portlandweddingdjs
December Wedding McMenamins Grand Lodge
Tori and Mike’s wedding and reception took place at McMenamins Grand Lodge in Forest Grove, Oregon on Saturday, December 4, 2021.
The first Saturday of December brought the expected cold rain, but the tent placed in front of the Children’s Cottage provided plenty of cover for their exchange of vows.
Wedding McMenamins Grand Lodge Ceremony Highlights:
- Wedding Party Entrance: Taylor Swift – Begin Again (Official Instrumental)
- Bride Entrance: Christina Perri – A Thousand Years
- Bride/Groom Exit: Pharrell Williams – Happy
The reception followed immediately inside the Children’s Cottage. However, with 130 guests in attendance, we had to make use of all the space with two dining rooms upstairs and one in the main Priscillas Room where the dancing took place later on. In fact, space was at such a premium, dining tables completely covered the dance floor.
Including the ceremony, I needed to provide music in three different locations on the property. For the dining areas upstairs, I was able to connect my Ipad with a pre-programmed setlist to the house system while I played background music live for guests in Priscillas Room.
Wedding McMenamins Grand Lodge Reception Highlights:
- Grand Entrance: Justin Timberlake – Can’t Stop The Feeling
- Cake Cutting: Taylor Swift – Lover
- First Dance: Ed Sheeran – Perfect
- Bride and Father, Groom and Mother Dance: Taylor Swift – Never Grow Up
- Bouquet Toss: Meghan Trainor – Dear Future Husband
Following dinner, all guests returned to the tent where the ceremony happened earlier for the toast and cake cutting. We then returned to Priscillas Room for the formal dances and then everyone joined in with an amazing energy, filling the floor for most of the night. We got off to a great start with “At Last,” “Twist & Shout,” “Stayin’ Alive”, the bride and groom’s request for “Uptown Funk” and more.
Best wishes Tori and Mike and thank you for choosing PRO DJs.
Post Event Satisfaction Survey:
“Overall the DJ was wonderful! The dance floor was great, you did an amazing job keeping everyone interested! Thank you for everything! We had a truly magical day!” -Victoria Lipski & Michael Mick Wedding
- Event Date: Saturday, December 4, 2021
- Event Type: Wedding
- Event Location: The grand lodge mcmenamins
- 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: Good
- Overall Volume Levels: Good
- Music Selection: Excellent
- Incorporation of Your Requests: Good
- 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
Adrianna Hill Grand Ballroom Wedding Portland
Courtney and Charlie’s Adrianna Hill Grand Ballroom wedding took place in downtown Portland, Oregon on Saturday, October 16, 2021. The ceremony began at 3:30pm.
Adrianna Hill Grand Ballroom Wedding Ceremony Highlights:
- Wedding Party & Bride Entrance: Instrumental – Warmness on the Soul
- Bride/Groom Exit: Instrumental – Across the Stars
To allow the room to be turned for dinner and the reception, guests made their way upstairs to the balcony after the ceremony for refreshments.
Background music for cocktails and dinner was a playlist prepared by the newlyweds of mostly instrumental versions of popular favorites made famous by Green Day, Thomas Rhett, Lady Gaga and Disney movie selections.
Adrianna Hill Grand Ballroom Wedding Reception Highlights:
- Grand Entrance: New Found Glory – A Thousand Years
- Cake Cutting: Stephen Lynch – Grow Old With You
- First Dance: Brad Paisley – Then
- Father/Daughter Dance: Beauty & The Beast – Tale as Old as Time
- Mother/Son Dance: Somewhere In Time Theme
- Last Dance: Firehouse – Love Of A Lifetime
After their first dance and dances with their parents, Courtney and Charlie wanted a group photo taken of everyone. I then opened the dance floor with ‘At Last’ from Etta James and many couples slow danced to this classic.
There were just under 40 guests in attendance, but most had a great time dancing to everything from classic rock and country favorites, to disco and recent hits.
Congratulations Courtney and Charlie and thank you for choosing PRO DJs.
Canby Oregon St Josef Winery Wedding
It was a return trip for me to Canby Oregon for a St Josef Winery wedding on Sunday, October 10, 2021. Like the previous wedding a month earlier, Taylor and Clayton had originally scheduled for October 10th last year, but with the pandemic they chose to not only postpone, but to elope, so this was a chance to celebrate with family and friends on what turned out to be their one year anniversary.
