Ron Grandia - A Different Kind of DJ blog

Breathtaking First Dance Photo - Melanie and Justin Wine Country Wedding

2011-11-08T20:17:00.000-08:00

The amazing, amazing, amazing Rhee Bevere (heavily featured on my website) does it again! She's been teasing us with some fantastic photo's of Justin and Melanie's wine country wedding at Simi Winery in Healdsburg - This is my absolute favorite shot. I'm a total sucker for first-dances, so naturally I have a soft spot for first-dance photo's. Pictures like this just don't happen - kudos to super-planner Elisheva Basseri for making the night magical. Can't wait to see/share more soon.

Classic Bollywood Awesomeness Mohammed Raffi - Jaan Pehechaan Ho

2011-09-23T17:07:00.000-07:00

This frenetic nugget burned itself into my brain years ago when I was an avid collector/trader of incredibly strange vinyl and then again when it was featured in the film Ghost World. It's only a slight coincidence that it's on a Heineken commercial and being reposted by me on a Friday at 5pm. But I am thirsty.

The Time of Their Lives!

2011-05-12T12:12:00.000-07:00

joya and emre | wedding music video from David Robin on Vimeo.

You know how everyone wants their videographer to be unobtrusive? How 'bout we do the opposite and make it awesome fun for everyone?

Not only is this video a terrific document of an insanely cool wedding day, by the looks of things, but it's production was part of the entire day's entertainment. What a great way to surprise and delight guests and get everyone participating!

Videographer David Robin didn't invent the form, but he set the bar impossibly high for followers.

Life Lessons from a Pizza Nazi

2011-04-07T10:01:00.000-07:00

A man I've never met owns a restaurant I've never been to in a city I haven't visited in 10 years, but I am pretty sure this guy is my hero - or at the very least, he's a source of inspiration.

Brian Spangler in the kitchen at Apizza Scholls

Brian Spangler is the eccentric owner of the tiny, quirky, and wildly popular Portland Oregon mecca for the pizza purist, Apizza Scholls. He makes the dough by hand - literally kneading all the dough for every single pizza with his own fingers everyday. Naturally, this limits the amount of product he can churn out to his throngs of adoring fans, so the line forms early in anticipation of his 5pm opening time. He closes when he sells out, which is usually around 8:30. Sometimes sooner. There's always still a line.

This is nuts. It's also the only way to get the crust so crazy-good that people are willing to put up with the lines, scarcity and his rules. Serious pizza rules: No take-out, you can chose no more than three toppings, only one topping can be meat. Forget about delivery. You want the gonzo ultra combo deep-dish? Pizza Hut is right around the corner and open 'till 11.


Pizza Margherita at Apizza Scholls

While some choose to see this as arbitrary or even passive-aggressive, I think it's sheer brilliance. It seems that when you make a pizza THAT good, you might not be willing to disrespect it's simple, elegant perfection with too many toppings, and that after that much time, effort and sacrifice you'd rather foster a culture of appreciation than start to make crowd-pleasing compromises that abandon your original vision and source of passion.

He is what he is, does what he does because that's what he loves. He gets away with it is because he's really, really good at it.

So if you are Brian Spangler, you chuckle politely when people call you "The Pizza Nazi"
you pass up opportunities to expand, you knead dough on days when your forearms ache, but you probably go home every night tired and satisfied.

Yep. He's my hero.

The Great Cake Debate.

2011-04-04T17:48:00.000-07:00

If I've heard it once, I've heard a thousand times: The oft-repeated myth that if you cut your cake early, people will think the reception is over and leave. Here, once and for all is my simplest response:

The only time people will leave your wedding is because there is no compelling reason for them to stay. Keep it moving, make it fun, and only a sad few will ever even look at their watch. I promise.

So, let's heap some loving kindness on the unfortunate few who simply cannot stay, either because of cranky children, cranky spouses or some other cruel twist of fate. If the cake is the magical signal that it's OK to leave, then by all means, give it to them in a timely and carefully-chosen way. It seems so much more compassionate than holding people dessert-hostage.

Cutting the cake early has scores of other benefits, not the least of which is the advantage of getting those traditional cake cutting photos before the bride gets all sweaty on the dance floor. (It's gonna happen) And when done right, the cake-cutting draws guests out of their seats without really asking, so you have the added benefit of friends and family right there with you, making you laugh, egging you on, and making the perfect backdrop for those photos, and then the first dance photos - and it just FEELS better having the people you love up on their feet and sharing the moment. Who in their right mind would leave THAT?

Remember those people that had to leave right after the cake? Well, when the First Dance followed right after the groom's heartfelt thank you, they didn't want to miss it. And the Father Daughter dance was sweet and brief, and flowed so perfectly into the Mother Son song, well... they stayed for that too. Then the DJ played just the right song to open up the dance floor, and a smiling Uncle grabbed them by the hand and pulled them out for a quick spin, and then...somebody paid the babysitter 3 hours overtime.

3 hours in four minutes.

2011-03-30T16:01:00.000-07:00

From time to time, I record my wedding receptions to analyze my appearance, MC work, DJ sets, etc. The Presidio's Golden Gate Club in San Francisco gave me the opportunity to place my camera up on a closed balcony, so the resulting video made a nice experimental time-lapse. 3 hours of dance floor action compressed into 4 minutes, but it's kind of fun to put into HD fullscreen and watch the patterns that occur on a dancefloor. The big payoff is at the end!

Go full-screen and kick it up to HD for best results.

Genius.

2011-03-04T14:10:00.000-08:00

Like I've done a million times before, I drove under the drab Highway 17 overpass of Campbell Ave on my way home from a late client meeting. Only this time, I was greeted dozen or so cheap ropes of LED lights arranged 70's-Disco style overhead.

