Maravilla Gardens Weddings, Where Magic Happens
Posted by Jason | Filed under L.A. Wedding Reception Venues
Maravilla Gardens is a family owned and operated, Outdoor Garden Wedding Facility in Camarillo, California, located on Santa Rosa Road just a few miles from the 101 freeway and about 50 minutes from Downtown LA. I feel that it still qualifies as a Los Angeles Garden Wedding Venue, and it’s one of the best.
As one of only 2 Preferred DJ Companies at this property, I thought it only appropriate to write a review article of their facility, especially since we know it so well. I want to bring a perspective of someone who works there all the time as an outside vendor
Our DJs have had the privilege of working over 75 Weddings at Maravilla Gardens in the past 5 years and I have personally DJ’d almost 50 of them myself. I know this property and it’s owners and staff like it was my own family estate, and believe me, I wish it were! This place is truly magical, it embodies the spirit of “family” and togetherness, joy and celebration, and offers it’s guests a truly intimate and personal feel, as if you were in your own backyard having your wedding, only if your backyard was filled with beautifully manicured gardens and lawns overlooking the Santa Rosa Mountains and rustic rolling farm fields.
It’s owners are Jo & Tony Maravilla, husband and wife and owners for over 40 years. They’ve raised their children here, and their daughter Jen is now working as the on-site wedding coordinator and with other aspects of the business. Tony is the master gardener, and he gives so much love and attention to the grounds, you can feel the love he’s poured into every flower, plant, shrub and tree.
Jo is the business manager and she is currently the main contact person for the business. She’s been tireless and instrumental in the growth and success of this beautiful property since they turned their attention from their nursery business to providing their property for weddings. There really are no 2 nicer people in this entire wedding industry and I’ve been blessed to work with them as much as I have, and every client of ours says the same thing about them.
As for the property, it offers 3 distinctly separate areas for Ceremony, Cocktails, and Reception. You begin your tour by walking from the parking area to a paved path and look to your left to see the cage of doves cooing beside a great little putting green, a huge hit for the gentlemen. There are restrooms and a private Bridal Suite for the Bride and her attendants to be hidden from view and to dress in the cool air conditioning!
The ceremony site opens on a large and lush green grass seating area surrounded entirely by trees and shrubbery. The Ceremony Stage is a large concrete, step terraced alter large enough to accommodate a very sizable wedding party, yet intimate enough to support just the Bride and Groom if you have a small wedding. You can place your own chuppah, or decorate an arch with florals for the ceremony. 
In addition, the facility rents a large shade cover to protect your guests from the sun during the hotter months, and it looks great from a design standpoint as well. The musicians or DJ set up just to the right of the stage on a small raised concrete pad outfitted with electricity for your sound system, which your DJ or musicians or minister must provide. Our DJs can play all of the music you need for your ceremony, as guests arrive to be seated they are greeted with citrus flavored water and music of your choice. We’ll play all of your entrance and exit music as well as any music you want during the ceremony. We can also provide the microphone for your minister. We’ve found that the accoustics here are good enough to place 1 wireless microphone on a stand and we can hear the minister/officiant as well as your vows. If you have a reader or singer, we can provide a separate mic for them. Read the rest of this entry »
Dorothy Chandler Pavilion Weddings at the LA Music Center
Posted by Jason | Filed under L.A. Wedding Reception Venues
Our DJs have an opportunity to work at different Wedding Venues in Los Angeles nearly every weekend, and occasionally we like to write about some of the more interesting venues in LA. Recently, I had the opportunity to DJ a Wedding at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion at the LA Music Center in downtown Los Angeles and was pleasantly surprised by many aspects of this venue. As a Wedding Vendor, I have to admit, I often worry about the logistics of working events in urban areas and tend to prefer some of the Garden Wedding Venues out in the more rural parts of LA and Ventura counties. Obviously, the more commercial the venue, the more problems vendors tend to have with parking, traffic, load in, etc… However, the parking for the LA Music Center is quite easy. The Bride and Groom will need to reserve parking for their vendors and guests, but the parking attendants were very accomodating to my needs as a DJ with all my equipment to have to load in and take up to the 5th floor Ballroom where the wedding was held. The staff were all very nice and accommodating as well and I found the service, food, and atmosphere to all be really great.
