On Thursday night I found myself doing what I love at the beautiful Riverstone Estate in the Yarra Valley. This was my first visit to Riverstone. I was really impressed with the attention to detail and level of service at this venue. Plus the stunning panoramic views of the Yarra Valley.
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While the weather wasn’t ideal, there was still a little magic to be found. Photographer Rick Liston did just that by capturing Lea & Katrina under a full rainbow overlooking the valley.

Big thanks to Lea & Katrina for trusting me with such a special occasion. And thank you Matt and all the friendly staff at Riverstone Estate. It's a really is beautiful place to have your special day.

Last night I had the pleasure of Djing and MCing for the newly wedded Ray & Joy Webster, along with their fun-loving/crazy family & friends. They danced like it was 1999 and laughed like there were no tomorrow. Even the Father of the Bride's speech was hijacked by Sean (his son) and turned into a family roast, mostly targeting Raj & the Bride. Everybody including myself had a great big laugh at antics of this beautiful zany fun-loving family.

The Venue:
Kimberley and the crew from Poets Lane in Sherbrooke were outstanding. They showed me the same hospitality as the guests of the reception. In fact... I don't think I've been called "Sir" quite so many times by venue staff. The only thing better than the service was the food. It was like I was on an episode of My Kitchen Rules and the judges were handing out 10's all round.

The Styling:
Big thumbs up to Levian Events. They really transformed the room into a work of art. My photographic abilities really don't do them justice.

The Challenge:
There is one negative worth mentioning here. And that is the fact that there is a sound limiter on the Djs power supply at this venue. If the sound level in the room reaches a certain level for a sustained period of 5 seconds then the power gets cut off. The venue must have really annoyed some neighbours. The cut-off level is set brutally low. I was running at about a 5th of my normal volume with most of the bass turned down. Fortunately there is a rest switch within easy reach. I've worked in nightclubs that have had similar devices connected to the amps that would cut the sound temporarily, but not the power to everything. No drama... There's more to an event than just loud music right! Unfortunately, I was still caught by surprise when the crowd made sooo much noise as the Bride and Groom entered the room that the power cut towards the end of their entrance song. I spent much of the night playing from my laptop instead of my CDj-900s just in case the power cut again. My Pioneer decks don't have a battery backup such as on a laptop, so chalk one up for all the laptop Djs out there. It did happen again during the first dance, but only due to the crowds enthusiasm. Ray and Joy put together a fun routine of 3 different songs and the crowd rightfully so, went nuts. I had to explain the situation to the crowd and we got through take 2 okay.

Final Words:
I know all of us wedding industry people love to strut our stuff on blogs & social media. We tend to share mostly only the positives and go on and on about how special all of our events are. Truthfully though, this is definitely a wedding reception I will not forget in a hurry. Not because of the sound problems, but because of the crazy, wild fun that everybody had regardless. I've never met a bigger bunch of extraverts. I just played my part and let this beautiful nutty family take center stage.

Mission complete. :)

Huge congratulations to Jessi & Mark. It's been an absolute pleasure working with them towards this big day. Speeches are almost done. Time to pump it up some!