The picturesque Queen Anne Victorian Mansion in North Portland was the scene for Shanel and Thomas’ wedding ceremony and reception on November 12, 2011. Approximately 50-plus guests were expected.  However, a wet, blustery day kept some from getting there as many guests were traveling from Seattle and Eastern Washington, so the final number was closer to 35.
 
Despite the conditions outside, it was a beautiful ceremony in the gazebo. The wedding party entered to Pachelbel’s ‘Canon In D’, followed by the bride who chose ‘At Last’ from Etta James as her entrance song. At the conclusion of the ceremony, Shanel and Thomas exited to U2’s ‘Beautiful Day’ and guests followed them to the mansion for cocktails and cake, while the gazebo was turned for dinner and the reception.
 
Wedding Reception Highlights:

• First Dance: Paramore – The Only Exception
• Bride and Stepfather Dance: Louis Armstrong – What A Wonderful World
• Groom and Bride’s Mother Dance: Nat King Cole – Unforgettable
• Bouquet Toss: Pat Benatar – Hit Me With Your Best Shot
• Garter Toss: Queen – Another One Bites the Dust
• Last Dance: Beatles – All You Need Is Love

Proof you don’t always need a lot of people to make a party, everyone had a great time dancing to a variety of music, including bride and groom favorites (Beatles hits, Journey and Jason Mraz).
 
Congratulations to Shanel and Thomas. Best wishes and thank you for choosing PRO DJs. -Rich
 
Post Event Satisfaction Survey:
 
“Rich did a great job, I couldn’t be happier!” -Shanel Sheinfeld

• Event Date: Saturday, November 12, 2011
• Event Type: Wedding
• Event Location: Queen Anne Victorian Mansion/Portland, 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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It was a rare Sunday wedding in November at the Governor Hotel in downtown Portland, Oregon for Molly and Aaron.
 
I provided music for both the ceremony held in the Library and the reception which took place just down the hall in the Billiard Room. The Library was quiet when I returned for a soundcheck to find part of my DJ table being used as a changing station. That was a first for me, but the baby was super cute, so she was off the hook 🙂
 
The bride chose several classical pieces for the processional and the ceremony featured a stirring rendition of Andrea Bocelli’s ‘Con Te Partiro’ sung live by the bride’s cousin Ken.
 
Wedding Highlights:
 
Ceremony

• Bridal Party Entrance: Air on the G String (Bach)
• Bride Entrance: Canon in D (Pachelbel)
• Bride/Groom Exit: Natalie Cole – This Will Be

Reception

• Grand Entrance: Nat King Cole – L-O-V-E
• Cake Cutting: Archies – Sugar Sugar
• First Dance: Billy Joel – She’s Got A Way
• Bride and Uncle Dance: Louis Armstrong – What A Wonderful World
• Groom and Grandmother Dance: Bette Midler – Wind Beneath My Wings
• Bouquet Toss: Beyonce – Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)
• Garter Toss: Tone Loc – Wild Thing
• Last Dance: Elvis Presley – Can’t Help Falling In Love

Sunday afternoon was no obstacle to a good time as guests packed the dance floor to ‘Hava Nagila’ to get things started and kept the party going to big hits ‘I Gotta Feeling’, ‘Billie Jean’, ‘Stayin’ Alive’ and more.
 
Thank you Barbara (Bride’s Mom) for the opportunity and Congratulations Molly and Aaron! -Rich
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As a mobile DJ serving the Portland area for over a quarter century, I certainly have my favorite venues. Near the top of my list is McMenamins Edgefield in Troutdale, Oregon… specifically Blackberry Hall.
 
Ever since my wife and I held our wedding reception there in 1996, I have always felt a great vibe when peforming at Edgefield and that continued on Friday, October 21, 2011 at Ashley and Brian’s reception.
 
The ceremony was also held in Blackberry Hall at 4pm. Afterwards, guests were encouraged to roam the property while the room was turned for the reception. During that time I arrived to set-up my sound system with a scheduled start-time of 5:30pm.
 
Reception Highlights:

• Grand Entrance: Chris Brown – Forever
• Cake Cutting: Plain White T’s – 1, 2, 3, 4
• First Dance: Snow Patrol – Chasing Cars
• Bride and Father Dance: John Mayer – Daughters
• Bouquet Toss: Beyonce – Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)
• Garter Toss: Justin Timberlake – Sexyback

There were quite a few guests dancing during the background music… always a good sign 🙂 and the floor filled quickly when I invited everyone out following the formal dances.  70’s Disco was especially popular with this group and of course, Michael Jackson was well-received. ‘Thriller’ spins almost every event in late October.  We finished the night with a good run of current hit music.
 
