What Can We Do While the Pandemic?

Slowly places are opening up with restrictions. Eventually they will start opening wedding venues. When will it will it happen in California? We have no idea. It can be frustrating since in other states they are allowing it. California is conservative in that respect. But in the long run it just makes it safer for everyone.

Keep your guests in the loop about what is happening with your wedding and keep your vendors closer. Go over your music playlist and with all this time it will be flawless. Get your guests involved and ask them what they want to hear at the wedding and you can include the feedback on you playlist.

As your dj, I am keeping safe myself. I am home 23 hours a day. For an hour a day, I go on a run with a mask and filter on. I do see families walking without masks and I avoid them. I go through the backstreets so it is not busy. Anyone who comes to the door, I talk to them through the window. I have not mixed any households meaning I have not set foot in another house no anyone come to my house. 

 I have subscribed to a multiple music record pools to keep the music fresh and look for classics that will always be fresh. I also was pretty decent with making edits of songs but I have been honing my craft with edits by putting them out for other djs to use in their sets thus keeping editing skills up for your special song needs to be the way you like it. 

Some djs are prepared and send out an organized planner for bride and groom to fill out. I send that out and have couple complete it on Google docs so it can be edited at any time. I also include a long list of most popular songs to help out brides and grooms pick their music. 

If you are having a dj provide the ceremony music, I always recommend to have about 30 to 45 minutes of pre-ceremony music. I typically start music 30 minutes before the ceremony but sometimes the bride and groom need extra time or maybe some guests have not arrived yet. 

The Pre-ceremony music I mostly play instrumentals but it can be anything the bride and groom can cook up.

The Processional music can be 2 to 3 songs for wedding party, groom, and bride. 

The Recessional song would be the song everyone exits to.

In your song selections make sure you add the must play songs that you want at your wedding. Make sure to include songs that your guests and family would like also. Maybe you can include the old classics your parents would enjoy for the dinner portion of the reception. Keep in mind during the cocktail hour your family and wedding party will be taking photos so make sure your must play songs will be played after the cocktail time. 

On the same note, please let the dj know of what songs not to play. Maybe you do not want the Chicken Dance played so make sure the Dj does not play it. I never play it unless the hosts ask me to. There maybe a few songs on that list or maybe include a genre of what not to play. 

Times have changed. For two months I did not go to any stores and stayed at home. Recently I went to a store and it was different seeing everyone wearing a mask. I walked out the car with a mask and gloves. While waiting in line, I made sure I kept 8 feet away. Social gatherings are not permitted at this time in California. 2020 was supposed to be the year of the wedding. 

Below is an article from the Mercury News.

Anyone who’s ever gotten married knows there are a million things to obsess over. Misplaced rings. Keeping feuding relatives from sitting near each other. Hoping the band shows up on time. But Love Singhal and Sarita Jayantee Biswal are probably the first couple that ever had to worry about their Wi-Fi connection dropping.

That’s because Tuesday night they had Santa Clara County’s first-ever wedding conducted over a Zoom conference call, with friends and family witnessing the blessed event online from as far away as India.

Santa Clara County Supervisor Cindy Chavez officiated the wedding from her office at the county government center on North First Street, throwing handfuls of confetti — made of shredded board of supervisors agendas — in front of her webcam after the couple said “I do.”

“It’s so hopeful that people are getting married right now,” Chavez said. “I feel full of hope to see Sarita and Love, who have been apart from each other for so long being in the same place and being able to get married and also have their family and friends being able to join them.”

Having their wedding take place on Zoom isn’t actually that unusual for the tech-savvy couple, who met in 2016 on Shaadi.com, an Indian matrimonial website. Singhal was living in San Jose working for Intel and Baswal was in Texas working for Hewlett Packard. When Baswal went back to work in India for a year, they kept in touch via Skype.

They were finally reunited in San Jose in 2019, but Baswal still commutes during the week to Southern California, where she works for Cognizant Technical Solutions. They got engaged on Valentine’s Day this year and decided they didn’t want to wait very long to tie the knot. Their marriage license was issued March 5, and they planned to get married at the chapel at the Santa Clara County government center two weeks later.

But the COVID-19 pandemic that triggered the shelter-in-place order changed their plans.

California law requires that marriages be performed in the physical presence of the officiants, but Chavez wrote to Gov. Gavin Newsom on April 20 requesting a temporary suspension of that requirement because of the statewide shelter-in-place order. Newsom issued an executive order last week temporarily allowing virtual ceremonies, and this was believed to be the state’s first virtual wedding since the change.

As far as weddings go, this one was definitely a DIY affair. The wedding planners included Santa Clara County Clerk-Recorder Gina Alcomendras, who made sure everything was done legally, and Leslie Chan, a multimedia tech at the county, who kept the ceremony running smoothly from a technical standpoint.

