Wedding
Sleet And Snow Can’t Stop Portland Wedding
Waking up to sleet and snow on your wedding day can be a stressful time. Emarsharae and Bakari were scheduled to get married in Beaverton, Oregon on Saturday, January 13, 2024, but with difficult travel conditions, the wedding and reception were moved to Downtown Portland where most guests had accommodations.
I received word of the venue change to The Sentinel about an hour before I was planning to leave for setup. With the ceremony now taking place in the Renaissance Room on the third floor and the reception in Jake’s Grill on the ground floor, I grabbed a second sound system before heading out.
Portland Wedding Ceremony Highlights:
- Wedding Party & Bride Entrance: Brooklyn Duo – Yellow
- Bride/Groom Exit: Leon Bridges – If It Feels Good (Then It Must Be)
For the reception, guests gathered for cocktails and dinner in the Lewis and Clark room adjacent to Jake’s Grill. I setup my main sound system next door in the Hardy room and the speaker from the ceremony was used for announcments and toasting in the dining area.
Portland Wedding Reception Highlights:
- Grand Entrance: Michael Jackson – You Rock My World
- Cake Cutting: Stevie Wonder – Signed, Sealed, Delivered I’m Yours
- First Dance: Leon Bridges – Coming Home
- Father/Daughter Dance: John Legend – Always
- Mother/Son Dance: Alyssa Falcone – My Wish
- Bouquet Toss: Beyonce’ – Grown Woman
- Garter Toss: Miguel – Adorn
Following the toast, I invited all guests to the Hardy room for the cake cutting and the newlywed’s first dance. The room was packed and the dance floor filled immediately. Over the next two hours, guests had a great time dancing to mostly classic and current R&B and Hip Hop hits that included Earth, Wind & Fire, Post Malone, Saweetie, Usher and Bad Bunny.
The weather had an impact as around 30 guests were not able to attend, but it turned out to be a magical evening. Congratulations Emarsharae and Bakari and thank you for choosing PRO DJs.
Post Event Satisfaction Survey:
“Cannot say enough great things about having Rich Ellis for our wedding. From the first phone call to the event of our wedding he was consistently professional, easygoing, flexible and overall has a great personality to work with. We cannot make this up: in the middle of the city shutting down because of a snowstorm on our wedding day and having to switch our wedding venue the day of just hours prior, Rich said he would be there and he showed up on time and ready to go despite all the chaos going on. He showed up and gave it 100%, helping so many of our guests and ourselves have an amazing time. The flow of our wedding and reception was so smooth it was like it was planned at the new venue the whole time. He was so flexible and adapted to the situation with no problem. Despite how the day started with the snowstorm, it was the most wonderful and beautiful wedding and reception that we could ask for. To Rich, we loved you so much! We’ll invite you on our next vacation! You were the PERFECT DJ and we’d definitely book and recommend you for other events too. We appreciate all of your help and guidance during the process for the result of having a truly memorable wedding day for so many reasons. Our advice: Get a phenomenal wedding planner and an amazing DJ.” -Emarsharae Anderson & Bakari Samin
- Event Date: Saturday, January 13, 2024
- Event Type: Wedding & Reception
- Event Location: Sentinel Hotel
- Event Staff: Rich Ellis
- Customer Service: Excellent
- Event Planning Process: Excellent
- Quality of Service: Excellent
- Responsiveness: Excellent
- Professionalism: Excellent
- Appearance: Excellent
- Flexibility: Excellent
- Value: Excellent
- Would you recommend this service to others? Yes
The Foundry at Oswego Pointe Wedding
As I was setting up a small sound system on the Promenade overlooking the Willamette River at The Foundry at Oswego Pointe about an hour before Jennie and Brandon’s wedding ceremony on Friday, October 13, 2023, it was cloudy but comfortable outside, really nice, but that changed about 15 minutes before and good thing there were plenty of umbrella’s for the guests.
The Foundry at Oswego Pointe Wedding Ceremony Highlights:
- Wedding Party & Bride Entrance: TTNG – Elk
- Bride/Groom Exit: Panic! At The Disco – High Hopes
For the reception, guests gathered for cocktails and dinner inside the Great Hall. The venue has a built-in sound system with speakers directly over the dance floor in the center. With guest tables directly in front of my speakers, I did connect my sound system to the house system for background music and dancing, but used my complete sound system for the karaoke that followed.
The Foundry at Oswego Pointe Wedding Reception Highlights:
- Grand Entrance: Selena – Bidi Bidi Bom Bom
- Cake Cutting: Adam Sandler – Grow Old With You
- First Dance: Ritchie Valens – We Belong Together
It was around 7:30pm when the dancing began, so there was some ebb and flow the first 30 minutes or so, but eventually the dance floor began to define a little more and filled for the fun fast songs that included classic hits along with more recent songs, plus Jennie’s requests for Elvis Crespo’s “Suavemente”, Marc Anthony, Lizzo and more.
At 9pm we switched to karaoke and the bride singing Paramore’s “Still Into You” for her new husband. The maid of honor went next and many other guests followed, bringing an energy that made that part of the night feel like an after party. The groom joined for the last song… Blink 182’s “I Miss You”.
Congratulations Jennie and Brandon and thank you for choosing PRO DJs.
Late September West Linn Oregon Wedding
After a week of rain, it was an absolutely perfect early Fall day for Makenna and Kadin’s wedding and reception on Saturday, September 30, 2023 in West Linn, Oregon.
The ceremony was held outside a Queen Anne Victorian home under a tall tree that provided shade for most everyone. I setup a second sound system to provide music and microphone for the officiant, as well as music during dinner at this same area of the property.