Once I figured out what I was looking at, I laughed out loud, stopped and posted a picture to FaceBook, then smiled all the way home.

It's low-budget, it's cheesy, it's probably not even original. It's delightful.

It's Genius.

A Practical Wedding

2010-07-09T14:24:00.000-07:00

Summer reading here at DJ-HQ is the super-awesome wedding blog A Practical Wedding. I love it. Just love it. Even the part about how to iPod your own wedding.

Why? because it's one of the few places where couples are being given permission (and really thoughtful, practical advice) to dig deep and think about what will make your wedding truly yours.

I love how it starts:

Hi, I’m Meg. I started this blog in 2008 after I came home crying one-too-many days in a row, in the early stages of planning our wedding. My husband told me to start a blog, and suggested I call it a PRACTICAL wedding. Not in a dogmatic way, but in a, “The-wedding-media-you-are-reading-is-crazy” way. So. Here we are.

I hear that crying story far too often from the brides I work with, and have tried in my own little ways to offer my own shelter from what Meg very aptly describes as "the horrible cultural dialog surrounding weddings." Meg has wisely harnessed the awesome power of thousands of smart, thoughtful women who have all gone or are currently going through the same complicated, wonderful, terrible, beautifully frightening process called getting married.

Their contributions and collective grace and wisdom make A Practical Wedding a kind of wedding dojo - full of great advice, discussions about budgets and traditions how-to-DIY, and future in-laws. and anything you've probably been wondering about.

I think you'll love it too!

Engagement Sessions: Treat Yourself!

2010-05-20T07:20:00.000-07:00

I can sum up my thoughts on engagement sessions in two words: Do it.

You probably can't imagine how fun and strangely uplifting all the fuss over you and your betrothed can be, or how not just the pictures, but the process will reveal new sides of the two of you. You will likely be amazed at how in love you feel for days after.

Someday, your engagement photos will be just as important as your wedding album, maybe even more so because these will be a document of just you two and how you are together right now... everyday.

So do it. Block out the whole day: Half of it for the shoot, the other half for the afterglow.

Not convinced? Take a peek at this short film by Luke Goodman of Photographer Jill Johnson in action. Imagine it's you.

Jill Johnson Promo Video Final from Luke Goodman on Vimeo.

Wedding Timelines - It's all about FLOW.

2010-05-17T22:09:00.000-07:00

It's a busy time here at DJ HQ - Wedding season has started in earnest, and I am also still knee-deep in working with couples and their key vendors to plan upcoming weddings, so there is something on my mind right now more than anything else: Timelines.

I am kind of a freak about getting the timeline right - and for a lot of really good reasons. One of the best ones is that your party starts WAY before the dancing does, and well, people are simply more happy and at-ease at a party that's moving seamlessly along. Happy, at-ease people tend to dance sooner, longer and maybe even better. (Well, probably not better.)

On the surface, the primary concern is organization: keeping things on time, making sure photographers have an opportunity to do their thing, serving dinner at the time the caterer has planned to have 150 entrees ready to go, etc. You know- keeping things on the rails - and that's a big deal.

However, I see too often that this is where the idea of timeline begins and ends, and it's a huge missed opportunity.

What I am talking about here is the transformative quality of FLOW... Where getting people into the buffet on time intersects the psychological Jujitsu of subtly moving people into the magical, rarified space of uninterrupted celebration.

People have been feasting, toasting and dancing at weddings for thousands of years - it's practically in our DNA. People really want to be swept up in that energy, but it does not happen automatically. It's like fire. The potential is always there, but it's hard to start, tricky to build and easy to douse - But once it's going - look out.

In the near future, I'll be writing more about specific places where flow can be challenging, and the right solutions can propel a party from good to great!

Save The Date Movies

2010-01-05T17:01:00.000-08:00

I don't know why I am constantly surprised by all the great ideas pouring out the head of Studio MSV's Andrew Hsu. He's full of them (and occasionally full of *it*) so I should be used to it. (The great ideas, not the other *it*)

Actually, I don't think he invented Save-the-date-movies, but he does hold the domain name http://savethedatemovies.com/ and may very have perfected the form. Take a peek.

Thomas and Melissa: Special Message from andrew msv on Vimeo.

My new website - Credit where credit is (over) due!

2009-10-20T12:27:00.000-07:00

I've gotten some ribbing recently about A) being lax about blog posting and B) forgetting to include photo credits on my website. Guilty on both counts. I figure perhaps blogging about it would be a good first step.

The new web site has been up and running for a few months now, and is in my estimation totally awesome. No.... more than that.... It's supersonic jetpack, fresh-coffee, frisbee-dog, free-beer and a live surf-band kind of awesome, and I have two people to thank. Profusely. In no particular order:

Evan Lange, my long-suffering web designer who would dutifully meet with me, talk to me, listen to my ideas and try to get to commit to some kind of plan. I would, and we would agree on what I had to do to be ready for the next stages. Then some time would pass, and I would have some other ideas, and he would dutifully meet with me, talk with me, listen to my ideas and and try to get me to commit to some kind of plan. Lather, rinse, repeat.

I think Evan, in his wisdom realized that the main obstacle was my particular kind of perfectionism that won't let me commit to anything because it's never quite right. His solution? He listened carefully and made it perfect. Several times. Thank you Evan.

The other indispensable partner in all this is Rhee Bevere, whose amazingly great photographs became the backbone of the whole project and serve as the real stars of the site. I've been very fortunate to work with Rhee a lot over the past few seasons, so there were tons of great shots from which to choose. Being the wonderfully great friend and generous person that she is, she pored over thousands of images to sort out which would work the best.

