[Jim Casey]

It all started Friday afternoon.

We have a venue I have mentioned here before called Inn By The Sea in Cape Elizabeth. They are very strict about the way music is played and make you sign a Band/DJ Contract before you can perform there.

Anyway, a couple from New Jersey had
booked me for this venue just 3 weeks ago (May 30th). She is disabled from a car accident but trying to do most of the planning.

Also, she has NEVER been to Maine before but they both love lighthouses and possibly the most recognized one on the East Coast is Portland Head Light just a 10 minute drive from the venue.

So, I literally out her in touch with a photographer, officiant, hair dresser and a couple of other professionals within 2 hours. Wedding is planned.


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Friday June 20th - Inn By The Sea Incident
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Now back to Friday. I go to the Inn By The Sea for a site walk. Ceremony is planner for outdoors. I get the quickie tour (April the coordinator seemed bothered that I was there)

So, as I leave I hear.."Jim!"

I look and lo and behold, my bride for the Sunday wedding is there. We talk a few minutes, make some last minute changes and I am off...

Except April says "Have you signed the DJ Contract yet?"

I tell her no and I was not intending to. My contract is with my client, not the venue.

"Well you will not be allowed to play here if you do not sign"

I get furious. We go back and forth in the lobby for a couple of minutes then I see my client with her head down.

I go "Give me the damn thing to sign! Unlike you, I wouldn't let anything ruin her day"

Remember this in in the front lobby.

April sat there stunned for a moment. Then proceeded to walk off.

I was ready to leave once again when my client told me that the officiant had yet to send the vows her way. So I asked the staff if they had internet access for me to email them from my laptop. The front desk staff helped me out with that and were very gracious.

I sent the email and was on my less than merry way still fuming over the embarrassment.


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Saturday June 21st - Reception for 2 Disc Jockeys
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I am nervous as hell about this all day long. I am contracted for 6:30-12:30 (later was reduce to 12 by the venue) and am to set up a full load of lights.

I have never used a ten foot truss until Saturday night.

I arrive at 4:15pm for the 6:30 start time. I set up fairly rapidly. I forgot the middle piece that holds the two large pieces together so I impovise. Also forgot some of the hardware. Fortunately, the hardware store is almost next door.

5:35pm. I am all set up and ready to test. Just as I do, the manager of the venue speaks to me saying that sometimes DJs have a rough time using lights here due to everything being on one circuit.

Testing is fine for two miuntes (lights and all) when suddenly the light shut down. The music did not.

Blew a fuse in my power strip.

Wouldn't you know it, I am OUT OF FUSES!

ARGGGGGGGGHHHHHH!

I quickly manuever to make a different configuration for power.

Fortunately, after some problems, that works.

6:05pm, I am putting the finishing touches on when the first guests arrive.

YIKES! I'm a sweaty mess!

I start the music and bolt to change.

Arrvials were due at 7:13-7:30pm with dinner at 7:40pm

The Bride & Groom had their wedding 15 miles away and rented a tour trolley for transportation.

The wedding started 20 minutes late.

They lost another 15 minutes as the trolley waited for them to get on board for pictures at a different location from the ceremony.

All this added up to an 8:25 introduction. An introduction of 31 people. YIKES!

Dinner is ready at 8:45 and there 266 people to feed.

Well, I have never seen a buffet move the way this one did. Four lines, 266 people, only 34 minutes.

They kept the food out for another 15-20 minutes so people could get seconds and so that the b&g coul greet each person individually. Yup...264 people individually. You do the math

Original plan was for open dancing by 9:00pm.
It was nearly 10:30 when we got into it.

I literally picked out ALL of the music I would need for an hour and half and stacked the Cds within easy reach.

Only went away from that list twice. Dancing turned out awesome.

They seemed very happy.

I was very relieved.


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Sunday June 22nd - Monday June 23rd
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Now it is time for my Sunday wedding at the Inn By The Sea. I am contracted 6:30-12:00am for what I thought were 15 guests. More in just a sec on that.

I arrive and a coordinator named Dennis helps me out.

He was truly a breath of fresh air. The man knows how to handle vandors correctly. He explained the history behind the DJ contract and why they have it.

He also said that the Entertainment makes the party and he highly regards us!

It put my mind much more at ease.