West Linn Oregon Wedding Ceremony Highlights:
- Wedding Party Entrance: Ain’t Nothin’ to It – Cody Johnson
- Bride Entrance: Hey Pretty Girl – Kip Moore
- Bride/Groom Exit: All your’n – Tyler Childers
Following dinner and the toast, guests were asked to walk to the barn for the cake cutting and bride and groom’s first dance.
West Linn Oregon Reception Highlights:
- Grand Entrance: She’s All Mine – Cody Jinks
- Cake Cutting: Honey Bee – Blake Shelton
- First Dance: Promise To Love Her – Blane Howard
- Bride and Father Dance: There Goes My Life – Kenny Chesney
- Groom and Mother Dance: A Mother’s Song – T. Carter
- Money Dance: Friends In Low Places – Garth Brooks
- Bouquet Toss: Man! I Feel Like A Woman – Shania Twain
The newlyweds requested mostly Country music for the dance floor and guests had a great time dancing to favorites from “Chatahoochie” and “Boot Scootin’ Boogie” to “Cupid Shuffle” and “Dancing In The Country”.
Congratulations Makenna and Kadin and thank you for choosing PRO DJs.
Canby Oregon Wedding Private Residence
Mandy and Toby’s Canby Oregon wedding was held at their home on Saturday, September 9, 2023 with the ceremony near a vineyard on their property and the reception in a spacious area off the back of the house as well as large driveway for dancing. The weather was sunny and a warm 84 degrees.
Canby Oregon Wedding Ceremony Highlights:
- Bride Entrance: Leon Bridges – Beyond
- Bride/Groom Exit: Chris Brown – Forever
Guests mostly gathered for cocktails and dinner in the shaded area behind the house with dinner provided by a food cart parked around the corner. I setup my sound equipment in front of the large garage doors in the driveway. Background music featured a variety of selections from various genres, including pop hits, classic rock and Country.
Canby Oregon Wedding Reception Highlights:
- First Dance: Kane Brown & Katelyn Brown – Thank God
- Bouquet Toss: Beyonce – Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)
- Bouquet Toss: Queen – Another One Bites The Dust
- Last Dance: Europe – The Final Countdown
The sun was setting as the dance floor opened just after 8pm and many guests were ready to shake it up to their favorite songs which included classic hits and recent favorites, plus the newlyweds requests for Ed Sheeran, Bruno Mars, Pink, Chris Stapleton and Buckcherry’s “Crazy B****”.
Congratulations Mandy and Toby and thank you for choosing PRO DJs.
Post Event Satisfaction Survey:
“Thanks for all your hard work and patience with our guests at our wedding. We loved the music choices.” -Mandy Shirley & Toby Davis Wedding
- Event Date: Saturday, September 9, 2023
- Event Type: Wedding & Reception
- Event Location: Canby
- Event Staff: Rich Ellis
- Customer Service: Excellent
- Event Planning Process: Excellent
- Quality of Service: Excellent
- Responsiveness: Excellent
- Professionalism: Excellent
- Appearance: Excellent
- Flexibility: Excellent
- Value: Excellent
- Would you recommend this service to others? Yes
Sizzling Wedding Celebration At Portland’s Firehouse Restaurant
Sadie and Bryce were married and held their wedding reception at the Firehouse Restaurant in Portland, Oregon on Saturday, September 2, 2023.
The first day of Labor Day weekend was a warm 88 degrees, but fairly comfortable during the ceremony just outside the main building. I setup a small second sound system along the wall and provided a lapel microphone for the officiant, as well as a handheld cordless microphone for the couple to speak their vows.
Firehouse Restaurant Wedding Ceremony Highlights:
- Wedding Party Entrance: The Chicks – Cowboy Take Me Away
- Bride Entrance: Tyler Childers – Lady Mae
- Bride/Groom Exit: Taylor Swift – Paper Rings
The reception followed immediately afterwards. My main system was setup inside opposite the open cooking area. With additional speakers, I was able to provide background music most everywhere for guests who were primarily outside during cocktails and dinner.
The setlist was a mix of selections by some of the newlyweds favorite artists, including Tyler Childers, Taylor Swift, Mumford & Sons, The Lumineers, The Wood Brothers, Caamp and The Chicks.
For dinner, each section of tables was named after one of Bryce and Sadie’s cats, so I excused each section by announcing the corresponding cat name 🙂
Firehouse Restaurant Wedding Reception Highlights:
- Grand Entrance: Formula 1 Theme Song (Brian Tyler)
- First Dance: Tyler Childers – All Your’n
- Last Dance: Taylor Swift – Love Story (Taylor’s Version)
About halfway through their first dance, the newlyweds were ready for their guests to join in and the dance floor filled immediately.
This was a lively group, who were full of energy and combined with the heat from the cooking area, really made the room sizzle, especially when I played “The Hora” and Sadie and Bryce were lifted high in their chairs.
The 100 guests had a great time dancing to everything from classic motown (Diana Ross & The Supremes) to Outkast (Hey Ya), plus the couple’s requests for Tina Turner’s version of “Proud Mary”, Miley Cyrus “Party In The USA” and lots of Taylor Swift.
Congratulations Sadie and Bryce and thank you for choosing PRO DJs.
Post Event Satisfaction Survey:
“We are so thankful for everything Rich did for our event. Our music was perfect the entire night, Rich was so kind, and we were blown away by how easy and perfect everything was.” -Sadie Hazelkorn and Bryce Richardson
- Event Date: Saturday, September 2, 2023
- Event Type: Wedding & Reception
- Event Location: Firehouse Restaurant
- 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