I may be biased by her kindness and her friendship, but she remains at the top of my list of favorite photographers. And I'm not just saying that because I owe her a long-overdue lunch and photo credits.

Thank you Rhee.

Wedding University

2009-01-16T09:16:00.000-08:00

I get to work alongside a lot of couples who are knee-deep in work, school, setting up a shared household and oh yeah... planning their wedding and reception for 150 guests. And guess what? Almost without exception, everyone seems to regard the planning part as the most taxing - even the weird ones who really enjoy it.

Sure it can be fun, (and actually, most really do think it is!) but there are still a lot of decisions to be made, budgets to be kept, vendors to meet and hire, more decisions to be made... One of the most common comments I hear from my couples is that they feel that they don't even know the questions to ask to help them make all those decisions. Fortunately, most do a fantastic job of things, and manage to give themselves and their guests a great time, and manage to have fun doing it, but wouldn't it be great to have a way to shorten the process and smooth out that learning curve?

Enter Certified Wedding Consultants Jubilee Lau and Jean Marks. You can hire them to steer you through all of this, but if that is not in the cards, you can attend Wedding Univer sity and have the benefit of their expertise and experience along with that of some of the top wedding vendors in the industry (including yours truly) who will give you some practical guidance and great advice on every aspect of your wedding regardless of budget.

There will be lots of examples of decor, food and wine tastings, GREAT odds at winning a killer 3 night Honeymoon at one of 3 Four Seasons properties, and a gift-bag that promises to be an embarrassment of riches. But the real value of Wedding University is an opportunity to learn from some of the best in the industry so you can tackle your own wedding with savvy and confidence and yes... have a great time doing it!

For my part, I have been concentrating on the role of Master of Ceremonies: how an MC really ties the whole thing together without being loud, pushy or cheesy, and how, with a little bit of inside information you can find the perfect MC and DJ that perfectly fits your vision. My goal is not to tell you what to do and when, but give you some thoughts about a lot of the moving parts of a wedding reception and how you will know when you have found someone you can feel really good about putting intov such a visible and influential role. Presenting with me will be a great DJ and good friend of mine, Carl Mindling.

I am proud and humbled to have been asked to present along with some of the best in our area, and I am expecting GREAT THINGS. Take a look at this roster! Whether you are planning an all-out spectacular wedding, or something simpler, there will be lots of useful, practical advice that will make a good wedding the best wedding EVER!

Jubilee Lau Events
Jean Marks Weddings
Geoff White Photography
Kevin Chin Photography
Savadelis Films
A Different Kind of DJ – Ron Grandia
Nancy Liu Chin Design
Wildflower Linen
Four Season Catering Team
Gabrielle’s Bridal Salon
Peter Rudolfi
Cynthia Glinka, Dance Instructor
Carl Mindling
Chewing The Cud
Sash and Sugar
Hartman Studios
Enhanced Lighting
Eli Thomas for Men
Get Your Do Up

The Details:
When: February 8, 2009 from 11:00am – 5:00pm
Where: Four Seasons Hotel Silicon Valley, 2050 University Avenue, East Palo Alto, CA 94303
Cost: $40 for two people or $25 for one person

Spaces are limited to 150 students, so RSVP today to save your spot:
Cassie Conching 650/470-2894
Jubilee Lau 408/235-8889
jubilee@jubileelauevents.com

For more information, click here or visit The Wedding University’s blog.

Meet Django the Wonder Mutt

2008-12-09T22:01:00.000-08:00

So he's not DJ-Related, but he's what's happening at Casa Grandia. Django fell into our lap on Saturday, and we are in love with the nervous, stinky little Rock-Star.

Our neighbor heard we were kinda sorta maybe considering a dog someday, and spotted the little nut who was the Santa Photo Spokesmodel for the Silicon Valley Animal Control Authority at Pet Food Express in Campbell. She came back and told us about him, and next thing we know we find ourselves at a pet-care chain huddled over a shivering, licking little ball of energy. He hopped right up on my son's lap and made himself at home. I rolled my eyes, sighed loudly and started the paperwork. What else could I do?

We had to wait until the next day to actually take delivery, and I admit I was counting the hours until we could go get him, and in less than 12 hours, I went from confirmed non dog-owner to someone shopping for canine-sized sweaters.

Best of the Bay?

2008-08-12T14:31:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago a friend emailed to tell me that I had been nominated for SFGate's BEST OF THE BAY list, to which I replied. "Neat. What's for lunch? It's your turn to buy."

Now, it's not that I wasn't thrilled by the news, in fact, I was quite pleasantly surprised to hear that somebody noticed. (I got an email from SFGate the day before) it's just that I know how these things tend to go.

By choice, I work with only 30-35 couples per year - It's the only way I can afford to give each couple the time and attention it takes to do what I do for them. The larger operations will probably break the 1000-event mark. Knowing this, it would be foolish to entertain the idea that I'd hold my own in this arena, thus the prospect of lunch had a much more immediate appeal. Nobody really notices these things, right? I decided to ignore it.

But something interesting happened this week: I started getting dribs and drabs of email from people who DID notice, which got me to actually take a closer look this morning. I was second in the standings! (cartoon head-shaking sound) Sitting right under Fog City Entertainment, one of the better Multi-ops, in my opinion.

This got me curious, and caused me to do something I thought I'd never do: I sent out one of those pathetic "vote for me" emails. In my defense, I tried to be good about it. It was a very restrained note to a pretty limited list of people - only those who are in my new Gmail account, and only past clients and professional connections that know my work - but immediately, I felt a huge jolt of regret and fear that I had just annoyed some of of my favorite people.

