Skip to main content
All Posts By

bradberrywebsite

Incredible chocolate chip cookie recipe

Incredible Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe builds strong marriages!

By Recipes

You’re engaged

Do you want to build a joyous, strong marriage that is the envy of your friends?  Then learn how to bake the best chocolate chip cookie in the world for your wife with this incredible chocolate chip cookie recipe!

What woman doesn’t love chocolate, and a man who cooks for his wife is irresistible. Homemade cookies say love. They say “I want to spoil you.”

You think I’m kidding?   I’m not.  Who doesn’t love the deliriously delicious experience of taking a bite from a hot, gooey chocolate chip cookie right out of the oven!  Your inflamed taste buds delight in the sheer sensory experience of its heavenly taste.

Men, I encourage you to take the lead in building this super strong marriage by learning how to make this magical cookie.  Don’t worry, I’m going to tell you exactly how.

This recipe is incredible, and you’re going to love it.  Just imagine the reaction you’re going to get when you give the love of your life a cookie you made with your own hands, just for her.

This recipe will make your marriage stronger.   Don’t believe me? Well, try this recipe, follow my advice, and you’ll see.

Here’s Your Incredible Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe:

Gather your ingredients

Here’s what you’ll need:

√ 2  cups + 2 tbls of all-purpose flour

√ 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

√ 1/2 teaspoon table salt

√ 12 tablespoons (1.5 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled to room temp

√ 1/2 cup granulated sugar

√ 1 cup brown sugar

√ 2 teaspoons real vanilla extract

√ 1 large egg plus one egg yolk

√ 1.5 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

√ 1/2 tsp  of cinnamon

√ generous pinch of cayenne pepper

Follow these steps

Step One:  Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Step Two:  This is key –> Melt the butter, but then let it cool back to room temperature.

Step Three:  Whisk flour, baking soda, salt, cayenne, and cinnamon in a small bowl, set aside.

Step Four:  Mix  butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar by hand. Mix in whole egg, yolk,  and vanilla extract until well combined.  Stir in flour mixture.   Stir in chocolate chips.  Drop by scant quarter cup onto parchment lined  baking sheets 2 inches apart.

Step Five:  Bake for 15 -18 minutes or until they just start to brown on the edges and don’t look gooey in the center.  Turn the sheets front to back half way through cooking time. Don’t overcook!   Cool completely on baking sheets.

Get ready for not just a happy marriage, but a strong marriage! 🙂

customized wedding entertainment

“Love is patient.” Really?!

By Culture

St. Paul’s much-quoted scripture passage is timeless:

“Love is patient, love is kind…”

On the other hand, if you ever saw the classic 1989 date flick, “When Harry Met Sally,” Harry (Billy Crystal) isn’t so patient, as expressed in the meme above.

Can you blame him?  Love IS wonderful.  So is marriage.  The couples we work with are excited to get the rest of their life started. Especially when it comes to booking customized wedding entertainment! Popular wedding dates really do book fast!

Customized wedding entertainment

So, let Queen City DJs help you customize the entertainment to fit your one-of-a-kind wedding celebration.

We don’t like to boast.  HOWEVER, our customers do, on our behalf.

Are we any good?  Listen to them talk about our customized wedding entertainment!

Congratulations on this new chapter in your life!

wedding entertainment budget

How much to spend on wedding entertainment

By Budget

Memorize this:  no price is a good price IF you aren’t happy with your Cincinnati reception.

Price is meaningless.  Dreams are everything when it comes to your wedding. If you cut corners on your wedding entertainment budget, you may pay a very big price.

Okay, now let’s deal with reality.  I’m guessing you’re like most of the brides in this area:  you’re working on a budget.  Am I right?

Your wedding entertainment budget may be bigger than the last bride we worked with, but it may be less, much less than the next.  Since we live in the real world, most of us do have to consider dollars and cents when it comes to planning a wedding.

So most brides have to find a happy medium when it comes to balancing their wedding entertainment budget.

