Greetings loved ones lol!
Friday was a phenomenal night of dancing and fun in East Hanover NJ at the exquisite Ravello banquet facility www.ravellobanquets.com. We had the distinct pleasure of providing entertainment services for Catherine's super sweet 16. After about an hr long trek up north I arrived on site to load in for this celebration. Ravello's is a very ornate facility with beautiful columns, marble floors and tile as well as lovely chandeliers in the ballrooms. Once set up we started the evening off with soft music with slower tempo's as guests arrived. The room bustled with excited teen energy as Catherine's friends filed in. The dinner was served buffet style with the addition of a carving station in the far corner of the room. As dinner was served the father of our sweet 16 addressed the crowd with a rousing speech filled with humor and heartfelt words for his lovely daughter. I played Daughters by John Mayer following the speech as it seemed appropriate for the mood. Once the dinner seemed to have set in we finally got around to some more uptempo fare consisting of The black Eyed Peas, Taio Cruz, Kesha, and Lady Gaga. The party was in full swing from dinner time until our candle lighting ceremony. Our Fireworks lighting package gave the room a night club feel as the lights twisted, strobed and pulsed to the music, we also had our Dancing under the stars lighting effect projected a beautiful night scene filled with twinkling stars and clouds. Catherine delivered one of the most thoughtful and well made candle lighting speeches I've ever heard and after the 16 candles were lit I rallied the crowd to gather around out birthday girl for a traditional happy birthday song as she made a wish and blew out the candles. Once the ceremony was finished the group rushed the candy bar for ice cream sundaes and cake. Once the sweets were devoured we got the dance floor rocking once again moving from Dance tunes, to disco, sing a long classic such as Journey's Don't stop believing and Spice Girls Wannabe had the crowd swaying and singing at the top of their lungs. I closed the night with a crowd favorite young and old My Girl by the Temptations. The night seemed to fly by as this group came to party, and party they did. The following day I received an email from Mom and Catherine thanking me for making the night so much fun, it's always nice to receive a note of thanks and it truly is a pleasure getting to work with so many great family celebrating the good times in life!
