Alex and Audrey on the balcony outside the ballroom of the Hyatt, overlooking the Hudson. All photos courtesy of the Studio Weddings.
Alex and Audrey had a rainy day for their wedding, with torrential downpours happening off and on throughout the afternoon. Their ceremony had originally been scheduled on the deck overlooking the river outside the Hyatt Regency Jersey City on the Hudson, but it had to be moved to the Ballroom upstairs. Nevertheless, this did not dampen either the happy couple or their guests’ spirits. Our pianist played for Audrey & Alex’s ceremony and then the festivities moved to the hallway outside the Ballroom for cocktail hour. A Smokin’ jazz trio of tenor saxophone, piano and acoustic bass provided the mood for the cocktail hour.
Audrey and Alex’s first dance was Vangelis’ unique ’30s retro feel “One More Kiss, Dear”. After that Audrey and Alex took the mic and introduced and thanked their parents and bridal party and brought them all to the stage. Later on after salad, Audrey danced with her father to “What A Wonderful World”, performed by the band andTommie. A very moving moment happened when Alex danced with his mom to a song that she sang and produced specially for the occasion called “Broken Link”. After that the crowd was ready to party and the band got them on the dance floor with a ’50s-’60s medley which featured Dion’s “Runaround Sue”(sung by our guitarist Mikey) and Sam Cooke’s “Twistin’ The Night Away”(sung by our lead vocalist Tommie). The crowd got down to a Smokin’ Section medley of Classic Rock and Soul music, including the Rolling Stones’ “Honky Tonk Women”, Eddie Floyd’s Stax groover “Knock On Wood” and Wilson Pickett’s “Mustang Sally” just before entrée was served.
“Soul Man” (Video clip)
All video clips courtesy of Joyous Productions, www.joyousproductions.com Music by the Smokin’ Section band
“Brick House” (Video clip)
After dinner we did “Rock Around The Clock” and “Tutti Frutti” for the groom’s father Hugo and some uptempo nuevo swing (Big Bad Voodoo Daddy’s “You & Me & The Bottle”) for Alex. By this time, the weather had cleared and many people in the party enjoyed the amazing view of the Hudson River and New York City skyline and night lights from the balcony.
This was the first time we worked across from photographer Millie Batista (the Studio Weddings) and videographer Joy Jacobsen (Joyous Productions) and it was a real pleasure. Stephanie, the Hyatt’s maitre’d for Audrey & Alex’s reception, ran a great party. In the last set, we did “Brick House” for Audrey and the crowd really enjoyed our funk/disco medley. The guests filled the floor to “Way You Look Tonight”, “Fly Me To The Moon” and “It Had To Be You” just before the end of the night and our final selection was Ray LaMontagna’s “You Are The Best Thing”, dedicated to the bride and groom.
Reception site: Hyatt Regency Jersey City on the Hudson
www.jerseycity.hyatt.com/ 201-469-1234
Photographer: The Studio Weddings, www.thestudioweddings.com 973-680-9600
Videographer: Joyous Productions www.joyousproductions.com 908-642-0270
“Respect” (Video clip)