Surprising wedding entertainment budget facts

The Knot conducted a survey of 18,000 brides across the country.  According to them the average wedding costs $31,213.  But it varies widely depending on where you live.  For example, it’s closer to $19,000 in South Dakota, but it tops $39,000 in San Francisco.

What is pretty consistent, though, is that the average bride invests about 10% of her budget on the entertainment.  And yet entertainment provides 90% of the fun.

We’ve worked with a ton of brides over the years.  If something goes wrong with the dinner or the flowers, it is quickly forgotten IF the guests have fun.

Entertainment makes the event: every time!

That’s where Queen City DJs come in.  Entertainment makes the event.  Any minor glitches you experience with any of your other vendors will quickly fade away once we pack your dance floor.  And we will.

Your guests are hungry to celebrate and honor your marriage.  Entertainment is the key catalyst to ensuring your party maximizes your potential.

This leads me back to the first sentence of this post: no price is a good price IF you aren’t happy with your reception.  This maxim applies to your wedding entertainment more than any other service you book.

Queen City DJs is the key

So am I saying that if you book us, the food will taste better?  That the flowers will look fresher?  That the cake will look more magnificent?

No.  It will only seem that way.  And, my friend, perception IS reality.

Here’s the bottom line:  there is one place where you never want to scrimp:  the entertainment.  Entertainment makes the event, and we will make your event extraordinary!

The next step? Check out available dates without obligation.

first dance advice

Read this only if you’re terrified of your first dance

By Dance

Do you have two left feet? Here’s some sensible first dance advice for Cincinnati brides.

Does the thought of getting up in front of the world and dancing your first dance as man and wife terrify you? Here’s some first dance advice that will relieve your worries.

You’re not alone, you know, because millions of Americans are afflicted with a bad case of Twoleftfeetitis, sometimes known as Dancefever. It can cause a grown man to break out into a cold sweat, and it’s not pretty.

Are either you or your betrothed afflicted with this malady? Don’t worry, it is curable! Just follow our first dance advice.

You do not need to be a Fred Astaire or a Ginger Rogers to project a shimmering image of elegance on the dance floor. Even more, you do not have to be a Michael Jackson or a Jennifer Lopez to shake your booty with class at the biggest party of your life: your wedding celebration.

You simply need to be you.

3 Steps to a successful first dance

There are three keys to a successful first dance that looks so good that you won’t even mind if it is video taped.

Step One:  Select a slow song that is meaningful to you.

Step Two:  Learn the two step.  It’s the simplest dance for a klutz (no offense) to learn.  Watch the video above, for it quickly presents the timeless simplicity and charm of this basic dance step.  Practice it.  You can learn it quickly.  You’ll have it perfected within a few practice sessions.

Step Three:  Keep it short.  Two to three minutes is good, because this really takes a lot of pressure off of you.  Besides, you don’t want your guests to get bored.  In our hands, they’ll be itching to join you on the dance floor in short order!

Music and entertainment makes the event.  We can help you plan the flow of entertainment from beginning to end.  Our MCs know how to make introductions and set up the first dance.  Here’s where wedding parties often break down.  It is absolutely vital to have a seasoned DJ/MC on your team who knows how to transition from your first dance to a packed dance floor.

That’s what we do.  Call us with questions at 513-659-9293, or complete the contact form to check on our availability.

Get ready for your first dance and follow our first dance advice.  It’ll be wonderful!

Looking for a wedding DJ? Learn more about Queen City DJs here.

Cincinnati wedding planning

How to break the ice at a pre-wedding luncheon

By Wedding planning

The scene is tense.

Families come together for a pre-wedding luncheon.  An old girl friend of the groom is there.  Yikes!  This could get pretty uncomfortable.  Fast.

What to do?  Why it is simple:  break into song!

I post above for your viewing pleasure that memorable scene from “My Best Friend’s Wedding” when Rupert Everett does just that.  He starts singing that golden-oldie from the 60s, “I Say  a Little Prayer for You.”

