70’s rock and 90s britpop wedding, Maccallum House, Mendocino, CA. Photo: J. Pearlman & R. Lutge
“Jamie and Rocky did a fantastic job. We had several meetings / calls / email exchanges before the wedding and got on the same page (in great detail) about the genres / artists / vibe that we were looking for. Jamie was all about developing a "vision" - not just playing requested songs, but actually creating a program for the dance party that we wanted. Jamie and Rocky were also great at navigating the inevitable logistical / technical challenges that came up. We had no qualms about being in their hands and would recommend them to anyone who wants a cool and non-stodgy wedding.” - Benjamin Tievsky
”Thank god we found Ceremony DJs for our wedding in Mendocino in August. Jamie was a pleasure to talk to about music and life and weddings from the first minute. He has no end of enthusiasm and excitement for his craft in stark contrast to many other DJs I spoke to who had their canned set and feared deviation. Rocky sent us a long list of songs and we went to town marking our favorites and our despised and Jamie dug in and really heard us. The music was on point and our friends and family stayed on the dance floor until 2am. We got many incredible compliments from our guests on how good the music was. Jamie and Rocky worked through a bunch of technical and transitional nightmares behind the scenes because of our venue and they were professional and flexible the entire time. My husband and I and all of our guests had the time of our lives thanks to the most excellent playlist that Jamie performed - just like bringing the coolest SF club to our tent!” - Gabriella Horn
Dark, Luxurious Rock and Roll Wedding in Mendocino
We get one or two away weddings a year, and Ben and Gabby were kind enough to expand their vendor search from Mendocino all the way down to San Francisco to incorporate us into their event. We’re still pretty new at this, and very much in the phase of giving away the farm because we’re so grateful to have clients, but rarely do we get a reception like these two gave us throughout the planning and execution of the whole event.
It was really something, and really special, and I’m really not kidding when I say, we really, really appreciate it. It sounds kind of weird to say that you all book us to help with this epic, monumental, moment your lives, and it becomes an epic, monumental moment in our lives as well. But it’s true! I literally have a wall full of wedding gifts and happy memories of making these things happen, and for us as a business and a family, it kind of all becomes a part of our story too. Did I mention Rocky and I recently got engaged? I’m not kidding when I say, we couldn’t have done it without you all, and this wedding was such a great example of how your story becomes our story and we all end up winning together.
Anyway, sappiness aside.
Super Cool Britpop Couple
These guys are great, and have terrific taste, a warm heart and an amazingly welcoming family that made the whole thing pretty much a joy to execute. Ben’s taste was on the hip side of 60’s rock and Gabby’s taste was on the dark side of 80’s and 90’s club music, which amazingly makes perfect sense as a DJ to put together. If you think about it the 60’s rock like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Kinks and The Who really informed the 90’s britpop, like Stone Roses, Blur and Oasis. So you can really do something coherent even over an epic 12 hour event, if you start with the classic stuff and incorporate those elements later in the night. This event was also an epic two parter, so we had basically a full wedding of music outside for the reception and then a full club nights worth of music inside for the friends once the family had gone to bed.
Garage Rock Dinner
For the reception we focused on classic 60’s and 70’s rock stuff that were the primary influences of the 80’s and 90’s stuff we did later in the night. These guys are super cool and had tons of great requests, among them a surf version of the hora, which we expanded to maximum effect and did our best to accentuate with 60’s garage tracks elsewhere in the set.
Dark 80’s Remix Dance Party
For the after party we went full 80’s club, with a heavy emphasis on the super, sick extended remixes, dub versions and instrumentals of everything. In DJ’ing you can use the instrumental version of the song to set up the vocal version of the song for one gigantic extended wind up to the pitch, like this amazing instrumental version of the Human League’s “Don’t You want Me” or one of our favorite tricks, playing the entireity of New Order “The Beach” into the entireity of New Order “Blue Monday” which I’ve never actually heard done in the club, but is exactly how they would’ve played it if you were there in the 80’s at the time. We also did a lot of cool 80’s ones with chill undertones like the extended version of Simple Minds “Don’t You Forget About Me” (It loops back and does the “hey, hey, hey, hey!” part twice, which is amazing) or the long version of Echo and the Bunnymen’s “The Killing Moon”.