I got over it though, once the congratulatory emails started to pour in. The vote tally shot up like a rocket, and I got some very kind, enthusiastic and thoughtful reviews. I am so grateful!

It's a neat feeling to have surged ahead, though I realize that this is probably a short-lived spike and others will soon mobilize their friends, clients and colleagues to vote. In any case, I have "won" with all the people that matter. Thanks again!

"You like me! You really like me!"

Ladies and Gentlemen serving Ladies and Gentlemen

2008-03-17T09:10:00.000-07:00

I'm not really all that into my birthday, in fact, I am quite happy to receive a few cards (containing checks or cash) and quietly call it a day. It's not an age thing - I still race around the grocery store on the back of the cart like it's a scooter (Watch those blind corners, Safeway shoppers!) so until that changes, I remain forever young. I just don't like being the center of the hubbub. (I'd rather MC somebody else's) But this year, it seemed the planets were aligning and fates were conspiring to make March 12 a great day.

A few weeks prior I received a fancy envelope from the Ritz Carlton Half Moon Bay, one of my favorite wedding venues. I am cordially invited to attend the 2008/2008 Preferred Vendor Orientation Program. Woohoo!

Now I'm a preferred vendor at a lot of places - and plenty of them are venues that make me proud, but being recognized by the folks at "THE" Ritz Carlton for the past few years is something that I regard as a high personal achievement and a sign that I must be doing something right. These Ladies and Gentlemen are dead-serious about the business of wrapping their guests in "a warm, relaxed yet refined ambience" and they expect their vendor teams to seamlessly blend with Ritz staff to achieve this end.

Furthermore, at the risk of sounding a bit geeky, the news that I would be spending a day in a room full of wedding professionals who were hand-picked by the crackerjack team of event specialists at the Ritz actually cost me some sleep. I was that excited. You don't get the nod from Ritz by accident, and I was thrilled to be surrounded by all those amazingly-great wedding vendors who are super passionate about their respective professions and their clients.

Left to right around table: Debra Hertzog and Sunni Oza of the Ritz-Carlton, Lisa Leigh, Jean Marks, Michelle Walker, John Woods and Ron Grandia.

But it gets better, as a few well-timed emails landed me a spot in "the J-Car "- I carpooled to the Ritz with wedding coordinators extraordinare Jean Marks and Jubilee Lau. Then, just to make the alliteration complete, was joined by the Nationally-recognized videographer Jewel Savadelis. I'm surrounded by heavy hitters, and I'm not even there yet!

Eager student that I am, I sat right up front and was joined shortly by Armando, the hair and makeup rockstar of Get Your Do Up seen here improving my look just by being with me

If I was impressed by the Ladies and Gentlemen of the Ritz-Carlton before, I was doubly so by the time I left. Their Service Values, shared by everyone from Doorman to General Manager, the underlying credo that underpins their unmatched levels of customer service and genuine care for their guests, is literally carried by each member of the staff in the form of a four-fold credo card that is always on their person. Not that they ever have to pull out their personal careworn cards, because every employee knows the thing by heart. (Just ask!)

I've always been a bit awed by the Ritz organization and their seemingly innate ability to make people feel great. Seeing first-hand the hows and whys of what makes them the gold-standard of guest-comfort was a master- class on how I can continually improve my own service to my clients and their guests.

Just call me Reverend.

2007-05-07T11:10:00.000-07:00

This weekend I performed a wedding. No, I don't mean that I MC'd and DJ'd a wedding reception (Well, I did that too) But I actually pronounced a couple husband and wife. Holy cats was that FUN!

Here's a picture I took of Rob and Megan right before I used my awesome powers to make the wedding legal.

Megan and Rob invited 80 or so of their closest family and best friends to come celebrate their wedding at the Macallum House in downtown Mendocino. Gusty winds moved the ceremony from a cypress lined bluff to the Mac House lawn at the last minute, but that was of little consequence - it was a lovely spot to be married. Megan and Rob are a great couple who are so in love. I could not have been more proud to be the person to have the honor of actually performing the ceremony - it was funny how it came to be.

Great clients beget great clients. A few months ago I got a call from Sam Roza, a groom for whom I worked several years earlier when he married his lovely wife (and energetic dancer) Dana. When Sam called, he was sitting with his boss, Megan who was planning a wedding in Mendocino. Now I appreciate referrals, but when you tell your boss who to trust with her fairytale Mendocino wedding, and then sit her down and make the call right there, that's beyond the call of duty!

I was only kidding. When I met Megan, she had already found most of her vendors with the exception of a DJ and an officiant - I joked that she could use me in a pinch as I have my ordination from the Universal Life Church, and had ALMOST married a couple a few years back when the officiant was a no-show. We both had a good chuckle and we moved on to talking about the timeline and such.

A few days later Megan called back and asked if I would seriously consider performing the ceremony and come a day early to be part of the rehearsal. I said yes before she could come to her senses. I had no idea how challenging performing a ceremony could be, and I wanted things to be just right for them. There was a lot of customizing to do: She had a gaggle of bridesmaids (or Sista's as we called them) and he had two Best Men- Joshua and Jason, his two boys 8 and 14 who also "gave away" the bride. Megans Stepfather and Brother provided the music for the ceremony and her father was given the honor of offering up the prayers throughout the ceremony. Once we figured how to make all that flow seamlessly, my biggest task was not to get choked up myself during the sand ceremony.