Before you know it, the whole restaurant is singing along!  Aah … if only life were a musical!

Stress-free Cincinnati wedding planning

Many brides let the process of planning their wedding stress them out.  I get it.  There are a lot of details to get in place.  We can help you with the entertainment. We’ll take the stress right out of the wedding planning so you can start having fun again. You’ll find helpful online planning tools to get you started, beginning with our availability checker.

In the meantime, take a few minutes to watch this very funny scene starring Julia Roberts.  A good laugh always makes the day better … and less stressful.

[Entertainment makes the difference at wedding receptions. Check out Queen City DJ’s online Cincinnati wedding planning forms here.]

wedding toast script

Here’s a great script for a wedding toast

By Toasting

wedding toast script

Let’s be honest, a lot of people clench up when they have to make a toast. We’ve created a nice wedding toast script to take the heat off.

Wedding receptions can be especially stressful because the best man and maid of honor often put too much pressure on themselves.  They overcompensate by having an extra drink or two and … well, you know how that can go:  downhill fast.

We can help.

We’ve created a nice wedding toast script.

Obviously, your toasters aren’t going to use this word for word.  But it’ll help them get started.

It’ll channel them in the right direct using the guidelines we wrote about in last week’s blogpost [“How to avoid wedding toast disasters.”]

Ultimately, it takes the heat off since this script lays down some nice parameters for them.  Remember:  the point of this wedding toast script is simply to help them get started.  It is their personal experience with you, and the way that they convey it, that ultimately makes the difference.

Read this wedding toast script and let me know what you think:

[Opening]:

“I am truly honored to toast the marriage of [Bride’s Name] and [Groom’s Name].

I’ve never been one to pay any attention to people who claim that they can predict the future.  But guess what, I’m going to predict the future:  I see a happy, fulfilling married life stretching out before you two, and I could not be happier.

Looking out at this great group of your family and friends who’ve come to witness this watershed event, I can see that they agree with me.

The truth is, I don’t need a crystal ball to know that good things await you in your married life, because I know [Groom’s Name].

[Provide personal anecdote]:

We met when we were in college.  We had nothing in common.  I’m short, he’s tall.  I’m a Packer’s fan; he’s a Cowboys fan.  I’m really good looking.  And he’s … well, he’s even better looking!

But we both had this thing for rock climbing.  I tell you what, if you want to get to know someone, go rock climbing with him.

I don’t know how many times we went out.  It’s a lot.  One time stood out.  We were walking on a precipice some twenty feet above a lake.  We heard some splashing in the water below.  Suddenly, some kid started screaming like I’ve never heard screaming before in my life.  His dog was in the water … and apparently drowning.

Now I thought that God had hard-wired the dog paddle into every dog ever born.  But this one must have been a mutant, because it was going down for the last count.

Before I could even fully process the situation, [Groom’s Name] made a mighty leap into the lake below.  I’ve got to admit, I couldn’t have done it.  But he did.  Within seconds, he had the scared pup in his arms and back onto dry land in minutes.

You should’ve seen that kid’s face.  I’ll never forget it.  I’ll never forget what you did that day.

[Bring bride into the toast]:

Now, imagine what a guy like that would do for a friend.  Even more, imagine what a man like that would do for the woman he loves.

I can attest to the fact, [Bride’s Name], that [Groom’s Name] loves you more than anything … or anyone he’s ever loved in his life.

When he spoke that line in the vows about loving you even in ‘sickness and in health, in good times and in bad,’ well he meant it.

And since I’ve gotten to know you and discover what an incredibly wonderful person you are too, [Bride’s Name], I know you meant those vows every bit as much as [Groom’s Name].  You are a beautiful person on the outside, but even more importantly, on the inside.

Some people would say that it’s destiny that brought you together.  Well, I would suggest God had something to do with it.  Yes, I maintain that the creator of the universe surely pulled some strings to bring you two together, because you are so right for each other.

