Rich Ellis

April Wedding at Royal Oaks Vancouver

Published April 13, 2015 | By Rich Ellis

Anna and David were married on April 11, 2015 at Royal Oaks Country Club in Vancouver, Washington.

The day before it was a dry, sunny day, but it rained that night so a tent was a good idea, as they were going to have their April wedding ceremony outside on the back deck rain or shine.

Right before the ceremony began, a dark cloud appeared directly above and dropped a heavy shower, but fortunately stopped on cue as the ceremony began.

April Wedding Ceremony Highlights:

Weding Processional & Bride Entrance: Pachelbel Canon in D major – Violin (eXquisite version)
Bride/Groom Exit: Ray LaMontagne – You Are the Best Thing

Everyone moved inside for the reception, where I had a second sound system setup playing background music as guests walked in. The newlyweds requested ‘Brat Pack; Frank Sinatra/Tony Bennett type music for cocktails and dinner.

April Wedding Reception Highlights:

Grand Entrance: Pharell Williams – Happy
Cake Cutting: Weird Al Yankovic – Eat It
First Dance: David Gray – This Years Love
Bride and Father Dance: Van Morrison – Into the Mystic
Groom and Mother Dance: You Light Up My Life (Performed by cousins of the Groom)
Bridal Party Dance: Cyndi Lauper – Girls Just Want To Have Fun
Bouquet Toss: Beyonce – Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)
Last Dance: Beatles – In My Life

During dinner, all 70 guests were seated in the upper dining area at Royal Oaks. This opened up the entire lower area, where I was setup and is mostly dance floor, to just me and the cake. Following the toast, I made sure to invite everyone down to the lower area to witness the cake cutting and First Dance and this led to a great turnout when the dance floor was opened to all guests.

Anna, Dave and their friends and family enjoyed the classic oldies, including a swing dance, as well as the latest hits and a heavy dose of 90’s Hip Hop as requested by the bride and groom.

I played everything from ‘Billie Jean’ to ‘Footloose,’ the ‘Cupid Shuffle’ to the latest smash, ‘Uptown Funk.’ The floor was spacious enough to hold everyone there and at times, it seemed like every single guest was dancing.

Congratulations Anna and Dave and thank you for choosing PRO DJs.

Post Event Satisfaction Survey:

“Rich was timely, professional and best of all he had us on the floor dancing! What an awesome job!!!” -Anna Niichel

Event Date: Saturday, April 11, 2015
Event Type: Wedding & Reception
Event Location: Royal Oaks
Event Staff: Rich Ellis
Quality of Customer Service via Telephone: Excellent
Quality of Customer Service via Internet: Excellent
Quality of Customer Service at Event: Excellent
Friendliness of your Entertainer: Excellent
Promptness of your Entertainer: Excellent
Professionalism of your Entertainer: Excellent
Entertainer’s Performance: Excellent
Entertainer’s Appearance: Excellent
System Appearance: Excellent
Sound Quality: Excellent
Overall Volume Levels: Excellent
Music Selection: Excellent
Incorporation of Your Requests: Excellent
Lighting Effects: Excellent
Equipment Appearance: Excellent
Overall Customer Service: Excellent
Planning Assistance: Excellent
Entertainer’s Cooperation with Other Vendors: Excellent
Overall Performance Rating: Excellent
Would you recommend this service to others? Yes

Posted in Events, Wedding, Wedding DJ

Cat Themed Portland Bat Mitzvah At RefugePDX

Published March 30, 2015 | By Rich Ellis

Mazel Tov Rena! Portland Bat Mitzvah DJ Rich Ellis performed at her celebration on Saturday, March 28, 2015 at RefugePDX in Central Eastside Portland.

As guests arrived, I played a variety of background music while a continuous slideshow was displayed on a giant screen next to me.

Around 100 people, including 30+ kids enjoyed a casual dinner, but Rena and her friends didn’t come to this party for that… they were ready to have some fun playing games and they had a great time with the scavenger hunt, Coke & Pepsi, Hula Hoop Trivia and more.

