On Saturday afternoon, May 29th of 2010 I got the chance to once again MC a wedding at one of my favorite venues, Cairnwood Mansion.  We have been a part of many wedding celebrations at Cairnwood, and although  I have even written other blogs about weddings I have done there, this wedding ranks among one of my favorites.

Kathleen and John were a great couple to work with.  They were laid back, fun and I could tell they were really looking forward to having a good time.  They had a large group of guests to share the special day with them (perhaps the largest I’ve seen at Cairnwood), and we provided music for them during the cocktail hour, outside on the terrace for their meal, and of course we rocked it out with some great dancing tunes inside.  Whether I was playing some traditional Italian music, the sounds of Motown, or the popular music of today everybody was out there on the dance floor.

Once again, I had the opportunity to work with the incredible staff from Feastivities.  The food and service was excellent!  It’s always great to get to work with them, and I’m looking forward to another wedding I’ll be doing with their staff again in July.  I also want to thank Jason and Nick from Ultimate Images.  We appreciate them letting us use their pictures from the wedding.  They are extremely talented and I look forward to working with them in the future.  Finally, to Shannon, Evelyn and the entire staff at Cairnwood Mansion, I really enjoy working with all of you.  I’m glad that I get to work so often at such a majestic estate (it really is a very cool place with an awesome staff0.

Thank You, and congratulations to Kathleen and John.

DJ Richie

Photos Courtesy of Ultimate Images – www.ultimateimages-photography.com

Feastivities Catering – www.feastivitiescatering.com

www.cairnwood.org

www.cuttingedgedjs.com

On Sunday April 18th, I had the privilege of being the Master of Ceremonies for Ron and Yin’s wedding reception that was held at Cairnwood Mansion in Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania.  It was an incredible spring day for the outdoor service, which took place on the terrace of the mansion.  Their ceremony was decorated with dazzling floral arrangements designed by Flower Sculptures.  Mickey Young, of Journeys of the Heart, conducted a serene ceremony.  I provided all of the music for the event, and I think everyone would agree that Yin looked breath taking when she walked down the isle.  After the proceedings, the guests, while enjoying hors d’ouevres, had a chance to explore the elegant, historic mansion during cocktail hour. Afterward, the party moved into the Great Hall, beginning with unforgettable introductions of the parents, flower girls, ring bearers, a bubbling bridal party, and, for the first time as husband and wife, Ron and Yin.  The bride and groom left the entire crowd, including myself, in utter amazement with a well rehearsed first dance. Once the performance ended, the room erupted with applause.  Next on the agenda was dinner catered by Robert Fair Catering. Terri and her team did a flawless job providing amazing food throughout the entire wedding.

One of my favorite parts of a wedding is that first moment when it’s time to get everyone up to dance.  Usually, I will play a slow song to open the dance floor. At that moment, many think to themselves “No big deal right? Who doesn’t mind a nice dance with someone special?” Then before anyone realizes what’s happening, I end the slow song and kick it into top gear.  We at Cutting Edge work really hard before the wedding with the bride and groom so we will know exactly what songs will get everyone shaking and moving out on the floor.  This group was awesome; just take a look at the pictures snapped by John and Doris of Costello Photography!

Congratulations Ron and Yin. We at Cutting Edge Entertainment, I in particular, would like to thank you for allowing us to be part of your wedding day.  We wish you all the best in your life together.

-Richie

Photos courtesy of Costello Photography – www.costellophotography.com

Cairnwood – www.cairnwood.org

www.cuttingedgedjs.com

We’d just like to thank Richie and Cutting Edge Entertainment for a wonderful wedding experience. Our big day wasn’t an easy set-up for a DJ, as our parents had also hired a live Greek band! Nevertheless, Richie did a great job managing the event and the music. When our family wasn’t crowding the floor for Greek line dances, he played all the songs we wanted to hear, blended smoothly with his own stuff. The dance floor never stopped moving! We will definitely recommend him, and we hope to use Cutting Edge again.