The couple decorated the wall behind them with red and white balloons and flowers. Guests joined the Zoom conference call from as far away as their native India where it was actually Wednesday morning. Phones were muted so nobody had to worry about somebody’s phone ringing during the vows. No band? No problem. Chavez played their song, “Perfect” by Ed Sheeran, over the call as they danced for the first time as a married couple.

“Even in COVID-19, people find a way to connect, and to say in front of God and the world that I’ve chosen this other person to spend the rest of my life with is kind of an awesome thing, especially right now,” Chavez said. “I don’t know if it’ll be the wave of the future, but it’s the wave of right now.”

 Mercury news article

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This week I have been focused on some mixes. I thought of the music that really made me passionate about djing and my latest mix is all about it.

For 7 years, I worked at a night club in San Jose. Every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday it was packed. I do remember the line was so long to get inside and it was one of the premier spots in San Jose. One thing that got people excited was the music. Times were a little different in the late 90s and early 2000s. Music was house based. There was probably like 3 to 5 hip hop songs during the night but the vibe was house music. I do like hip hop but house is what really made me move. Here is the best of the best tracks that they played at the time. True Classics!

https://www.mixcloud.com/wingmansj/late-90s-early-2000s-house-club-mixxx-bay-area-edition/

Virtual Weddings in Santa Clara County

News from our Supervisor: Seems like everything to going virtual. A bride and groom can be married via zoom. Things are changing. I do believe the receptions maybe going virtual too. It’s a changing world and we have to change with the times.

Virtual Weddings in Santa Clara County
 

We are entering the time of year when traditionally many couples hold their wedding ceremonies. Unfortunately, there will be no live wedding ceremonies in our community any time soon because of COVID-19 and the shelter-in-place order.

However, last week Governor Gavin Newsom made it possible for virtual weddings to take place in California. He issued an executive order temporarily suspending the state law requiring marriage ceremonies be performed “in the physical presence of the person solemnizing the marriage and necessary witnesses.”

The Santa Clara County Clerk-Recorder is now able to perform virtual wedding ceremonies via Zoom or Skype, as long as at least one half of the couple is a resident of Santa Clara County.


While a virtual wedding is not the same as a live ceremony, we want to make sure that couples who do not want to delay getting married have the opportunity to do so.

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Throwing the bouquet has always been a tradition but with time brides have opted not to do it. Their reasons are that they want to keep the nice bouquet or they think that everyone does it so they don’t want to be cliché. Another reason is maybe they do not have too many female guests that are single. Weddings are what the bride and grooms want and it is not a cookie cutter event. No two weddings are the same. 

  If the bride decides to have the bouquet toss, I always suggest the bouquet two suggestions. The first one is to get a special bouquet to toss. Brides want to keep their original bouquet so why not toss one that is not your special one? The second suggestion is to to the bouquet fake out. The dj invites all the single ladies to the floor and he counts, one, two and three and the bride goes through the motion and does not throw it. Meanwhile the photographer is capturing everything on film. Then the second time the dj does the countdown the bride does throw it and the photographer captures more of the images. It does build a lot of anticipation and more action shots.

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Greetings. This is a mini blog compared to my longer ones. Going to keep it short and to the point!

Before you select any dj for your event it is good to hear what they are all about. Its funny since sometimes people ask to see you perform and then you have to turn them down since you are playing at private events. For respect for your clients, the dj does not invite other guests to the event. A good way to see what is in the dj’s skill set is to see what they have on their mix cloud. Mixcloud is a website that hosts dj mixes. People can see the style of music a dj plays and if the dj can beat match. Beat matching is putting songs together so it is a seamless transition to keep the energy on the dance floor.

For your Bay Area dj, please look at their reviews then if satisfied please check their mixes out. If a dj does not have a mix to share then move on. There are many djs out there but hearing their mixes is the best way to really know a dj.

www.mixcloud.com/wingmansj

Westin Hotel San Jose (San Jose)

Centrally located downtown. Very nice décor and staff actually helped me unload equipment. It is located in the heart of downtown. It is located close to San Pedro Square and close to the local night life. 

I have done two events at the Westin downtown. It is fairly easy to get to. There is parking underneath the building and they can also provide valet service. There is parking across the street and also garage parking a few blocks away. Parking underneath the venue is pretty expensive so the best bet would be to park on Third and San Carlos since it would be about five dollars.

The big event room is located in the first floor. Ideally if you are unloading items to take to the event then one would have to park in the front and unload the items then take them in then you have to park your vehicle. 

 Staff members were very cordial. I did speak with them afterwards and they appreciated the Spanish music that was played. 

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