This week I was at Barnes & Noble and I picked up The Knot’s 2009 ‘Best Of Weddings’ {the winners} issue.  Now I know that many brides and grooms view The Knot – both the magazine and the website – as a reputable resource, one which they can turn to for recommendations for wedding vendors.  In many cases – if not most – the pages are filled with respected professionals, some of which I know personally and would enthusiastically endorse like Mark Kingsdorf from Queen Of Hearts Wedding Consultants – www.qohweddings.com – for example, who truly is one of the best in his field.

But it looks like one slipped through ‘The Knot.’

On page 171 of ‘The Knot Best Of Weddings 2009′ issue, there is a DJ company listed as an editors choice, meaning, The Knot ‘hand picked’ them and chose to list them as one of their ‘winners.’ It seems to me that The Knot didn’t do very much research at all.

The name of the company is ‘A Solid Gold Sound.’  A simple Google search turned up several complaints on my3cents.com, and well over fifty complaint submissions on Ripoff Report and that was only on the first page.  Dig a bit deeper and I found several news stories, one from WCPO, the ABC television affiliate in Cincinnati, Ohio and one from Inside Edition.  Even the Better Business Bureau has multiple listings for this company, and gave them an ‘F’ rating claiming that they never responded to refute any of the claims.

Here are the links

my3cents.com – http://www.my3cents.com/showReview.cgi?id=27820

Ripoff Report – http://www.ripoffreport.com/searchresults.asp?q5=A+Solid+Gold+Sound&searchtype=0&q1=ALL&q3=&q2=&q7=&q4=&q6=&start=0

ABC Television – http://www.wcpo.com/news/local/story/April-30-2007-I-Team-Report-Solid-Gold-Wedding/SEI9Fa-lFEGYXS5HnKyVwg.cspx

Inside Edition – http://www.insideedition.com/news.aspx?storyID=1336

Better Business Bureau – http://www.bbb.org/us/Find-Business-Reviews/#middle-result (Just type in ‘A Solid Gold Sound’)

Seeing that these complaints were coming from cities all over the United States, I decided to do a little further investigation of my own.  I contacted a DJ colleague Rob Green of ‘Entertainment Express’ -  www.houstondiscjockey.net – in Houston, Texas regarding an address that A Solid Gold Sound had listed as their Houston office.  Rob physically drove to the listed address and had this to say…

They have a fake address for the Google “local business results” section here in Houston. The address they are using here is 9521 Westheimer. My work is close by, so I drove three blocks over one day to see what was there.  It’s a mostly vacant strip mall that (surprise, surprise) doesn’t have A Solid Gold Sound office.

Ironically, this blog has very little to do with ‘A Solid Gold Sound.’

Do I think that The Knot could have been more responsible in giving a strong endorsement to a company like this?  Yes.  I can’t imagine how many brides-to-be look to The Knot for ideas and for vendors.  This isn’t merely a case of a paid advertisement that turned out to be a scam, this was what The Knot saying is ‘the best’ of 2009.  Remember… The Knot isn’t in the bride’s best interest business, they aren’t even in the wedding business. The Knot is in the publishing, selling magazines and selling advertising business.

It took me all of fifteen minutes to Google and come up with this information.  I guess The Knot was too busy.

Brides, do your homework.  Use Google, ask the other vendors you are working with, ask your friends but whatever you do don’t look to a magazine like The Knot as if it were scripture.  Ask whatever vendor you are working with for references or ask the hall, country club or hotel where you are having your reception for their recommendation.  For example, my friend Keith KoKoruz from Keith Christopher Entertainment in Chicago, Illinois – www.keithchristopher.com – provides potential brides with up to four pages of past brides wedding dates, names and phone numbers (given with their permission of course) for them to contact before choosing his services.  This is a man clearly proud of his work, but I guess that The Knot felt A Solid Gold Sound was a better choice for their ‘best of’ list.

Whatever you do, don’t make the same mistake that so many brides who submitted complaints to these sources made by not using the internet until it was too late.

-Craig Sumsky
Cutting Edge Entertainment

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

After the event, I drove down the street to the gas station and filled my tank for $4.20 a gallon.  Let’s just say that didn’t leave me feeling very green.

Several weeks have past since attending that event - needless to say I have been doing lots of thinking – and after taking a closer look at my own company, I see lots of ways in which we are already going green…

Music- Slowly but surely (inevitably) we are moving from CD to all MP3.  Certainly CDs may continue to provide backup in case a hard-drive goes down, but less CDs still means less fuel, less space as well as less plastic & paper. 

Lighting – L.E.D. Technology (although more expensive) uses less energy, as a matter of fact in most cases a small fraction of the energy and more light.  The days of elaborate lighting rigs needing a generator for additional power will soon be a thing of the past, which avoids additional costs for generator rental and gasoline. 

Paper - I’m proud to say that 85% of our packages, proposals,  literature, contracts and just about every other correspondance that was once done on paper is now done through email. 

So what’s next?

Well, how about those party giveaways like leis, marracas, sunglasses, hats and inflatables (all plastic and rubber petroleum based products) which now have increased shipping fees due to current fuel prices.  Do we really need them?  I sure don’t, and I’m not even sure if they are essential to a party!  All of our Bar/Bat Mitzvah packages include them and I’d be happier than a pig in… well, let’s just say I would be more than willing to exclude the giveaways upon request for a fairly significant discount.

If you are interested in finding out how to “get more green” at your next event feel free to contact us at Cutting Edge Entertainment or one of the following people who were amongst the many  wedding professionals in attendance.

Karen Pecora (Wedding planner) –  http://karenpecora.com/

Mark Kingsdorf (Wedding Planner) – http://www.qohweddings.com/index.shtml

Vedika Webb (Pastry Chef) – http://www.lotuscakestudio.com/

Tim Sudall (Videographer) – http://www.videoone.tv/

Always remember the immortal words of Kermit… “It’s not easy bein’ green”

-Craig