Sonny and Susie's Wedding - Orchard Creek Lodge Wedding DJ

Sacramento Wedding DJ We had an absolute ball at Sonny and Susie's wedding in early January! They wanted to have nothing but fun, creative ingredients fill their celebration. We had vocalists, musicians, hula dancers, surprise musical performances, a surprise from Sonny to Susie, and on and on!! I could hardly keep up, lol. One of my favorite moments of the evening was their 'Shadow' Grand Entrance. I was able to introduce them to their guests at the start of the reception by utilizing a big screen with a special spotlight behind it. With Sonny and Susie placed just right, I told their story...they posed just right...I turned on and off the spotlight to create their shadows, and we culminated with them walking straight through it as it rose into the ceiling. It was quite a moment, for quite an evening!

visit us at www.sjsdiscjockey.com

Old Sugar Mill Wedding - Sacramento Wedding DJ

This past Saturday, Janessa and Evan married at the Old Sugar Mill in Clarksburg, CA. It was a classic DIY wedding, with all the personal touches a couple could dream of. Hand written signs on chalkboards, a dresser with family photos on it, a seating chart hand scribed, a menu board...you get the hint! My favorite touch of the evening was the smores buffet! It was awesome!!

They married to a string quartet in the barrell room, and their guests mingled away during cocktail hour until we formally introduced Evan and Janessa as they joined. As we parted the ceiling high curtains to reveal the gallery to guests, there was a collective gasp at the beauty of the room, as there was simply on super long table for everyone to sit and enjoy dinner at. Mama Kim Cooks didn't let us down, dinner was absolutely delish!

Jessica Moores of Stout Photography, or should I say, the incredible Jessica Moores, was in charge of photography, and I'm quite sure that she captured some amazing stuff.....the sunset was to die for!

Dance, dance, dance! Regardless of the number of guests (about 60), they danced, sang and sweated it out for 2.5 hours on the dancefloor! It was a party that they won't be forgetting any time soon.

Great stuff!!

visit us at www.sjsdiscjockey.com

Deer Ridge Vineyards Wedding - Livermore Wedding DJ

Sacramento Wedding DJ

I couldn't wait to make the trip to Livermore, as I really love the landscape there for weddings! I had never met Shauna and Daniel, as they serve our country in the Army (thanks so much for that!). Aimee Wendell from 2Chic Events was in charge, and she just does it right!! Her team was there plenty early to deck the ballroom out, and I was in full setup mode, as I had music in 3 locations, had some cool 'lounge' blue uplighting going on, and a monogram spotlight which matched their invitations to a T!

It really turned out to be a fun, lighthearted, cool evening with great food, funny toasting, great dancing with some funny characters dominating the dancefloor, and a slideshow which highlighted their lives together!

My Best!!

www.sjsdiscjockey.com

Granite Bay Country Club Wedding

Sacramento Wedding Dj

This past Saturday represented the union of Levi and Meghan, an incredibly nice couple who live in Seattle but have family roots locally. The weather hit triple digits, but with a 6:30 ceremony, the seats were shaded and it was very tolerable. Levi'snbrother Nate was quite a vocalist, and sang a really nice tune for communion. I provided the rest of the music, as well as mics for the Levi and their officiant.

They really decorated nicely indoors, with the highligjts being oval tables with damask tablecloths, a massive cupcake display, wine bottles as centerpieces, and my amber uplights as accents.

What was really cool was that Levi's sister, who couldn't attend, was keptmin the loop during every important event through an Ipad with Facetime!

The always amazing Jessica Stout of Stout Photography was on hand to shoot as no one else does.

Nate belted out their first dance, Meghan danced with her Dad and then Levi danced with his Mom, and I couldn't help but watch these dances bring tears to numerous eyes.

Then, the part I love! Inviting guests to come out and party...the dancefloor filled right away, never let up, and foe me, the funniest part of the night was watching Levi do his darndest to learn the Cupid Shuffle on the fly!

Being July 4th weekend, there were sparklers in everyone's hands when the night wound down.

Congrats Levi and Meghan!

Www.sjsdiscjockey.com

Ben and Katie - Flower Farm Inn

Sacramento Wedding DJ

This might end up being a long post, so I am apologizing in advance!