It's hard to not be in a celebratory mood when you're in a postcard-perfect place like Mendocino. Everyone was in great spirits enjoying the location, the great food and wine, great music and perfect evening. The party lasted into the night - even after the last dance, folks hung around the bar and out on the porch of the Macallum House and then headed out onto the streets of Mendocino for more late night fun. There were a lot of sunglasses worn to breakfast the next morning.

Robot Bride in Full Effect.

2007-04-11T07:52:00.000-07:00

Anybody want to do something like this for their first dance? I just might host your wedding for free just so I can post the video. Hi-freaking-larious, and very well done.

First Dances for Lifetime Romances

2007-03-14T13:29:00.000-07:00

This Year's Trend in First-Dance Songs? No Trend!

The first dance is always one of my favorite parts of any wedding reception. It's great fun for the couple and everyone in attendance, and a wonderfully symbolic moment that helps to set the mood for rest of the evening, and will hopefully become a theme for the rest of their lives together. As a DJ, this is often one of the first things I discuss with my clients.

Of course, there are the obvious songs: At Last, Unforgettable, What A Wonderful World, and a few others that one might hear frequently at other weddings. But the couples I work with come to me for a custom-tailored and personalized wedding reception. If they ask for help with a first dance song, rather than give them some crusty list of tunes to which they have no personal connection, we start talking about songs that are particularly meaningful to THEM!

The results are always surprising and pleasing, and helps make the evening more fun and personal.

I will share with you how I help people nail down a great first dance song that they will treasure for decades.

First - I ask lots of questions. What songs were popular when they started dating? What song was playing when they first kissed? What songs do they listen to when they are taking road-trips? - anything that gives us hints about who these people are together. Usually a perfect first dance song is hidden in there somewhere waiting to be discovered. It's amazing to see ideas surface that they never would have thought of otherwise, like a recent couple that had been dating since high-school who gave me a mix-tape that he made her (Yes, on CASSETTE!) We uncovered a perfect song that had deep personal meaning for the both of them, and I got a boatload of other songs to sprinkle throughout the rest of the night.

My criteria for a good first dance song are fairly simple -

1) Think long-term. Once you hit the floor on your wedding-day, this will forever be your First-Dance song. Consider how you might feel about the song in 5,10,15 years and farther down the road. Songs that are popular now could seem a little dated or not have much significance to your future selves.

2) Watch the pace. Not too fast, not too slow. First dance songs with a little bounce to them are easier to dance to. You don't need to be Fred and Ginger, but it's nice to have a song that will give you the opportunity to do more than turn slow circles like you're in Middle School. Something like Sam Cooke's You Send Me is still pretty slow, but has little bounce that carries the song, and the dance, along.

3) Words mean things. Listen to the song. look up the lyrics online. Think about the meaning. Sometimes the melody can be misleading, One of my favorite tunes Dream a Little Dream of Me turns out to be about two lovers parting. Unchained Melody is song of unrequited love. Patsy Cline's Crazy is about the broken hearted-est song ever and should not be played within 300 feet of newlyweds, yet it tops many first dance lists.

4) Leave 'em wanting more! It's a wonderful moment, but the novelty wears off for the newlyweds and and the audience fairly quickly.Some songs can top 4 minutes or more, and though it does not sound like long, most couples start looking lost after about two minutes or so. The remaining time can feel awkward. Unless there is a perfect break in the middle of a song, fading it out can seem abrupt, so I keep a keen eye on the timing and offer to edit the song for length but still preserve the natural ending. This leads us to the...

5) Big finish! The crowning glory of a great first dance song is a nice flourish at the end. A Kiss To Build A Dream On has a nice subtle "Tadaaaaa" at the end that's perfect for a little dance floor dip, while something like Bobby Darin's More ends with a big POW that always gets a big roar from guests.

Of course you can throw all of these criteria right out the window if there is a song that you absolutely have to have for your own personal reasons. If there is a song that is undeniably you, ignore all the suggestions and just go for it.

Last year one couple used Elvin Bishop's Fooled Around and Fell in Love. I had the good sense to just write it down and move on. I sensed that doing otherwise might reveal too much information.

The all-time weirdest so far: Manfred Mann's Do Wah Diddy. When I introduced the couple and played it, people stood slack jawed for a moment and then the house filled with laughter and cheers - it was SO them!

Here are some of my favorite suggestions for First Dance songs:

Till There was you - Beatles
Too Marvelous For Words - Ella Fitzgerald
I Hear a Symphony - Supremes
When I Grow Too Old to Dream - Nat King Cole
Cheek to Cheek - Peggy Lee
Don't Look Back - Temptations
Never Found Me a Girl (That Treats Me Like You) - Al Green
A Kiss to Build a Dream On - Louis Armstrong
Tenderly - Roberta Flack
This Magic Moment - Ben E. King
The Best is Yet to Come - Nancy Wilson
It Had to be You - Ray Charles
All I Do is Dream of You - Dean Martin
More - Roy Orbison
You Send Me - Sam Cooke
Just the Way You Look Tonight - Little Jimmy Scott
Melt With You - Nouvelle Vague
Love to See You Smile - Randy Newman*

*My First Dance with my gorgeous, long-suffering wife, Monica August 4th 1990

I hereby resolve to blog more

2007-01-03T09:59:00.000-08:00

So many really cool things have happened in the last few months, but I never seem to make time to sit down and write about them. Bad me. Here's a few highlights.

Let's see... December was a blur of weddings and holiday parties, all of which were great fun (Thanks again, E2open! This year was another great time at the California Cafe Palo Alto.) But the real big treats this month were the unexpected Christmas gifts that just popped up out of nowhere.

