Vivo! Wedding
Bayside, NY for Destiny & Mekel
By DJ Ben Boylan
Vivo is a wedding venue and restaurant. It is located in the Bayside neighborhood of Queens. Bayside is just across the river from Manhattan but it feels more like Long Island. Vivo has views of the Throggs Neck Bridge and a golf course.
Inside, there are ballrooms on the ground level and on the second floor. There is a large patio outside connected to a grassy area. There are several possible configurations for a wedding. Vivo has a capacity of 250. There is a dressing room. They have a parking lot.
Ceremony
Destiny and Mekel had their ceremony in the ballroom upstairs. I provided a microphone on a stand for their officiant. I also had speakers there to play music. Their officiant had a great loud voice so he took turns using the mic and speaking without it. They requested that I play love songs and soul music as guests were seated.
They chose "Best Part" by Daniel Caesar and H.E.R. as the song their wedding party entered to. For Destiny's processional song she chose Eric Benet's "Spend my life with you." And for their recessional they chose "Stay With You" by John Legend. It was a great ceremony.
Vivo Wedding Cocktail Hour
Destiny and Mekel held their cocktail hour and reception outside. There was a tent for dinner and a dance floor right next to it. My DJ setup was located on the dance floor next to the tent. During cocktail hour, I played hip-hop and R&B hits from the last decade.
Introductions
When cocktail hour ended, guests took their seats and I began introductions. They had a large wedding party with many friends who entered the reception to "Marry You" by Bruno Mars. When I announce Destiny and Mekel, everyone went crazy. Their intro song was Jagged Edge's "Let's Get Married Remix."
Special Dances and Toasts
They did their First dance to "Just You and I" by Ricky Blaze. It was really nice. Next, Destiny danced with her Dad to Luther Vandross' "Dance with My Father." Mekel and his mom followed them by dancing to "Song to Mama" by Boyz to Men.
After the special dances we did some toasts. All guests used my wireless mic on a stand. Some of them took the mic out and moved around as they gave their toast. Most guests left the mic on the stand. I had my full speaker set up at the reception. I turned up the music as we did an early dance set.
Shoe Game
Before we started the main dance set, Destiny and Mekel did a cake cutting, bouquet toss and shoe game. I Mc'd the shoe game. They had given me a list of funny questions and their guests loved it. "The shoe game was hilarious... thanks to you," Destiny emailed me after the wedding.
Vivo Wedding Dance Set
For their dance set they asked for a great mix of music. Soca, dancehall, throwback hip-hop and R&B and afrobeats. For their older guests we played some 80's and 90's dancehall, funk, soul, calypso and older soca. Their guests loved the music and danced all night. I also got some really cool afrobeats requests I didn't know. I learned something that night!
"Thank you so much Ben. We enjoyed the music selections and we are so glad we chose you to be a part of our day." - Destiny
Thank You Destiny and Mekel for letting me DJ your
Vivo Wedding in Bayside, NY!
I had the pleasure of working with the following vendors:
Venue: Paul of Vivo!
Photographer: Alan of Marry You Wedding (all photos here are by Alan)
vivo wedding bayside