Thanks and good luck,

Byron and Christina

Photo courtesy of Little Wing Studio – www.littlewingstudio.com

Cairnwood – www.cairnwood.org

DJ – www.cuttingedgedjs.com

One of my favorite places to work is the Cairnwood Mansion. It is a beautiful venue that has a great deal of history. Unlike a single ballroom, Cairnwood has multiple rooms in which the occasion takes place simultaneously, creating a unique experience for the guests. A wedding at Cairnwood begins with hors d’oeurves and drinks being butlered throughout the rooms of the mansion, while the DJ and I provide the pleasurable, musical accompaniment to the cocktail hour. Upon its completion, the guests enter the main lobby of the building, the Great Hall.

Welcomed into the room are the parents of our guests of honor, the bridal party, and the newlyweds, who descend the beautiful staircase, and head to the center of the room; so begins their first dance as husband and wife. Following the toasts, guests enter the multiple dining rooms for a delicious meal. Our job is to complement the dinner with music that begins with “We’ve Only Just Begun” by The Carpenters, followed by variety of classic R&B and soft rock. After dinner, guests re-enter the Great Hall for our Cake Cutting. After the cake is wiped off the couple’s faces, party room or the library opens its doors for the parent dances, kicking off a night filled with dancing.

On November 25th, the night before Thanksgiving, I had the privilege of MCing the wedding of Kate and Brandon, a young couple whose objective was partying and celebrating with friends and family. The happiness on their faces showed me that I was doing my job successfully. It was also my first time working with Culinary Concepts, whose food was outstanding. Cataloging the beauty of the evening was John from Costello Photography, whose beautiful photos are shared here on our blog. Most importantly, thank you to the Mann and Skupski families for allowing Cutting Edge Entertainment to be a part of their celebration.

Congratulations to Kate and Brandon! I wish you both the best and have a Happy New Year!

Richie

Photos courtesy of Costello Photography – www.costellophotography.com

Some day my prince will come
Some day we’ll meet again
And away to his castle we’ll go
To be happy forever I know

Some day when spring is here
We’ll find our love anew
And the birds will sing
And wedding bells will ring
Some day when my dreams come true
~Snow White

Set high on a hillside, Cairnwood is the stuff that Disney Princess movies are made of, and for any bride that has ever dreamed that dream it is everything you could ever imagine… and more.  As the Cairnwood website states, “It evokes the grandeur of the Gilded Age with its intimacy, beauty and elegance.”  It is part house, part manor, part chateau (it’s a French design) and part castle, sprinkled with magic and majesty that little girls dreams are made of.

In addition to bestowing the great honor of choosing us as the number one preferred entertainment/DJ company, the reigning royalty of the estate paid the Cutting Edge Entertainment blog a great compliment by publishing our blog post ‘Cairnwood 2009 Roaring 20’s Gala’ in their summer 2009 newsletter.

The staff at Cutting Edge Entertainment would like to thank the great folks at Cairnwood not only for choosing our words to represent them, and their Gala, but for continuing to provide the highest level of service to the soon-to-be brides and grooms who make Cairnwood their choice of wedding reception venue.  To Evelyn, Shannon, and the rest of the incredible team at Cairnwood… keep making dreams come true.

-Craig Sumsky
Cutting Edge Entertainment

Cairnwood

Photos courtesy of Kevin York Photography

www.cuttingedgedjs.com

The Gala at Cairnwood was the cat’s meow.  What could be more swell than having a big party at the ritziest joint in town? The house was lookin’ all spiffy with decorations, flowers and lots of other keen stuff, and man… there was more hooch than a gin mill! There was all kinds of hotsy-totsy dames and flappers, shieks and gents dancing, drinking, and socializing with some of the finest grub served this side of Philadelphia.  The whole thing was just the bee’s knees!

