Chris Kurtz and Rebecca Fall Wedding

The month of May began up in the air. That doesn’t mean a feeling of uncertainty, it is actually quite literal… 20 stories up in the air to be exact. It was the debut of Salt City Sound Machine at the Crowne Plaza, a cylindrical high-rise hotel in the heart of downtown Syracuse. That Saturday was the wedding of Chris Kurtz and Rebecca Fall, a wedding which featured a ceremony and reception complete with 3 separate locations and set ups, and several familiar faces.

The first two parts of the day, the ceremony and cocktail hour, took place on the ground floor, separate of the 20 story high ballroom, which eventually housed the reception. In the Crowne Plaza’s Lafayette Room, guests were seated with music coming from the right side of the room and the groom with his groomsmen and the officiant located at the front of the room. The bridesmaids began to make their entrance to Marry Me by Train, all three walking in to back up their close friend or family member Becca. As they made their way into position, the song changed to A Thousand Years by Christina Perri. Becca’s entrance was meticulously timed out for her to emerge 1:09 into the song, when Christina Perri began the chorus. She walked in looking beautiful and met a waiting Chris at the front of the room. When the ceremony concluded, the Chris and Becca were officially married and walked out to the Bruno Mars song, Marry You.

After the ceremony, the setting transitioned to the lobby area outside the Lafayette Room for cocktail hour. Refreshments and hors d’oeuvres were offered to the guests along with drinks from the freshly opened bar. Salt City Sound Machine set up their speaker and set up the base of operations in an off shoot conference room with the speaker for music placed in the middle of lobby so that the guests could enjoy some good cocktail music. Of course, work and our current clients always come first, but this wedding afforded the opportunity to catch up with several familiar faces.

Many of our clients are within the same basic circle of family, friends, and acquaintances, so we got a chance to see past clients like Jeff and Kara Roche, Kevin and Mary Sheridan, Mike and Ashley Sheppard, Anthony and Danielle Gasparini, and future clients Ryan McFadden and Sarah Janssen, and Justin Kurtz and Shelby Mazone. In addition, Becca’s father, John, was honored in a ceremony that Salt City Sound Machine DJed back in January of 2014. Finally, many of the family and friends of those past weddings were in attendance for this one so they knew what to expect and what was in store for the reception. It is always nice to see so many familiar faces in a crowd and it would not be the last time in 2014 or in the future.

The third setting of the day brought everybody 20 stories above the city of Syracuse for the reception. There were challenges to getting sound to travel evenly due to the cylinder shape of the hotel, causing a round room, but overall, everyone seemed to have a good time and there were no complaints about dead zones or low volume. Before the guests entered the reception room, they were encouraged to ink their thumbs and press them onto a tree with their name to serve as Chris and Becca’s guest book. When the guests were finally seated it was time for the grand entrances.

The introductions featured parents, two groupings of three members of the wedding party and the bride and groom all coming out to individual themes. Kicking off the introductions was the parents of the groom, coming in to I Gotta Feeling by the Black Eyed Peas, followed by the parents of the bride and son of the bride and groom walking in to Bad Boys by Inner Circle. The wedding party was introduced as a trio of two bridesmaids and one groomsman walking in to Big Poppa by The Notorious B.I.G.   Following them was another trio consisting of the Best Men and Maid of Honor, entering to 3 by Britney Spears. Finally, Chris and Becca made their triumphant entrance to Marry Me by Jason Derulo.

When the entrances were over, it ushered in a set of specific dances, beginning with the first dance. For this occasion, Chris and Becca chose the song Almost Lose It by Trey Songz. Their guests and loved ones looked on as they danced their first dance in the middle of the oval room. When the first dance ended, a series of family dances began. They started with a father/daughter dance, using I Loved Her First by Heartland, followed by a mother/son dance, using My Wish by Rascal Flatts. Finally, they had both had a third dance with their son Julian to He Didn’t Have To Be by Brad Paisley. After the family dances, everyone took a seat and settled in for some toasts and a wonderful sit down dinner high atop the Syracuse skyline.