Rena volunteers at a cat shelter, so some of the prizes were beanie baby cats. These were a big hit with the kids, as well as Gelato gift cards.

This energized group also danced together to just about everything, but especially recent hits, such as ‘Uptown Funk,’ ‘Shake It Off’ and more.

The party ramped up a little more with the ‘The Hora’ and chair raising and the adults weren’t shy about joining in as they seemed to enjoy the new music as well as the classics.

Thank you mom and dad Michelle and Mike for choosing PRO DJs.

Post Event Satisfaction Survey:

“Rich was fantastic! Kept the kids engaged and moving – Sprinkled in some fun stuff for the old people too!” -Mike and Michelle Alberts

Event Date: Saturday, March 28, 2015
Event Type: Bat Mitzvah
Event Location: RefugePDX
Event Staff: Rich Ellis
Quality of Customer Service via Telephone: Excellent
Quality of Customer Service via Internet: Excellent
Quality of Customer Service at Event: Excellent
Friendliness of your Entertainer: Excellent
Promptness of your Entertainer: Excellent
Professionalism of your Entertainer: Excellent
Entertainer’s Performance: Excellent
Entertainer’s Appearance: Excellent
System Appearance: Excellent
Sound Quality: Excellent
Overall Volume Levels: Excellent
Music Selection: Excellent
Incorporation of Your Requests: Excellent
Lighting Effects: Excellent
Equipment Appearance: Excellent
Overall Customer Service: Excellent
Planning Assistance: Excellent
Entertainer’s Cooperation with Other Vendors: Excellent
Overall Performance Rating: Excellent
Would you recommend this service to others? Yes

Posted in Bat Mitzvah

Feels Like Summer March Wedding In Canby

Published March 9, 2015 | By Rich Ellis

It was a toasty 70 degrees with lots of sunshine for Katelynn and Justin’s wedding in Canby, Oregon on Saturday, March 7, 2015. The ceremony and reception could have been held outside at Oak View Acres, but who could have predicted it would be this nice, so early in the year.

The bride really liked the lighting inside, so we stuck to the plan. However, the large door remained open for most of the afternoon and evening and guests were still able to enjoy the view and feel of a warm Spring day.

Wedding in Canby Ceremony Highlights:

Wedding Processional/Bride Entrance: Canon In D (Pachelbel)
Bride/Groom Exit: Water Music (Handel)

For background music during cocktails and dinner, the newlyweds requested a mix of classic rock and Country favorites. The setlist included selections from Fleetwood Mac, Tim McGraw, Tom Petty and more. Guests were released to the buffet for dinner by answering fun trivia questions about the bride and/or groom.

Wedding in Canby Reception Highlights:

Grand Entrance: Jason Mraz – I’m Yours
Cake Cutting: Jack Johnson – Better Together
First Dance: Brad Paisley – Then
Bride and Father Dance: Heartland – I Loved Her First
Groom and Mother Dance: Rascal Flatts – My Wish
Bouquet Toss: Shania Twain – Any Man of Mine
Last Dance: Tim McGraw & Faith Hill – It’s Your Love

There was still a lot of daylight left when the dance floor opened to everyone and with around 40 guests in attendance, it was mostly young children with their parents early on having a good time with classic oldies from The Beatles, Van Morrison, Brooks and Dunn and more.

Eventually, nearly everyone joined in for a good run of dancing fun with songs like ‘Billie Jean,’ ‘Old Time Rock and Roll’ and a request for ‘Play That Funky Music.’ We also got a little current with the latest smash ‘Uptown Funk,’ as well as ‘Happy’ and ‘I Gotta Feeling.’

Congratulations Katelynn and Justin.

Posted in Events, Wedding

Valentine’s Day Portland Oregon Wedding

Published February 16, 2015 | By Rich Ellis

February 14th fell on a Saturday in 2015 and Andrea and Alex jumped at the chance for a Valentine’s Day Portland, Oregon wedding.

