By: Jim and Natalie were joined by Natalie’s son Noah at the altar and the reception for their wedding at the beautiful Indigo Landing Restaurant, right on the Potomac River just outside Old Town Alexandria.
The bride danced with her friends and family throughout the reception.
We originally met Natalie through a referral from one of our friends, Jamie Burns, with the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Jamie has been at a few of the Great Strides events that we’ve been part of in the past and gave our information to Natalie who contacted us back in June and was able to see some of our services that we offered on the old web site before the overhaul. She liked what she saw and asked us to be her DJ, uplighting and gobo company.
Natalie had a couple of requests for us that we hadn’t worked with. The first, was would it be possible to put three names on the gobo–to include her wonderful son Noah–which we did, and if it was possible to combine cocktail hour with the ceremony. The original plans for the day were to have a 30 minute cocktail hour on the deck of Indigo Landing, then asks guests to take their seats on the back lawn overlooking the Potomac River, then come back after the ceremony for the remainder of cocktail hour while the happy couple took pictures.
Weather on the actual wedding weekend did not cooperate and forced the ceremony inside to the Chesapeake Room which made for a very lovely location for the ceremony. The weather did not affect the “dance deck” which was tented and two heaters were placed on the deck to allow guests to stay warm while dancing. However, the heaters weren’t necessary as the dance deck really got warm with all the dancing later in the evening.
The bride and groom along with their bridal party during the ceremony.
Working with Indigo Landing was terrific. Sharon was extremely helpful and answered all of the questions we had. On the day of the wedding, we had a sound system on the deck, a speaker and small system set-up in the Chesapeake Room for the ceremony, and another speaker adjacent to the dining area behind a bar, directed into dining room. The dining room speaker was set-up with a wireless connection to the main system which was on the deck. The sound-proof windows, to help calm the sound of the airplanes taking off from nearby National Airport did not affect the operation of the speaker.
The ceremony was filled with a variety of fun and personal touches. While traditional music welcomed the guests to have a seat, there were some personal touches. Such as “The Imperial March” from Star Wars after the couple were pronounced husband and wife. This brought a lot of laughter from the guests, who enjoyed a very light and entertaining ceremony. The bride, who arrived via taxi, and pretty much walked right down the aisle when she arrived, looked amazing in her dress. It was well worth the short delay due to another taxi leaving the bride at the hotel.
After the ceremony was complete, the guests were invited to the dining room and to mingle about there and on the deck while Natalie and Jim took pictures around the outside of the restaurant and adjacent marina. Music played during this time was a mix of love songs that spanned the decades of varying pace.
During dinner, you can see the uplights enhancing the room while the view of the Potomac River and National Airport were preserved.
The happy couple was welcomed onto the deck/dance floor with their family and friends around them to “Beautiful Day” by U2, after they were invited via the wireless speaker that was placed next to the auxiliary bar and directed into the dining room. After the couple were welcomed to the dance floor, they shared their first dance and then went to dinner. While at dinner they also had the traditional speeches which were filled with many laughs and a few twists and turns that make weddings such fun.
Once dinner was over, it was time to get everyone back out to the dance floor for the family dances and once the dance floor opened, it was full. Even with the lights on in the tent, and chilly temperatures, the guests dancing kept the whole area at a comfortable temperature, and those who were out there for any length of time were sweating. It was a great time, especially when Noah was dancing with his mom.
Natalie had chosen a song during the planning process that didn’t really fit into any of the genres of the dancing. We held on to it until the end of the night, and played it for her. Her cheering when the Skrillex remix of Cinema came over the speakers was reminiscent of a young lady finding a car for her 16th birthday.
“The song is so obnoxious, I love it,” Natalie said during the planning process.
It brought a lot of smiles to the faces of the guests who joined her on the dance floor for the final dances of the evening.
Photo Gallery from Metro DC DJs
