DJ Ben Boylan
May 31, 20192 min
Updated: Jul 11, 2019
I met with Katie and Zack a week before their wedding. Katie's sister and maid of honor came too. They were really chill and easy to plan with. We shared ideas and came up with a plan to make their wedding really fun! Read on to find out what we did...
by DJ Ben Boylan
Bottino is a beautiful restaurant in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan. Located near the Highline and Hudson Yards, it is in a hot area. It has 3 different rooms and a bar area and is great for a small wedding. One of the rooms is a (mostly) covered garden so if you are looking for outdoor space, Bottino has it.
Katie and Zack had their ceremony offsite so this Bottino wedding started at cocktail hour. The asked for jazz standards and crooners so I curated a great playlist for them with all the great Sinatra, Nat King Cole and old favorites. I was in a room with the bartenders and they were dancing and singing the whole time.
Once everyone was seated for dinner I introduced the couple to "Crazy in Love" by Beyonce (popular song for intros). Next they did their first dance to Bright Eyes' "First Day of My Life." Whenever this song is chosen for a first dance, guests applaud when the singer starts with "This is the first day of my life."
During dinner there were four speeches. I had a great wireless mic for everyone to use. After dinner, Katie kicked off the dance portion of this Bottino wedding by dancing with her dad to "I Love You, Always & Forever" by Donna Lewis. Zack followed it up by dancing to the Beatles' "In My Life with his mom.
For their dance set, Katie and Zack chose a great mix of tracks from the 80's up to the present with a few older tracks thrown in. Their favorite genres were pop and hip-hop. I chose a great set, mixing songs they had provided with tracks that made their guests go crazy.
Katie and Zack chose to add party lights to their wedding (see photos and videos). I brought a great light set that filled their dance floor with washes of color, lasers and flashing lights. As soon as the parent dances were done we turned them on and they took the party to another level. Several guests mentioned them. It was a really fun dance set and a really chill wedding.
All photos by Kelly Williams