Brittany and Kelly’s Portland wedding reception was held on Tuesday, August 11, 2015 at McMenamins Kennedy School in Portland, Oregon.
 
With a 10am start, a former school building may have been the perfect venue for a weekday reception and nearly 30 years as a DJ, I think I have now performed at a wedding every day of the week.
 
About 50 guests made up of family and close friends attended. The newlyweds wanted the feel of the post World War II era and requested 1940’s/early 1950’s selections for background music. Artists included the Glenn Miller Orchestra, Nat King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra.
 

 
Portland Wedding Reception Highlights:

• Grand Entrance: Dean Martin – Ain’t That A Kick In the Head
• Cake Cutting: John Legend – All of Me
• First Dance: Death Cab for Cutie – Follow You Into The Dark
• Bride and Father Dance: Temptations – My Girl
• Groom and Mother Dance: Israel Kamakawiwo’ole – Somewhere Over The Rainbow
• Bridal Party Dance: Will Smith – Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It
• Last Dance: Percy Sledge – When A Man Loves A Woman

1pm on a Tuesday doesn’t normally scream party, but don’t tell these people. The dance floor almost felt like a Saturday night as nearly all 50 guests turned out for the opening slow dance, ‘At Last’ and then got down to ‘Hey Ya,’ ‘Gettin’ Jiggy With It,’ ‘YMCA’ and more.
 




 
Congratulations Brittany and Kelly and thank you for choosing PRO DJs.
 
Post Event Satisfaction Survey:

• Event Date: Tuesday, August 11, 2015
• Event Type: Wedding & Reception
• Event Location: McMenamins Kennedy School
• 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

 
Dayna and Thomas’ Wedding Reception at Stonehedge Gardens in Hood River, Oregon was held on Saturday, August 8, 2015.
 
With beautiful tall trees, plants, waterfalls, and lights shining in the tree-canopy, plus a perfect temperature of no more than 80 degrees, it was a magical night to celebrate.
 

 
Background music for cocktails and dinner featured a variety of styles as requested by the groom, including Big Band, Gentle Jazz, Classic Rock, Easy Listening, and Country. Both Dayna and Thomas are in the Marines and just arrived in Oregon the week before from being stationed in Hawaii and Georgia. They cut the cake with an officer sword.
 
Wedding Reception At Stonehedge Gardens Hood River Highlights:

• Grand Entrance: Frank Sinatra – Love & Marriage
• Cake Cutting: Godfather Soundtrack – Tarantella Napolitana
• First Dance: Billy Joel – Just the Way You Are
• Bride and Father Dance: Tim McGraw – My Little Girl
• Groom and Mother Dance: Jason Mraz – 93 Million Miles
• Anniversary Dance: Frank Sinatra – The Way You Look Tonight
• Bouquet Toss: Survivor – Eye of the Tiger
• Last Dance: Bill Medley & Jennifer Warnes – I’ve Had the Time Of My Life

The anniversary dance was a great lead for opening the dance floor with an impressive eight couples married longer than 30 years and the longest 57 years.
 


 
During the first fast dance, the newlyweds led almost everyone on the packed dance floor up the stairs to the open area next to where I was setup and before long there were two packed dance floors for the songs that followed… that was certainly a first in my DJ career and a lot of fun 🙂
 



 
A hot set of recent hit songs, such as ‘Uptown Funk,’ ‘Treasure’ and ‘Happy’ kept up a fast pace for almost 90 minutes before the guests were ready for the next slow dance.
 





 
Congratulations Dayna and Thomas and thank you for choosing PRO DJs.
 

 
Post Event Satisfaction Survey:
 
“Extremely professional, from the moment I spoke to Rich on the phone during booking, through the ceremony itself, I cannot express how happy I was with the service. Every single guest I spoke to complimented us on how great the music selection was. I continually told them that except for the “big moment songs…”the selection was all Rich. Honestly, that was always the most important thing to me. I didn’t want to spend time worrying about the details of the music… I preferred giving a description of the crowd, a few music styles that we liked, and letting the DJ read the crowd. Thats exactly what I got and I couldn’t be happier.” -Dayna Riise & Thomas Comer

• Event Date: Saturday, August 8, 2015
• Event Type: Wedding & Reception
• Event Location: Stonehedge Gardens, Hood River OR
• 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

 
Cassie and Wes were married on Saturday, August 1, 2015 at Mt. Hood B & B in Parkdale, Oregon. It was another hot Mt. Hood wedding as the temperature soared to 103 degrees about the time the ceremony began, but an occasional breeze kept it reasonable.
 
