Nittany Entertainment’s Jeff Tranell  had the opportunity to volunteer at a wonderful event Friday evening at Grays Woods Elementary School!  A local Girl Scout Troop and the Grays Woods Elementary PTO sponsored a Mini-Thon to benefit Pancreatic Cancer research and TIDES, a support group for grieving children.  Over $1,000 was raised for the charities.  A great time was had by all involved.  The evening including opportunities for the dancers to do Zumba, learn Swing dancing from the State High Swing Dance club, and learn a hip hop dance taught by Gray’s Woods own 4th grade teacher, Mr. Kaufmann.  On November 11th, there was lots of dancing to great music provided by Nittany Entertainment- all for a great cause!

Nittany Entertainment now has a Youtube Channel.

We will be posting fun videos of weddings in action

Our youtube channel is
http://www.youtube.com/user/NittanyEntertainment?feature=mhee

Park Forest Middle School students, faculty, and staff worked for months to prepare for April 15- The third annual Park Forest Middle School Mini-Thon, benefitting the Four

Diamonds Fund at Hershey Medical Center.  Students raised money in a variety of ways.  Many sponsors donated services for the event, including Nittany Entertainment, who donated the sound and light system and DJ Jeff Tranell, who also teaches 6th grade at the school.   Students started the evening with a spaghetti dinner and then stayed on their feet and danced the night away and played games until midnight.  Four Diamonds kids and families addressed and motivated the dancers throughout the evening. When the grand total was announced, it exceeded expectations and $30,000!

I had a young lady come up to me at a wedding this past weekend to ask for a business card.  She said I was the best wedding DJ she had ever heard.  I know there are some great DJs out there so I appreciated the comments.  The thing about this that struck me as different is that we were only 30 minutes into dinner when she made her comments.

When people think about DJs at weddings they often assume the DJ is only used for dancing after dinner, but good cocktail and dinner music can set the tone for a fun evening.  Early on in my DJ career I used to dismiss dinner music as just filler until the actual dancing.  Over time I have come to realize this can be just as important.  As a DJ you don’t want to get caught up playing dinner or cocktail music so loud that the guests can’t have a normal conversation.  It needs to be at an appropriate level where the music can be heard but you don’t want their ears bleeding during dinner.

Another mistake often made with dinner/cocktail music is that it can get too cliché.  Kenny G’s popularity peaked in the late 90’s along with the Macarena.  We don’t need to revive him at a wedding. The music needs to be updated, but still appropriate for the setting.

The music should also create the appropriate energy level too.  Cocktail hour music should be somewhat upbeat to create a fun atmosphere but not too over the top that your guests can still maintain a comfortable social atmosphere and conversation.  Dinner music should be a tad bit lighter.  I often find it is nice to start dinner with slower instrumental and kind of build the energy level as the tables are being cleared.  That way the guests don’t feel like they are ready for a nap.  Instead they are ready to get moving.

We have some great varieties of dinner/cocktail music that include Jazz, Piano, and New Age in our collections.  We also have some surprises that will get the guests talking about your dinner music too.  Contact us today so we can give you a sneak peak of how to make your dinner music unique to your wedding and fun at the same time.

State college, PA –1-25-11 – WeddingWire, the nation’s leading wedding technology company, is thrilled to announce Nittany Entertainment has been selected to receive the prestigious annual WeddingWire Bride’s Choice Awards™ 2011 for DJ Entertainment!

Recognition for the Bride’s Choice Awards™ 2011 is determined by recent reviews and extensive surveys from over 750,000 WeddingWire newlyweds. Our past clients are among those that shared their experiences on WeddingWire, the largest wedding review site in the nation.

Nittany Entertainment stands among the top five percent of wedding professionals in the WeddingWire community, representing quality and service excellence within the wedding industry. Awards were given to the top wedding professionals across 20 service categories, from wedding venues to wedding photographers, and were based on the overall professional achievements throughout the past year.

“WeddingWire is honored to celebrate the success of the top-rated wedding professionals within the WeddingWire community,” said Timothy Chi, WeddingWire’s Chief Executive Officer. “With the annual Bride’s Choice Awards™ program, WeddingWire has the unique opportunity to recognize the best wedding professionals across the US and Canada. We applaud Nittany Entertainment for their professionalism and dedication to enhancing the wedding planning experience last year.”

We are happy to announce that Nittany Entertainment is among the very best DJ service within the WeddingWire Network, which includes leading wedding planning sites WeddingWire, Martha Stewart Weddings, Project Wedding and Weddingbee. We would like to thank our past clients for nominating us to receive the Bride’s Choice Awards™ 2011.

For more information, please visit our WeddingWire Storefront today at http://www.weddingwire.com/biz/nittany-entertainment-state-college/7fe2dad28500079c.html

For more information on the Bride’s Choice Awards™ 2011, please visit www.WeddingWire.com.