If you are looking for McHenry County DJs , Ameritune are the best around. Reasonable pricing and outstanding quality. Recently we played at D’Andrea Banquets in Crystal Lake, IL for the reception of Jennifer and Julio Riviera. They actually had the ceremony a few months earlier and delayed the reception a few months. I had never worked in the “G” room at D’Andreas before and was suprised at how large it was. I think it will hold 225 at least. Jennifer and Julio had about 150, so there was plenty of room.
Jennifer and Julio Riviera
The guests were evenly split with half being Mexican and the other half American. It was a bit of a challenge to play music for two very different cultures, but I alternated and found a good mix. I would go in 15 minute increments and just rotate between styles. It’s traditional for mexican weddings to have a dollar dance, but we did it a little differently. Traditionally, you pin your money on the bride and groom, but nobody had any pins, so we had the Best Man and Maid of Honor be the collectors/pimps. They each had an envelope and guests would hand the money to them when it was their turn. It lasted about 4 songs, and gave everyone a chance to dance with the bride and groom.
Groom tossing!
Another Mexican tradition is to toss the groom in the air, and hopefully catch him. This is similar to the Jewish tradition of hoisting the Bride and Groom in chairs, only no chairs for the Mexicans. The guys had a good time with this, but I’m not sure Julio was trusting them! A good time was had by all and once again, a great event at D’Andreas. For booking info call (630) 372-TUNE (8863) to read more blog Chicago Wedding DJ
On August 8th, 2009 I played at D’Andrea Banquets for the wedding reception of Jackie Chybik and Malcolm Heath. The reception was unusually long- from 5 pm till midnight. It takes a special group to dance four and one half hours, and these folks rose to the task. Right from the start, I knew it was going to be a good party because it was a younger group and it was at D’Andreas in Crystal Lake. The food and bar are excellent and I always seem to have great parties there. I took a picture of the beautiful sweets table that was opened after dinner.
Sweets table looked and tasted great
There were all ages at this wedding, especially a large number of 20-30 year olds, which usually makes for a dance floor with more stamina.
Younger group that was ready to dance
They placed Heath bars at every table for each guest. Everyone likes edible party favors! (Malcolms last name is Heath)
Heath Bars at the Heath Wedding
Malcolm and Jackie picked a lot of music, some songs I had never heard of before, like around fifty songs in total. For a lot of weddings, this would be impossible, but they had an extra long reception. It wasn’t easy, but I got almost all of their requests in. The guests made a lot of requests too, these people were party animals! I played a lot of 80s at this party. I dedicated “God Bless The USA” for all the quests who had served in the military.
I took that picture after four hours of dancing and they were still going strong! Ienjoyed playing for Jackie and Malcolm, they are a sweet couple, and I love that family. Looking for a DJ? You can see a two minute version of Als demo online, or a longer version at the Ameritune office. Call (630) 372-TUNE (8863) for pricing and availability. For more great wedding ideas read our blog at Chicago DJ
