Cannon Green Wedding: Summer Evening With Carly + Lemuel

The drought is finally over. 174 days. That's how long it had been since I DJ'ed my last wedding. I still remember that crisp and cold early March evening at Upstairs At Midtown.  <---Click HERE For a Pre-COVID flashback to Courtney & Logan's wedding. During this new normal over the past 6 months, that night had been the only memory I was able to remember of how things used to be in the wedding DJ world.  For the first time since I have owned my company, I experienced my first cancellation back on August 7. This had been a wedding that had been rescheduled from May 2020.  However in mid - late July, cases were still exploding in South Carolina and like a lot of brides and grooms, they made the decision to cancel their wedding.  As the calendar flipped over to August, there was a glimmer of hope that COVID-19 was beginning to slow down just a tad.  So, my next wedding would be Friday, August 28 at the truly lovely and fabulous Cannon Green.  Back in January of 2019, I was given a tour of this truly fabulous venue in the heart of the city, but it was not until this summer evening in August that I would perform for the first time here. If you are looking for an amazing wedding venue that gives you all the Charleston feels, be sure to take a tour of Cannon Green. <---Click HERE for my January 2019 tour of Cannon Green.

Before I go into the details of the some of the musical selections of Carly +Lemuel's wedding playlist, I have to get on my soap box and rant & rave about Cannon Green. Back at the early part of 2019, I had done a feature on my wedding DJ blog that included me touring numerous wedding venues around Charleston. I had heard the tremendous buzz about Cannon Green so I scheduled a time to tour this lovely place and get the lowdown at what had quickly become one of the most popular wedding venues on the entire Charleston peninsula. In my entire career as a professional wedding DJ, I had never received the world-class service that I experienced at Cannon Green. From the moment I arrived and began the load-in, everyone from the servers to management were VERY helpful and answered all my questions.  This first wedding at Cannon Green was the rare occurrance where I did not begin to play until the grand entrance and dinner music portion of the evening. So, I had the rare occasion of actually eating at a wedding.  I know that sounds strange, but I probably don't eat at 95% of my weddings because I am always so busy doing ceremonies or cocktail hours.  And to be honest with you, unless there is a hideaway for me to catch a bite, I find it incredibly rude a for a wedding DJ to eat in front of guests, so that's also one of my motivations for "fasting" during a wedding. If I need anything, I'll pack a few granola bars to get me through the night.  But, the staff at Cannon Green made me a plate of food and carried it up to their back office, where I had some  place quiet to eat in private in the cool air conditioning and enjoy a little break before the party really got cranked up. I've also never had any servers approach my table like they did during the evening. On a scale of 1 to 5, where 5 is the best, I would have to give Cannon Green 10 stars.


Prelude To Carly & Lemuel's Wedding Ceremony

Carly + Lemuel's Wedding Ceremony - Photos Credit: Mike Bills

From a wedding DJ perspective, Cannon Green is the perfect venue. The load-in was easy peasy. Parking was free at their parking lot on Rutledge too. The acoustics were absolutely on point inside The Trolley Room, which is where Carly & Lemuel's  reception was being held.  While I've spared no expense on my sound system, the power of my system filled this room nicely, even during the more down tempo vibe of dinner.  The al Fresco Courtyard offered also amazing acoustics for ceremony and P/A amplification.   While I provided the wireless microphones during the ceremony, the Bob Williams Duo provided music for the ceremony and cocktail hour, and let me tell you, the acoustics inside the courtyard are also perfect for musicians too.  Another reason this is an ideal location for the DJ at the wedding ceremony is the ability to remain out of sight and out of the way for photos, and if that's not enough, you'll be under an area to keep you protected in the event of an untimely rain shower. Those rain showers were popping in the afternoon before Carly & Lemuel's ceremony, which made for some high August humidity.  The ceremony began at 6pm, and since it had rained earlier in the afternoon, the heat and humidity were at an all-time high, with no real breeze. The Bob Williams Duo would provide music during cocktail hour, but before the guests would move into the cool AC for dinner and drinks,  Carly had a bit of business to take care of. At Cannon Green there is another part of the overall venue that includes a balcony. Carly requested "This One's For The Girls" by the lovely Martina McBride for her bouquet toss song. I made an announcement for all the single ladies to assemble down below the balcony so that Carly could throw her bouquet. For more information on some of the best bouquet toss songs, <---Click this link.