(And if you lived in the Roaring 20’s you might have spoken that way, but today…)

The Cairnwood ‘Roaring 20’s Gala – held on March 27, 2009 – was a huge success… in every imaginable way.  What an elegant and stately home in which to have such an amazing event.  The Gilded Age met The Roaring Twenties with the help of some of the finest event decorators, florists and planners in the business, and unlike the prohibition years of of 1920 through 1933, there was certainly no shortage of alcohol, with a few flappers (ladies in 20’s attire) pouring martinis in the Great Hall.  The guests looked fantastic, all dressed to the nines in all sorts of 20’s era outfits… from fancy to flapper and gangster to golfer, the attendees came dressed for the occasion.  As far as ‘the grub’ being the finest this side of Philadelphia… Let me just tell you I feel bad for the people on the other side of the city.  The event was – as Shannon Walko would say – ‘fierce.’

And the tie in to the 1920’s?  Well, some believe that the ‘Age Of Invention’ ended in 1910, but not according to Harold Pitcairn, who was born and raised at Cairnwood.  Harold made multiple contributions to aviation, and his autogiro is the precursor to the modern helicopter.  Some people of notoriety who found their way into the cockpit of a Pitcairn Autogiro include Roscoe Turner, Charles Lindberg, and Amelia Earhart. It was very posh at the time to be involved with this new technology and any pilot worth his or her salt wanted to show their mastery of the air by piloting an autogiro as well. There were new frontiers to explore in altitude, speed and endurance and these pilots had the daring to find the limits of man and machine.

Now for the music program.  This year, Marketing Manager Shannon Walko and Cairnwood Director Evelyn Stephens gave me a green light, and although working with Missy Pendelton on last years program was a lot of fun, I couldn’t have felt more honored when Shannon said “You know what you’re doing, we have total faith in you.”  Now I must say I’ve had practice with programming the music for this era, as I was asked several years ago to help design the music for the Dali Exhibition at The Philadelphia Museum Of Art.  Now Salvadore loved his Charleston, and Scott Joplin’s Rags filled the halls at Cairnwood in celebration of the period.  The 20’s were revolutionary musically as well as culturally, as Jazz first emerged, evolving out of Rag in New Orleans.  What better genre of music for such a festive gala than Jazz and Rag, two new and uniquely American styles of music.  Artists like Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton and Duke Ellington first stepped on to the music scene introducing the beginnings of what was later (in the 1930’s) to become known as Swing.  I also included several Waltzes, Tangos as well as sprinkles of Swing in the billiard room.  All in all, a fun project to have been a part of.  There was also a Rag/Jazz band that played all of the favorites from the time period.

Before I conclude, I just want to express my personal thanks to everyone who participated while giving special mention to several friends of mine, both new and old.  First, Jackie Bayne and her husband Patrick Simione.  I will be posting a picture of myself in a future blog and to be honest, anyone who can make me look that good is one heck of a photographer.  Jackie’s website is www.jbweddings.com, soon to be Love Shack Photo (will add new link later).  Also Mark Kingsdorf from Queen Of Hearts Wedding Consultants – www.qohweddings.com – Mark truly is a rock star, and although he is an old friend, he is new to our team at Cairnwood and we are glad to have him.  Two more shout outs to new friends I met, Hope & Donuta at HD Design- www.eventhope.com – and Jeff from Natural Designs – www.naturaldesignspa.com – Jeff is a true flower artist.  And lastly, to Brian Toner and company at Eventions  www.eventionsproductions.com.  When God said ‘Let there be light’ he had no idea what Brian would do with it.  Eventions is the foremost lighting company in Philadelphia, and truly creates magic.

Here is a short video clip of the highlights of the event (click here) created by Brooke Rudnick from Marc Smiler Video www.thevideoartist.com

As always, thanks to Evelyn Stephens, Shannon Walko, Gala Chair Jennifer Pronesti and Website Chair Missy Pendelton.  Thanks also to Pitcairn for their generous contributions, Leila Miller and Lindsay Martin for their tireless help and to Reid Heinrichs for the nine volt batteries.

