The Wedding

Darryls wedding was a complete blast. It didn't start so well however. Organizing that music was so much more of a chore than I had even remotely anticipated. The morning of the wedding found me without sleep and without hope. Despite working all night long I had still not completed half of what I had intended to accomplish when the sun began to rise. I was afraid I may miss the ceremony but thanks to a pot of coffee (or two) and a whole lot of willpower I managed to get it done.
The ceremony was great. I will never ever forget little Veronica running around the church, having the time of her life, while her parents tried to say their vows without laughing. Or my friends and I ambushing the newlyweds with seeds after they finally made it to their car.
After the ceremony I followed Owen to the hall to set up the equipment. I only had enough time the previous night to burn the music onto cds and not enough time to put together any kind of setlist. I hadn't really worried about it up to this point, having quite a bit of faith in myself. I seriously began to question that faith when the crowds started to arrive. The original plan was to start djing as soon as the dinner started. Mixing the finest music had to offer while the crowd enjoyed their dinner. Instead I let a cd run while I quickly put together some lists. The cd was conveniently labeled "instrumental dinner music" and featured a lot of classical music including the ever present "Adagio For Strings". This version however happened to be remixed by Tiesto. When that song played, the kids (who had been warming up the dance floor already) went completely bananas. I let them have their fun for as long as the grownups could handle the driving bass beat. One person who recognized the song was dissapointed when I cut it short. The kids terrorized me for the rest of the night.
The moment of truth came. The first dance was qued and I was ready to pee my fancy new pants. Despite having a couple of general setlists I was still essentially winging it. The first dance played, the people danced. We did a polka (or two) and, of course, the chicken dance. Once that was done the dance floor immediately cleared. It was as if someone dropped a bag of anthrax right in the middle of it. Though not terribly surprised I was still crushed. The night had barely even begun. From there on in I did my very best to get at least a couple of people back on the dance floor but no one responded. Owen saved me at one point and got a rather impressive crowd to do a group dance. Everyone sat back down afterwards and slowly but surely the whole room began to empty. Was I that bad? I tried every trick in the book!
The room did not empty completely. All us young people were still around. I took one single request and the night turned around in the blink of an eye. People danced! Lots of people danced! I took a second request and the crowd stayed! Instinct kicked in and I knew exactly how the rest of the night should go and it couldnt have gone better. I dabbled in some oldies, some techno and even finished the night with a short death metal set (Seriously). At one point the bride and groom headbanged and generally rocked out to Korns "A.D.I.D.A.S." I had the time of my life. For the rest of the night I recieved compliments and even scored myself another wedding and a possible house party. Needless to say I am now completely hooked. If I wasnt a dj before, I sure was now.