I am very grateful to get the opportunity to work with so many awesome people – weekend after weekend – just like Ingrid and Jared, the bride and groom from this wedding. Ingrid and Jared were laid back and their primary concern was with making sure that their friends and family had a great time at their wedding reception. At our wrap up meeting just prior the wedding, we spent a lot of time going over the music for the ceremony, dinner, and dancing. We sat together for a while just listening to music and looking for the perfect grand entrance, cake cutting, and parent dance songs. The best part of my job is getting to know my clients and share in their excitement for their big day, and sitting down with them face to face really gives my the chance to do just that.

This was a great crowd to DJ for, as the dance floor was packed full as soon as dinner ended. I usually start my first dance set with music geared to older guests, and play some oldies, Motown, Disco, and Funk, then later on in the night I segue into the current hits. The reason I do it this way is because older guests are the ones that tend to leave earlier in the night, and I have found that younger people – for the most part – will dance to music from older generations, while many older guests are hesitant to dance to popular music of today. As the Wedding DJ, it is my job to play music and get guests of all generations out there during the course of the reception. Ingrid and Jared were dancing most of the night, and their family and friends were right out there with them.

This wedding is the first blog from a reception I did at the Duportail House in Chesterbrook, Pennsylvania (just outside Valley Forge Park). I have worked at this venue before over the past few years and I am excited to finally feature it on this post. I also had a great time working with SAS Becker Photography. I want to thank them for letting me feature the images from the wedding on our blog. Most importantly, I want to thank Ingrid and Jared for choosing me as their Wedding DJ and allowing me to rock their wedding.

A few weeks after the wedding the bride and groom were nice enough to post the following testimonial on the Knot.

Richie from Cutting Edge DJ-ed my wedding a few weeks ago and I could not have been happier.

From our first meeting, I could tell that he was really on top of things and knew what he was doing. He made some really great suggestions on the timeline to accommodate for our unique reception location, which really helped things move along without being awkward. He kept the dance floor packed all night with a great mix of songs for the aunts & uncles as well as the twenty-somethings, and teenage cousins. In addition, Rich is just a nice guy who is truly happy for everyone and excited about what he does.

And on the plus side- my parents loved him!

All the best to Ingrid and Jared in your lives as husband and wife, and thank you for the great review!!

-DJ Richie

Images courtesy of SAS Becker Photography

Duportail House

Wedding DJ and Lighting
Philadelphia

The story of Cairnwood begins with a Scottish-born immigrant with nothing more than an elementary school education who, through hard work and ingenuity, rose through the ranks of the booming Pennsylvania railroad industry in the mid to late nineteenth century, going on to found the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company, which grew into the largest manufacturer of plate glass in the United States.  Hence, this Scottish-born immigrant who began with nothing amassed one of the greatest fortunes in the United States at that time, on par with those of families with names like Carnegie, Vanderbilt and Mellon.  His name was John Pitcairn.

In 1895, toward the end of the period known as “The Gilded Age”, John Pitcairn completed the construction of his home – which he named “Cairnwood” – in Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania.  The house and gardens were designed by some of the most prestigious architects and designers of the time, and in 1895, it cost just over $160,000 to build ($161,638.82 to be exact).

Today, that amount barely covers its upkeep.

On Friday, April 19, of 2013 the estate held a fundraising “Garden Gala”, the proceeds of which are to be used to restore and improve the grounds and gardens of Cairnwood in the spirit of their original design… no small feat.

What is most impressive about Cairnwood, and its fundraising Gala, is that most of the funds raised (just under $50,000.00) come from generous donations and efforts of the residents of the Bryn Athyn community itself.  Even the chairman of the Cairnwood Board of Governors – Brent Pendleton – is the great-grandson of John Pitcairn. So many of the Gala attendees were residents of Bryn Athyn, and many of those were also descendants of Mr. Pitcairn himself.

The name “Bryn Athyn” has Welsh origins, with the word “Bryn” meaning hill, and the word “Athyn” meaning cohesive, and/or tenacious.  With the word “cohesive” meaning “to stick together” and the word “tenacious” meaning “to not let go”, today’s Bryn Athyn community certainly reflects both of these attributes.  Where so many other Gilded Age homes were either abandoned, neglected or sold off, Cairnwood not only survives, but thrives due to the diligence and dedication of the very community that surrounds it.

It takes a village.