The rest of the night was completely dedicated to dancing and more dancing.   As previously mentioned, many of the guests were familiar with SCSM’s work, so making them happy was not difficult.   The dance floor filled almost immediately and stayed full throughout the night. But simple dancing was not enough for this group as the night lent itself to some memorable moments. First of which was an impromptu dance off between two guests, Derek and Kaitrin.   Each person had a single song of their own to show their moves, then they shared a song to battle at the end.

Derek started off with Old Time Rock and Roll by Bob Seger and Kaitrin followed up dancing to Don’t Stop Believing by Journey. Then they brought the battle to the middle of the floor, facing off to Baby Got Back by Sir-Mix-a-Lot complete with booty shaking and even a Worm. Who won?   That’s not important. The point is it was a memorable moment at the wedding that several people had fun with. Later in the night, there was a request for Time For Me To Fly by R.E.O. Speedwagon which led to several guests circling the dance floor with their arms extended as if they were airplanes… it was just another memorable moment along with all of the dancing that went on throughout the night.

Along with the dancing, Chris and Becca opted to have some more specific moments to celebrate as the night progressed. Soon after dinner ended, they cut their cake to The Sweetest Thing by U2. Later on in the night, they had scheduled some more moments to add some variety to the wedding. First were the Generations Dances, as we whittled down the guests to find out who has been married the longest. Based on the three song structure that SCSM has for the Generations Dances, the songs Chris and Becca chose were Somewhere Over the Rainbow, Grow Old with You, and Then.

Directly after the Generations Dances, Chris and Becca did a Bouquet/Garter toss. Becca tossed the bouquet to Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It) by Beyoncé while Chris took off Becca’s garter and tossed it to 50 Cent’s Candy Shop. Finally, the lucky guy who caught the garter put it on the leg of the lady who caught the bouquet, while Sexy Can I by Ray J played through the speakers.

After a day featuring a ceremony, cocktail hour, and a reception overlooking the city of Syracuse, along with several different set ups for Salt City Sound Machine. After a day featuring a plethora of specific moments and non-stop dancing, it was time to say goodbye. The numbers began to thin out as the night went on and 11pm approached, we played the last dance of the night. Chris and Becca, for their final song of the night, chose All of Me by John Legend to finish out the night on a slow, more intimate level. It rounded out a very memorable wedding for all involved.

Congratulations to Chris and Becca.  Thank you for choosing Salt City Sound Machine.  We wish you the best in the future!!

Notable Songs

• Marry Me – Train (Processional)
• A Thousand Years – Christina Perri (Bridal Processional)
• Marry You – Bruno Mars (Recessional)
• I Gotta Feeling – Black Eyed Peas (Grand Entrance – Parents of Groom)
• Bad Boys – Inner Circle (Grand Entrance – Parents of Bride, Son of Bride and Groom)
• Big Poppa – The Notorious B.I.G. (Grand Entrance – Groomsmen/Bridesmaids)
• 3 – Britney Spears (Grand Entrance – Best Men and Maid of Honor)
• Marry Me – Jason Derulo (Grand Entrance – Bride and Groom)
• Almost Lose It – Trey Songz (First Dance)
• I Loved Her First – Heartland (Father/Bride Dance)
• My Wish – Rascal Flatts (Mother/Groom Dance)
• He Didn’t Have To Be – Brad Paisley (Bride and Groom/Son Dance)
• Wonderful Tonight – Eric Clapton (In-Law Dance)
• The Sweetest Thing – U2 (Cake Cutting)
• Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World – Israel Kamakawiwo’ole / Grow Old With You – Adam Sandler / Then – Brad Paisley (Generations Dances)
• Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It) – Beyoncé (Bouquet Toss)
• Candy Shop – 50 Cent (Garter Removal/Toss)
• Sexy Can I – Ray J (Garter Placement)
• All of Me – John Legend (Last Dance)
• Old Time Rock and Roll – Bob Seger
• Don’t Stop Believing – Journey
• Baby Got Back – Sir-Mix-a-Lot
• Time For Me To Fly – REO Speedwagon