Cocktail Hour In the Al Fresco Courtyard At Cannon Green

Carly + Lemuel's Grand Entrance And First Dance Song Selections

Grand Entrance Song As Mr. + Mrs. Zeigler:  "Can't Stop This Feeling" | Justin Timberlake
First Dance Song: "Wonderful Tonight" | Eric Clapton
Father / Daughter Dance Song: "I'll Be There" | Jackson 5 -----> Click HERE For The Best Of Motown
Mother / Son Dance Song: "Over The Rainbow / What A Wonderful World" | Iz

Carly & Lemuel's Dinner Music Selections
"Check Yes Or No" | George Strait
"Always Be My Baby" | Mariah Carey
"Bennie And The Jets" | Elton John --------> Click HERE For Elton John Songs For Your Wedding
"Fishin' In The Dark" | The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
"Fins" | Jimmy Buffett
"Ain't Too Proud To Beg" | The Temptations
"Feel It Still" | Portugal The Man
"Heaven" | Bryan Adams
"Midnight City" | M83
"Only Wanna Be With You" | Hootie & The Blowfish
"Please Mr. Postman" | The Marvelettes    --------> Click HERE For More Songs From The 60s.
"Happy Together" | The Turtles
"The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" | The Band
"Tiny Dancer" | Elton John
"Walking On A Dream" | Empire Of The Sun
"Hold My Hand" | Hootie & The Blowfish ------> Click HERE For More 90s Songs For Your Wedding
"The Best Day" | George Strait
"Changes In Latitudes Changes In Attitudes" | Jimmy Buffett

Snapshot Of Carly & Lemuel's Dance Music Selections
"Brown Eyed Girl" | Van Morrison
"Old Town Road" | Lil Nas & Billy Ray Cyrus
"PYT" | Michael Jackson
"September" | Earth-Wind & Fire
"Sexyback" | Justin Timberlake
"Push It" | Salt & Pepa
"In Da Club" | 50 Cent
"I Love It" | Icona pop Featuring Charli XCX
"Everybody (Backstreets Back) | Backstreet Boys
"Stayin' Alive" | The Bee-Gee's
"Sweet Caroline" | Neil Diamond
"Ignition" | R Kelly

And since Carly was a graduate of West Virginia University, it was an absolute must that I throw on the 1971 classic from the late John Denver whose lyrics start out Almost heaven, West Virginia...... You guessed it, "Take Me Home Country Roads" is the official song of West Virginia University.  We would round out the evening with some Taco Bell, as well as some music from Eddie Money, "Take Me Home Tonight",  " Let's Stay Together" by Seal, and the ending this "perfect" summer evening at Cannon Green for Carly & Lemuel with the instant wedding classic from Ed Sheeran.

Interested In Talking To Mike Bills About Being Your Wedding DJ?
I cannot say enough about the fine folks at Cannon Green. They are truly a world-class wedding venue in the Holy City. I would be loving life if I could perform at Cannon Green once per month.  Carly + Lemuel's day was perfectly organized and coordinated by one of my favorite wedding vendors, Jessica Cruz of Cruz Coordination. Jessica and her staff always are there to make your wedding day runs smooth.  Floral arrangements were put together by Beth Leon Guerrero of Wildflowers Inc, and Carly + Lemuel's wonderful summer evening was captured by Courtney Price. 

No matter how of these weddings I do, the nerves are always there. Those nerves are always because I have placed a tremendous amount of pressure on myself to perform at a high level. Simply put, YOU and YOUR fiance are only planning on getting married one time,  so it is absolutely imperative you hire a wedding DJ who truly cares about the overall success of your day. From pronouncing the names of your bridal party correctly to playing the right song at the time, there is so much that goes into the overall success of your wedding day. I am glad the long layoff is over. The future remains unclear moving into 2021 about how weddings will continue to evolve in the COVID-19 era. My fingers are crossed that 2021 will look a little better on the wedding front. If you are thinking about planning a wedding after the COVID-19 era, be sure to check out this post I published. ---> Plan Your Wedding After COVID-19. 

Wedding Vendor Love
Venue / Catering: Cannon Green Events
Planning / Coordination: Cruz Coordination
Flowers: Wildflowers Inc
Photography: Courtney Price Photography
Ceremony / Cocktail Hour Music:  Bob Williams Duo