A more comprehensive list of all the sponsors who participated can be found at the Gala website www.cairnwoodgala.org

-Craig Sumsky
Cutting Edge Entertainment

 Post Script: Cairnwood is an amazing and elegant facility for weddings receptions and other social events. Contact them at 215.947.2004 or at their website www.cairnwood.org

The caterers below  are the ‘preferred’ catering companies at Cairnwood.

The Gala Menu

The caterers out-did themselves from last years Gala, because the cuisine was out of this world, which is no surprise when you have such world-class caterers involved.  As a lover of food (and taster at the event) I feel obligated to share my mouth-watering experience, so here are a list of the caterers and their respective contributions.

 Culinary Concepts
www.culinary-concepts.com
Salmon and fennel cakes with creamy lemon dressing, scallop and crab cakes with pickled mango Chicken,
and spinach cakes with lemon basil sauce, corn and shiitake mushroom risotto cakes.

Feastivities
www.feastivities.com
Red Chili Short Ribs with Tomato Grits & Squid Linguini with Black Trumpet Mushrooms & Ricotta Salata.

 Jeffrey Miller Catering
www.jeffreymillercatering.com
The 20th Century embraced a new invention that revolutionized mobility for all Americans: the automobile! In 1921 the Pig Stand
the first drive thru – made its debut in Dallas, Texas with its tasty Pork Sandwiches which remain a favorite today.

 Jimmy Duffy’s Catering
www.jimmyduffy.com
Steak Diane Flambe, Clams Casino, oysters on a half shell.  Served with mashed potatoes.

 Max Hansen Caterer
www.maxhansencaterer.com
Chicken Imperial with melted leeks, sauteed oyster mushrooms, and wilted baby arrowhead spinach, served over an herbed rice pilaf.

 Peachtree & Ward
www.peachtreecatering.com
Display of sliced breads, assorted crackers, Fig bread, quince paste, Marcona almonds & sage honey.

 Karen’s Catering
www.karenscatering.org
Alcohol, and LOTS of it… Thanks Karen

 Robert Fair Catering
www.faircatering.com
Seafood Martinis (My personal favorite) Shrimp, Scallops, Crab Claws, & Coconut Lobster Served with seaweed salad & cocktail sauce.

www.cuttingedgedjs.com

First let me say that when I got home and emptied my pockets tonight, they were filled with business cards and notes, all collected with the intention of outdoing last years blog.  That blog will take a while to write, and craft, and gather pictures and information.  It will require links to vendors and thanks to key people involved.  I will write that blog, but not tonight.

On Thursday I thought I had an 11:00am appointment, but had apparently misread my schedule as the meeting was really scheduled for 1:00pm.   Shannon Walko – marketing manager at Cairnwood – had mentioned that they would have vendors setting up as early as Thursday morning so thinking I had a few hours to kill I hopped in my car and drove over to Cairnwood.  Shannon was there, along with Evelyn Stephens, Lindsay Martin and several decorators (Hope, Donuta & Jen from H&D Design and Jeff from Natural Designs)… but the person who impressed me most that day was Leila Miller.

I overlooked Leila in my blog last year, and seeing her in action on Thursday made me realize that I had missed a person who was likely one of the most instrumental elements of the Gala’s success.  She had very little time for chit-chat as she was intensely focused on directing the glassware to different sections of the mansion.  Rock glasses to this bar and martini glasses to that bar, Leila oversaw as hand-truck after hand-truck of hundreds of beverage glasses of every imaginable shape and style was carefully directed to its proper location with meticulous attention to detail. (I honestly never knew there were so many types of drinking glasses, but then again I’m a DJ right?)