Ben and Katie met with me a year ago, at Burr's ice cream in midtown. Ben arrived first, and it wasn't long before he launched into a chat about how women often spend their lives dreaming of their wedding day, and how rhey have developed this vision of wedding day for many years. Ben also had a vision! He has known for many years what songs he wanted played fron start to finish. At that point, Katie arrived.... She was shocked to hear of his vision as we discussed things further. It was obvious that they were going to have to hash some things out over music. We really did have a nice meetup, and I ultimately earned their trust...and their business. Right before leaving, I asked Ben to humor me and tell me a couple of his music choices. I kindly asked him to be open to suggestion as time progressed.

By the time wedding arrived, Ben had compromised his way to about ten solid requests!

They took time to write custom introductions for their wedding party (which I just love), and gave me free reign to rock the party! To integrate special requests, it's my job to fit the music together like pieces to a puzzle. It all just has to fit just right.

With www.stoutphoto.com (Jessica) and www.stoutcinema.com (Matt) in the house, the night was smooth, energetic, hilarious and full of great memories. It was honestly a wedding in which I could participate in every weekend.

Wish Upon A Wedding...

Sacramento Wedding DJ



I have been in the wedding business for many, many years and aside from loving what I do, I try to take away something from each wedding I am a part of.

I have never taken away more than this week, as I MC'd the wedding of Rochon and Jackie. Kate from Kate Miller Events contacted me to ask me to read about Wish Upon A Wedding, and if interested, would I play at a wedding. I responded within 2 minutes with a resounding, "I'm in!"

WUAW is a non-profit organization who has vendors that donate their time, services and products to couples who are marrying, with at least one person who has a terminal health condition. I received their info about a week ago, and within just a few days, we had our plans in place, and they were going to marry! From a country club, to a cinematographer, to a photographer, to a lighting company, to wedding planners and more...we all eagerly donated our services.

Rochon and Jackie were the hosts and recipients of a gorgeous wedding, with super-tasty cuisine on a perfect evening in Novato, CA. We all had a great time, it was a fantastic event, and it was an honor to be a part of such an incredible cause.

www.sjsdiscjockey.com

The Amazing Ruby Hill Country Club

Sacramento Wedding DJ

Wow!! I have been to plenty of amazing venues over the years, and when I met with Amber and Sean, a great looking, kind couple, they mentioned Ruby Hill in Pleasanton. Never once did they lead on to the incredible beauty of this place. You drive through the Country Club gates and you are driving through streets of 10,000 sq. ft. manstions, awestruck by how much these residents must pay to their landscapers! So, we arrive to the Club, and you just have to be there to witness its beauty.

I placed 18 uplights around the room, setup our photobooth in the bar area, and then setup two sound systems, one for the upstairs ceremony, and downstairs for the eventual dance party.

Their ceremony was very personable, sentimental and fun, all wrapped up together. Guests went downstairs into the bar, mobbed the photobooth, and eventually found their dinner seats. I proceeded to introduce the wedding party and newlyweds, who sauntered down the split and double staircase, meeting in the middle. Dinner ensued, the toasts were really really funny, and the dancing went overtime by 2 full hours! They absolutely raged. Wow!

www.sjsdiscjockey.com

Brett and Andrea at The Monte Verde Inn

I just got home from a http://www.monteverdeinn.net/ wedding that one can't help but remember. Andrea was sooooo into the details of her wedding. She was in love with purple...purple flowers, purple bridesmaids dresses, purple uplighting by yours' truly....lots of purple! It's no small task to serve 180 people, but Kelly, Doug, Annette and staff were on their game tonight, it was highly impressive. I had the good fortune of working with http://www.fordfamilyphotography.com/ for the fourth wedding in a row, and Rebecca and Barry make every wedding go incredibly smooth, one just can't explain the level of service they provide. The coolest detail of the day was when I introduced the wedding party and newlyweds to their guests....they formed a small circle and quickly coordinated a monarch butterfly release, to the surprise of everyone! Fast forward, we danced for 90 solid minutes to new, old and everything in-between. It was truly great fun. http://www.sjsdiscjockey.com/

Stacy and Freddy - Croatian American Cultural Center

I had booked this wedding about a year ago, and was only dealing with Mom, because the newlyweds-to-be lived back east. So, as we got closer, Mom turned out to be quite the little planner! She had all of the evening's music picked out, a ton of fun dedications for me to make, and many other fine details that had obvisously taken a ton of thought. So, in the 103 degree temp, I setup for the ceremony outside, setup my biggie inside, and the wedding began at 6:00pm sharp, thanks to Mike Zupan, who runs the CACC. Once married, we all scurried inside for some AC, and the festivities began. We made it to the dancefloor after the cake cutting and the slideshow, and the party began. I was really sticking to 'the list,' but abandoned it for the last 30 minutes of the evening when the wedding party was begging for some country! So, we kicked up our cowboy boots for the last 30, and although we had to stop, they were screaming for more!! Congrats Freddy and Stacy!

