Nita & Thede - Such A Perfect Couple Amid The Perfect Storm

Thede had contacted me over the web back in August looking for a DJ, as him and his fiancée Nita were planning a late October “destination wedding”. They chose Charleston and the Folly Beach area because it was only less than 2 short years ago that they had met here at a conference.

Since this was a destination wedding, I spoke with Thede a few times by phone and actually by mid September, I invested in a web camera and headset so we could establish a Skype session. I found this to be invaluable with destination couples. If you are a couple looking to book a destination wedding and need a professional DJ in and around the Charleston, SC area, look no further.

Even though I was to be set up indoors away from the weather, I always begin to look at the weather forecasts a week in advance of an event. At first, the forecast looked typical for late October. Partly Cloudy with highs in the 70s. This, of course was before the development of Hurricane Sandy. Unfortunately, when you live in Charleston, SC, you really can’t let your guard down with regards to the tropics til late November.

Nita & Thede arrived in Charleston on Thursday and I made a point to go out to the house and meet with them that evening to put the finishing touches on their music selection and timeline. By Thursday evening, the weather forecast for Saturday in the Charleston area had gotten progressively worse. Even though the South Carolina coast was not going to be taking a direct hit from Sandy, clouds, wind and showers were expected most of the day on Saturday, and this would unfortunately change plans for the ceremony on Saturday afternoon.

By Friday afternoon, Nita & Thede decided to hold the ceremony indoors.  The ceremony began around 5pm and lasted til a little bit past 5:30, at which time I began to set up.

Brian, who is Nita’s brother-in-law took MC duties for the evening as a wonderful 5 course meal with wine pairings was created by the chef at Tristan Restaurant.

At approximately, 6:30, guests started to migrate from downstairs where a cocktail hour and photo booth were held, up to where dinner would be served.

As an introductory song for Nita & Thede, they chose an upbeat Persian song. By that time, Sandy was beginning to pull away from the coast and had created a lovely pinkish sky at sunset. Nita & Thede decided to go grab a few more pictures and delayed their first dance a bit.

I went right into Nita’s dinner music selection, which consisted of a lot of Nita's favorites: David Gray, John Mayer, Sting, Sarah McLachlan, Josh Kelley, Adele, The Beatles, Tony Bennett.

FIRST DANCE SONG

“Make You Feel My Love” is a song by Adele, which was released as part of her debut album “19” in 2008.
This song is one of Adele's most beautiful and romantic songs to date.

FATHER / BRIDE SONG

Nita had given me a CD of Persian tracks, and chose a particular symbolic one for her and father.

MOTHER / GROOM SONG

Thede and his mother shared a dance together to the sounds of Celine Dion “Because You Loved Me”, which was released on her album “Falling Into You” in 1996 and used on the movie soundtrack to Up Close & Personal.

SPECIAL BRIDES PARENTS DEDICATION

Nita requested we take a moment to salute her parents, who have been married over 40 years. Nita’s mother’s favorite is “The Rose” by Bette Midler. Nita’s parents shared a dance to this song.

After all 5 courses, I began to transition from the dinner music portion of the evening to the more uptempo dance portion.

At request of Nita, she requested “We Are Family” by Sister Sledge and invited the family up on the dance floor to enjoy this moment.

Throughout the evening, Persian dance mixes were mixed into other dance tracks.

Hurricane Sandy, which is being quoted by many meteorologists as the “perfect storm” was not about to get in the way of this “perfect couples” very special day. It was a beautiful evening!

507 E. Arctic Avenue has an amazing view of the Atlantic Ocean. If you looked out on the ocean, you saw an ocean that was angry; however the wonderfully decorated interior of the home, combined with an exceptional menu and finely programmed music selection made us all completely forget that any hurricane was nearby.

Congratulations Nita & Thede!