It is our IMMENSE pleasure to finally release our dance party promo video made in collaboration with Zachary Stowasser. This short video captures the complete event lighting effects we can bring to your Formal, Prom or School Dance. The energy in these clips speak for themselves.

Kramer Entertainment DJs & Event Lighting Promo from Kramer Entertainment on Vimeo.

Take your event to the next level with Kramer Formals.

Getting married on the Central Coast and have a desire to treat your guests to something other than a traditional cake? Well no doubt you’ve noticed the trend to feature gourmet cupcakes. Cupcakes are becoming super popular at weddings everywhere and the reasons are deliciously easy to see.

They’re made of mostly the same fantastic ingredients, so they can be every bit as good as a traditional cake. They’re individually packaged, so you dont have to pay your caterer extra or make your guests wait for it to be cut, and there’s tons of creative ways to display them! Our friends at TheKnot.com showcase a bunch of different ideas here.

Regardless of where or how you set them up, you should always make sure they’re well lit so they get the visual attention they deserve.

Our favorite cupcaker? Amy from Amy Bakes Cupcakes. She’s got a huge, yet ever growing menu of uniquely decadent cupcakes and is a dream to work with. Check her out here!

In case you’re not familiar with the Kramer Entertainment wedding philosophy, let me sum it up by saying first and foremost, we’re your wedding MC. Our main goal is to make sure your wedding flows incredibly smooth. We value the communication we have with our couples before the event, ensuring your ceremony and reception moves from one segment to the next seamlessly and comfortably. It’s what we do.

BUT, that doesn’t mean we dont live and breath with the music!

Music is one of the most important tools in our bag and we pride ourselves in utilizing our experience to play whatever’s necessary to give your event the unique vibe you’re looking for. From classical compositions of centuries ago, to the latest radio hits, if it’s available and conveys the emotion you want to share with your guests, than we’ll strive to make each track as much a part of your event as the names on the guest list.

In our quest to keep our tools sharp, we keep our eyes open for resources that can help our couples convey to us what they’re looking for with regards to music. For the more traditional wedding feel, we often use the Top 200 Most Requested Songs as a guideline. But if you’d like to stray away from the norm a bit, we recommend taking a look at this awesome collection of info Ashely from Hi-Fi Weddings has put together.

She has found that her followers like to “focus on those that want their wedding mix to be less “Top 40″ and more of music that is true to the soul.” Her blog allows you to browse through other couples who put a lot of importance on music and see what songs they chose to play and at which segment of their event.

She even creates special playlists for certain seasons like the Summer Love Songs mix she made for Green Wedding Shoes (another AWESOME resource for those interested in a little modern inspiration).

Ashley even compiles sweet YouTube playlists and provides the links to preview and download the suggested songs so you can fall in love with them at your own leisure. If you’re looking for a little direction in the wide world of tunes, this is a great place to start. Let us know when you’re ready to share your thoughts!

Big thanks to our dear friend, the bloomdiva at panacea event floral design for introducing us to Hi-Fi Weddings ;)

Photo from theknot.com

As wedding reception emcees, we see a LOT of different seating arrangements. There are a number of options to choose from with varying levels of planning necessary. Our friends at TheKnot.com said it best:

“If you’re having 50 guests to a buffet, you may or may not want to give people specific seating assignments. But if you’re having 100 guests or more and serving a seated meal, you’ll want to make sure everyone’s got a specific place to sit. Why? For one, people like to know where they’re sitting — and that you took the time to choose where and who they should sit with. It’s also helpful if you’re serving several different entree choices, because the caterer and wait staff can figure out beforehand how many chickens, filets, or veggie dishes a given table gets because they (you) know who’s sitting there. Read on for tips on how to seat neatly.“

From an entertainment standpoint, we also notice that the placement of the speakers is often something that gets overlooked. Depending on the way the venue is setup, often times, the DJ booth is placed in the last available corner. Us DJ’s are ok with being completely out of the lime-light as it is YOUR wedding, NOT ours. But, the placement of our speakers requires a little more thought. We want everybody to be able to hear the toasts, announcements and of course the music you’ve chosen but we absolutely do not want to blow anybody’s eardrums with too much sound.

Sometimes, the venue is designed in a way that we HAVE to raise our volume a little higher so the guest on the opposite ends of the room can still hear. But all too often, the seats next to the speakers happen to be the grandparents or other elderly guests that may already have a tough time communicating with each other over the background music.

Our suggestion: Contact your DJ when designing your seating arrangement. Chances are, (especially if you’re getting married on California’s beautiful central coast) we know the sound dynamics of your venue and can tell you where our speakers will likely be setup. Perhaps then you can choose to seat the younger kids, or your rowdier friends to sit closer to the speakers where they wont be as affected by the louder music. Hey, they may even enjoy it and be more likely to bring that energy out to the dancefloor once things really get hoppin’!