And speaking of atmosphere, the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion is adjacent to the amazing architectural gem, the Walt Disney Concert Hall designed by Frank Gehry. The concert hall and the entire campus of the LA Music Center create endless backdrops for brilliant Wedding Photography, like these by our friend Heidi Ryder Photography. The interior of the ballroom is spacious and can be divided by air walls. You can host your both Ceremony and Reception here, and the floor to ceiling windows offer ther city scape in the background to accent the event throughout the night.
I’ve included a highlight video at the bottom of this post, that I put together for Bride and Groom Alexis and Mitch whose wedding was held at Dorothy Chandler Pavilion back in March. Take a look at some of the interior footage of the ballroom to see what your wedding might look like in the space. Add Wireless LED Uplights which we are now proud to offer to help accent the room with splashes of colored lighting.
Our thanks again to the staff of the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion and the LA Music Center, please contact them for more information about their facility and if you need DJ services, we’d love to help! Happy Planning.
How to Keep Kids Busy at Your Wedding
Posted by Jason | Filed under wedding tips
SO, you’re having a wedding soon and you’ve just realized that about 25 of your guests are under the age of 12. What can you do to include the kids in the celebration without babysitting or being worried about them on your biggest day? Although we generally recommend hosting an “adult” reception, we understand that large families might have no other option than to bring children, especially when family members with lots of kids have to travel a great distance to attend your wedding…there are no kennels for kids, yet! But seriously, if you have several children attending your Wedding, you’ll want to have some activities for them, and you need to plan this in advance. There’s nothing worse than 20 screaming, bored, confused children running around disrupting the special moments of your wedding.
In our everlasting search for great wedding planning resources, we found a terrific article on The Knot.com to help anyone who is planning a wedding where lots of children will be attending. The article focuses on 15 different ideas to occupy and entertain kids at a wedding. Click Here to read the article on the knot.com
Credit to Wendy Paris for writing this great article.
Credit to Photography by Charise Proctor for the photo in this post
Los Angeles Wedding DJs Elegant Event Entertainment win Wedding Wire Bride’s Choice Award 2011
Posted by Jason | Filed under Announcement
We’ve Won the prestigious annual WeddingWire Bride’s Choice Awards™ 2011 for Wedding DJs in Los Angeles and Southern California. This is the 2nd year in a row we’ve won this award!
Recognition for the Bride’s Choice Awards™ 2011 is determined by recent reviews and extensive surveys from over 750,000 WeddingWire newlyweds. Our past clients are among those that shared their experiences on WeddingWire, the largest wedding review site in the nation.
For more information on the Bride’s Choice Awards™ 2011, please visit our Awards Page
The Best Garter Toss Songs
Posted by Jason | Filed under Wedding DJ Advice
The Garter Removal and Toss is a very fun and sometimes “risque” moment in a wedding. Depending on how sensitive your family and friends are, you may choose to leave it out of the Wedding Reception itinerary entirely, or you might simply tone it down a little. Other couples might want to really put on a show, but remember, this is YOUR wedding, do whatever you like!
Generally it’s a good idea to choose a song to accompany the Garter Removal and Toss, and the DJ will play the song and immediately the MC will ask all of the “single” or unmarried guys in attendance to come to the dancefloor and stand by as the groom prepares to remove the garter from the Bride’s leg. Once the garter is removed, the groom will wait for the MC’s cue and will proceed to toss or flick the garter into the group of single men, who will undoubtedly all fight to get as far away from the garter as possible! No matter who catches it, there’s always a lot of laughter involved.
Picking the Garter Toss Song is not always so easy, so we’ve complied this list from Grooms who we worked with in 2010, these are songs they chose for the Garter toss. If you need a reference to listen to, we suggest going to Youtube and searching for the song by artist and title, and hopefully you’ll find one of these that you like. If not, we encourage you to pick whatever song you want, cause it’s your wedding! Happy Planning and have fun guys!