Big Congratulations to Ashley and Brian. Thank you for choosing PRO DJs. -Rich
 
Post Event Satisfaction Survey:
 
“Rich was fantastic and made our reception so much easier and more fun than we were hoping. We had a fantastic time, thank you Rich!” -Brian Register

• Event Date: Friday, October 21, 2011
• Event Type: Wedding
• Event Location: McMenamins Edgefield/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: 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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The summer wedding season may have officially ended, but there are still many happening in October. PRO DJs also has several scheduled in November and December.
 
On Saturday, October 15, 2011, Maureen and Shawn were married at Riverview Restaurant in Troutdale, Oregon. They live in Alaska and had thought about having the ceremony outside. A mostly cloudy Mid-October day in the Portland area can feel balmy to someone from the 49th state, plus the rain held off, but they decided against it so they could relax and enjoy their big day.
 
Wedding Highlights:
 
Ceremony

• Bridal Party Entrance: Auburn – Perfect Two (Acoustic)
• Bride Entrance: Wagner – Bridal Chorus
• Bride/Groom Exit: Mendelssohn – Wedding March (Midsummer Night’s Dream)

Reception

• Grand Entrance: Kevin Rudolf f/Lil Wayne – Let It Rock
• Cake Cutting: Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds – Oh
• First Dance: Big & Rich – Lost In This Moment
• Bride and Father Dance: Chuck Wicks – Stealing Cinderella
• Groom and Mother Dance: Bryan Adams – Everything I Do (I Do It For You)
• Bouquet Toss: Beyonce – Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)
• Garter Toss: Queen – Another One Bites the Dust
• Last Dance: Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds – Two Step

A little over 100 guests attended and once again, bigger isn’t always the better party as this group was active from the beginning. I spun a variety of hit music that included Country favorites. The newlyweds are big fans of Country music and the groom also loves Dave Matthews Band, so there was plenty of DMB as well.
 
Thank you Maureen and Shawn for the opportunity. Congratulations! -Rich

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I know it may sound unbelievable, but in my 25 years as a mobile DJ, I have never been late for an event. It’s true! Have I cut it close a time or two? Well… sure, I am only human and getting stuck in traffic comes with the territory in this business. However, I have never missed starting the music at my scheduled start-time.
 
Sometimes though, the start-time ends up being sooner than expected by our clients. For example, most wedding receptions normally start one hour after the ceremony begins. This is estimated when you figure the average ceremony at about 30 minutes, the average ceremony starting about 10 minutes late and the average travel time from ceremony to reception at around 20 minutes.
 
For Emily and Luke’s wedding on October 1, 2011 at Elk Cove Vineyards in Gaston, Oregon, the reception was scheduled for 4:30pm. I arrived at 3:30pm to set-up and found that most guests were arriving at that time as well. I wasn’t late, but couldn’t help but feel like I was. Fortunately, I was able to get into the building and set-up quickly. I had the music playing just before my new start-time of 4pm.
 
The forecast called for rain late in the day, but didn’t start until right after the newlyweds made their grand entrance and were safely inside the reception hall. Shortly before the toasts were to be given, I noticed the cake had not arrived, so I went to check with the caterer. I learned there was a mishap and it fell to the ground earlier… only the top survived. Emily and Luke were good sports though and the top of the cake was just enough for a quick bite 🙂
 
Wedding Reception Highlights:

• Grand Entrance: Men At Work – Down Under
• Cocktail/Dinner Music: Standards from the Crooner Era/Classic Jazz
• Cake Cutting: James Taylor – How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)
• First Dance: Van Morrison – Into the Mystic
• Bride and Father Dance: Frank Sinatra – Fly Me to the Moon
• Bouquet: No Toss (instead part of bouquet was given to bride’s grandmothers)
• Garter Toss: Lenny Kravitz – American Woman

This group was ready for a good time and loaded up the dance floor for three and a half hours! I played everything from oldies to current hits and a run of country classics closed the night. It was all well-received. Luke told me afterwards he was very happy with how things turned out and had a great time. Congratulations to Luke and Emily and thank you for choosing PRO DJs. -Rich

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