This past weekend was obviously a busy one for the ProVolve Team! Eric and I, Mike, found ourselves working with one of the coolest couples we’ve ever met, and the icing on the cake was that it was for a friend-of-the-family, or family-of-the-friend, in this case. I’ve personally known Liz for a long time – I think I first met her before my wife and I were even dating – she’s the younger sister of my wife’s best friend. So that would have been 2004-ish, when I met her? Ten years really flies by. But flash forward a few years, and my wife’s best friend Kara is now married to one of my now-best-friends, Derlyn, and we get an email from Liz saying that she needs a Wedding DJ. Needless to say, we were pumped!

Liz had seen us DJ a benefit for a non-profit a long time ago, and was struck by how we kept the playlist more on the XPN-indie side, instead of the standard fare for dinner. She told us then that when she got married she would want us to DJ it, but we had no idea then what an epic party would ensue on the big day!

So let’s set the stage here – the venue was the Country Barn in Lancaster. Oddly enough, it’s one of the last remaining venues that Eric and I hadn’t worked yet, but driving up the driveway, we could tell that it was going to be quite an affair. It’s a sprawling estate, and a fully-working farm and kid-attraction by day, and a world-class wedding venue in its own right by night.

Counter to the list we used for the non-profit benefit, Liz and her fiance John had some other things in mind for Cocktail and Dinner hour. For Cocktail Hour, she was interested in ‘Happy / Summer Fun’ music, with some country tracks thrown in. Since people would be mingling outside, she really wanted to make sure that it had a summer kind of vibe, and upbeat music was the way to go.

For Dinner, she and John were leaning towards love hits from the past few years – Jack Johnson, Colbie Callait, Jason Mraz – but with a few twists thrown in. We were happy to oblige and already had a list that was 90% of the way there, just needed a few touches put in that were uber-specific to Liz and John.

The best way that I can describe this wedding from an aesthetic standpoint is ‘Upscale Casual Country’. The tables were decorated with very classy silverware, flowers, and centerpieces – very upscale. And then in the area with the desserts, the cake and cupcakes were set on handmade (by Derlyn) wood slabs and cake tiers. The dinner was a pig roast, and it was *delicious*. It truly was the perfect balance between super-classy and country-casual – and while most people can’t imagine how they might work well together, this wedding was proof that if done correctly, you really can have the best of both worlds.

This wedding will always hold a special place in my mind and heart because I got to see some of my best friends there being introduced – Kara, and their sister Colleen – and then I got to hang with my main man Derlyn for some of the party times. We got to see Mr. Crider, Liz’s dad, give one of the best welcomes we’ve ever seen, and both toasts from Colleen and Nate were stellar.

The Country Barn is a big venue – the room itself is quite large. We were situated a bit off the dance floor, which made things challenging on the outset, but by the time came to open the dance floor, we had a complete handle on the layout and things were going swimmingly.

One thing that made this wedding a little different for us, in a GREAT way, was that Liz had invited a significant amount of her and Colleen’s sorority sisters. Eric and I didn’t realize how much party a sorority brings with it to a wedding reception, but the moment we opened up the dance floor, they took it over and stayed there until the bitter end. It was awesome, and they were the kinds of guests that we love making partytimes for.

John Fox is a beer guy, and he created the ultimate beer-lover’s wedding reception. He bought more than 80 cases of awesome and wildly varying beer, so that people could create beer ‘flights’ with their friends. Eric and I, in all our years of doing this, have never seen such a beer menu. It was dozens and dozens of beers, almost an overwhelming amount of options.

The end of the evening was just as epic as the beginning – we closed the night to some of John’s favorite rock singing-anthem songs like Eddie Money’s ‘Take Me Home Tonight’, and the entire crowd was so jazzed to be there, that they begged for one last song before we had to pack up, which we obliged.

We wish Liz and John the best, and we look forward to seeing them again soon at a friend/family function. They’re both awesome, warm, and fun people and they are totally perfect for each other. We hope that they have an awesome honeymoon in Jamaica!
 

Cocktail List:
Diego Garcia – Sunnier Days
Ray LaMontagne – Supernova
Raphael Saadiq – 100 Yard Dash
Zac Brown Band – Whatever It Is
Ray LaMontagne – You Are The Best Thing
Van Morrison – Brown Eyed Girl
Blake Shelton – Honey Bee
Eric Church – Love Your Love the Most
St. Paul & The Broken Bones – Call Me
Kodaline – Brand New Day
Wild Cub – Thunder Clatter
Old Crow Medicine Show – Wagon Wheel
Charli XCX – Boom Clap
Bastille – Pompeii
Gentlemen Hall – Sail Into The Sun
Hunter Hunted – Keep Together
King Charles – The Brightest Lights
Blake Shelton – My Eyes – feat. Gwen Sebastian
Luke Bryan – Play It Again
Jake Owen – Beachin’
American Authors – Best Day Of My Life
Naughty Boy – La La La

Dinner List:
Train – Marry Me
Jack Johnson – Banana Pancakes
Norah Jones – Don’t Know Why
Colbie Caillat – Fallin’ For You
Jack Johnson – Better Together
Colbie Caillat – I Do
Jason Mraz – I Won’t Give Up
Phillip Phillips – Home
Jason Mraz & Colbie Caillat – Lucky
Colbie Caillat – Bubbly
Jason Mraz – I’m Yours
Plain White T’s – 1, 2, 3, 4
Sara Bareilles – Brave
George Ezra – Budapest
Colbie Caillat – Brighter Than The Sun
Ingrid Michaelson – Girls Chase Boys
Frank Sinatra – The Way You Look Tonight
Nat King Cole – L-O-V-E – 2000 Digital Remaster
Julia Stone – How Sweet It Is
Bobby Darin – Beyond The Sea
Ingrid Michaelson – Can’t Help Falling In Love (Recorded Live at Daytrotter)
The Civil Wars – I’ve Got This Friend
Harry Connick, Jr. – A Wink And A Smile
Louis Armstrong – A Kiss to Build a Dream On
Jimmy Durante – As Time Goes By
Ella Fitzgerald – They Can’t Take That Away From Me
Bruno Mars – Just The Way You Are
Uncle Kracker – Smile
Phillip Phillips – Home
Amos Lee – Flower
Vanessa Carlton – A Thousand Miles
Coldplay – Magic
Beautiful Small Machines – Paper Planes
Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers – American Girl
Sara Bareilles – I Choose You
Taylor Swift – Everything Has Changed