great prizes!

Marino asks a trivia question.
 

 

 

After dinner, the romance and fun continued, with an upbeat & elegant cake-cutting followed by several touching toasts and speeches by the wedding party and guests.

 

 

JIM (groomsman) delivers his speech.
 

Joanne’s father BARRY gives some well-wishes to the newlyweds.
 

Bridesmaid JENNI & Maid of Honour NADIA tell some stories about Joanne.
 

Will’s Best Man & father WILL ROSS JR. is pithy with his presentation.
 

Will’s sisters officially welcome Joanne to the Ross family.
 

Joanne & Will address their audience.
 

Instead of the traditional bouquet & garter tosses, Joanne & Will intended to honor their parents, so we incorporated the Anniversary Game to include the guests in the presentation and enliven the moment. The result was a very powerful and emotional moment for Will, Joanne, their parents, and the guests.

Although it was not originally part of the presentation, Joanne’s guests requested impromptu bouquet & garter tosses, so we did them!

With the energy running high and guests having a great time, it was simply a matter of playing a wide mix of music that got everyone up and dancing throughout the night! As their Hawaii wedding DJ, I played everything from Sinatra all the way to Lady GaGa.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All images courtesy JOANNE & WILL ROSS
 

The night ended with a memorable flourish as Joanne, Will, and their guests closed out the night with one of her favorite songs, I Do I Do I Do I Do by ABBA. As the song ended, guests surrounded the newlyweds and showered them with their love and appreciation!

Special thanks to Stevie Kumia with Best Bridal, for overseeing the ceremony and reception setup, as well as Anna Hinkley, her banquet captain Frankie, and their wonderful staff at the Hilton Hawaiian Village, for taking care of Joanne, Will, and their guests. The party would not have been as successful without their kokua (help).

Congratulations to Joanne & Will Ross. It was an honour to serve you.

All images courtesy JOANNE & WILL ROSS
 

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Brian, Brian’s sister Geri, and Genesa

Genesa & Brian’s wedding last Saturday was one of those parties where the timeline and script goes out the window…for a good reason. When I first met them, they told me they wanted a very fun and elegant celebration. Based on this, I helped them create a very personalized and engaging party that was reflective of their personal and musical tastes, as well as would get the audience involved in a very elegant and fun manner.

So the wedding day comes, and as guests arrive and mingle during cocktail hour, they enjoy a wonderful jazz and classical playlist put together by Brian & Genesa. This wasn’t your usual “Kenny-G-jazz” that gets overplayed during cocktail hour; guests were treated to contemporary jazz works by Dave Brubeck, Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock (Brian’s type of music) as well as classical string quartet music by Bach, Beethoven, and Mozart (Genesa’s).

After warming up the crowd, I introduced the wedding party with the Grand Entrance, and the festivities were underway. With the introduction of Mr. & Mrs. Brian & Genesa Que, the applause was loud and enthusiastic; the audience really showed their love for the couple.

During dinner, instead of the banquet captain releasing each table, I had the honor of sending the tables to the buffet, with a unique twist. Each table was named after a place of importance to Brian & Genesa, and as I released each table, I told stories about why these locations are significant to the newlyweds. For some, it was revealing to learn something about the couple that they may have not known about.

The party really took off during the cake-cutting. For their cake-cutting music, Genesa had chosen Faith Hill’s The Way You Love Me, and the upbeat song was enough to get the guests up to dance! Although we still had the toasts, bouquet & garter, and activities to do, it seemed the guests were ready to let loose! So with Genesa’s permission, we opened the dancefloor and the rest, as they say, is history!

We eventually did the toasts and other traditional elements of a reception throughout the night. It was totally impromptu and spontaneous, but it worked out perfectly. The guests made many great requests (including many requests for the music of Michael Jackson), danced to almost every song, and enjoyed themselves.

Although I was still playing some great jams, the audience finally “hit the wall” around 10pm. By then, everyone was tired, so I put on the last dance of the night and invited everyone to join Genesa & Brian on the dancefloor for a last dance. The final surprise was the impromptu Tarantella which evolved out of the last dance–totally spontaneous, totally fun, totally in keeping with Genesa’s Italian-American heritage!

In the end, a very tired Genesa & Brian were happy with the results as their guests raved about the wonderful party that the newlyweds had thrown.

Here was the planned timeline for Saturday’s event. Of course, with the fluid and spontaneous nature of the party, the times and order of events went out the door…

And here’s the soundtrack of Brian & Genesa’s celebration.

Note that in addition to the great songs for their soundtrack, Genesa & Brian had specific playlists for their cocktail hour and dinner music, songs which have much meaning and significance to them.

Thanks to Brian’s brother-in-law Chris Audette for taking the great images you see in this post.

Special thanks to the following vendors and people who helped make this day very special:

• Laura Gregory with Mid-Pacific Country Club, for providing the great food and beautiful location for their celebration;
• Keith, Jeth, and David with Graphics by Keith, who captured the amazing moments of the night with their cameras;
• Joyce & Cecilia with The Bridal Boutique for helping Genesa look stunning in her wedding gown;
• Genesa’s friend Helene for creating such gorgeous decor for the room;
• Genesa’s mom Anna for helping to make sure that Genesa did not go crazy before and during the celebration;
• And last but certainly not least, the guests, who helped to make this party very fun, lively, and elegant as Genesa & Brian wanted it to be.

To everyone who traveled near and far to celebrate with Brian & Genesa,

Thank You.

Your presence and participation made this event that much more memorable for Brian & Genesa.