Last weekend Ameritune’s Jim Schneeberger played at the Chicago Northwest Marriot in Hoffman Estates, IL. Here’s what he had to say- Guillet/Schulte Wedding 8/1/09. Wow. This wedding was for over 400 guests, and took all the room the Chicago Northwest Marriot had to offer. The room looked wonderful. I believe the Groom’s family came from the Millwaukee area and were huge Packer fans. The wedding colors were Green centerpieces and Yellow napkins, Vince Lombardi himself would’ve been proud. Cocktail hour was held in the lobby, as hotels seem to be doing these days. Intros were scheduled for 6 pm, but we didn’t start getting the guests in the dinner room till just after 6, and it took a good twenty minutes.
The Bridal Party entered to “Freaks Come Out At Night” by Whodini and they all did a little routine as they crossed the dancefloor. The Bride and Groom entered to Todd Rundgrens ‘Bang On The Drum”. They play this at all the Packers games when the Pack scores. There were 4 speeches, a Prayer and Cake Cutting to do before dinner was served. The speeches were all very entertaining (but went a little long) By the time dinner was served, it was 7PM. This wedding was unique because various relatives of the happy couple wished to play instruments and sing songs to them during dinner. This was a very musical and talented family. This did not interrupt the food service at all. The service took a very long time. Even though it was a large group, much of the staff seemed to be working slow and waiting to be told what to do, but I must say, the food was excellent! We enjoyed the filet and chicken, and the filet was cooked perfectly, even though it probably sat for a while, waiting to be served. It was already after 9PM and desert was just being served. We decided to not wait any longer, and began the dancing at that time. Once we started dancing, the floor was never empty, all night. I started with a request list of 35 songs, and added 17 more throughout the night. I was able to get 34 out of the 52 in, that’s a lot! Everybody seemed to enjoy almost every song played- young and older. It was a dominant younger crowd, but this seemed to bring out the inner children of a lot of the elder guests.
Having a good time
Huge songs were The Cha Cha Slide, Thriller, Shout, Ice Ice Baby, Cher’s Believe, Since You’ve Been Gone, and Go Your Own Way. Ballroom music like Cha Chas and Tangos were big hits as well. Again, a very entertaining and talented group. The Bride and Groom had graduated from the University Of Iowa and had a lot of Hawkeye alumni there to celebrate with. They took a Hawkeye alumni picture in the lobby then I played their fight song and they carried the Groom over their head to the dance floor. I saw the groom raised in the air several times that night.
Dollar Dance
The dollar dance was about 4 songs long and as guests came up to dance with the Bride and Groom, they pinned money to the tuxedo or dress, as you can see, this made for a fun picture of them all decorated with $$$. Ameritunes Videographer (Robert) would set off into the crowd on the dance floor, and 15 or 20 minutes later, he would come out like he had been in a battle. I would give him a napkin and water like a prizefighter in his corner. At the end of the night, all of the guests looked like they were at a sporting event. The local cleaners should thank Ameritune, Hoffman Estates DJs, for all the business this week. In summary this was a Large, Very Fun, Wild, but well behaved group. Everyone was so nice, and had a lot of good clean fun. No spilled drinks on the dance floor either. Amazing! For booking info call Ameritune at (630) 372-TUNE (8863). Read more blog at Chicago DJ