First there was a last-minute Holiday party that came to me through the great folks at the Ritz Carlton in Half-Moon Bay. The Sonoma office of Washington Mutual (Which I learned is the smallest, but top producing loan office in the whole company) had another DJ lined up, but decided not to travel so far for a group of 40 people. His loss!

I think I've gotten a reputation at the Ritz for being able to handle tricky situations having hosted a 25-guest wedding reception in the Ritz suite. (ceremony on the balcony at sunset, dinner and dancing all in one fantastic 3k-a-night suite) To fit the suite I had to pare down my usual gear to a laptop on a music stand and only one of my new Bose speakers, which is perfect for these situations. but I digress.

Small groups can be tricky. Give me a group of 150 people, and filling the dance floor is easy, but it's tough when you only have a handful of folks to start with. Nevertheless, the movers and shakers at WAMU started dancing to my background music after dinner, (I never could resist the Staple Singer's I'll Take You There, either) and then it was ON. We made so much noise, we had crashers from the 350-guest Raytheon party across the hall , who had a great band with a howling horn section. Wheee!

All around, I had a great year, but I think my favorite event was the little surprise that came at the end of December. I got a last-minute booking on a date that had fallen open due to a party cancellation. Marlene Aza and Gary Bowe, a couple who had reconnected 8 years prior during the planning of their 30 year High School reunion (Santa Clara High class of '68 - Go Bruins!) decided only a few short weeks prior to go ahead and get married after Marlene had a long, tough round of chemotherapy in her ongoing battle with cancer. Gary tells me they are not out of the woods yet, so the timing of this wedding is just right, as there's no telling what lay ahead.

Planning time was tight, as they contacted me only two days prior (!), Out of sheer necessity, we sketched out the whole event in one phone call. Credit goes to Margie at the Hollins House, who had already done a lot of the organizing. The first time I saw Marlene was right at sunset as she was walking down the aisle. The ceremony was like no other, conducted by a close friend who's husband is a Pastor at a local church, so he did all the official stuff. I've seen a lot of ceremonies, but this one was singularly personal, touching and beautiful.

The whole event was at the Hollins House, above the Pasatiempo Golf Course attended by 106 guests; family and the friends that stuck by when the going got rough for Marlene and Gary. Not only was the whole event great fun for me as a DJ, it was a great privilege to be a part of this great celebration for everybody who weathered the storm with them while the clouds parted, if maybe only temporarily.

First Dance: Chances Are (not Johnny Mathis song) Bob Seger and Martina McBride. I played it for their last dance too. It just seemed fitting.

No, Thank YOU, Mrs. Bankson!

2006-10-09T14:09:00.000-07:00

Okay, I admit I'm bragging, but I really appreciate a lot of the people for whom I have the pleasure of working. This weekend I hosted a lovely wedding reception for Wendy Lichau and Sean Bankson at the Silicon Valley Capital Club last Saturday (Oct. 7th)

On Oct. 8th, I find this in my inbox from Wendy Li... I mean BANKSON.

"Hi Ron-
I just wanted to send a quick thank you. You were AWESOME last night. We had so much fun dancing at our wedding. The music was perfect and we couldn't have been more pleased. Thank you so much!!!! Have a great week! "

It's not that I am not used to gettting notes of appreciation, but I've never gotten one in less than 12 hours!

Wendy was planning this wedding LONG in advance, and we were in touch for well over a year. We'd met years before (Sept 27, 2003 to be exact) at Mike and Holly Carlson's wedding for whom she was a bridesmaid. At dinner, Photographers Lara and Geoff White and we agreed on what a joy it is to be able to work for people like Shawn and Wendy.

Highlights:
The Venue. I love the Silicon Valley Capital Club! It's like a super-swanky tree-fort in the sky. The view is A-Freakin'-Mazing, and so is the staff. Private Events Director Jenna Torres and company are so great at making things run smoothly and keeping everybody comfortable and happy. The food was fantastic, AND there was a full moon out. Circumstances like this make my job so much more fun! Don't even get me started on the food.

Flowers and Cake: Brian Davino Florists brought their A-Game. I wished he could have seen the look on the everybody's face when they came into the room and saw all those roses EVERYWHERE. SVCC is a gorgeous room, but the flowers transformed the place. The cake from Bijan Bakery was of course breathtaking. People were coming by and taking pictures all night. I was surprised (and pleased) to find it was a fresh strawberry shortcake-like creation. It was so good, I had to sneak a few pieces home for the wife. (Who heartily approved!)

The Music: Not many couples put "Eye of the Tiger" on their playlists, so I took the liberty of working it in to the Announcing of the Bridal Party - But the Star Wars Theme brought-in our happy couple. Shawn does not look the part, but Wendy assured me when the Star Wars geeks get together, they all call Shawn boss. He must be a heckuva guy, because she married him anyway. First Dance: Van Morrison - Crazy Love. The Father/Daughter Dance was a surprise from Wendy to dad, Gary Lichau. Despite my warnings to steel himself, Gary was no match for Tim McGraw - My Little Girl. I dare any daughter's father not to mist up for that one. Shawn and Linda's Mother/Son dance was a peppy version of The Way You Look Tonight by Frank Sinatra. As for the rest, I have just two words: Humpty Dance.

Misc: Sunglasses, Flip-flops, Kermit's story about Shawn catching Wendy's eye, Sewing Kits, one handed pushups on the dance-floor, and bridesmaid Brooke Lowrance REFUSING to accept that the music had to end.

I know what you mean Brooke. Tell you what - I'm free Nov. 11th. Let's all meet at the SVCC and do it again!

