"So darlin', darlin' stand, by me..."
After COVID scuppered their plans for a destination wedding in Bali, Chris and Amy invited 50 of their closest (local) friends and family to “Amy’s 30th Birthday” which then transitioned into a surprise wedding. Although Amy’s UK family was sadly unable to attend, a good time was had by their guests who could make it.
Their chosen venue, Sparkke @ The Whitmore, was laid back, cosy and classy. This really was the perfect venue for their event, as it provided a generously sized private area for guests to relax and mingle. It was also a really nice acoustic space and the food was top-shelf - always a bonus!
When playing a longer set, such as this one (4:30-11:30pm), it is important to provide dynamics and mood that match the energy of guests and the flow of the event. We’re mindful that guests will be at the same venue for many hours, so we aim to provide a seamless musical progression from ‘afternoon beer garden’ to ‘dinner conversation’ to ‘after party’.
Amy and Chris’ musical tastes leaned towards a laidback hip-hop, beats, reggae style, with an appreciation of other dance music as well. It was really easy to interpolate their requests amongst our love of soul and funk, with a lot of the 90s hip-hop requests containing ‘samples’ from records in our collection. Some of their requests that we particularly enjoyed were: Brand Nubian “Don’t Let It Go To Your Head”, Method Man “Say”, and Erick Sermon “Music”.
During the early-evening, Chris and Amy snuck off to change into their wedding attire, before re-entering to UB40’s version of “Can’t Help Falling in Love” and saying their vows to one another.
Once the night progressed and guests' energy increased, we bumped the musical energy to build some momentum for the dance floor. There was some solid early-dancefloor action, even before speeches had occurred! Here’s some of the mid-tempo tracks that guests were vibing: Roy Ayers “Love Will Bring Us Back Together”, Client Liaison “Off White Limousine”, and Circle City Band “Magic”.
After the speeches, Amy and Chris danced their first to Playing For Change’s version of “Stand By Me”. Guests joined them on the dancefloor for the next few hours and we particularly enjoyed some of the outrageous dance moves during these songs: Eddy Grant “Electric Avenue”, The Police “Roxanne”, and PNAU “Chameleon”.
At around 11pm, the energy transitioned into a relaxed, lounge vibe, soundtracked by neo-soul and late-night grooves e.g. D’Angelo, Erykah Badu, Maxwell.
Thanks Amy and Chris for having us as your (surprise) wedding DJs.
Chris said: "Super professional setups from these guys. Couldn’t be happier with the epic tunes and party atmosphere they provided for our wedding. Would highly recommend. You won’t be disappointed."
We're available for hire as wedding DJs in Adelaide if you think we're the right fit for your wedding or special event.
Amy and Chris' wedding was photographed by Frankie the Creative.