1.) A Little Less Conversation- Elvis Presley
2.) Animals- Nickelback
3.) Another One Bites The Dust- Queen
4.) Are you Going To Be My Girl- Jet
5.) Baby Got Back- Sir Mix Alot
6.) Bad Things- Jace Everett
7.) Cherry Pie- Warrant
8.) Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?- Rod Stewart
9.) Danger Zone- Kenny Loggins
10.) Fever- Peggy Lee or Michael Buble
11.) Girls- Beastie Boys
12.) Highway To Hell- ACDC
13.) Hoochie Koo Rock & Roll- Rick Derringer
14.) Hungry Like The Wolf- Duran Duran
15.) I want You (She’s So Heavy)- The Beatles
16.) Indiana Jones Theme Song- John Willams
17.) Legs- ZZ Top
18.) Lets Get It On- Marvin Gaye
19.) Minnie The Moocher- Cab Calloway
20.) Mission Impossible theme song
21.) Naughty Boy- Gunther
22.) Oh Yeah- Yello (Theme from Ferris Buller’s Day Off)
23.) Peek-A-Boo- Siouxsie And The Banshees
24.) Playing With The Boys- Kenny Loggins
25.) Rocky Theme
26.) Sharp Dressed Man- ZZ Top
27.) Short Skirt, Long Jacket- Cake
28.) Smooth Criminal- Michael Jackson
29.) Steeler Tune
30.) Stripper – David Rose Orchestra
31.) What A Man- Salt N’ Peppa
32.) When I’m Sixty-Four- Beatles
33.) Who Let The Dogs Out- Baha Men
34.) Wild Things- Troggs
35.) You Can Leave Your Hat On- Joe Cocker
36.) You Shook Me All Night Long- AC/DC
The Best Bouquet Toss Songs
Posted by Jason | Filed under Wedding DJ Advice
The Bouquet Toss is undoubtedly one of the most well known wedding traditions at a Wedding Reception, and it can be a lot of fun as well as very unpredictable. Our DJs have seen girls falling all over themselves to catch the Bouquet, while others were running away from the flying floral display channeling the speed of Marion Jones. It’s not uncommon for the bouquet to hit something on the ceiling before it ever reaches the single girls, or to be overthrown with the likeness of a great NFL quarterback.
By Tradition, the Bride stands with her back to her single Bridesmaids and other Single ladies who are in attendance and when the MC instructs her to do so, the Bride tosses the bouquet behind her and whoever catches it is said to be the next girl to be married, which might explain why we see so many young ladies heading for the exits when it’s time for the Bouquet Toss.
To add to the excitement, it’s best to pick a fun song to play as an introduction and background song for the Bouquet Toss. If we were voting, we’d say that Beyonce’s “Single Ladies” would have to be the all time Number 1 most requested song for the Bouquet Toss, but we’re hoping many Brides will choose something different, although we love Beyonce, her huge hit seems a bit overplayed.
Here’s a list of some alternative choices for the Bouquet Toss Song. If you aren’t familiar with these songs listed here, just visit Youtube and search for the song by artist and title, then listen to the song to see if you might want to use it for your Bouquet Toss. Happy Planning!
1.) California Gurls- Katie Perry
2.) Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend- Marilyn Monroe
3.) Girls Just Wanna Have Fun- Cindy Lauper
4.) Hey Ladies- Beastie Boys
5.) I Haven’t Met You Yet- Michael Buble
6.) It’s Raining Men- Weather Girls
7.) Last Night- Keysha Cole Fea. P. Diddy
8.) Milkshake- Kelis
9.) Pretty Woman- Ray Orbison
10.) Say Hey (I Love You)- Michael Franti & Spearhead
11.) Single Ladies- Beyonce
12.) The Sign- Ace of Base
13.) What A Girl Wants- Christina Aguliara
14.) Wishin & Hopin- Ani DiFranco or Dusty Springfield
15.) You Can’t Always Get What You Want- Krystal Bowersox
WE TV is looking for Ultimate Wedding Disasters
Posted by Jason | Filed under Announcement
Here’s a Press release from WE TV (Women’s Entertainment) who recently contacted us to see if we knew any Wedding Horror stories or Brides who had some kind of nightmare happen at their wedding. Lucky for us, we have never had any horrible Weddings or Disasters happen at weddings we DJ’d. But, if you or someone you know has, WETV wants to hear from you. Please contact WE and let them know about your Wedding Disaster and tell them you found out about them through Los Angeles Wedding DJs, Elegant Event Entertainment in Los Angeles. Good Luck!!
Do You Have The Ultimate Wedding Disaster Story?
Did you suffer a wedding disaster that put a damper on your big day?
Does your wedding video play like a blooper reel?
Do you wish you could do it all over again and have the wedding
you originally dreamed of?
