It was another huge wedding weekend for the Snyder team! How lucky are we that we get to share these moments with such loving couples?! Not to mention, we consider ourselves extremely lucky to be able to spend our weekends hosting your wedding reception and playing music for you and your guests. This weekend was a great reminder of why we do what we do! The one and only Brad Ford sent over his recaps for two of his weddings from last weekend. I must say, there are some special moments that made me tear up! There may have even been a country music star spotting! Enjoy today's entries sharing details from Rebecca and Burton and Charl and Kenzie's weddings!
Burton and Rebecca Elrod
Burton, Brad, and Rebecca dance floor selfie.
1. Tell us a little about the couple and their wishes for their wedding: On March 20th, I had the pleasure of working with Burton Elrod and Rebecca McHugh. Burton's name probably sounds familiar to some. His father, with whom he shares his name with, is a well known Orthopedic Surgeon in Nashville who works with a lot of the Tennessee Titan's players. I mention this to avoid confusion! Upon our first meeting, I liked Burton and Rebecca immediately! I can not tell you enough how easy going and nice Burton was. He has a genuine heart and takes everything in stride. Rebecca is a 2nd grade teacher and at no time did she appear stressed out about the wedding planning! I assumed it was her ability to multi-task since she teaches a large group of seven year olds all day! They chose Mint Springs Farm as their venue and the decor was simple but elegant. The flowers were a beautiful mix of spring/Easter colors and really ushered in the change of season. I was also a big fan of their monogram for the dance floor. Burton and Rebecca really wanted to have a party and they were great about giving me names of friends who were alleged party starters, and we built in some dedication moments to get things going as well.
2. Were there any special or unique moments on their wedding day? Special moments among family members? Couple? Friends? There was a beautiful moment with Rebecca's parents. They were married 37 years ago but had never had a wedding or reception. So basically they never had a first dance. Rebecca told me that her mom had requested the song "Through The Years" by Kenny Rogers to be played at some point in the night. It was her moms ONLY request. Rebecca said it was the perfect song request because her parents had kept their love alive over all those years through both sickness and health and were closer than ever. We decided to make it a moment! I brought her parents to the dance floor and asked them to enjoy their First Dance as husband and wife...just 37 years late! Rebecca and Burton went out onto the floor after the first chorus and joined them. By the end of the song we had a packed dance floor celebrating the long belated first dance with Chris and Rita McHugh! It was moving and there were few people who had dry eyes. I also want to point out that despite this being Burton and Rebecca's big day that they desired to put everything aside to make this moment about Chris and Rita. It truly sums up the kind of people Burton and Rebecca are.
3. What were some of the couple's music selections for ceremony? Reception? We introduced the wedding party to "Signed, Sealed, Delivered" which is always perfect ti kick off the night. I was very excited about their choice for a first dance song. "Heavenly Day" by Patty Griffin is one of the least used but perhaps most beautiful first dance songs, and I highly recommend it. The garter toss was done to "Hot for Teacher" to play off of Rebecca being a 2nd grade teacher. That really really got people going. It was amazing! For dancing we kept it mixed up but focused on the 90's and current pop hits.
4. Any dance floor highlights? We had a couple of very cool moments. People stayed on the floor! Guests jumped, danced, waltzed, two stepped and really broke it down on "The Wobble." I gave my GoPro to their friend, and one of the guys who introduced them, Ford Tomlin. He got some amazing footage of people really letting loose...they probably don't want me to show all the footage! It was a great dance party!
5. Names of any vendors at the wedding. Chef Penelope handled the amazing food. They had Tilapia and some amazing sides. Matt Andrews was the photographer and Cardboard Films handled video.
6. DJ Thoughts: I would like to point out that a lot of the guests were from Nashville. I'm always proud of my town. We have a lot of celebrity's here but this town always seems to maintain it's composure and it's southern family feeling. I hope it always stays that way. This wedding was large and had many guests including Tyler Hubbard of Florida Georgia Line. But at no time did it feel like it was anybody's day except for Burton and Rebecca's. That's what I love about Nashville. No matter what each persons story or name happens to be it comes down to the fact that there was a whole room full of people who were in love with the fact that these two were in love! Coach Scott Tillman who was the officiant set the tone from the beginning of the ceremony. Honestly it was one of the best ceremony's I have witnessed. Coach Tillman was awesome and everything came from the heart. This was a intimate, family affair. I walked away feeling good and positive. Friday March 20th was a night of celebration with people that truly loved each other.
Kenzie and Charl Stander
1. Tell us a little about the couple and their wishes for their wedding: I spent my anniversary March 22, 2015 helping another young couple enjoy the greatest day of the year to get married! Kenzie Malzhan and Charl Stander. Kenzie is the daughter of Gus and Kristi Malzhan. Gus' name may sound familiar as he is the coach of the Auburn Tigers football team. I liked Kenzie's mom Kristi immediately. She was very nice and a total spitfire! Charl is from South Africa and he and Kenzie met while in school and he is currently working on his MBA. Many members of Charl's family flew all the way in from South Africa! There wasn't a single person attending this wedding from Nashville actually. The wedding was held at Mint Springs Farm as it could accommodate the large group and with their shuttle services they could bring all the travelers in from down town.
2. Were there any special or unique moments from the wedding day? Special moments among family members? Couple? Friends? They did a few things differently. They had a harpist for the ceremony which we don't see a lot. It was absolutely beautiful. They also did a family style plated dinner where the trend, as of late, has been to do a buffet. So these things brought about a class to the event that made it stand a part from other events.
3. What were some of the couple's music selections for ceremony? Reception? We used some great music for the special dances. We went very classic. The first dance was to "Stand By Me," Father-Daughter dance was to a song called "My Joy," and the Mother-Son dance was to "God Only Knows." I played "Best Friend" by Queen for the cake cutting which went over quite well. Kenzie's music selection was diverse. I would say the biggest hits of the night were the 90's party anthems. I remember songs like "It's Tricky" and "Da Dip" going over really well. The last half hour we hit it hard with dance songs like "Levels" and "Cinema."
4. Any dance floor highlights? One of the great moments was the crowd dragging Gus Malzhan to the floor when I played "Like a G6." Apparently he lovingly called his daughter Kenzie "G6" from time to time and it was a well known family joke. So that moment really blew up! Gus was also a big fan of "The Cars" and "The Beastie Boys" so Kenzie made sure to request songs for her dad. We played "Just What I Needed," "Shake It Up," and "Brass Monkey." The couple had not chosen a exit song so in light of her dad's love for The Cars I played "Drive" as everybody walked out for the Grand Exit.
5. Names of any vendors at the wedding. Chef Penelope did the catering and Eric Kelly who is a fantastic photographer from Virginia took care of the pictures.
6. DJ Thoughts: I really liked that this wedding had people from all over the world. Many attendees probably didn't know each other. But the group enjoyed each others company. Some of Charl's family were ballroom dancers, and they were amazing to watch on the dance floor.