It’s a re-occuring theme. We constantly hear from our couples how cool the online planning forms are when working out the details of their weddings.

It’s pretty simple. Once you book your wedding entertainment services with us, we activate your online planning forms. You and you financé will receive a username and a password that you can use to login completely at your leisure.

The timeline planner will give you the framework to imagine the flow of your ceremony and reception and chose the events at your desired pace. Of course the most fun part is listing all of your song requests. Everything from your first dance as husband and wife, your must play favorites that you HAVE to hear during open dancing and of course a DO NOT PLAY list. The Chicken Dance isn’t for everybody ;)

What you chose to list is completely up to you. Perhaps you need a little direction from the professionals, no problem, we’re here to help. But, the online planning forms will at least give you access to the questions you’d like to starting thinking about. We want your wedding planning process to be as enjoyable and convenient as possible.

Login and have fun!

I know we’re getting closer to “the big day” for a lot of our couples. Their friends and family from all over the state, country and sometimes world will soon be landing on the Central Coast preparing to share the big day with their loved ones. But they wont be quite as busy as the couple are will likely be looking to get the most out of their vacation.

Well, lucy for them, your destination wedding is being held in a beautiful place with an abundance of unique activities. Make sure they take advantage of everything this beautiful area has to offer! Need some help? Check out VisitSlo.com. This awesome website is managed by the great San Luis Obispo Chamber of Commerce and offers something for everybody.

Help make your guests weekend as special as your wedding day!

Attention Foodies: There’s a new table in town, and their vibe is as fresh as their sustainably harvest fruits and vegetables. The name is the Greenhouse Grill & Cafe, located in the spacious heart of the Embassy Suites, San Luis Obispo.

This recently updated culinary catch needs to be on your list of places to go for date night. Considering the wide variety of entrees, attentive service staff, spaciously unique ambience and very reasonable prices, the Greenhouse Grill & Cafe exceeds all expectations. And the name of the game is: Sustainable.

The appetizers we’re nearly impossible to decide between, so we ended up trying all of them. Crisp salads served timely and an impressively prepared list of main-courses that melted in your mouth. From the filet to the sea bass to the pastas, one could not go wrong. Try it for yourself next time you’re looking for a night away from the kitchen.

For some further reading, check out the recent post by our dear friend and accomplished wedding pro, Sarah Angelique

Thanks to Claire at River Oaks Pavilion, the Broad Street Event Group got to put our talents to good use setting their beautiful event center ablaze with gorgeous place settings, some fantastic floral design and of course, a good helping of decor lighting.

This massive outdoor “gazebo” boasts a phenomenal, pastoral, panoramic view of the surrounding rolling hills, a serene lake and a very open feel. All the while it’s got all the amenities you could ask for like a totally self contained kitchen, connected bathrooms and tons of parking (just to name a few). Many thanks to Sophie from Mike Larson Photography for coming out and snapping some amazing photos of the event.

As we gear up for the upcoming bridal show produced by our friends at Central Coast Bride (March 21, 2010), I’m reminded that our efforts should really be aimed directly at the attendees of the show. The brides, grooms, family members and friends are giving up a lovely spring day to immerse themselves into a busy day of high energy exhibits and will likely end up like a dear in headlights. Us vendors should show every person there the same courtesy and respect that we would show someone who walks through our door or calls us on the phone. Be there to help before you’re there to sell. Let your service speak for itself!

Luckily, we at Kramer Entertainment have built a fabulous collaboration with the artistic geniuses at Mike Larson Photography, Panacea Event Floral Design and Epic Weddings at CateringUnlimited.com. Look for us at the show! We’d be happy to share our knowledge and experience in the wonderful world of weddings!

Also, pre-register here and enter the code: BroadStreet and save $4 off the regular price!

Brian and Karen celebrated their wedding at Eagle Castle Winery when most of the county was setting off Fireworks on July 4th.  You got to love Brian’s job.  He’s an Imagineer for Disney.  Meaning he creates all the fun rides at the Disney theme parks.  He’s wanted to do it ever since he was a kid.  You could say he knows a thing or 2 about lighting.  That’s why it was fun for us to bring our new LED up lighting system and gobo projector to his reception. We kept the color of the room a warm amber or “candlelight” color during dinner.  Then when Brian and Karen took their first steps toward the dance floor for their first dance, the entire room changed color and took the guests by surprise.

We installed pin spot lighting on the cake and then back lit the wall behind it with our lighting.  Normally cakes get lost when the lights are dimmed down, but not when it’s pin spotted.  The LED pin spot generates no heat, so their is no fear of a hot light melting the cake.

before, with house lights on

After, with our pinspot and colored backlight.

Notice there are really 2 cakes in this picture.  The main one that we lit, and the smaller one to the right on top of the barrel with no lighting.  Without the correct lighting the cake may look invisible.  Whereas the one with lighting can be seen from any point in the room.

One cake with lighting, one without.

Happy 4th!