Gatsby Party in Franschhoek| The Residence at Vrede en Lust

My brief from The Event Planners: “We have a nice upmarket Gatsby party. They need a DJ at The Residence at Vrede en Lust. It’s a surprise for a woman turning 30. Her husband says: she really likes to dance. Can you do a little sax performance and make sure they have an awesome party?”

Seven hours and many bottles of tequila later… We did just that. A couple of fat beats and some saxophone vibes and we were ready to lift off. Super fun crowd of about 25 peeps. All dressed to the theme and ready to celebrate from the word “go”. It’s just wonderful as a musician/DJ when your dancefloor is filled with a bunch of besties that all groove to the same tunes. They loved their 90’s RnB and sexy Latino numbers. Of course a good mix of sing alongs never does any party any harm.

See if you can spot her… the event planner, Niki, was grooving behind the decks while I took some footage. I just love fun service providers! She is damn good at putting awesome experiences together.

This was the second time since lockdown I got to work with Salute SA – the bar and staffing company. They are absolutely pro, smiley and good-looking ladies and gents. Highly recommended. As always, Two Chefs did a marvelous job of keeping us fed with interesting palate loving bits. Nico from Nconcepts and Design set up some awesome party props to give us the Gatsby feels – This compony is a real winner for hiring and décor! Inecke’s photos speak for themselves. She is a pro photographer in high heels that will make you look very good.

About the venue: It’s the perfect setting for an intimate party, function or wedding. The manor has a spectacular background music sound system that is linked throughout the entire house. We fed my main PA in the bar area into the sound system in the house. My saxophone mic and DJ music could then be controlled and played throughout the entire premises – even outside. This is a pretty fantastic edition and takes cordless musicians to a whole new level. The house itself is stylish in an old school charming way. There is a beautiful grass area overlooking the Berg river, a giant patio/bar, multiple lounge areas and a kitchen to die for. The rooms all have spectacular views to the garden outside. It’s simply, fabulous. The host, Corné, is a friendly and helpful manager, completely invested in showing everyone a good time. 

This is the perfect manor for a Gatsby themed party.