[Close by telling the audience specifically what they’re supposed to do]:

On this day of celebration, I ask each of you to raise your glass and join me in paying tribute to Mr. and Mrs. [Couple’s Last Name].”

To reiterate, you can’t use this wedding toast script exactly as written. Come up with your own anecdote. Make it warm. Use it to highlight the class, the integrity, and the character of the subject of your toast.

Good luck, and cheers!

[Entertainment makes the difference at wedding receptions. Check out Queen City DJs’ entertainment services here.]

wedding toast disasters

How to avoid wedding toast disasters

By Toasting

 

Let me guess:  you’ve got a well-intentioned best man and maid of honor for your Cincinnati area wedding.

They know you, they love you, and wedding etiquette calls on them to stand up and toast you at your wedding reception.

Beware.  These beloved friends or family can morph into your worst nightmare.  Don’t let them hijack your wedding reception with an embarrassing, meandering, or never-ending toast.

In fairness, your best man or maid of honor doesn’t want to embarrass you or scandalize your family, but beer and a microphone can be a dangerous combination.  A nice, warm three minute toast can quickly devolve into a dozen minutes of booze-drenched awkwardness if you’re not prepared.

Be prepared.

Avoid wedding toast disasters with these guidelines from Toastmasters International

Provide your event’s toasters with the following guidelines as provided by Toastmasters International to avoid wedding toast disasters:

  1. Keep it short and sweet.  It is important to get to the point and make people smile, because a few minutes is all you need.
  2. Be careful with humor.  Avoid the risque.  Under no circumstances should you embarrass the person being toasted.
  3. Practice.  At the very least, jot down a brief outline of what you want to say.  If you’re prone to nervousness, you might want to script your toast and time it.

As the bride and groom, this is your party.  I encourage you to say something like this to your toasters:

“Thank-you for being my [best man/maid of honor].  I am so honored to have you share this day with me in such a meaningful way.  I wanted to be sure you knew that we’d like you to make a brief toast after dinner.  You okay with that?  We’d like you to keep it fairly brief, 3 minutes … 4 max, and share something special you see in our relationship and wish us well.  I know I don’t need to say this, but please, nothing off color or embarrassing.”

Be direct.

Really say something like this to be sure everyone’s on the same page, or simply print this page off and hand it your toasters (or share the link with them).

Now, let us all raise a glass to honor this beautiful couple.  May God richly bless your marriage!

[Check back next week for an actual script for a nice wedding toast.  Your best man and maid of honor will love it! In the meantime, check out our wedding services here!]

Brad Berry - Queen City DJ

Welcome to Queen City DJ’s new website and blog

By DJ Entertainment

We did it! Queen City DJs has created a new wedding blog and website for each of you planning a wedding in the tri-state Cincinnati area. Owner Brad Berry and his professional team bring more than 50 years of experience to your event.

Brad Berry - Queen City DJ

Brad Berry, owner, Queen City DJs

Their talents are available for weddings, corporate parties, school events, and private parties with an amazing menu of services, including top DJ entertainment; polished MCs; and simply gorgeous decor lighting (yes, we’re excited about it!).

Check out our new wedding blog each week

And check out our website. Keep coming back. We’ll be posting regular blogposts on weddings, marriage, and culture that will inform and entertain you. We’ll even throw in some pretty incredible recipes from time to time.

In other words, Queen City DJs isn’t your typical DJ company. We’re more, and this new website and blog gives you a pretty good feel as to why.

Bookmark www.QueenCityDJs.com. Tell your friends. And share it on social media. If you believe that every party counts, as we do, we humbly ask you to spread the news that this is the go-to DJ entertainment for those who want to take their event to the next level.

Be sure to follow us on Facebook for updates and more cool content for each you planning events in the tri-state Cincinnati area.

Thank-you for reading. Be sure to subscribe to our blog!