WEtv WANTS TO HEAR FROM YOU!!
WEtv is casting dynamic Southern California couples who deserve the ultimate DO OVER…a dream wedding celebration the way you’ve always envisioned it.
What happened to ruin your big day? Did your ex show up and object in the middle of your ceremony? Did a storm knock out your power or prevent most of your guests from attending? Were you forced to elope instead of having the great white wedding you dreamed of? If you live in Southern California and have your disaster caught on tape, you could get a second chance to have your dream wedding!
If you’d like to be considered for the show, please email us with photos of yourselves and the big day as well as your contact information.
Danielle Gervais
Sr. Casting Producer
Ish Entertainment / WE tv
Phone: 212.377.4543 / Fax: 212.414.5956
IshTVCasting.Danielle@gmail.com
IshTVCasting.com
Groom and Mother Dance Songs, a great list to help you choose!
Posted by Jason | Filed under Wedding DJ Advice
The Mother/Son or Groom and Mother Dance is a very special but relatively new tradition at Weddings. This allows the Groom to honor his mother or another special lady in his life with a special dance. When it comes to choosing a song to dance with your mom, it can be a tricky, but we’re making it a little easier. Below is a list of 37 songs that over 98 Grooms we worked with in 2010, chose to dance with their moms. There are some great songs here!
If you aren’t familiar with one of the songs, we suggest that you go to Youtube and search for the song by title and artist and listen there, then come back to us for more Wedding Music Request tips. Best Wishes!
1.) 100 Years- 5 For Fighting
2.) A Song For Momma- Boyz II Men
3.) Amor De Madre- Victor Manuel
4.) Because You Loved Me- Celine Dion
5.) Blessed- Elton John
6.) Bop- Dan Seals
7.) Child Of Mine- Carole King
8.) Close To You- Carpenters
9.) Don’t Blink- Kenny Chesney
10.) Fascination- New 101 Strings Orchestra
11.) Fernando- Abba
12.) Hero- Mariah Carey
13.) I Hope You Dance- Lee Ann Womack
14.) I Will Be Here- Steven Curtis Champman
15.) I’m a Believer- Monkees
16.) In My Life- The Beatles
17.) In Your Eyes- David Chamberlin
18.) It’s Your Song- Garth Brooks
19.) Love Like Crazy- Lee Brice
20.) Memories- Elvis Presley
21.) Moonlight Serenade- Glen Miller
22.) My Wish- Rascal Flatts
23.) New York State of Mind- Billy Joel
24.) Open Arms- Journey
25.) Over The Rainbow- IZ
26.) Some Enchanted Evening- Perry Como
27.) Sunrise Sunset
28.) Sweet Child O’ Mine- Taken By Trees
29.) The Honey Trees- Edelweiss
30.) The Way You Look Tonight- Frank Sinatra
31.) Wedding Coat- Wedding Coat
32.) What a wonderful World- Louie Armstrong
33.) When You Come Back Down- Nickel Creek
34.) Wonderful Tonight- Eric Clapton
35.) You Decorated My Life- Kenny Rogers
36.) You Raised Me Up- Josh Groban
37.) Youl’ll Be In My Heart- Phil Collins
Top Song Requests for the Father Daughter Dance Song at a Wedding
Posted by Jason | Filed under Wedding DJ Advice
We’ve written a few articles about picking the Bride & Father Dance Song for a wedding like this one Choosing the Father Daughter Dance Song, but we’ve decided to publish this list of all 38 songs our 98 Brides chose in 2010 for the song to dance with their father or step-father or other male figure in their lives.
The Father Daughter dance has special cultural and traditional importance, but it has become more of a way to honor someone special in the Bride’s life and does not always have to be a true “Father”- Daughter Dance. In any case, choosing the song to dance to can be difficult, but take a look at the list below from recently married brides and see if one of the songs might be appropriate for your wedding. If you’re unfamiliar with a song, click on this link to Youtube and search for the song by title and artist and listen to the song, then come on back to our site for more tips! Best Wishes!