90’s Britpop Afterhours
We closed out with some 90’s ones that you don’t normally get to hear in the club like the Pet Shop Boys remix of Blur’s “Boys and Girls”, the club version of Underworld “Born Slippy” (as made famous in the movie Trainspotting), and the original, not-remixed version of Bjork “Hyperballad” which is amazing if you’re a good enough DJ to beat match the first 5 minutes of intro so it hits on the epic break when the rave part kicks in. I think we also did some after hours ones like The Pixies “Wave of Mutilation” and The Smiths “Boy with a Thorn in His Side.”
Mendocino Tribute Last Call
We closed with a request, Sir Douglas Quintet “Mendocino” which apparently is a Mendocino classic, theme song, and source of local pride. Didn’t know that one! But we’ll be playing that trick on someone else soon, hopefully. Mendocino people, call me!
In conclusion, this review would not be complete without a few special shout outs to the other vendors, who were tremendous.
Big Ups & Shout Outs
MacCallum House was a dream and these guys put us up for three nights, I could nearly cry thinking about how special it was.
The officiant was amazing, probably the single best officiant I’ve seen, especially if you’re jewish! I’m allegedly Jewish, and the whole thing made me both want to get more in touch with that and really step up my mic game. These Rabbi’s are the original showmen, people.
Speaking of which, the soundbath at the ceremony, also incredible. The photographers, both generous and relentless in their shoot. The event set up staff, honestly an inspiration. The hair and make up ladies, clearly doing their job, these guys looked great. Even the shuttle guys were super nice.
Oh, and Prasada! Running the show like a champ and not getting the slightest bit flustered ever about anything.
Honestly, we’re plotting to move to Mendocino eventually, so thank you guys for being so welcoming and maybe we can all work together again. And thank you to Ben and Gabby for being such amazing and gracious hosts!
Literally the gold standard.
Ceremony Songs
Grand Entrance:
Billy Bragg and Wilco “California Stars”
First Dance:
The Animals “Bring It On Home to Me”
Parent Kids Dance:
The Rolling Stones “Child of the Moon”
Surf Hora:
Dick Dale “Hava Nagila”
Perez Prado And His Orchestra “The Twist of Hava Nagila”
Los Iracundos "Hava Nageela (Hava Nagila Instrumental Surf Version)”
Last Song:
Rolling Stones “Moonlight Mile”
Last, Last Song:
Sir Douglas Quartet “Mendocino”
Requests:
Bob Dylan “The Man in Me”
Rolling Stones “Wild Horses”
The Byrds “Hickory Wind”
Big Star “Thirteen”
George Harrison “If Not for You”
Mott the Hoople “All the Young Dudes”
T Rex “Cosmic Dancer”
Tommy James and the Shondelles “Crimson and Clover”
The Clash “Straight to Hell”
Siouxsie and The Banshees “Israel”
The Buzzcocks “Everybody’s Happy Nowadays”
The Jam “The Bitterest Pill”
Depeche Mode “Enjoy the Silence”
Information Society “What’s On Your Mind”
New Order “Bizarre Love Triangle”
Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark “If You Leave”
The Clash “Train In Vain”
The Specials “Rudy a Message to You”
Pulp “Do You Remember the First Time”
Echo and the Bunnymen “Seven Seas”
The Smiths “There is a Light That Never Goes Out”
Elvis Costello “What’s So Funny About Peace, Love and Understanding”
Blondie “Touched By Your Presence, Dear”
Joy Division “Love Will Tear Us Apart”
Bruce Springsteen “Dancing in the Dark”
Venue: MacCallum House / Planner: Prasad Events / Officiant: Wilderness Torah / Ceremony: Mendocino Sound Healing / DJ: Ceremony DJs / Photographer: J Pearlman and R Lutge Wedding Storytellers / Florist: LR Farm / Rentals: Matt Rowland Events / Hair & Make Up: Ritual Salon / Transportation: Mendo Insider Tours
