Dance Til’ Wedding – Mel and Mark

Meet Mel and Mark Lyons.  They got married yesterday and I had the pleasue of DJing at their wedding party!  I brought my camera along to give you a little sneak peek at another great Dance Til Tomorrow wedding.

It’s been nearly a year since I was in the Temple of the Winds at Mount Stewart estate and it’s one of my favourite wedding venues to DJ in.  Its small and charming and always has a great intimate atmosphere.

For their first dance, Mel and Mark chose a lovely cover of Lana Del Rey’s song ‘Video Games’ performed on acoustic guitar by American songwriter Collin McLoughlin.  I wasn’t actually aware of this cover until Mel sent me the youtube link below.

Mel dedicated Roberta Flack’s ‘The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face’ to her parents who had a sweet wee slow dance on their own.  This is how its done!

This is Sam.  The only person I’ve met that knows every single word to Rapper’s Delight.  EVERY. SINGLE. WORD.

Shoes? Pffft… who needs shoes to dance?!

Bill Withers’ ‘Lean on Me’ at its beautiful, literal best.

Every wedding I DJ at will have a request or two that surprise me.  Nothing from this wedding on will surprise me as much as Dorothy, the mother of the bride requesting ‘Slam’ by hardcore drum n bass band Pendulum!  Her other request was for ‘Jump’ by House of Pain.  Coolest mum ever.

Here’s some of my favourite songs from the night…

Pendulum – Slam (seriously Dorothy! I’m still in shock…)
Darude – Sandstorm
Bedouin Soundclash – When the Night Feels My Song
Imelda May – Tainted Love
Josh Ritter – Snow is Gone
Sugarhill Gang – Rapper’s Delight
Muse – Plug in Baby
Bill Withers – Lean on Me
Bomfunk MCs – Freestyler (Mark wouldn’t let me go home til I played this!)

Dance til Wedding! Tracy and Marty, Manor House Hotel, Fermanagh

Apologies for the lack of blogging in the past while but I had a really busy summer!  I’ll be updating the blog more from a state of semi-hibernation over the winter but in the meantime here’s a great little autumn wedding I had the pleasure of DJing at recently.  Tracy and Marty’s wedding was a DJs dream – an amazing couple who love their music, and loads of guests who were keen to party!

When Marty told me the first dance song they’d picked, he basically apologised for picking an ‘obvious track.’ It was One Day like This by Elbow, and there was no need for him to apologised.  Its a brilliant track and its one that they love.  That’s what a first dance should be.  It was perfect.

Newly formed wedding band ‘The Rockits” were on before me and did a sterling job!  They may only be new but these guys have been playing in bands for years.  If you want a wedding band that are young and different then give them a look! Niall and Liam (along with their sister Bronagh) also did the music in the church for this wedding….

Marty serenaded his beautiful new wife with that lovely Baritone of his when he took to stage with his band Levity Breaks.

Richie, Jonny, Marty and Eamon – Levity Breaks.

This is Tracy’s dad dancing to LEFTFIELD!!!! I told you they were an amazing crowd!!!

No wedding is complete without a special dance routine to Madonna’s ‘Material Girl.’

Some of my favourite tracks from the night!

Groove Armada – Superstylin
Leftfield – Open up
Daft Punk- Da Funk
Two Door Cinema Club – something good can work (twelves remix)
R.E.M. – It’s the end of the world as we know it
They Might be Giants – little birdhouse in your soul
Dr Dre – The Next Episode
Run DMC – It’s Tricky
Madonna – Material Girl (I’m a sucker for vintage Madonna!!!)

 Check out more pictures at Photography by Brideen’s amazing blog!

Wedding DJ Northern Ireland – David and Kathryn, Clandeboye Lodge

It’s a miracle I didn’t know David and Kathryn before we met to discuss their wedding. We have a million mutual friends – it was at a mutual friend’s birthday where they first heard me DJ. Since then we’ve bonded over our very similar music tastes and I knew their wedding was going to be a bit special:) I brought my camera along and took a few snaps…

David and Kathryn had a brilliant attitude to the weather, and didn’t let the rain get them down – their first dance was a defiant ‘Here Comes the Sun’ by the Beatles.

One of Kathryn’s bridesmaids Jeannie – it was only a month before that Kathryn was a bridesmaid at Jeannie’s wedding.

Gangstas Fo’ Life.

Anytime there was any jumping or moshing you could pretty much guarantee David would be in the middle of it!

David and Kathryn’s photographer and friend, the amazingly talented Carrie Davenport rocking it on the dancefloor.

Some Belfast Music Royalty Stevie Mac (Uber Glitterati), Amy McGarrigle and Walter D’Goon (Master and Dog) on their best behaviour.

David’s dad used to play guitar in bands years ago and loves music – we had a great conversation about bands afterwards.

Here’s a selection of some of my favourite tracks from the night;

Sultans of Ping FC – Where’s me Jumper?
REM – It’s the End of the World as we know it (and I feel fine)
Daft Punk – Da Funk
General Fiasco – Waves
Jurassic 5 – Concrete Schoolyard
Pixies – Here Comes your Man
They Might Be Giants – Birdhouse in your Soul
Weezer – Hash Pipe
Ronettes – Be my Baby
Etta James – I just want to make love to you
Violent Femmes – Blisters in the Sun
Otis Redding – Hot to Handle

First Dance Friday – Emiliana Torrini

I had never heard of Emiliana Torrini when my girlfriend Brideen got me tickets to see her in Belfast.  It was an unreal experience.  Never have i seen someone charm and audience as much with both her personality and music.

This song was one that hit me instantly live – so much so that I went home, grabbed Brideen’s CD and listened to it on repeat for a day!!  Its called ‘Beggar’s Prayer’ and its on her 2008 album ‘Me and Armini.’   If you like this then you’ll LOVE the album.

First Dance Friday – The Cinematic Orchestra

So, I think this has been used in a TV advert in the UK which turns some people instantly off a track.  As I loved the song before it was used and I cannot remember what the advert was for I thought it would be fine to go ahead and use this song:)

The Cinematic Orchestra are great.  As their name suggests they tend to make grandiose and often highly emotional songs.  This song follows both rules.  Like all good love songs “To Build a Home” by the Cinematic Orchestra isn’t straightforward – a lot of it centres around the loss of happiness and love.  Its the defiant resolution to the song that I love though – “When the gusts came around to blow me down, I held on tightly as you held on to me.”  Beautiful.