Again on Friday, as I sat in my office mulling over the final decisions of which Scott Joplin Rags and subsequent Jazz artists were to be included in the ‘Roaring 20’s’ theme of the evening, Leila was at Cairnwood, tirelessly assisting Shannon and Evelyn and making sure everyone was in place.  By 5:00pm that night I was dressed, set up and ready to go while Leila was still in her street clothes, crossing T’s and dotting I’s attending to overlooked details while assisting volunteer vendors where she could.  To be honest, I was starting to wonder if she would get changed in time for the guests arrival but sure enough she was, still as focused as ever.

Leila Miller has to be one of the hardest working people I have ever seen in action.  The girl just didn’t stop.  Even when there were some technical problems with the electricity there was Leila on top of it, flipping breakers and testing outlets.  All around while people drank and made merry Leila was unstoppable, and she didn’t skip a beat, she was always ‘on.’  We had a moment towards the end of the night when I just had to ask her  “What are you like when you’re not working?” and she cracked the biggest smile and just laughed, but then it was back to business.

So before I even begin sorting through my business cards and attempt to dive into writing my all-inclusive ‘epic’ blog summarizing the evening’s magic that was the 2009 Gala, I had to give props to Leila, without whom the event would not have been such an amazing success.

Thank you Leila,

-Craig

Leila currently works with Kendall Brown at Eclatante Event Design – www.eclatantedesign.com

www.cuttingedgedjs.com

Cutting Edge Entertainment recently had the honor of being chosen to create the music program and set the mood for a night in Epic France.

On Friday evening, April 18 of 2008, Cairnwood was in all its glory, reminiscent of the delightful parties of Jay Gatsby. Built by John Pitcairn in 1895, Cairnwood sits high on a hill in Bryn Athyn, majestically overlooking Huntingdon Valley. The home itself is a breathtaking French chateau built in the Beaux-Arts style and is truly a shining example of the Gilded Age in which it was built.

Cairnwood invited their honored guests to see the home featured in all its
lavish splendor. The gala was intended to raise money for the facility and I must say, the event was a complete success. The house was aglow in soft pink light with the sounds of music rolling down the lawn as the cocktails flowed and the air was filled with chatter and laughter. There were mimes and caricaturists, French poodles, a living fountain and even Marie Antoinette!

Due to generous donations, Cairnwood will now be able to add/enhance several details true to its original design and make repairs to the front gate on Huntingdon Pike.  One of the most exciting changes will be a historic restoration of elements of the original Olmsted and Eliot landscape design.

The four chair people responsible for the evening’s success were Cairnwood’s Director Evelyn Stephens, marketing manager Shannon Walko, and board members Jennifer Pronesti and Missy Pendelton (who was a great help in designing the music program).

The French-themed cuisine presented by Cairnwood’s preferred partner caterers was out of this world. The Beef Bourguignon from Jimmy Duffy & Sons was mouth watering and the Pate DePoulet prepared by Jeffrey Miller Catering was smooth and tasty. My personal favorite that evening was the Bouride, a northern French fish stew with garlic, onions and cream presented by Culinary Concepts (my mouth still waters just thinking about it). Some of the other preferred caterers were Peachtree & Ward Catering, Robert Fair Caterers, and Max Hansen.  And just when you thought it couldn’t get any more mouth watering, there were delicious pastries provided by Bredenbeck’s bakery to top it all off.

Glorious floral arrangements set the decor and tone throught the home, and the decorative lighting design by Eventions was dramatic, and helped to highlight the very grandeur that is Cairnwood.

The music we chose was a combination of some more traditional French artists (i.e. Maurice Chavalier and Edith Piaf) as well as some Jazz Standards and Ultralounge to set that chill French mood. Sound was run throughout the house with different music playing in two separate designated zones. As the night progressed the music became livelier with an eventual segue into a live band. Again, special thanks to Missy Pendelton for her invaluable help with the music selection.

Thank you to Evelyn and Shannon for including Cutting Edge in your magical night.

Bonsoir!