-Craig Sumsky

Images courtesy of Nicole Leigh Photography

Cairnwood

Press “play” above before reading on…

Shannon Walko, Director of Operations and Events at Cairnwood, has given me the honor of putting together music programs for the Cairnwood Gala since 2008, and this years Gala posed an interesting, yet fun challenge. In years past, the Cairnwood Gala has had themes that – for me – had well defined parameters that lent to unique yet specific music programming designs that not only complimented that theme, but enhanced it.

For “A Night In France”, where I used the music of artists like Edith Piaf, Maurice Chevalier, and Django Reinhardt to name a few, which helped enunciate a classic French feel. Another was a “Roaring 20s” theme, where Rag and Hot Jazz set a thematically era-appropriate mood.

This Cairnwood “Garden Gala” was held to raise money for the restoration and improvement of the grounds and garden in the spirit of the original design by Olmstead, Olmstead and Eliot in 1895. Naturally, it was to be “garden themed”, very different from past Galas in theme as well as in music.

My first thought was for it to be Classical… literally, to which Shannon agreed. Yet, as I began crafting a program to serve as background for this event, I wanted to compliment not just the beautiful garden-themed decor, but the house itself. Cairnwood, a regal Gilded-Age home was built by Scottish-born industrialist John Pitcairn Jr. at the turn of the Century. The fact that Mr. Pitcairn was Scottish born influenced my decision to spice up the Classical program, interspersing some lively Scottish traditional music.

Combining Classical music with a Scottish flare turned out to be just the right mood-set for a “Garden Gala”, lending a light and airy feel as the sonic backdrop to a truly phenomenal event, with breathtaking decor provided by some of the Philadelphia area’s most artistic and creative florist and decor professionals.  The beautiful images here – captured by Jackie Bayne and Love Shack Photo – offer only a glimpse into what was truly a world-class event.

Included here (at the top) is a sampling of just a few of the selections that served as a backdrop to the evenings festivities.  Feel free to press play while looking through the beautiful images captured by Jackie Bayne and Love Shack Photo.  The first track – “Scotland The Brave” – is one of the most recognizable Scottish patriotic songs. This was the selection I chose to open the evenings festivities.  I couldn’t help but think that Mr. Pitcairn would be smiling at the sound of the bagpipes of his native Scotland. The rest are a combination of classic feel, Scottish flavor, and even a moving Tango, “Por Una Cabeza”.  All in all, it was an amazing event, and I look forward to seeing to restoration of the grounds and gardens at the Cairnwood Estate.

-Craig

Images courtesy of Love Shack Photo

Cairnwood

Pride. Pride is a word with many connotations and meanings, depending upon with whom you are having the conversation. I am proud to work at Cutting Edge Entertainment, due to the remarkable staff at this company. I am proud of the standard of the Cutting Edge product, which we deliver to each and every client. Lastly, I am proud that Cutting Edge literally is its name, “cutting edge”, and the wedding of Bryan and James at Front & Palmer, in Philadelphia, shows just that.

Everything about Bryan and James’ wedding was cutting edge and contemporary. The venue, Front & Palmer, is a renovated warehouse, located in the Northern Liberties neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The warehouse has been restored and designed to entertain crowds with a modern and unique flavor to it. Bryan and James also sat down with the in-house caterer, Feast Your Eyes, and designed a menu ranging from custom drinks at the bar, bearing the name of each newly wed, to miniature crème brulees and much more. The walls were decorated with hanging columns of origami artwork and Philadelphia themed paintings, while the high top tables and couches made the venue feel much more like a five star restaurant or nightclub, than a wedding reception.

Jack, my lighting technician that evening, did a phenomenal job utilizing the diversity of our over-head light show for Bryan and James. He used the spot light to add elegance to the ceremony and first dance, while making the dance floor look like the hottest place in downtown Philly that night. My DJ, Steve, played song after song, each drawing more delight from the crowd than the previous song. The LED up-lights illuminated the walls in blue and green and took the room to a whole new level.

The ceremony was done “in the round” with all of the guests seated around Bryan, James and the processor. After the ceremony was done, the guests proceeded to the cocktail lounge, decorated to reflect the Philadelphia theme throughout Front & Palmer. The music throughout the night illustrated the guys’ eclectic musical tastes, with everything from Drake and Chris Brown to Rascal Flatts and The Carpenters.

In the main room, everyone enjoyed a light buffet and hor d’oeuvre style entrees for dinner as the newly weds shared their first dance and cut the cake. James, Bryan and their friends and family danced the night away, and barely stopped to enjoy the dessert and coffee bar. The energy from the dance floor could be felt across the city, I am sure… and perhaps heard as well!  Everyone partied hard all night long, and no one could believe how quickly it all seemed to go.