Make It Yours

One of my big 'pushes' this year is to encourage couples to make their reception 'custom.' What exactly does that mean? Well, there are DJ's who say, 'I will make your reception the best EVER!' That's a pretty big statement if you ask me, and I realize it's more of a marketing ploy than a reality, but what I am really trying to encourage is making the events of your wedding day unique, fun and personalized. For example, when you are ready to join your guests at your reception, we DJ's usually introduce the members of your wedding party by name, and then bring you, the newlyweds in to an enthusiastic inflection in our voice, and a fun song in the background, in hopes of bringing your guests to their feet. Sounds nice, yes? It is nice. But....whenever I take it to a more personal level, which I will explain shortly, guests always come by and compliment the cool intros we just delivered. What I am referring to is introducing your wedding party one by one by one, with a unique song for each playing, and at the same time I am reading a cool, funny bio about them that you would write (and not tell them). So, all of a sudden, they are walking in to a story that pokes fun at them, your guests are laughing and clapping, and you, the newlyweds, get to soak it all in as the last couple to be introduced.

That is just one of many ingredients that you can personalize that your guests will hopefully remember from your wedding; I have many more to share.

Anna and Mike - Monte Verde Inn

Okay, so we know that I am lucky enough to frequently DJ weddings at the Monte Verde Inn, my absolute fav wedding venue, for so many reasons.... And when you think you have seen all of the various combinations of decor at MVI, Catriona from Arcularius Events put together a lounge and curtains which added a whole new dimension to the Inn. When I invited guests onto the 'lounge' dance area for the 1st dance, they never left, because they were loungin'. Anna and Mike started out dancing to 'You Are The Best Thing,' then shocked their guests with a little 'Bust a Move!' It was really a great evening, and guests danced til the very end. Hope A&M are having fun in Costa Rica...

Amanda and Blake at The Library Galleria

Amanda and her Mom (Sharon) had been involved in the planning with me leading up to wedding day, and I never got to meet Blake. The word on Blake was that he was very easy going, and didn't want a very 'structured' reception. Cool! We integrated red uplighting and a monogram spotlight throughout the Library, and it really looked stunning! The day before her wedding, Amanda called me in a panic, as the Church just wasn't 'feeling' the music for her ceremony. So, after setting up for the reception, I made it to the Church in plenty of time, and made sure that their music went off perfectly. Amanda walked down the aisle to Norah Jones' version of 'Love Me Tender.' Once at the Library, Monte from All Seasons All Reasons Catering had the place smelling soooooo good. Jessica from Stout Photography, the amazing Jessica!, was shootin' away all night long, and we just had a really nice reception. Blake and Amanda danced to 'Amber' by 311, love that tune! Hope they are enjoying their honeymoon in Maui....

Monte Verde Inn - Justin and Megan Ussery

How cool is it to have a Halloween wedding, at the finest venue around(www.monteverdeinn.net), outdoors, and have 75 degree weather? Love that!! Justin and Megan were married by 3pm, and what struck me most about their reception was Justin's twin brother Joel's toast. I wish I had videotaped it, it was the most emotional toast I have seen in a LONG time. Randy Pach captured it on his still cam though. They had a very cool group of guests, dinner was fabulous as always, my photobooth was rockin' all night long, and once we started dancing, they didn't want to stop! The surprise (to me) big song of the night was Devo's "Whip It." Congrats to the Ussery's.

Vizcaya Sacramento - Robert and Samantha

Robert and Samantha were married in the courtyard at the Vizcaya, in downtown Sac. The weather was ideal, Samantha looked stunning, and the ceremony was very well put together. Once we went indoors for the reception, the room looked awesome, their cupcakes were stacked high, you could smell the tri-tip cookin', and the appetizers were being served to all. Joel from http://www.2ndbornfilms.com/ was capturing every important moment, and I was spinning Frank, Dean, Norah, Diana and more leading us up to the first dance. I always love it when guests come up to me, and ask me when the dancing is set to begin. Ya' just know it's gonna be a good one! Their first dance was Van Morrison's "Someone Like You." Love that tune! Then the party began, and Samantha was on the dancefloor the entire night, literally!! The tune that brought the house down was "Fat Bottomed Girls." The night ended with them begging for more, but we had to close it up by 11PM. Great night!!