Outside it was cold and there were enough scattered showers in the area to force the reception planned for the Fountain patio inside to the intimate Wine Stube room.
St Josef Winery Wedding Reception Highlights:
- Grand Entrance: Chris Brown – Forever
- Cake Cutting: Keith Urban – Sweet Thing
- First Dance: Thomas Rhett – Blessed
- Bride and Father Dance: Tim McGraw – My Little Girl
- Bouquet Toss: Shania Twain – Man! I Feel Like A Woman
- Last Dance: Mark Morrison – Return of the Mack
The larger adjacent Winery Tasty Room served as the dance floor. It was a smaller group of guests, but many enjoyed the first slow dance to “At Last” from Etta James and then stuck around for the fast songs that followed or were dancing where they were standing. Many were dancing at the wine tasting counter 🙂
The bride let me know twice near the end of the reception how much fun she had.
Congratulations Taylor and Clayton and thank you for choosing PRO DJs.
October Mt. Hood Organic Farms Wedding
The summer wedding season for 2021 ended last weekend, but as the calendar flipped to October, the weather held on for a nice day for Amanda and Sean’s Mt. Hood Organic Farms wedding in Parkdale, Oregon on Sunday, October 3rd.
The wedding ceremony took place on the lawn just outside the Cottage & Carriage House. Music for the ceremony and cocktail hour that followed was provided by a live violinist. I arrived to setup for the 6pm reception around 5pm and was greeted by this amazing view of Mt. Hood.
The reception was held in the Apple House and before guests came inside to find their seats, they were all asked to gather outside for one large group photo.
I then introduced the bridal party and newlyweds right before dinner was served. Background music was a variety of selections chosen by the bride including tracks from Adele, Joss Stone, Stevie Wonder and more.
Mt. Hood Organic Farms Wedding Reception Highlights:
- Grand Entrance: Rolling Stones – She’s A Rainbow
- Cake Cutting: No Doubt – Underneath It All
- First Dance: The Hollies – The Air That I Breathe
- Groom and Mother Dance: Elton John – Your Song
- Bouquet Toss: Kelis – Milkshake
- Garter Toss: Ginuwine – Pony
- Last Dance: ELO – Mr. Blue Sky
This group brought loads of energy to the dance floor from the first song as they got right to it and didn’t let up until the last song.
From the classic hits, such as ‘You’re The One That I Want’ and ‘La Bamba’ to recent favorites, ‘Happy’ and ‘Fireball,’ plus a heavy dose of 90’s hip hop, it was a raging good time.
Congratulations Amanda and Sean and thank you for choosing PRO DJs.
Sherwood Oregon Ponzi Vineyards Wedding
The first weekend of fall continued a run of mostly dry weather over the summer to provide Maggie and Parker a beautiful day for their Ponzi Vineyards wedding on Saturday, September 25, 2021. The ceremony was held outside on the lawn overlooking the vineyard.
Ponzi Vineyards Wedding Ceremony Highlights:
- Bride Entrance: Honey Bee (Instrumental) by the Guitar Tribute Players
- Bride/Groom Exit: The Piano Guys – Sky Full of Stars
I had played this venue just a few weeks earlier, but this time a second sound system was required as the dance floor was moved to the Founders Terrace outside of the Laurelwood dining room. Guests were spread out in multiple areas, including The Pearl and Founders rooms as well as the west facing deck, but I was able to provide background music in most spaces.
Ponzi Vineyards Wedding Reception Highlights:
- First Dance: Chill The Duo – Honeybee (Head and the Heart Cover)
- Bride and Father Dance: Louis Armstrong – What A Wonderful World
- Groom and Mother Dance: James Taylor – How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)
The first dance, father/daughter dance and mother/son dance were all held on the patio outside the dining area with most guests watching from the outside.
Following the mother/son dance, I quickly moved outside to my main sound system and started the music to open the dance floor to everyone. Since this area was around the corner from most guests, it took a few songs to get everyone there. It was a great crowd with amazing energy.
Congratulations Maggie and Parker and thank you for choosing PRO DJs.