Helpful Hints for iPod Brides

2006-10-09T12:57:00.000-07:00

You have no doubt seen the articles in bridal magazines and online about how easy and fun it would be to have your iPod act as DJ at your wedding.” How, with a little help from your friends, you can have total control over the playlist and add a personal touch to your special day. Now, as I am a professional DJ that specializes in weddings, you might expect the next paragraphs to be a treatise on why this is such a horrendous idea I have my reservations, but if you are determined to do it on your own, I’d rather have you take on the challenge knowing fully what you are getting into and give you some pointers that will help you avoid some common pitfalls.

This is not Cosmo in a white veil - It's your wedding, and if you are going to do this right, you will have to visualize every aspect of your reception and how you want it to go, then prepare a plan to make it actually work. There is no possible way for me to cover all the possibilities, so I am going to address a “typical” wedding reception of 125 guests or so held in a hotel ballroom. But first I have a small score to settle with those cutesy wedding magazines and websites whose blind endorsement of this trend is about as useful as suggesting that couples have their 9-year-old nephew blow into a metal tube as a cheap alternative to a flautist during the ceremony. “iPodding” your wedding is not for everybody, nor is it cheap and easy, and suggesting otherwise is a crude oversimplification.

Your plan is going to consist of a several crucial elements: the music, the proper equipment, the timeline of the event, and the right person to pull it all together.

Background music for cocktails and dinner is the best place for the “do-it-yourself” music programmer. Have fun with it, but remember that your guests are trying to converse during dinner. Instrumentals work perfectly here. Try to keep the music mellow, but still upbeat. Start off easy and build tempo and intensity. You want to see toes tapping and heads bobbing as your dinner ends and the second half of the party is ready to get underway.

Weddings are not the place to teach music appreciation. You might favor a particular kind of music, but remember that there are a lot of people at your wedding who might not share your passion for Belgian Death Metal. Folks tend to respond to music with which they are most familiar. So while it seems cliché, if you are hoping to have a hopping dance floor, your safest bets early on are the good old wedding standards, at least until people are warmed up. Then you can start being experimental. Now, that does not mean you have to play YMCA and the Chicken Dance, but remaining flexible for the enjoyment of all your guests will help you reap the rich rewards of a party that is well-attended until the end.

When you are planning the music, it’s often hard to look at a list of songs and envision them in the context of your own wedding. But understand that some of the music that you’d probably never choose off of a sterile list of alphabetically-ordered songs will be perceived completely differently when played to a throng of happy friends and relatives who have been celebrating with you all afternoon. Suddenly, Play That Funky Music seems like a lot more fun than you ever could have imagined. Hopefully, you can trust your chosen DJ to know when (or if) the time is right.

Song order is important. Try to create sets of music that build in tempo or intensity. When you’ve peaked, drop in a slow song or change to another type of music. Watch out for songs with long, plodding introductions (the long talking intro to Baby-Got-Back is a dance-floor bulldozer) and beware of songs that last too long. If a song clears the floor, be ready to switch gears again; there is no point in playing through a song that’s not working.

With regard to the equipment required to “iPod” your wedding - Forget about using the iPod. It’s a clumsy and wholly inappropriate tool for the job at hand. Use iTunes or some other kind of software on a laptop. This provides a far easier means of searching the database of songs, and allows for changing playlists on the fly. And do yourself a favor – rent a decent sound system. The home stereo won’t cut it. One magazine article suggested that hooking into the venue’s sound system might be a good idea. It is not! Ceiling speakers are for elevator music. Believe me, if I could avoid carting heavy, expensive speakers and amps around and just use the house gear, I would. Another important reason for using pro equipment is that you will want to be able to run at least one mic along with your music for toasts, announcements, etc., so you will need a mixing board and someone who can schlep this stuff and hook it up successfully. The ideal location for the equipment is right near the dance floor for a number of reasons, among which are your hopping back and forth to keep the music going and getting enough sound onto the dance floor without blowing Gramma out of her wheelchair. Make sure you work out a floor plan that accommodates your equipment and test it out beforehand. The day of the wedding is no time for last-minute fumbling with wires and speakers.

“And then what?” Too often, even pro DJ’s will forget to consider what comes after a scheduled activity. For instance, not having a plan to follow the exciting announcement of the bride and groom’s entrance into the banquet hall creates an awkward letdown. Follow it immediately with a toast or speech from the bride’s father. Then, of course, don’t forget to ask yourself, “And what happens after that?”

This is not Open Mic Night, so make sure your MC has a plan to ward off the unexpected guest lecurers. It’s not uncommon for some well-meaning uncle, filled with the spirit of the moment (or some kind of spirit, anyway) to want to give an impromptu performance. Refusing these requests take the utmost in firmness and tact. Once people get the idea that the mic is up for grabs you can delay dinner by 30 minutes on 4 talkative guests. It’s hard enough for me, as a distant third-party, to control some of these situations. I can’t imagine how much harder it would be to have to deal with friends or family in the same way.

Sounds like a lot of work, doesn’t it? Remember: good wedding DJ’s spend their entire careers learning the in’s and out’s of what makes wedding receptions fun and seamless. They put a lot of time and preparation into their song libraries and equipment; they have learned how to keep even the most finicky crowds out on the dance floor; they know how to conduct a wedding reception, and they have perfected the art of sounding polished and genuine without seeming rehearsed.

Hopefully whomever you deputize to run the show has some idea about such things and can handle the music, MC tasks, and light engineering duties. Choose carefully, as this person will be your voice for the evening and will have to be the kind of generous soul who won’t mind working throughout your entire wedding.

I’m willing to wager that a great number of people who are considering taking all this upon themselves are not really keen on doing the work; rather, they are just trying to put a more personal stamp on an already deeply personal time in their life, and it just seems that they can do it better themselves than trust a stranger to do it for them. Perhaps this describes you?