Coloma Country Inn Wedding - Jessica and Mike

Last night was a thing of beauty! I arrived at the Coloma Country Inn about 2.5 hours early, and it was sparsely setup at that point. The grounds went through an amazing transformation over the next two hours. Three beautiful chandeliers, a variety of floral arrangements, my uplighting against the trees, a candy bar, silver candelabras, and so much more detail that I can't even remember it all. It was really amazing. Aimee Wendell from http://www.planaevents.com/ did an amazing job, and to see it, visit Jessica Moore's blog on http://www.stoutphoto.com/. I'm quite sure she captured it vividly, in fact, I know she did. Bocca catering served up some great tri-tip and chicken with all the fixins, and we were all fueled up for dancing. My fav was watching Jessica and Mike give their bouquet and garter away to the winners of the 'freeze dance!' Remember that dance??? Their guests partied all night long, and I am still crackin' up as I recall the groomsmen performing their dance routine to 'All The Single Ladies." You should have seen them......

Grand Island Mansion - SJ's Disc Jockey

Hello All,

This past Friday night, I had the pleasure of being the DJ for Jessica and Michael at the very cool, Grand Island Mansion in Walnut Grove(along the Delta). The drive there is a great advertisement for owning a GPS!! I setup a small system outdoors for their ceremony, setup my phat system in the ballroom for the dancing, and my photo booth was in the courtyard, ready for some photostrip fun. Once they were pronounced husband and wife, guests were invited upstairs, where the dining room turns into a boisterous hall, because of its acoustic nature. With no sound system upstairs, I clinked a glass to get everyone's attention, and introduced the wedding party and newlyweds as loudly as I could. Once everyone made it downstairs after dinner, the party was on! Toasts, cake and the formal dances commenced, and we partied until the wee hours! Jessica from http://www.stoutphoto.com/ was great to work with as always, and Debbie from the Mansion is one of the easiest venue managers on the planet to work with! It really was a cool night.

Dave and Jenny at the Firehouse

Is that a great shot or what?? Last Friday night, I had the honor of playing Mr. DJ for Dave and Jenny at The Firehouse in Old Sacramento. I forgot how gorgeous it can be there. They planned with great detail, from the floral arrangements, to the favors to the outstanding menu choices (I had the Filet w/crab, yummmmmmm).

I outlined the courtyard with purple uplights, which matched their theme perfectly! Jessica from Stout Photography shot their wedding for them, and being a personal friend of theirs, I'm sure the pressure was on! She posted some amazing photos of their wedding at www.stoutphoto.com, check 'em out.

Although a small-ish group of 40 or so, they partied it up on the dancefloor, had a great time, and are now in Cabo, hopefully partyin' it up there.

Congrats Dave and Jenny!

Mark and Vicki's Wedding

Had a great wedding last night at the Monte Verde Inn. Mark and Vicki had a beautiful ceremony, she walked down the aisle to "Love me tender" by Norah Jones. After photography, I introduced them to AC/DC's "Thunderstruck" and got the energy going! They are big AC/DC fans, and the graphic on the their photobooth strips were their monogram, in that classic AC/DC font, way cool!! They even made me a T-shirt with that on there, which I will be wearing this week!!

They danced the night away, their guests were in and out of the photo booth all night long, and Vicki had me end the night with "Baby Got Back." I like big butts........

Jensen wedding films, www.jensenvideo.com and Xsight Photography, www.xsightusa.com were in perfect form.

A great time had by all.

Great Weekend!

I just had to report in about our four great events this last weekend. First was Friday night, in El Dorado Hills, playing for kids from the area schools. We limbo'd, we cha cha slid, we just had a ball.....

Saturday, we had two weddings, one at the Granite Bay Country Club, where Crysta and Justin had a beautiful wedding. The photo booth was in rare form that night, with Dean LaRosa ushering people in and out of the booth, and they couldn't get enough of it. They absolutely partied the night away, and sang along to Sweet Caroline louder than any group I've played for.

Greg played at the Old Sugar Mill Saturday, and reported in that it was a great group of guests, the wedding party rocked, and everyone had a great time. He was lucky enough to work with Jessica Moores from www.stoutphoto.com.

And Sunday, I was at the Whitney Oaks Country Club, and the rain let up just in time to have a beautiful ceremony outside for Alisha and Anthony. The reception had everyone, including the kids, working up a good sweat on the dancefloor. They had a great time, and the newlyweds are on the way to Hawaii (doesn't that sound nice). www.larryscottphotography.com did an outstanding job as usual.