William Aiken House Wedding January 2014

Hello Everyone. I hope you are enjoying the new site! For the first post on my new blog, I want to write about my first wedding of this year. Let me provide some basic information and then we will get into the details.

Date: January 4th, 2014

Location: William Aiken House - Historic Charleston

The average temperature that day was 48°, not counting the wind; but, it was still a wonderful wedding for this young couple to tie the knot.

The venue

was the historic William Aiken House located at 456 King Street in downtown Charleston. Named

for it's original builder, William Aiken, it is a very expansive venue, with a lot of room and can host a large number of guests. The venue is managed by the Patrick Properties Group, who manage several other venues in the Charleston area. While musical entertainment is not permitted inside the house, it has several large outdoor areas to accommodate this aspect. The interior of the house is reserved for dining in the upper or lower ballrooms and several rooms available for members of the bridal party to prepare for the ceremony and/or reception. Most of the outdoor property can be tented at the renter's request. All the staff I have worked with at the venue have been professional, and easy to work with in accommodating the needs of the client. I feel like I could go on about the elegance of this historic venue; but that would be an entire blog entry in itself. Look for pictures coming soon.

The Planning

was for this to be a destination wedding. The couple were both from North Carolina with family and friends attending mostly from North Carolina and Chicago. The planning actually started in July of 2013. The primary coordinator was an event planner from North Carolina, who was also a good friend of the Bride's family. The bride submitted her DJ related needs through a national bid-for-hire site. I responded, through the site the same day (within a few hours) and after some email discussions and phone calls was soon honoured to be the musical host at this magnificent event. When the bride to be cam down for a visit to the venue in September of 2013; I was able to meet and her wedding coordinator in person and we were provided an excellent tour of the William Aiken house the venues event planner. It was a wonderful tour a Charleston landmark, that is usually not available to the general public.

The DJ Services requested:

- Music for the cocktail hour

- Music for the dinner portion

- Music for the reception

- Dance floor lighting

- Slide show projection Services (hi-def projector & screen)

The wedding day

arrived and I was very early and completed my setup well before the arrival of any guests, other

vendors or the wedding party. Parking can be difficult sometimes in downtown Charleston, so wanted to allow extra time. Wouldn't you know it I got lucky and located a double parallel spot just in front of the venue. Of course this was after I had remained in the loading zone a little too long with my hazards blinking and had to get jumped off; but it all worked out. Also thanks to a small portable propane heater I received as a Christmas gift from my wife I was able to stay pretty warm.

The music for the ceremony was provided by an incredible violinist, as the wedding took place on the side lawn in front of the intricate wedding trellis. Cocktail hour followed the ceremony as the wedding party had their photos taken. This allowed the guests an opportunity to soak in charm of the meticulously restored estate and it's furnishings. Next, Grand Entrance for the wedding party took place in the lower ballroom, before the adjournment of guests to dine in the upstairs ballroom. Even though music is not allowed inside the house, the newlywed's musical selections could be heard through the upper ballroom's opened doors to the piazza.

The evening was capped by off by a great time of dancing and celebration on the side lawn beside the fountain. The chairs used by guests during the ceremony had been cleared by venue staff during the dinner portion of the evening. Request of the guests and wedding party were accommodated, until the event ended that evening. It was a spectacular event at a marvellous venue I am honored to return to for another wedding in September of this year!

Final review: