Xplosive Blog

October 18, 2020 • No Comments

This blog is being written just 24 hours after Xplosive Entertainment helped Stephanie and Kevin celebrate their wedding in Oxford, New Jersey (a small historic town in Warren County). For starters, this was the first experience Xplosive had at Jack’s Barn. As with any other “new” venue for Xplosive, we always contact the venue in advance to discuss the logistics. We were greeted on the phone by a very pleasant and knowledgeable woman who clearly explained the “run of show” for “Jack’s” parties. Due to COVID restrictions, this wedding (and all others for the time being) have both indoor and outdoor elements.

So, here we are on Saturday October 17th. It’s a perfect 68 degrees without a cloud in the sky. We arrive two hours before the ceremony time and see a meticulously maintained farm house and pristinely manicured grounds. The ceremony space was the first area noticed. The 75 guest seats faced a dressed rustic appearing decorative wood truss structure. Guests enter this space though two weathered doors brilliantly setup in a gap of the fence surrounding the space.

Following the wedding ceremony, which was so perfectly narrated by an officiant who told the unique love story of how Stephanie and Kevin met, fell in love, and got to this day where they tied the knot, guests made their way into the lower level of the barn where they found a bar with unique specialty cocktails, farm antiques on display and catering staff serving a nice array of appetizers. The catering staff were pleasant, laid back and dressed to fit the motif of the space in jeans with white button downs and suspenders. Xplosive Entertainment provided an eclectic mix of background music during this time but focused on the bride and groom’s favorite music style, 90s rock.

After 60 minutes of appetizers and drinks it became time for the formal introductions. Both Kevin and Stephanie were big fans of music, so they put some time in and picked a few really special and certainly unique songs for the introductions of the parents and bridal party. They then shared their first dance to a Red Hot Chili Pepper track. The parent dances followed immediately and then guests made their way to the upper part of the barn. Guests enjoyed a family style meal served fresh style at farm tables with mix-matched chairs. During this time the speeches and toasts took place.

Since dancing was not permitted indoors based on NJ’s COVID restrictions, we elected to serve all the food and celebrate the cake cutting all back to back before we asked guests to leave the barn and join the outside tent for the dance party. Everything worked out brilliantly. As soon as the cake cutting commenced, two polka songs were played honoring the bride’s late grandfather who was in a polka band. That led to the perfect transition for the outdoor dance party.

Jack’s Barn setup a perfectly sized tent in the parking lot with heaters and cocktail tables. Xplosive’s DJ Michael T along with MC Joey Raimondi rocked (literally) the party outside playing a mix of music, but primarily following the newlywed’s request for 90’s rock. The song list was epic. The energy was on par to a celebration at a Jersey Shore club with a popular rock cover band.  Xplosive provided some ambient lighting to help build energy in the tented dance space. MC Joey helped the guests as they sang along to familiar songs at the top of their lungs and played air guitar like they were in a battle of the bands.

The night ended with a thank you from the clearly elated groom and a group sing-along to Semisonic’s “Closing Time.”

Despite COVID restrictions both the newlyweds and the team at Jack’s Barn came together and found an amazing way to get friends and family together in a safe (and “real”) atmosphere to celebrate true love!

 

Written by:

Michael Langnser

Xplosive Entertainment

www.XEevents.com

 

For more info on Jack’s Barn visit: https://www.jacksbarn.com/