Events

Gresham Wedding DJ Persimmon Country Club

Published January 29, 2014 | By Rich Ellis

The last time I performed at Persimmon Country Club in Gresham, Oregon, it was a rare rainy day in August. In fact, it was quite stormy with lightning that forced the ceremony scheduled for outside to be moved inside the main ballroom.

One might expect that kind of weather in late January, but that wasn’t the case for Brenda and Roger’s wedding and reception on Friday, January 24, 2014.

It was a spectacular clear, sunny afternoon that provided many great photo opportunities with Mt. Hood in the background nearby.

Gresham Wedding DJ Ceremony Highlights:

Wedding Processional: Eric Clapton – Wonderful Tonight
Bride Entrance: Alison Krauss – When You Say Nothing At All
Bride/Groom Exit: Queen – Crazy Little Thing Called Love

Following the ceremony in the main clubhouse, guests moved to the main ballroom for the reception.

Gresham Wedding DJ Reception Highlights:

Cake Cutting: James Taylor – How Sweet It Is
First Dance: Lonestar – Amazed
Bride Dance with her Brother: Luther Vandross – Dance With My Father Again
Last Dance Song: George Strait – Cross My Heart

Roger let me know he had never really danced before and so his first dance with Brenda was also HIS first dance 🙂 Later on, I caught him making an attempt at the ‘Cupid Shuffle’ and a few other songs, so he appeared to like what he had been missing.

Brenda and Roger’s request list featured mostly Oldies, Classic Rock and Country and guests enjoyed the mix that included The Beatles, B-52’s and Shania Twain.

Posted in Events, Wedding, Wedding DJ

One Bar Mitzvah Two Portland DJs

Published January 19, 2014 | By Rich Ellis

Portland DJs Steve Marker and Rich Ellis both performed at Solomon’s Bar Mitzvah celebration on Saturday, January 18, 2014, at the Ecotrust building located in the Pearl District.

Instead of one big party for adults and parents together as is customary, our client decided to have Steve entertain the kids on the 3rd floor and Rich play music just for the adults on the 2nd floor.

All guests came together briefly for a toast to Solomon followed by dancing to ‘The Hora’ with chair raising and other Israeli dance favorites before the kids returned to their party and the adults danced to the classic hits, including the Rolling Stones, James Brown, Stevie Wonder and more.

The kids loved having their own party, but so did the adults. It worked out great and Solomon’s mom Rebecca let me know she really enjoyed the music.

“Thanks for doing such a great job at Solomon’s bar mitzvah!! Everyone had a fabulous time – especially us!! I have recommended ProDJ to all of our friends!!” -Rebecca (Solomon’s mom)

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

Posted in Bar Mitzvah, Events

First 2014 Wedding Timberline Lodge Oregon

Published January 5, 2014 | By Rich Ellis

The Northwest Winter has been a dry one and the snowpack is low, but it made travel to Kathryn and Cesar’s wedding Timberline Lodge a snap for everyone attending.

It was a beautiful day and guests who arrived from as far away as Peru were treated to a special evening at one of Oregon’s most iconic locales in the Raven’s Nest.

Wedding Timberline Lodge Ceremony Highlights:

Wedding Processional: Seating of the Mothers (Schubert – Ava Maria) Wedding Party (Mozart – Laudate Dominum)
Bride Entrance: Bach – Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring
Bride/Groom Exit: Handel – Horn Pipe

Following the wedding, everyone went downstairs for cocktails near the famous lodge fireplace. During this time, the Raven’s Nest was flipped for the reception and dinner and I moved my sound system to where the ceremony had taken place which also served as the dance floor.

Wedding Timberline Lodge Reception Highlights:

First Dance: Aventura – Solo Por Un Beso Letra
Father/Bride & Mother/Groom Dance: Israel Kamakawiwo’ole – Somewhere Over The Rainbow

Music for dancing featured a wide variety of genres, including Oldies, Top 40, Country and Latin.

Kathryn let me know early on that her guests liked to dance and they had a great time movin’ to the hits… everything from The Beatles to Earth, Wind & Fire, Marc Anthony to Daddy Yankee. For the guests visiting from Peru, I learned one of the biggest American classic hits in their country is the Pointer Sisters ‘I’m So Excited’.