I have performed at this venue many times since the mid-90’s and this was my second trip this summer… the last for Millie and Tony’s wedding on June 26th, where the high temperature was also 103.
 

 
Mt. Hood Wedding Ceremony Highlights:

• Wedding Party Entrance: Ingrid Michaelson – Sort Of (instrumental)
• Bride Entrance: Ingrid Michaelson – Can’t Help Falling In Love
• Bride/Groom Exit: Ray LaMontagne – You Are the Best Thing

The reception began immediately after the ceremony and almost all of the 60 guests in attendance gathered on the lawn near the shed bar with mister… ordering drinks has never been so cool 🙂 For background music, the newlyweds requested an alternative set that included songs from Passion Pit, Kacey Musgraves and Fitz & the Tantrums.
 

 
Mt. Hood Wedding Reception Highlights:

• Grand Entrance: Bleachers – Rollercoaster
• Cake Cutting: Beatles – When I’m 64
• First Dance: Hootie & The Blowfish – Hold My Hand
• Bride and Father Dance: Bonnie Raitt – Baby Mine
• Groom and Mother Dance: Van Morrison – These Are The Days
• Parents’ Dance: Paul McCartney & Wings – Maybe I’m Amazed
• Last Dance: Lumineers – Ho Hey

The feel of a warm summer evening seemed to get everyone in the mood for dancing and the floor filled quickly for the opening slow dance and the fun fast songs that followed.
 



 
As day turned to night, it cooled off a little outside, but the dance floor stayed hot as the mostly younger group enjoyed hits from the last decade, including ‘Happy,’ ‘Hey Ya,’ ‘Uptown Funk’ and more.
 




 
Everyone circled up for a great finish to ‘Ho Hey’ before gathering outside with sparklers for the big sendoff. Congratulations Cassie and Wes!
 


 
Post Event Satisfaction Survey:
 
“Rich was absolutely fantastic at our wedding at Mt. Hood Bed and Breakfast! Music selections for guest arrival, cocktail hour, and reception were great. Dance floor was packed for the whole night! Communication with him prior to the wedding was extremely easy and friendly. We would recommend Rich to anyone planning a wedding!!!” -Cassie Graziano & Wes Boisvert

• Event Date: Saturday, August 1, 2015
• Event Type: Wedding & Reception
• Event Location: Mt. Hood Bed and Breakfast
• 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

 
It was another beautiful Northwest Summer day for Monica and David’s Boring Oregon wedding held at Reardon Nursery on Friday, July 17, 2015.
 
With very little rain since late May, Mt. Hood is looking bare, but still provides a picturesque backdrop.
 


 
Boring Oregon Wedding Ceremony Highlights:

• Wedding Party Entrance: Vitamin String Quartet – All I Want Is You
• Bride Entrance: Bridal Chorus (Wagner)
• Bride/Groom Exit: Derek Bourgeois – Serenade Op. 22

The tent area was arranged for dinner after all guests made their way to the backyard of the nearby house for cocktails. When they returned, I played a mix of light classic jazz and standards, as requested by the newlyweds, including Frank Sinatra, John Coltrane, Glenn Miller and more.
 

 
Boring Oregon Reception Highlights:

• Cake Cutting: James Taylor – How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)
• First Dance: Turtles – Happy Together
• Bride and Father Dance: Heartland – I Loved Her First
• Money Dance: Beatles – In My Life
• Anniversary Dance: Nat King Cole – When I Fall In Love

There was plenty of daylight when the dance floor was opened to everyone and despite the heat, we had quite a few guests ready to cut loose to the classics early on, including ‘Twist & Shout,’ ‘In The Mood’ and ‘My Girl.’
 



 
After the bride and groom returned from taking pictures at sunset, the energy picked up a little more as the mix included contemporary hits ‘Happy,’ ‘Single Ladies,’ ‘Cupid Shuffle’ and more. We had a good run until after dark before wrapping with a final slow dance.
 

 
Best wishes Monica and David.