Both the ceremony and reception were held in the Heritage Ballroom on the second floor of Bridgeport Brewery in Northwest Portland.

Valentine’s Day Portland Oregon Wedding Ceremony Highlights:

Wedding Processional: Instrumental of “I’m Yours” by Jason Mraz
Bride Entrance: Us The Duo – No Matter Where You Are
Bride/Groom Exit: Stevie Wonder – Signed Sealed Delivered…

The newlyweds wanted a variety of music for the dance floor later on, but for cocktails and dinner, requested all Country music. I played a mix that featured selections from George Strait, Carrie Underwood, Zac Brown Band and more. During one song, Mark Wills ‘Back at One,’ a table with mostly members of the wedding party spontaneously broke out singing the chorus.

Valentine’s Day Portland Oregon Wedding Reception Highlights:

Grand Entrance: DJ Snake f_Lil Jon – Turn Down For What
Cake Cutting: Beatles – All You Need Is Love
First Dance: Lee Brice – I Don’t Dance
Bride and Father Dance: Frank Sinatra – Fly Me To The Moon
Groom and Mother Dance: Rascal Flatts – My Wish
Bridal Party Dance: Chris Brown – Forever
Bouquet Toss: Pat Benatar – Hit Me With Your Best Shot
Garter Toss: Queen – Another One Bites the Dust
Last Dance: Jason Mraz – Love Someone

Andrea and Alex decided against the traditional cake cutting and opted for donuts from Voodoo Donuts made in their likeness. In place of feeding a piece of cake to each other, they bit the heads off of their donuts 🙂

The dance floor at Bridgeport Brewery is pretty much the entire area in front of the bar and guests made good use of it, dancing to everything from ‘Brickhouse’ as requested by the father of the bride to the latest hot hit, ‘Uptown Funk’ from Mark Ronson f/Bruno Mars.

Congratulations Andrea and Alex and thank you for choosing PRO DJs.

Post Event Satisfaction Survey:

“Rich was an amazing DJ!!! My wedding day went off without a hitch and played everything I wanted!!! I would definitely recommend him to anyone!!!” -Andrea Rodriguez & Alex Frace

Event Date: Saturday, February 14, 2015
Event Type: Wedding & Reception
Event Location: Bridgeport Brew Pub
Event Staff: Rich Ellis
Quality of Customer Service via Telephone: Excellent
Quality of Customer Service via Internet: Excellent
Quality of Customer Service at Event: Excellent
Friendliness of your Entertainer: Excellent
Promptness of your Entertainer: Excellent
Professionalism of your Entertainer: Excellent
Entertainer’s Performance: Excellent
Entertainer’s Appearance: Excellent
System Appearance: Excellent
Sound Quality: Excellent
Overall Volume Levels: Excellent
Music Selection: Excellent
Incorporation of Your Requests: Excellent
Lighting Effects: Excellent
Equipment Appearance: Excellent
Overall Customer Service: Excellent
Planning Assistance: Excellent
Entertainer’s Cooperation with Other Vendors: Excellent
Overall Performance Rating: Excellent
Would you recommend this service to others? Yes

Posted in Events, Wedding, Wedding DJ

DJ Revs Up Downtown Portland Bat Mitzvah

Published February 3, 2015 | By Rich Ellis

Lawren and her friends and family had a great time at her downtown Portland Bat Mitzvah held at the Embassy Suites on Saturday, January 31, 2015.

DJ Steve Marker provided the games and hit music that brought everyone together in the Queen Marie Ballroom.

Thank you Andie Petkus Photography for sharing photos from this event.

Mazel Tov Lawren and thank you mom Anna for choosing PRO DJs. -Rich

Post Event Satisfaction Survey:

“Steve was fantastic! He did an amazing job and got everyone out dancing. So many people told us how they enjoyed him as a DJ. Thanks again!!” -Anna Paris