I am proud to have done Bryan and James’ wedding, proud in every facet. Thank you to Steve and Jack, who displayed the quality of staff an MC has at his disposal at Cutting Edge Entertainment. What an incredible party, and to do it in such a modern venue, like Front & Palmer, only enhances the experience. Thank you to everyone from Feast Your Eyes, along with Sachi Anand for the eye-catching images from the wedding.

Last, but not least, thank you and congratulations to Bryan and James on your marriage, and for throwing such an awesome party! I wish you many years of happiness and many more parties!

DJ Tony A.

Images courtesy of Sachi Anand Photography

Front and Palmer

Wedding DJ and Lighting
Philadelphia

Talking about past events here on our website/blog is a great opportunity to give people who are new to Cutting Edge Entertainment a little taste of what we’re all about. Writing and featuring pictures and videos from many of the weddings, parties and events that we DJ is something that separates us from most of our competition. Over these past three years I have written somewhere around sixty blog posts – mostly from weddings. I write about receptions that I’ve had the pleasure to DJ all over the Philadelphia area at innumerous facilities.  This particular blog post is about a wedding reception where I was the Wedding DJ at a great venue Knowlton Mansion, in the Fox Chase neighborhood of Philadelphia.  I met Laura and Matt months before their wedding date. They are one of those couples that I felt I clicked with instantly. After talking with them for about an hour, going over a timeline, talking about music, and telling them about my approach to my job as a Wedding DJ, they decided to hire me to DJ their wedding reception. Time flew by and before I knew it, it was January 19th 2013, Laura and Matt’s big day. My assistant DJ and I got to Knowlton Mansion about two hours before the ceremony. We quickly got set up and settled in before the roughly one hundred and fifty guests arrived. Along with playing music for the ceremony, I also provided the microphone for the officiant. All the guests were able to hear everything being spoken clearly, and we played an important role in their ceremony.

Being a DJ is my full time profession and has been for the past nine years. In total, I have been a DJ for over seventeen years, having started at a very young age. Even after a couple thousand gigs, I still work hard to improve my performance. I feel very confident that as long as I get to know the bride and groom, build a rapport and prepare well, I will rock out the reception. I spent hours with Laura and Matt through phone calls, emails, and our nearly two hour wrap up meeting, after which, I was confident and eager to get their guests out there dancing for this wedding. The bride, groom, and their bridal party led the charge to the dance floor, and danced to everything from some older favorites like “Shout” (Otis Day & The Knights), to some current selections like “Party Rock Anthem” by LMFAO. I had a lot of fun being the DJ for this reception, and working for such great clients.

Laura and Matt are amazing, and I enjoyed getting to know them before the wedding and it was awesome to be a part of their celebration. I look forward to staying in touch with them, as they begin their lives together as husband and wife. I also had the opportunity to work John Barone Photography, they did a great job. The pictures came out great and I appreciate John for letting me feature them on the blog.

A few weeks after the wedding the bride and groom were nice enough to post the following testimonial on Wedding Wire…

Richie did an amazing job as our wedding DJ! Prior to the wedding he spent hours with us picking out the perfect music for both our ceremony and reception. We felt like we got personal attention with Cutting Edge, which was extremely important to us. He got to know our taste in music which helped him know the type of music to play. Throughout the wedding, he had everyone on the dance floor and even entertained my nephew with his DJ skills! People raved about the great music! There is no need to worry about your guests having a great time if you have a Richie behind the DJ booth – it’s a guarantee that they will!

Wishing all the best to Laura and Matt!!

-Richie

Images courtesy of John Barone Photography

Wedding DJ and Lighting
Philadelphia

Cutting Edge Entertainment is growing fast, and to keep up with our exponential growth, we’re looking to build on our biggest strength: Our Staff. Our objective is to create exciting, unique and memorable celebrations for our clients while providing an unparalleled level of customer service and customization. We’ve assembled a talented team of overachievers who are smart, passionate, and great at what they do.  If you think this describes you, read on…


Job Description: MC/DJ

Cutting Edge Entertainment, the Philadelphia area’s leading boutique (small) DJ Entertainment Company, is looking for an experienced MC/DJ to join its team of highly successful and dynamic DJs.

The successful candidate should possess the rare combination of broad music knowledge coupled with a strong understanding of audio equipment and proficient DJ skills. In addition to, and equally important will be the candidate’s attitude, poise and personality. You will be directly interfacing with our ultra high-end clients, venues and partners. In addition to being a team leader (not just a player), you must be quick on your feet, flexible, outstanding under pressure and able to deal with short term constraints. Your attitude, personality and interpersonal dynamics need to be a combination of a manager of a high-end 5 Star hotel and a Disney-level of creativity and client experience.


