2010 Begins With ‘Perfection’ for Nicole & John at The Villa
You know you’re in for a special wedding reception when the bride sends her dress all the way to China to get some custom work done. Not only did Nicole look gorgeous, she and her husband, John, were smiling from ear to ear the whole night. At the end of the evening, Nicole summed up the day she’d been dreaming about since she was a little girl with this highly illusive and sought after bridal phrase… “It was perfect!” What a nice way to start off the New Year.
If you tuned in to the TLC channel last year and watched the hit show, Masters of Reception, you’d be familiar with The Villa in Mountain Lakes and Frungillo Catering. The Frungillo family is well known in the special events community and deserves its stellar reputation. It was an amazing experience.
John and Nicole were an ideal bride and groom. They brought a lot of joy and happiness to their own celebration. From the initial phone calls to the e-mail exchanges to the final design session at their home, John and Nicole were committed to making this one of the best days of their lives; fortunately, their family and friends had the same game plan. When you bring that much positive energy to a first class venue and put some of the industry’s finest professionals in charge, simply let nature take its course and enjoy the ride.
I was delighted to work with The Villa’s expert banquet manager, Joe’l Falco. We’ve teamed up several times over the past decade and it always resulted in a stellar event. When the menu was finalized and the special details were confirmed, Joe’l and I designed an event timeline that enabled us to produce a seamless blend of hospitality and entertainment for all of the guests.
Capturing the once in a lifetime moments throughout the day was one of the best photographers in the business, Dave Kotinsky, from Visionmasters. His work is all over the MMP website and the MMP blog. I appreciate his photographic artistry. Special thanks to Dave for providing the photos for this entry.
Among many highlights, one of my favorites was when John and Nicole presented the bouquet to John’s grandparents, Lester and Erna. After playing Unforgettable by Nat King Cole and At Last by Etta James, we determined that out of all the couples on the dance floor, Lester and Erna were together the longest… over 50 years! As Nicole handed the bouquet to Erna, a collective “aww” could be heard from the sentimental crowd. I asked Lester and Erna if they had any advice for the newlyweds and Lester said, “be flexible.” Then without missing a beat, Erna replied, “I’m usually right.” It was a classic Kodak moment. To top it off, we went on to play Lester and Erna’s wedding song, Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White. The look on Erna’s face was priceless. As a result of the detailed planning session two weeks prior, we already knew who the longest married couple was going to be. 
With the help of John and Nicole’s Sherlock Holmes-like investigative research; we had Lester and Erna’s wedding song cued up so they could experience the joy of their first dance as husband and wife one more time. I love my job.
We finished the night with one of John and Nicole’s favorite artists, Michael Buble. Their guests enjoyed Michael’s version of Save The Last Dance For Me for their grand finale and then The Best Is Yet To Come for their goodbyes, hugs and kisses outro.
Perfect indeed.
I Got A Feeling: Isabella & Jay Get Married at The Manor
If you are looking for “the perfect place to get married,” the New York Times will point you in the direction of West Orange, NJ. One of their top recommendations is The Manor, a picturesque estate that boasts formal gardens, timeless decor and classic elegance.
Without dating myself too harshly, my senior prom was held there when the Father of the Bride movie premiered on VHS. If you haven’t seen it yet and need a sanity break from planning your wedding reception and a few laughs, rent it asap (on DVD or On-demand of course).
Isabella and Jay had a gorgeous fall day for their wedding. The grounds of the Manor looked exquisite as the guests arrived for the ceremony. We worked with Reverend Mitchell, whose humor and polish created personalized and entertaining nuptials for everyone in attendance. As always, we provided professional audio support including lapel microphones so the guests who were seated more than two rows back could enjoy all of the special vows, musical selections and heart-warming moments.
After an impressive cocktail hour in the Manor’s atrium, family and friends entered the ballroom to await Isabella and Jay’s grand entrance. They were tapping their toes and snapping their fingers to the sounds of Michael Buble, Spiral Staircase, Michael McDonald, The Beatles, Michael Franti and Stevie Wonder. After the bridal party was introduced with customized audio clips and pre-programmed lighting effects, Isabella and Jay came into a personalized edit of Paradise City, by Guns and Roses, which brought the energy of the room up to the next level.
Isabella and Jay chose Stuck on You by Lionel Ritchie for their wedding song, Daughter by Loudon Wainwright for the father-daughter dance and Simple Man by Lynyrd Skynyrd for the mother-son dance. One of the dance floor highlights was watching Isabella’s family doing a seven minute Hora before the main course was served. I felt like I was doing a Bat Mitzvah; the guests were loving it.
After the cake cutting, which Isabella chose the 2nd verse of Your In My Heart by Rod Stewart to be played in the background, family and friends returned to the atrium to enjoy the Manor’s Viennese stations.
For the last dance, we played a crowd favorite to get all of the remaining guests back onto the dance floor. It was I Gotta Feeling by the Black Eyed Peas. Isabella and Jay sang and danced along with their family and friends to end the night with everyone cheering for the brand-new Mr. and Mrs. McMahon.
It’s always a pleasure collaborating with the Manor. Marwan Jurri, the maitre d’ and Jim Levinsky, the banquet manager, extended their hospitality throughout the evening and were instrumental in orchestrating a smooth reception.
Special thanks to Rich Janniello, from Ciro Photography, who shared his fantastic photos for this blog entry. This was the first time we had the opportunity to team up. Based on his professionalism, I hope we get to collaborate again soon. Rich was always in the right place at the right time in an un-obtrusive manner. We also had nice chat before the ceremony about why he always had three different cameras ready to go. Rich explained why the right lens for the right moment is crucial and why having back-up equipment is paramount. That’s the kind of event professional a bride and groom want to work with if they value peace of mind.
Encore Gallery:
