Our Aruba Wedding

Ok, you know you have a great party going when you get party crashers! According to Desiree, in her years of doing weddings for the Marriott, she has never had to deal with wedding crashers. And this for a party where we weren’t even sure we’d have anyone that would dance!

We met with Mark Benson (of Cool Pro DJs and Elite Productions) and DJ Randolph the night we got into town. At first we didn’t know what to make of DJ Randolph – he seemed so ’serious’ and kind of quiet, but when he asked questions we knew he was really paying attention and ‘getting’ what we wanted. He wanted to know the age ranges of the people, genres of music we preferred, what kinds of songs we did not want to hear, etc.

This reminds me of an insecurity I had in planning — for some reason I had a feeling we would be hiring them to just ‘do what they do’ and would be left ‘hoping for the best’. That is not the case all. They do have real talent and did care about our event. They were so glad to meet with us and find out what WE wanted – make sure they helped share our personalities with our guests.

One of our most important requests was to have some bhangra music incorporated, which we would give him on a CD. We told him we wanted it well represented, along with some other music our guests are less likely to hear at home like reggaetone and caribbean music. As far a ratio? How much top 40? bhangra? etc, we told him to just feel out the crowd – see what they are responding to.

After the ceremony and family photos we ran upstairs and changed, and then had a quick cocktail in the lobby. (Marriott’s lobby bar makes a great Orange Mojito! Luckily for my husband I only had time for one!) We walked in and did our first dance which Randolph perfectly faded out at the right spot (around two and a half minutes into the song). We cut the cake and then Mark announced we would open the buffet. (Both Mark and Randolph were present the entire time, Mark acting as emcee and Randolph playing music.)

Dinner music I don’t remember much because we were trying to visit with people but I know it was nice. I do remember hearing some jazz… Then all of a sudden the party music started and a lot of people hit the dance floor! Even I was out there and I normally need several drinks to even think about it! As the song was ending I wanted to go to the ladies room but then another great song came on and another and I think 20 minutes later I was finally able to break away. DJ Randolph did a GREAT job of keeping the party moving (we didn’t want any ’slow songs’) and expertly worked in the bhangra music he had just received the day before! My husband is convinced its the bhangra that drew in those party crashers. We felt ‘the more the merrier’ and just asked that the bartender to try to keep track of who was part of our party and who wasn’t.

The did forget to do the champagne toast which we had also wanted to do right after the cake cutting and first dance. Desiree asked if we wanted to still do it and we chose to heed some of Mark and Randolph’s advice – don’t interrupt the flow of party! If its going great, let it keep going – don’t break the rhythm with ‘formalities’ since you may not get it back. They hadn’t opened the bottles yet so instead just got credit for them. We were a little late getting to the ceremony so we were glad to skip another formality and give our guests the party!

One of the best decisions we made was pushing to have a ‘lounge space’ that featured comfortable seating and a nice ambiance created with our lanterns. Those that didn’t want to dance could comfortably watch the activity on the dance floor. We could also take moments to sit with those guests without being too far from the dancing.

And when we asked for something ‘local’, something ‘unique’, Mark had an idea for us. Randolph kind of laughed at him (or maybe it was the other way around, Randolph’s idea) because it sounds a little cheesy – they have a local song and dance called something like ‘the Wiper’. Years ago they had unprecedented rain during Carnival – so much so that they created a song and dance about using the ‘wipers’ (something you rarely have to use in Aruba). So as we’re getting ready to wrap up the party the second to last song they play the Wiper. They got ALL our guests on the dance floor, and Mark is showed them how to do this dance. It was hilarious!!! Even those that sat to the side all night got out there and then remained for one last rockin’ bhangra track! (And yes, that is a napkin on my husband’s head!)

At the end of the night, we couldn’t have been happier with the entertainment! They all made us look like we knew how to throw a party! And of course it proved to be another example of where I should have just listened to Desiree! Her first choice was to hire Mark Benson but I got all wound up when I couldn’t find much information about Cool Pro DJs on the web. I couldn’t find comprehensive reviews, a good website, etc, so I doubted them and wondered if we should hire someone else.

Thank goodness I came back to them! However I do still think this could have been easier for all of us if I could have been pointed to a good website with DJ bios, some music playlists and videos and pictures of parties they’ve played. Its so important to have confidence in your entertainment and so hard to leave their hiring to another person you have communicated with only via email. Hopefully this review at least will give more confidence to the next couple that want to hire them. We give them an A+! And that’s even considering the one ‘problem’ – we were warned they ‘prounounce everyone’s name wrong’. Sure enough – when we were introduced he pronounced our last name wrong. With the way he rocked the party though, he can call us whatever he wants!