Weddings in the Portland area scheduled for the same day as the Rose Festival Grand Floral Parade are normally a risky proposition if planned for outdoors. I remember several years ago being outside in wine country with no indoor option and playing music from under a canopy as heavy rain fell for most of the wedding.
 
The last few days featured some real unsettled weather, but fortunately for Katie and Blaine, the sun returned for the outdoor ceremony held at The Airee at Eagle Landing in Happy Valley, Oregon on June 9, 2012. Rev. Robert Griffen with A Perfect Ceremony officiated the wedding and Katie chose The Beatles ‘Here Comes The Sun’ as her entrance song… that was about the first time we saw the sun that day 🙂
 
Wedding Highlights:
 
Ceremony

• Bridal Party Entrance: Michael Buble – Everything
• Bride Entrance: Beatles – Here Comes The Sun
• Bride/Groom Exit: Turtles – Happy Together

Reception

• Cake Cutting: Beatles – All You Need Is Love
• First Dance: Train – Marry Me
• Bride and Father Dance: Heartland – I Loved Her First
• Groom and Mother Dance: Boyz II Me – A Song For Mama
• Bouquet Toss: Beyonce – Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)
• Garter Toss: David Rose & His Orchestra – The Stripper
• Last Dance: Beatles – When I’m Sixty-Four

With just shy of 50 guests in attendance, this was a laid back group who mostly enjoyed just listening to the music while visiting with each other. Still, there were a few bursts of activity on the dance floor, with Oldies and Country tunes especially popular.
 
Thank you Katie and Blaine for the opportunity. Congratulations! -Rich
 
Post Event Satisfaction Survey:
 
“Rich was AWESOME! He was such a great help in planning the songs and timing of the songs for the ceremony and reception He was wonderful to work with and I would definitely recommend him and Pro DJs!”  -Katie (Sylvester) Randall

• Event Date: Saturday, June 9, 2012
• Event Type: Wedding & Reception
• Event Location: The Aerie at Eagle Landing/Happy Valley, Oregon
• 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: N/A
• 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

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The last week of April and first week of May has been a soaker in the Portland area, so it was nice to see a little sun for the unofficial start of the wedding season. Clear skies also made for a super view of the super moon on the Columbia River.
 
Rachel and Chris scheduled their wedding for May 5, 2012 with the ceremony held at The Academy and reception at the Red Lion Hotel at the Quay in Vancouver, Washington. Guests began arriving about 15 minutes earlier than my scheduled start-time of 6:30pm, but no worries, I had the music playing as they walked in and found their seats.
 
With about 200 guests in attending, each seat had a bottle of custom-labeled raspberry vodka for guests to take home as a gift. If you guessed the venue would need to ask me to announce that guests not drink the vodka at their table, you would be right. From what I have learned, it’s not just better for a venue’s business, but also the law.
 
As everyone engaged in conversation and enjoyed drinks and appetizers, I played a variety of background music that included Coldplay, Jimmy Buffet and some Country selections requested by the family.
 
Upon their arrival, I introduced Rachel and Chris and they entered the room to Keith Urban’s ‘Somebody Like You’ before heading right to the dance floor for their First Dance ‘Making Memories of Us’ also from Keith Urban. In most cases, I recommend to brides and grooms to schedule their First Dance for after the cake cutting to generate some momentum on the dance floor for their guests who will soon join in. However, in this case, the newlyweds had learned and practice a dance routine to this song. As expected, they were a little nervous, so instead of having them think about it through dinner, the toast and cake, it made more sense to avoid any anxiety on their big day and get right to it 🙂
 
Wedding Reception Highlights:

• Grand Entrance: Keith Urban – Somebody Like You
• First Dance: Keith Urban – Making Memories of Us
• Cake Cutting: James Taylor – How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)
• Bride and Father Dance: Heartland – I Loved Her First
• Bouquet Toss: Beyonce – Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)
• Garter Toss: Kenny Loggins – Danger Zone

It’s always a good sign when several couples are dancing during the background music. Once the dance floor was officially opened, guests poured in and danced the night away to a mix of classic hits.
 
Congratulations Chris and Rachel and thank you to Rachel’s mother Leslie for your recommending PRO DJs.