Qualifications:

Five or more years experience as a wedding and/or mitzvah DJ.
Customer service-oriented background.
Bachelors degree in applicable field.
Compulsive attention to detail.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
Creative analysis and problem solving skills.
Attention to detail with the ability to complete a large volume of work quickly.
Availability to work nights and weekends.
Resident of the Philadelphia area.


Cutting Edge Entertainment provides the safety and security of a company that has been a market leader since 1992. In addition to outstanding supplemental income, we offer sales and profit sharing opportunities, as well as a pretty cool place to work and grow alongside a team of talented and professional peers.


Interested? Please submit your resume, and a cover letter explaining how you possess all of these qualifications to careers@cuttingedgedjs.com

One of my favorite couples I worked with this spring were Kirah and Darryl. I enjoyed working with them because they were so excited for their wedding reception, and also because they were very easy to get along with so it was a lot of fun getting to know both Kirah and Darryl. This wedding was held at the Manor House at Commonwealth, and I had the chance to work with the very awesome Jennifer, Cristy, and rest of the incredible staff at this awesome venue. It is important that there be plenty of communication between the kitchen and the DJ, to ensure that the event runs smoothly. At this wedding, I knew that once guests were seated, they would be immediately served their meals. The best run weddings are the ones where there is no stop in the action, everybody is either watching (or participating in) a formality (such as the first dance, parent dances, cake cutting, etc.), eating, or on the dance floor.

This was a great crowd to DJ for, as the dance floor was packed full as soon as dinner ended. I usually start my first dance set with music geared to older guests, and play some oldies, Motown, Disco, and Funk, then later on in the night I segue into the current hits. The reason I do it this way is because older guests are the ones that tend to leave earlier in the night, and I have found that younger people – for the most part – will dance to music from older generations, while many older guests are hesitant to dance to popular music of today. As the Wedding DJ, it is my job to play music and get guests of all generations out there during the course of the reception. Kirah and Darryl were dancing most of the night, and their family and friends were right out there with them.

The photographers for this event were Beth and Gina from Artistic Imagery. We have worked with Artistic Imagery at many different weddings over the past few years, and they are one of my favorite photographers to work together with. They had their work cut out for them, as the dance floor was filled with guests dancing and partying. I had a great time at this wedding, because I played a lot of different music from different genres, eras, and artists. Everything was played from The Beatles to Salt and Pepa. I love my job and it is especially fun for me when the bride and groom along with their guests are open to many different types of music.

A few days after the wedding the bride and groom were nice enough to post the following testimonial on Wedding Wire.

We had the pleasure of working with Richie from Cutting Edge on our wedding day. We met with Richie a little over a year before our wedding and I knew immediately that I wanted him to MC and DJ our wedding. He has a great, upbeat attitude and is really friendly, you feel like you’ve known him for a while. We met with him again a few weeks before the wedding to pick out music and he really picked up on our taste in music very quickly, so the meeting was fun. On our wedding day Richie played all of the beautiful ceremony music and he also played music during the cocktail hour which was a nice addition. During dinner, people kept coming to my table to tell me how great the music was. Once the reception started, the dance floor was never empty. Richie played songs that made everyone get up and dance, and that is exactly what we wanted. We even put together a 80s-90s mix that everyone loved. After the wedding people kept telling me how awesome my DJ was and how much they loved the old school songs. I couldn’t have been happier because music was one of the most important parts of the wedding for us, and the DJ was a hit! I would definitely recommend hiring Richie and Cutting Edge to anyone who is looking for great music and a great DJ! It was one of the best decisions we made.

Thank you again Kirah and Darryl, and the best of luck to you in your lives as husband and wife.

-DJ Richie

Images courtesy of Artistic Imagery

The Manor House at Commonwealth

Wedding DJ and Lighting
Philadelphia

The best part of working as a Wedding DJ is that I have fun at my job. At the office, at a party, meeting clients, or behind the mixer, I am always having a blast. Now if you go to meet a doctor you expect and probably want him or her to be serious, because your health is important, however, when you are meeting with me, well, I’m a DJ, and the main purpose of my job is to make sure you and everyone at your party are dancing and having a great time. Most wedding receptions are fun celebrations you share with your family and closest friends. I have a great time meeting with brides and grooms, talking about their wedding, going through a timeline, talking about the music they like to dance to, and just visualizing the day with them. I feel that many folks who choose to book Cutting Edge Entertainment because they have a good time meeting with myself and our staff, and if we can have fun in a meeting for an hour, it’s likely  that we will have a great time at a four or five hour reception. I am confident that is why Rachel and Brian chose Cutting Edge Entertainment to DJ their wedding.

