An Elegant September Celebration at the Maplewood Inn, Liverpool, NY

This past Saturday, on September 22, 2012, I had the pleasure of providing services for the wedding reception of Sarina and Mark Davis.

Sarina and Mark are a fun, professional couple who grew up in the Syracuse area, both graduating from CNS, and now live in Michigan. Their wedding had several guests from great distances like MI, SC, FL, GA, CT, NYC.

The reception was held at the Maplewood Inn in Liverpool NY, and I was assisted by Russell Dobbins, a great DJ with a  knack for picking the right song to get a party started.

In addition to DJ and MC services, we provided purple uplighting which was chosen to match Sarina's bridesmaid's dresses, and a custom monogram projection on the dance-floor. A monogram always creates a custom touch of elegance, that never fails to impress guests. People posed for pictures in front of Sarina and Mark's, and commented on it several times.

Monogram and Uplighting at the Maplewood Inn

The Maplewood Inn has 2 "conference" rooms, that they open up into one called the Laurel Grand Ballroom. The room is a nice size for a wedding of  <100 guests, and has an interesting curved wall that gives the room some character. Obviously hotels must use their space as double duty, and conference rooms are often used for event events like weddings, so decor and general vibe can be very neutral. For this reason, the Laurel Room lacks chandeliers. The addition of uplighting created a warm glow around the perimeter and really took the Maplewood's Laurel Room from conference room to elegant, modern ballroom.

Sarina and Mark's ceremony ended earlier than planned, and many guests arrived around 30 minutes early, so we began playing cocktail music a little early. Because so many guests arrived early, and some arrived on time, Cocktail hour felt a little long for some guests, and Sarina was getting a little worried, so we talked about changing the timeline around a bit. I spoke with the staff and was able to arrange for dinner to be moved a full 45 minutes earlier. This helped!

Sarina shared with me, how important her father was to her. He is her rock, they speak each and every day without fail, and they have a bond I truly hope I have forever with my own daughter. When a client has this kind of relationship with her dad, instead of simply announcing the father-daughter dance, sometimes I'll take a moment to interview dad on the microphone before their dance. It's always different, but usually it means recalling a funny or meaningful story from 20 years ago, and taking a moment, a breath if you will, to take in the importance of what is about to happen. I like to punctuate important moments. And a father and daughter dance, especially this one, is hugely important.

After Mark shared a special dance with his mother, we picked up the pace, and the volume, and got the party in motion. The biggest hits of the night were Michael Jackson - Billie Jean, Whitney Houston - I Wanna Dance With Somebody, and Gloria Gaynor - I Will Survive.

The wedding was catered by Carnegie Catering, who we've worked with on several occasions. They always do a wonderful job.

Thanks so much to Sarina and Mark for letting us be a part of your big day!

-Kirk Rothrum
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