Stephanie and Mauricio’s Ballroom At The Ben Wedding

The 2019 event season is in full swing, and I can’t believe that we are already in June.  For this wedding blog we are going to take you back to February for the wedding of Mauricio and Stephanie at the Ballroom at the Ben.  A big highlight to being a Wedding DJ is getting to know the bride and groom.  In a wrap-up meeting or on the phone, the excitement and anticipation a bride and groom express about their big day is contagious.  The first time I met Stephanie and Mauricio, that passion was in the air.  Their number one priority was to ensure that everyone was out on the dance floor.  For them, this was key because they had attended weddings in the past where they had experienced few and sometimes even no guests dancing.  I don’t believe people get all dressed up and go out just so they can sit at a table and stare at their cell phones, watches or one another, but that people come to these celebrations to have a good time.  I feel it is a team effort between the event manager or maître d and the DJ to make an event successful.  My biggest concern at any event I’m involved with in the role of DJ is to eliminate any lull or down-time.  It is important to have a nice flow throughout the entire event, with my goal being to keep everyone entertained and involved.   Along with the bride and groom, we were able to put together flawless timeline for the reception.

Ballroom at the Ben is a venue we have worked at many times in the past.  The night started with the ceremony, which we helped out with by providing microphones to ensure everything said is heard clearly.  Once the ceremony ended the drinks and hor d’oeurves started, as guests entered the cocktail hour in the mezzanine of the ballroom.  While things were running smoothly upstairs, the event planner, maître d’, photographers, and videographers, went through the run-down of events to ensure we were all on the same page.  As soon as guests came downstairs for the start of the reception, we turned the energy dial all the way up to 10 with our parent and bridal party introductions.  To build up suspense there was an awesome love story video that played, before the grand entrance and first dance for our bride and groom.  As soon as the first dance ended, the dance floor started to fill up with party goers right away.

This was a great crowd to DJ for, as the dance floor was packed full as soon as dinner ended. We played a little something for everyone at this event.  We went from Latin music, to classic party songs such as “Shout”, to some fun Philly dance tunes from Boyz to Men and the Roots.  As the Wedding DJ, it is my job to play music and get guests of all generations out there during the course of the reception. Stephanie and Mauricio were dancing most of the night, and their family and friends were right out there with them.

I worked with so many great people and vendors at this wedding.  Of course, the team at Finley Catering did a fantastic job as always.  I also worked with an awesome one two punch of photographers and videographers from the teams of Philip Gabriel Photography and Cinema Cake Filmmakers.  Both teams do incredible work and we at Cutting Edge Entertainment are grateful to get to partner and work events together with them.  The planners at Kaleidoscope Weddings were very important and key to the success of this event.  There were so many details and pieces to this wedding, which Jennifer and her team did an amazing job keeping together.  Last but far from least is the bride and groom Stephanie and Mauricio.  They told me they had a dancing crowd and they were right.  Congratulations to the both of you.

~DJ Richie

A few weeks after the wedding I was surprised to see this great article posted by Philly.com and featured in the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Images courtesy of Phillip Gabriel Photography

Ballroom At The Ben / Finley Catering

Cinemacake Filmmakers