If it does, then I have one more suggestion. Before you commit yourself and your guests to the iPod plan, take some time to talk to a few DJ’s in your area to see if they are the kind of DJ who will listen to exactly what it is you want (and don’t want) at your wedding reception and then find a way to provide it for you. Find out if they are willing to work with you to develop playlists that suit your tastes. Find out if they have helpful suggestions that will make your day more relaxing, more fun, and more personal.

Perhaps you will find a new friend to whom you can trust some of the most crucial details of your party – so you don’t have to.

I'm GO for BRO!

2006-08-24T10:27:00.000-07:00

I'm pleased like punch to be selected for By Recommendation Only!

Not only is it nice to have my efforts recognized, but it's great to be in such wonderful company. BRO vendors are widely regarded as some of the best in the Bay Area. My write-up is not yet complete, but the process was a lot of fun, culminating in a visit to Publisher Johanna Kaestner's office for an interview

The only way to get in is to have other vendors recommend you, and then pass Johanna's careful scrutiny. Thank you Steve Slaght - A Class Act DJ, Jewel Savadelis of Savedelis Videography and Debbie Caracciolo-Smith (AKA the Cake Lady) of Not Just Cheesecakes - and probably a few more I don't know about - for your kind words and and support.

At the risk of looking like I'm polishing Johanna's apple, I really like her style. She's really passionate about all things wedding and BRO is her way of giving a lift to vendors a venues that do excellent work.

The DJ Pyramid Scheme

2006-08-09T13:44:00.000-07:00

It's been a busy month at DJ HQ, the new website is cooking, I am working on several blog topics, but I am taking off this weekend in the middle of the THE busiest month for weddings to head up to Gold Country and loaf around with my family and some friends that date back to my Jr High-School days. Good times - but that's not what I am on about today.

I have been approached more than a few times in the last few weeks by different DJ companies looking to get bookings covered because their "regular" DJ's flaked on them.

Their regular DJ did WHAT? Flaked. And here is why: Many subcontracted DJ's - DJ's hired through agencies, services, etc. work extremely cheaply, and because they don't have any overhead for office space advertising, insurance or investment except for their equipment and library, they have no reason not to check-out whenever it suits them. Things get busy at the regular job, the novelty of weddings starts to wear thin, the beer-fund is flush and the siren-song of lazy weekends filled with Playstation and ESPN lures them to the water's edge. Hanging out with the new girlfriend (whose number he got at a wedding, no doubt.)starts to sound like more fun.

Then there are freelancers or owner-ops who might take cut-rate work from one of these companies to fill a date. If they can't snare work through a free ad on Craigslist, they will gladly accept less from a DJ company. Then when a plumb gig for the same date tumbles into their lap, guess who gets abandoned?

So when things suddenly "Come up" It's a hassle for these companies, but it ends up being little problem for them to just call around until they find someone - anyone - that's open and willing.

I'm not talking about the fly-by-night internet outfits, either - I am talking about high-profile local businesses that are on more than a few preferred vendor lists. Imagine you are client, and suddenly the DJ you thought was coming, is not. You can excercise your contractual perogative and cancel the service, but it's the week before your wedding and no time to make waves.

Not that it matters, DJ's are all alike, right? Apparently so, because the people that try to hook me up into their subcontracting pyramid are willing...eager... to send me to someone's wedding after 5 minutes on the phone - I can cite example after of example of times that I've been contacted by someome who got my number from somebody else who talked to another guy who heard I was good who was wanting to know if I was booked this weekend and could I do an "easy-breezy" wedding reception in Carmel? Now, I'd like to think this is because my reputation exceeds me, but I've asked a few DJ's with whom I network and they all confirm they get it too. The last time it happened to me, they even skipped the formality of the phone conversation and assumed I was going to do it because I indicated that I MIGHT be available via email. Sanity returned and I emailed again to decline, but apparrently, this company was already making plans for me (?) and acted put-out at the inconvenience of having to continue the search to replace their own unreliable DJ.

Yep, for the first time in years, I almost agreed to go on one of these boondoggles.

I plead temporary insanity. On the one hand, I thought what's the harm? I bag a few extra bones, try my best to do a good job under the circumstances, and nobody gets hurt, right? Wrong. First of all, doing so rewards the kind of company that I really dislike by pulling their feet out of the fire. While I don't relish the idea of what it's going to take to get a DJ to that wedding, for some very personal and deeply-held reasons, it won't be me to reinforce this kind of stuff. Thanks to Carl Mindling for the tough love and reminding me who I am.

Then there was the time two years ago when Vince Ramirez was very ill and asked me to fill his shoes - Different story altogether. Of course I dropped everything and shot up to Santa Rosa. He's so organized that I was able to jump right in and go to work. Vince had a great relationship with the Bride and Groom so it probably was not quite the same. I was amazed at the detail of his preparation and it's changed the way I've worked from that day forward.

So, help a brother out? You bet. Bail-out the mediocre? Sorry. I have better things to do with my rare free weekends.

Hello, my name is Ron Grandia, and I'm a wedding DJ

2006-07-17T19:31:00.000-07:00

Let's face it, telling someone that I'm a wedding DJ is like telling them that I make my living as a street mime or a tobacco lobbyist. The fact of the matter is that I put aside a a promising and interesting career in multimedia production to pursue the thing that I enjoy most. And frankly, I have nothing but sympathy for someone who has suffered at the hands of a bad DJ.

After waxing philosophic with (or should I say AT) my web-guru, he suggested that I start a blog as a means of publishing my thoughts. (Probably in an effort to keep me from foisting them on HIM.)