So the ceremony is still scheduled for outside at 6:30pm. We have had sunny breaks followed by sprinkles. Sprinkles don't bother me.

I call my on-call Meterologist who happens to not be in the area becuase they did not have a 6 o'clock newscast. So I call my backup. It wasn't my backup, but a backup for my backup.

I ask her if we would be OK for a 6:30 wedding. She says just a scattered sprinkle or tow.

Ok...so I set up outdoors (no tent) thinking I would be Ok.

As I finish setup at 5:45pm, it starts to pour, almost a tropical downpour. I am like so screwed until I see Dennis (wedding coordinator) running with trashbags to cover my speakers!

WOW! That I didn;t expect.

I throw my CD Mix 2, wirless mic and music underneath the table and start to run for cover when I realize that my van is wide open and my garment bag in on the top of my van!

Imaging a 300 lb ball running through a rainstorm. That's what it looked like. I'm sure I looked ridiculous.

So I get to my van and bring in this soppin wet garment bag, I'm thinking, boy am I screwed!

I let it dry a bit and go ahead to setup my main system for the indoor reception and now ceremony location.

The room this was in is literally two master bedroomsput together. They have a dinner table with 15 chairs already out. Things get moved around and I setup in the smallest space I have ever setup in.

Now, I go to change into my tux fearing the worst. I figure I will be soaked all night long.

To my astonishment, it was completely dry on the inside. I didn't realize my garment bag was waterproof. Thank God!

Ok, so everything is in some order at 6:15pm. The wedding was delayed until at least 7:00pm so I have time to retrieve my wet equipment and I did.

Wasn't very badly wet at all.

6:30pm I am up in the room waiting when a crisis develops. Seems one of the sons (who is reported to be bi-polar) is havin an episode and refuses to cooperate with the pictures or anything.

This delays everything by at least a half hour.

Now it is 7:00pm and the bride is in pain. Her disability makes it very painful forher to move and walk.

Finally, about 7:30pm we get word she is ready. Ceremony finally got underway at 7:35pm and lasted 45 minutes to about 8:20. She and her fiancee were seated the entire time.

I will saythis was one of themore emotional weddings I had been to in awhile. They had been together 20 years ago, stayed toegether for 5 years, separated for 12. He fought to win her back even after the accident that left her disabled. It was a touching story that it worked out this way. This was certainly a wedding I was proud to be at.

I count only 9 people total including bride and groom at the wedding.

Wedding finished at 8:20 and it is now time for their pictures. Origianlly they were going to Portland Head Light, but the raid, delays and darkness made that impossible. So they did them onsite.

That's bound to speed things up with only 9 people right?

WRONG!

Many are chain smokers and neede to have a cigarette every five minutes. So I didn't see anyone back in the room until 9:50pm

I didn't have to play a not of music because all 9 people were part of the bridal party!

Cocktail/Social hour began at 10:00. They asked me and the other wedding professionals to sit with them. I had a CD of their music set and let it roll. Great conversation among all of us. Now there were 14 people there. 9 from the wedding and 5 vendors. WOW!

Dinner started at 10:55pm. (Yes barely more than a hour before midnight) We had a salad and bread course first.

Remember, I was contracted until 12:00 midnight.
I asked Dennis if we could stay later so they could dance. He agreed and did not charge them. I told them at 11:45 I would stay another hour if they wished at no extra charge so they could dance.

Finally, their first dance came at 12:12am Monday June 23rd.

There were no parents atthe wedding as almost all were deceased so we proceeded to do an Ice Breaker Dance to the weirdest choice I have ever had for one "Ballroom Blitz" by Sweet.

Played a slow song, bouquet and garter, two song rock block, one hip-hop song, and everyone was just wiped from the extremely long day.

Ended at 12:49am Monday.

So I went from doing a 266 person wedding (largest I have done) to a 9 person wedding (by far the smallest I have ever done) and got two awesome referrals from it.

And...

Ironically enough two of the nine at the Sunday wedding are getting married in November backin New Jersey and would like to have the photographer and I at their wedding.

I'm not so sure it will work out, but if it does that will be the largest wedding for me. He is talkign about over 400 guests!

YIKES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hopefully Rob Peters will share his weekend with us too. His story os just as weird!

[ June 24, 2003, 12:46 PM: Message edited by: Jim Casey ]