1.) A Song For My Daughter- Alliare
2.) Ballerina Girl- Lionel Richie
3.) Butterfly Kisses- Bob Carlisle
4.) Cinderella- Steven Curtis Chapman
5.) Daddy’s Angel- T Carter
6.) Father & Daughter- Paul Simon
7.) God Only Knows- Beach Boys
8.) Hero- Mariah Carey
9.) I Hope You Dance- Lee Ann Womack
10.) I Loved Her First- Heartland
11.) In My Life- Beatles
12.) It’s Your Song- Garth Brooks
13.) Just The Way You Are- Billy Joel
14.) My Girl- Temptations
15.) My Little Girl- Tim McGraw
16.) Ode To My Family- Cranberries
17.) Raised Me Up- Josh Groban
18.) Somewhere In Time- John Barry
19.) Somewhere Over The Rainbow- Isreal Kamakawiwo’ole
20.) Stand By Me- Ben E. King
21.) Sunrise Sunset
22.) Surfer Girls- Beach Boys
23.) Sweet Child O’ Mine- Taken By Trees
24.) The Honey Trees- Edelweiss
25.) The Way You Look Tonight- Frank Sinatra
26.) The Way You Look Tonight- Michael Buble
27.) Then They Do- Trace Adkins
28.) Through The Years- Kenny Rogers
29.) Tiny Dancer- Elton John
30.) Tupelo Honey- Van Morrison
31.) Turn Around- The Brothers Four
32.) Walk With You- Edwin McCain
33.) What A Wonderful World- Louie Armstrong
34.) When You Come Back Down- Nickel Creek
35.) Wonderful Tonight- Eric Clapton
36.) You Are So Beautiful
37.) You Make Me Feel So young- Frank Sinatra
38.) You’ll Be In My Heart- Phil Collins
The Best Songs for The Grand Entrance of the Wedding Party
Posted by Jason | Filed under Wedding DJ Advice
Let’s face it, picking a song for the Grand Entrance of the Wedding Party can and should be a Lot of Fun! We’ve all seen youtube videos of Grand Entrances that include choreographed dance numbers, but honestly, if you and your wedding party are not interested in learning a Broadway worthy dance routine you needn’t sweat it. All you need to know is that the Grand Entrance is simply that, Grand! The MC of your event will introduce each member of the Wedding Party, commonly just the Bridesmaids and Groomsmen, but if you wish to introduce parents and flower girls and ring bearer and sponsors or anyone else, that’s entirely up to you. And of course, the Bride and Groom are last to enter the Reception.
What the DJ/MC needs to know is:
- How Many People will be coming in to the reception hall as part of the Grand Entrance?
- What Are their Names?
- Should I introduce First and Last Names?
- What are the Songs that you want played during the Grand Entrance?
Our suggestion is to keep it fairly simple but make it upbeat and fun! Choose a song that gets people excited, clapping, screaming and yelling for the Wedding Party, and ultimately Up On Their Feet for the Bride and Groom when they enter the room last.
Feel free to pick more than 1 song, but don’t get too carried away and pick 20 different songs if you have 20 people in your wedding party, it just get’s too messy for the guests and it never turns out the way you envision it. The best thing to do is pick a fun song, come in to the reception with lots of energy and this will set the mood for the rest of the evening, giving your guests in attendance the license to let loose and have a lot of fun!
One final tip: Many Brides and Grooms choose to follow their Grand Entrance by immediately going into their First Dance. We think this is a great idea simply because you already have everyone’s attention and you can get this part out of the way and relax and enjoy the rest of your evening with guests and dancing and having fun without being nervous about your 1st Dance. But it’s only a suggestion, it’s your wedding, do it the way you want.
Here are the songs that Brides and Grooms chose for the Grand Entrance throughout all of the weddings we DJ’d in 2010, listed in Alphabetical Order. If you aren’t familiar with or just want to hear a song listed here, go to Youtube and type in the name of the song and artist and search and listen to the song, but remember to come right back to our website!
1.) 1,2,3,4- Plain White Tee’s
2.) 8 Second Ride- Jake Owen
3.) Ants Marching- Dave Matthews
4.) At Last- Etta James
5.) Banana Pancakes- Jack Johnson
6.) Beautiful Day- U2
7.) Better Life- Keith Urban
8.) Bittersweet Symphony- Verve
9.) Burning Down The House- Talking Heads
10.) Celebration- Kool & The Gang
11.) Chicago Bulls theme song
12.) Crazy In Love- Jay- Z fea Beyonce
13.) Crazy Little Thing Called Love- Queen Read the rest of this entry »
If you are an experienced wedding DJ who loves working to serve the needs of your clients, 