This was a wedding that I was anticipating for months, because I knew it was going to be a blast. The wedding was held at Celebrations in Bucks County, and I was happy to be back at this venue. We have been working at Celebrations for many years and it’s always nice to work at a familiar place. Once cocktail hour ended, we brought everyone in to the ballroom and began our introductions. The parents, bridal party, and bride and groom each had came out and the guests were cheering so hard it almost overpowered the music. Once the first dance and toasts were finished, everyone enjoyed an amazing meal courtesy of the staff at Celebrations. Once dinner ended, we quickly got everyone out on the dance floor. I played everything from “Build Me Up Buttercup” by the Foundations to “Yeah” by Usher as well as tons of other great party hits in between. The bride and groom were out on the dance floor nearly the entire night, along with their roughly one hundred and fifty guests. It was a great time for all.

Rachel and Brian are amazing, and I enjoyed getting to know them before the wedding and it was awesome to be a part of their celebration. I look forward to staying in touch with them, as they begin their lives together as husband and wife. I also had the opportunity to work Artistic Imagery, they did a great job. The pictures came out great and I appreciate Nick for letting me feature them on the blog.

-Richie

Images Courtesy of Artistic Imagery

Wedding DJ and Lighting
Bucks County

“And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make.“
~Paul McCartney

With the exception of a short ditty about Her Majesty, the above quote is the last lyric of the last song on the last album The Beatles ever recorded, and the song is aptly titled “The End”.  Technically speaking, “The End” was not the last song that The Beatles ever recorded, and at that point in The Beatles career, the four band members were hardly in the studio at the same time, and breakup was inevitably eminent.

Yet “The End” was hardly an epitaph.  Regardless of the in-fighting, and the bitter and ugly legal battles to follow, The Beatles music has not only endured… it has flourished.  One only needs to do the math to find that it’s been almost five decades since the boys released their last album, yet their relevance seems like a footprint on the moon… unaffected by the sands of time.

“It’s better to burn out than to fade away.“
~Neil Young

Unlike so many other performers, particularly rock bands, The Beatles ended on a high note, with a valid argument that they didn’t need to break up at all.  Let it Be, their last album to be released, was figuratively a posthumous release, yet it still yielded two number one hits that shared the 1970 charts with solo work by its former members George Harrison and John Lennon.  A year later in 1971, Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney would also chart with solo work, proving that the creative output was far from depleted, even though they were no longer together.  There were countless offers for reunions, with outrageous amounts of money offered, yet there was to be no reunion… and perhaps to their credit.  “The Beatles” – as a band – never grew old, they just ended, with millions mourning their breakup.

The Beatles certainly didn’t burn out, as is proven by their individual output as solo artists through the 1970s and into the early 1980s.  They still had contributions, just not as the encapsulated Beatles, thus leaving the collective work of the band to stand alone as a body of music recorded over six years.  Six years!!  All this fuss over a band whose recording life lasted such a short time in the grand scheme of things. Yet, those six years would yield an unprecedented amount of hits both written and performed by The Beatles – a feat never duplicated either before or after.

“If you strike me down, I will become
more powerful than you can possibly imagine.“
~Obi Wan Kenobi

There is no contesting the greatness of The Beatles, and the fact that Ringo Starr – often regarded as the lesser contributor of the four – is worlds wealthiest drummer, is very telling.  Although The Beatles didn’t “die” in a literal sense, the bands sudden ending was merely the beginning of their timeless iconicism, not unlike James Dean or Marilyn Monroe.  Today, The Beatles exist as a thing of immortalized legend, seemingly surreal to those of us who didn’t live through the 1960s.

Since their breakup in 1970, The Beatles have sold more music and more merchandise than while they were together. Their music continues to be used in movies, television and on Broadway… even in their own Cirque Du Soleil show. In 2010, John Lennon’s toilet sold for $15,000.00… Now that’s Beatlemania!

The assassination of John Lennon in 1980 forever ended the worlds desperate hope that the Fab might reunite once more, but future generations have and will continue to discover their artistry through the music they left behind.  More books have been written about The Beatles than any other artist or performer, and will likely continue to be studied, analyzed, discussed and debated about for many years to come.

Full circle, if the line “the love you take is equal to the love you make” were to be applied to The Beatles, the love seems to know no end.

~Craig

Beatles illustration courtesy of Sean Gallo Designs