Post Event Satisfaction Survey:

“When I hired Rich, I was looking for a DJ with a great reputation, who would get the job done. I had no idea what type of music I wanted, and gave Rich very little direction. Rich turned out to be the best choice for my wedding, and went beyond expectations to make the wedding a blast. Our guests came from four different continents, with different music preferences, and Rich was able to find the perfect mix of international songs that kept people dancing until the last song. I have never seen a wedding where so many people stayed and danced until the very end. Rich has preternatural ability to read a crowd and keep them dancing. He did an amazing job, and I would recommend him to anyone who wants a great party.” -Kathryn Leen & Cesar Oviedo

Event Date: Saturday, January 4, 2014
Event Type: Wedding & Reception
Event Location: Timberline Lodge
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

Posted in Events, Wedding

Portland Corporate Holiday Party DJ: 3 For 30

Published December 15, 2013 | By Rich Ellis

Happy Holidays from PRO DJs.

With a late Thanksgiving this year, Portland corporate holiday party DJ events have concentrated on the first two weekends of December 2013, including three events in 30 hours for yours truly on the 13th and 14th.

Friday night I was at the Hilton Vancouver for a Hawaiian-themed company party. After cocktails, dinner and a live performance in the Heritage Ballroom, everyone joined me in the Discovery Ballroom for a raffle drawing and dancing.

As expected, the prize giveaways got everyone excited and the dance floor was packed for nearly four straight hours. I played everything… from the classic big hits to 80’s hair bands, 90’s hip hop and Country, they loved it all and may have kept going past our 2am cut-off time if allowed 🙂

Post Event Client Feedback:

“We had great feedback and I will definitely be in touch to secure the date next year.”
-Corey Anderson, Kiewit Pacific Company

On Saturday, I played Christmas music and entertained the families of employees at their annual Children’s Christmas party. With an 11am start, I didn’t have much turnaround from the night before, but I felt great and the kids had fun with Santa before joining in on some games with me and dancing with their folks.

Saturday night marked eight straight years PRO DJs has performed at the holiday party for a Vancouver Garden Supply company. Once again, employees and their guests enjoyed the gaming tables and for cocktails and dinner, I played a mix of Christmas favorites.

Everyone really looks forward to this time of year as this generous company indulges their employees with a large number of great prizes they can win, including tools, electronics, gift cards, and big screen TV’s. This year, they also gave away money via the cash machine, where raffle winners had a chance to grab as much cash as they could in 20 seconds.

These giveaways always provide a great lead-in to dancing and guests filled the floor in the time we had left, getting down to the latest hits.

Posted in Corporate Event, Events

Portland Wedding DJ: Jaclyn & Haggai (11/16/13)

Published November 17, 2013 | By Rich Ellis

The luxurious The Nines Hotel in downtown Portland, Oregon was the site of Jaclyn and Haggai’s wedding ceremony and reception on Saturday, November 16, 2013.

The formal ballroom on the 6th floor was split temporarily for the traditional Jewish ceremony led by Rabbi Zuckerman.

Portland Wedding DJ Ceremony Highlights:

Wedding Party Entrance (Processional): Beatles – Here, There & Everywhere
Bride Entrance: Eyal Golan – Meleat Ahava
Bride/Groom Exit: Austin Powers Theme Song

Following the ceremony, guests gathered in the lobby for cockails while the ballroom was resent for dinner. I had a set-up a second sound system in the lobby and put together a setlist in advance to provide music during the cocktail hour. I then moved my main sound system used for the ceremony to the riser near the dance floor to complete my set-up for the reception.

Portland Wedding DJ Reception Highlights:

Grand Entrance: Macklemore & Ryan Lewis f/Ray Dalton – Can’t Hold Us
Cake Cutting: MGMT – Electric Feel
First Dance: Meir Ariel – Lo Yachol Lehorid Mimench Et HaEy
Bouquet Toss: Beyonce – Single Ladies

During the first dance, I found it comical that most guests were on one side of the dance floor with their phone cameras taking pictures… they looked like the paparazzi. I was a little late taking the photo, but you get the idea 🙂

After their first dance, we got right to the celebration with ‘The Hora’ and the chair raising that followed. All seats were vacant as all 150+ guests joined in the fun.

The dance floor never let up the rest of the night and guests got down to the big hits, including ‘Twist & Shout’, ‘Single Ladies’, ‘Sexyback’ and more. The newlyweds also requested some classic 80’s that went over well, including Blondie’s ‘Heart of Glass’ and A-ha ‘Take On Me.’

Mazel Tov! Jaclyn and Haggai and thank you for choosing PRO DJs.

Post Event Satisfaction Survey:

“Hi Rich, Haggai and I just wanted to say thank you again for DJing our wedding! You were awesome to work with and everyone had so much fun dancing all night and they loved all of the music. You thought of everything and it went so smoothly! Thank you so much again, we could not have done it without you!” -Jaclyn Rubinchik & Haggai Dziesietnik

“Once again Pro DJ’s came through and provided an excellent entertainment experience.”
-Richard Hurwitz