If This Isn’t Nice, I Don’t Know What Is
The bride and groom rented an entire Bed and Breakfast for the weekend: The Island Guest House in Beach Haven, NJ. The wedding, including the ceremony took place in a tent right beside the house. The weekend was rainy, but the guests were energized and not a single drop fell throughout the reception.
As guests were getting settled into their seats, Trevor Collins played acoustic guitar plugged into our system. A friend of the couple conducted the brief, touching and beautiful ceremony. At one point all the guests joined him in repeating the famous words of Kurt Vonnegut, “If this isn’t nice, I don’t know what is.”
Presentation of the Treasure
One of the more interesting aspects of the wedding was The Presentation of the Treasure. Friends of the groom approached the newly married couple, one at a time, and presented them with a special, often handmade gift that had particular meaning and was a reference to an inside joke. To conclude the segment, they brought in a basketball backboard and bride cut down the net!
Long Beach Island Wedding Music
The bride and groom sent us a list of over 100 songs that was filled with interesting choices and local favorites. Here’s a few of the selections:
- Nina Simone – Mississippi Goddamn
- The Avett Brothers – Kick Drum Heart
- Spoon – The Underdog
- Boy Eats Drum Machine – Two Ghosts
- Cold War Kids – Hang Me Up To Dry
- Vampire Weekend – Obvious Bicycle
- Dr. Dog – Heart It Races
- Margot & The Nuclear So and So’s – As Tall As Cliffs
- Tenacious D – Wonderboy
- Toto – Rosanna
We were slightly perplexed to see Rosanna on the list. In one of the consultation calls, we asked if they were sure about that — maybe they meant Africa? The bride said that she had the same initial hesitation, but her fiance thought differently. She then told us that they were in a bar in Brooklyn a week earlier and Rosanna came on. Everyone in the bar starting getting into the song, and some were even singing along, at which time her fiance gave her a look of, “See!?” So, we left it in and actually played it — with great results.
Some of the song choices were familiar once we listened to them, like Jorge Ben – Pais Tropical, and Françoise Hardy – Comment Te Dire Adieu and the totally rocking I Believe In A Thing Called Love by The Darkness. We also got turned onto some great music that we had never heard like Carolina Chocolate Drops – Hit ‘Em Up Style and Har Mar Superstar – Restless Leg.
Awesome Finish
Beach Haven has very strict noise ordinances. All music has to be turned off at 10:00 PM sharp. The second to last song of the night was a favorite from down the Shore, Bruce Springsteen – Born To Run (scroll down for video footage). The last song was Frankie Valli – Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You. The clock struck 10:00 right at the chorus. We turned off the music and the guests continued singing along. It was a special moment.
To see the full playlist from the wedding, click here.
Sweet Child O Mine:
Born To Run:
Tent Weddings
We love doing tent weddings, and we love Long Beach Island. If you’re planning a wedding in a tent, or in a bed and breakfast or anywhere on LBI, please consider Philly Custom DJ. We have the right equipment, plenty of extension cords and really nice Hawaiian shirts.
For more information about renting the Island Guest House, please visit their website.
Photo of the Philly Custom DJ staff provided by Michelle Khordos of Hazel Eye Photography.
To contact Trevor Collins, check out his Facebook page.
