Post rock and classic country wedding, Outdoor Art Club, Mill Valley, CA. Photo: Torrey Fox
“When I started looking for a DJ, I knew I didn't want your typical cheesy DJ that barks at the crowd and plays the chicken dance. I knew Jamie's DJ work and thought he would be a great fit. And he was! He worked with us months in advance to make sure he knew our music likes and dislikes. My FH had a great time talking music with Jamie, who is a music knowledge god. He then came up with a playlist that kept us dancing all night! He was flexible and accommodating when I changed the set-up of the dance area on him day of. He also provided the music for our ceremony. Overall, exceeded our expectations!” - Danielle Perez
“Jamie by far is one of the nicest DJ's I have ever met. He DJ’d for me and my wife's wedding in May. When I heard he actually uses turntables and records I was blown away with excitement. Months before the amazing day he sent us an extensive list of stuff he has. Me being really into an eclectic range of genres had a blast picking and choosing bands / artists my wife and I would love to hear at our wedding. He was stoked on some of the stuff we chose and he also was very intrigued by our love of 90's hip hop and country. Weeks before the wedding he came and toured our venue with us to see where he was going to set up. Jamie did such an amazing job cueing and looping the jams all throughout the day and night! We had a blast dancing and everyone enjoyed all the music! He goes above and beyond and you can see and tell he enjoys what he does. Thanks again, Brother!” - Drew Daniel
A Rustic, Post-Rock, Emo and Classic Country Wedding at the Outdoor Art Club
Danielle and Drew are a great example of how amazing your wedding music can be if you really nail your friends’ and families’ taste in the planning meeting. I’ve known these guys for a while, and I was pretty sure we could get away with something special, but it wasn’t until the moment of the wedding that I realized everything we had planned was actually going to come off.
A Particularly Punk Rock Couple
Danielle and Drew are both pretty punk rock, bordering on metal almost and our conversation started like most with a general discussion about music they like and jokes about how much we could actually get away with. From the start, we were throwing around some pretty heavy post-rock bands like Dirty Three, Black Heart Procession and Songs: Ohia that had folk and country elements, but from sort of an indie rock, emo perspective.
A Legit Country Music Family
Drew’s family grew up listening to classic country, so we wanted to have some of that element, without losing the indie rock. Danielle loves all that stuff, but was leaning towards straight up 90’s hip hop and R&B for the dancing. It wasn’t immediately clear whether and how all these ideas were going to fit together, but amazingly, we came up with something that made sense, and I think it really worked.
An Epic, Post Rock Ceremony
In DJ’ing, you prepare, prepare, prepare for any and all eventualities, and then you freestyle. We all had such fun talking about early 00’s post rock with a country flavor, that I decided to go all out and prepare a set just in case that was something we could actually do. Their processional was a song by Explosions in the Sky which has a long build up to an epic crescendo and we really wanted to set that up as best as possible to just nail the moment when the ceremony started.
But it wasn’t actually clear any of this was going to fly until the very moment the guests began to arrive. I was pretty sure the bulk of the wedding was going to focus on classic country, and sometimes that means folks parents are conservative, who knows. You do your best to ask people about their families, but they don’t always give an accurate impression of exactly who is going to come or not come the day of. But today was our day as far as being awesome.
The guest show up, all tattoos. And at least a handful of vintage beer t-shirts. So, it’s on.
We went full post rock for the ceremony and it was amazing. We did Pedro the Lion, Magnolia Electric Company. I think we also worked in some Mazzy Star, Elliot Smith and Cat Power. Their recessional was Genesis by Grimes, so making it more indie in the beginning actually made a lot of sense, but I don’t think we steered it too far from the country stuff that would come next.
A Classic Country Dinner
For the dinner we did classic country and 60’s country rock. So Dolly Parton “Jolene”, Johnny Cash “Jackson” and stuff, but also Bob Dylan “Subterrainian Homesick Blues”, Grateful Dead “Don’t Ease Me In” and CCR “Green River”.
A 90’s Hip Hop and R&B Dance Party
For the dancing we went classic 90’s hip hop and r&b. Biggie Smalls, Mary J Blige, some silly stuff like Next “Too Close” and Montell Jordan “This is How We Do It”. I think Drew’s grandma literally danced to Lil Kim “Big Momma Thang”.
A Country Slow Dance After Hours
But the best part was the end. Once everyone was exhausted from dancing, the older folks came back and asked for a rebate on country dancing which we mostly did during the dinner. We ended up having a 30 minute slow dance set to things like The Eagles “Take It To the Limit” which was really amazing and special.
In conclusion, if you can really accurately guess that your friends all have tattoos and your family loves country, we can play all post rock emo for your ceremony and make your grandma dance to The Eagles for last song.
Big Ups & Shout Outs
Special shout out to the Outdoor Art Club for having a very cool venue.
Shout out to Simply Elegant Events, Milvali Salon and Mill Valley Flowers, all of whom we’ve worked with multiple times.
See you all next time!
Ceremony Songs
Prelude:
The Cinematic Orchestra “To Build a Home”
Processional:
Explosions in the Sky “Your Hand in Mine”
Recessional:
First Dance:
Ceremony Set:
Black Heart Procession ”A Cry for Love”
Magnolia Electric Company “Almost Was Good Enough”
Low “Venus”
Cat Power “Sea of Love”
Mazzy Star “Fade into You”
Sun Kil Moon “Space Travel is Boring”
Joan of Arc “Punk Kid”
Don Caballero “The Peter Cris Jazz”
Iron and Wine “Such Great Heights”
Songs: Ohia “Farewell Transmission”
Slint “Good Morning Captain”
Sun Kil Moon “Carry Me Ohio”
Bonnie Prince Billy “I See Darkness”
Grouper “Heavy Water”
Pedro the Lion “Slow and Steady Wins the Race”
Godspeed You Black Emperor “Cowboy”
My Morning Jacket “Golden”
Iron and Wine “Cinder and Smoke”
Tortoise “Glass Museum”
Owls “What Whorse You Wrote Id On”
Jesu “Every day I Get Closer to the Light From Which I Came”
Tortoise and Bonnie Prince Billy “Thunder Road”
Grouper “Living Room”
Dirty Three “Obvious is Obvious”
Low “Immune”
June of 44 “Engine Takes to Water”
Venue: Outdoor Art Club / Planner: Simply Elegant Events / Photographer: Torrey Fox / DJ: Ceremony DJs / Caterer: Elaine Bell Catering / Photobooth: Photomatica / Hair & Make Up: Milvali Salon / Florist: Mill Valley Flowers / Lights: Marin Event Lighting / Event Rental: Big 4 Party Rentals / Linens: Napa Valley Linens / Transportation: Chariot
