Like many of our clients, Dale & Jake live out of state so we planned everything electronically. We have so much experience with this now that the process is pretty well refined and everything went off without a hitch! Working with a wonderful planner like Amy at Knots ‘n Such always helps a ton too. Dale & Jake chose The Meadows at Firefly Farm Preserve for their wedding venue. This venue is BRAND NEW and STUNNING. This was only the second event their but you wouldn’t have guessed it because the whole amazing staff was prepared for everything and ready to help at a moment’s notice. The rain may have been relentless and cold but these clients and their guests were so good-spirited, fun and ready to celebrate that it didn’t even matter. They had a wonderful ceremony inside the larger wedding space and then everyone came next door to The Green Room to dance and celebrate the second half of the night. Check out the very impressive photos below from Kivus and Camera!

To start their reception, we brought the bridal party in to “Fire and the Flood” by Vance Joy. Their guests were excited, loud and clearly ready to rock! The amazing dinner by Fresh.Local.Good Food Group followed and then immediately after that we did the cake cutting and toasts. After toasts (really fun toasts btw!), we all watched as Dale & Jake had their first dance to “Ocean’s Away” by Arizona which was followed by “Stand by Me” by Ben E King for the Mother/Daughter Dance and the Mother/Son Dance to “She’s Always a Woman’ by Billy Joel.” Now, we should say that all wedding parent dances are special but the song Jake chose for his Mom’s dance was a surprise to her and she cried on her son’s shoulder for the whole dance….we had to look away! At first Dale and Jake were going to give us playlists for dancing but after some thought, they decided that wanted to give us complete freedom to choose the music. We do appreciate the trust y’all! Turns out that we got to throw this amazing couple one of the most amazing parties ever with a packed dance floor for two solid hours which was capped off with the very fun ‘Inspector Norse’ by Todd Terje. From Jake’s review on Google: “He helped take the reception from good, past memorable, and made it all the way to legendary occasion amongst our friends.” Thank you to Dale & Jake for reminding us why we love our job so much!

Here are Dale & Jake’s reviews of our DJ service:

“”When “Africa” by Toto started playing during the reception, I knew we had found the right D.J. Every song was perfect and perfectly timed, and Eric listened to all requests and read the room really well. He talked to everyone and was a great emcee for the toasts. We loved working with Eric and would recommend him wholeheartedly to anyone else who’s looking for a wedding D.J.!” – Dale (Read this review online)

“”I got this.” These were the words Eric gave us in an email the night before our wedding. Let me tell you, he wasn’t kidding. He was absolutely phenomenal in every way. He wasn’t just a part of the wedding, but a boon to the wedding. He he helped take the reception from good, past memorable, and made it all the way to legendary occasion amongst our friends. If you need a DJ for any situation, All Around Raleigh DJ will be the best you’ll get.” – Jake (Read this review online)

Check out Dale & Jake’s Wedding Vendors!

Venue: The Meadows at Firefly Farm Preserve

Coordinator and Florist: Knots ‘n Such

Photographer: Kivus and Camera

Caterer: Fresh.Local.Good Food Group

Linens: CE Rental

Wedding Cake and Desserts: Cuisine Lucette

Hair and Makeup: Parlor Blow Dry Bar

Transportation: White Horse Private Transportation

Kim & Andy’s Wedding at The Meadows in Raleigh by Kivus & Camera

Kim & Andy were such fun and wonderful clients to work with! They really took the time to put their personal stamp on their wedding day with both decor and the song list.

This was a fun wedding and little did we know it would be one of our last pre-pandemic weddings of 2020! The governor enacted COVID restrictions on their wedding day for no gatherings of 100 or more. Luckily we were under that amount so it did not affect the wedding. The ceremony was beautiful and located to left if the main house on the property.

After the cocktail hour, it was time to get our bridal party introduced into the reception to “I Believe In A Thing Called Love” by The Darkness. Our bride and groom’s entrance followed to “Better Together” by Jack Johnson and went directly into their first dance. After the toasts, the DJ opened the night with the married couple’s Anniversary Dance which helped open up the dance floor. From there on, it was a fun time of dancing with a packed dance floor the rest of the night. We ended the night with “Wagon Wheel” by Old Crow Medicine Show with all of our guests on the dance floor with Andy and Kim and then, of course, the amazing Sparkler Exit.

Kim & Andy’s Wedding Vendor Team

Officiant: Gwen Downs

Wedding Planner: Timeless Events

Wedding Photographer: Kivus & Camera

Venue: The Meadows at Firefly Farm Preserve

Ceremony Musician: All Around Raleigh DJ

Hair & Makeup: Head Turners

Caterer: Fords Fluent N’ Food

Florist: The Wedding Woman

Rentals: CE Rental

Andy & Kim’s Wedding Planner

The Meadows at Firefly Farm Preserve, Raleigh, N.C

4:00 – Seating Music style is Vitamin String Quartet
4:25 – Seating of Mothers to ‘A Thousand Years’ by Vitamin String Quartet
4:28 – Bridal party entrance to ‘Still Alive’ by VSQ
4:30 – Processional to ‘I Will’ by Subito Strings
4:55 – Recessional to ‘You Are The Best Thing’ by Ray LaMontagne
5:00 – Cocktail Hour- Upbeat Cocktail Music
6:00 – Introduction of Bridal Party to ‘I Believe In A Thing Called Love’ by The Darkness

*Shelby and Jerra
*Jenny and Jessica
*Katie and Robbie
*Caroline and Andrew
*Kelsey, Kristin, and Parker

6:03 – Introduction of Bride and Groom to ‘Better Together’ by Jack Johnson

Mr. And Mrs. Andy and Kim!!

6:05 – First Dance to ‘Honeybee’ by Head and The Heart
6:08 – Father/Daughter to ‘When You Need Me’ by Bruce Springsteen

6:10 – Mother/Son Dance to ‘What A Wonderful World’ by Louis Armstrong

6:12 – Welcome by Father of the Bride Rick
6:15 – Dinner Music – Big Band then into Motown and Oldies

6:55 – Toasts by Kristin & Kelsey (Sisters of the Bride) and Parker (Brother of the Groom)

7:15 – Pie Cutting to ‘How Sweet It Is’ by James Taylor

7:30 – Anniversary Dance
7:35 – Dancing!
9:50 – Last Dance to ‘Wagon Wheel’ by Old Crow Medicine Show

9:55 – Sparkler Exit