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The beaches of Maui are a wonderful place to exchange vows, especially during the month of January and when you are a resident of the Portland area. For Lora and Jason, they were married three weeks earlier in Hawaii and this was the celebration for friends and family not able to make the trip.
 
The local reception was held February 4, 2012 at the Abernethy Center in Oregon City with about 150 guests in attendance.  A slide show was presented that featured photos from Lora and Jason’s January 8th ceremony.
 
Wedding Reception Highlights:

• Grand Entrance: Frank Sinatra – Come Fly With Me
• Cake Cutting: James Taylor – How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)
• First Dance: Avett Brothers – January Wedding
• Bride and Father Dance: Steven Curtis Chapman – Cinderella
• Groom and Mother Dance: Louis Armstrong – What a Wonderful World
• Anniversary Dance: Michael Buble – Way You Look Tonight
• Last Dance: Brad Paisley – Then

Jason’ Grandparents (Andy & Rita, Married 64 Years) took top honors during the anniversary dance and from there on, we were in high gear as the dance floor filled to a variety of upbeat dance songs, including family favorites – Sister Sledge ‘We Are Family’ and ‘I Gotta Feeling’ from Black Eyed Peas. A mix of classics and current music kept the room hoppin for the next three hours.
 
It was good to see Liz and Bryan.  I peformed at their wedding reception last June and the groom’s mother Linda selected me to be the DJ for this event soon after… I appreciate the referral.
 
Congratulations to Lora and Jason.  Best wishes from PRO DJs.  -Rich
 
Post Event Satisfaction Survey:
 
“The wedding reception for my son & his bride was a smash hit! Music was fabulous, Rich Ellis a pleasure to work with. The dance floor was hopping most of the evening! Our guest thanked us many times over for such a wonderful party. On behalf of Lora & Jason, and all or our guests… THANK YOU!”  -Linda Gitts

• Event Date: Saturday, February 4, 2012
• Event Type: Wedding Reception
• Event Location: Abernethy Center/Oregon City, Oregon
• 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

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I last performed at The Troutdale House in Troutdale, Oregon in August. I was here for two weddings then, both with the ceremony held outside in the park and the reception inside. In December though, an outdoor ceremony is less appealing, so the entire wedding was held inside for Alli and Trevor’s big day on Sunday, December 18, 2011.
 
Close to 150 guests attended and the room looked packed, yet the setting felt intimate as the bride and groom exchanged vows. Of course, it was very quiet during the ceremony, so everyone was amused when they heard Michael Jackson’s ‘Billie Jean’ begin playing upstairs. As far as anyone knew, there was not supposed to be anyone up there… might have been a ghost 🙂
 
Wedding Highlights:
 
Ceremony

• Bridal Party Entrance: Kevin Kern – Through The Arbor
• Bride Entrance: Canon in D (Pachelbel)
• Bride/Groom Exit: Wedding March (Mendelsohn)

Reception

• Grand Entrance: Bruno Mars – Marry You
• Cake Cutting: Turtles – Happy Together
• First Dance: Tim McGraw f/Faith Hill – It’s Your Love
• Bride and Father Dance: Tim McGraw – My Little Girl
• Bouquet Toss: Survivor – Eye of the Tiger
• Garter Toss: U2’s Clayton & Mullen – Mission Impossible
• Last Dance: Brad Paisley – Then

I don’t know what it is about me and Sunday afternoon weddings… the stars are aligned I guess because most feel like a Saturday night. This group was crazy fun and I played 30 minutes longer than planned. They got down to a variety of songs that featured plenty of the current hot hits, including groom favorite ‘Sexy And I Know It.’
 
It was a pleasure working for Alli & Trevor. Thanks for the opportunity and congratulations!
 
Post Event Satisfaction Survey:
 
“Thank you so much for all your help and the amazing job you did for our wedding! We booked at the last minute and you were nothing but helpful and great at working with us on any requests. Great song selection for the reception, and wonderful job with music for the ceremony. Thank you!!”  -Trevor and Alli Chasteen

• Event Date: Sunday, December 18, 2011
• Event Type: Wedding
• Event Location: The Troutdale House/Troutdale, Oregon
• 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: N/A
• 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

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