Sleet And Snow Can’t Stop Portland Wedding

Published January 14, 2024 | By Rich Ellis

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)

Portland Wedding Sentinel (January 13, 2024)

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.

Portland Wedding Sentinel (January 13, 2024)

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