60’s rock and soul wedding, Guerneville Lodge, Guerneville, CA.
Venue: Guerneville Lodge / DJ: Ceremony DJs
“We had a blast with Ceremony DJs at our wedding! DJ Jackie was awesome. She did a few prep calls with us in advance to understand our music tastes and key song choices, and she asked great questions to guide her music selections throughout the night. She handled audio for both our ceremony and reception which were in a large outdoor space - no easy feat. Her song choices were on point all night and matched our tastes exactly. The dance floor was full with all our friends and family (young and old) from beginning to end, and everyone was raving about the music. Plus, Jackie was just really cool and easy to work with. Such a kind and thoughtful presence at the wedding and during planning. Thanks Ceremony DJs!” - Mariah Maguire-Fong
Love in the Redwoods with a Little Magic from the Queen of Soul
When I am regaling friends, acquaintances, and potential clients with tales of my DJ prowess, I always bring up Mariah and Emilio’s wedding. There are multiple aspects to the story of this lovely couple’s big day that exemplify the challenges and successes that I can face in a gig, as well as some very unique and unforgettable moments.
The venue proved to be unexpectedly challenging, albeit extremely beautiful- an estate under the redwoods in Guerneville, alongside the Russian River- a popular resort area about an hour and a half outside of San Francisco. The couple had warned me that the only power sources were to be found on the second story of historic house on the property, so I had come prepared with extra-long cables, but I had not anticipated quite how long it would take to unspool hundreds of feet of wiring to multiple locations. It was a very hot afternoon in Sonoma County, and I was literally sweating it trying to get everything set up in time.
A thoughtful wedding processional & bespoke vows
Regardless of the pressure, everything came together just in time to get some gentle pre-ceremony tunes going- a selection of classical/folk guitar from Robbie Basho and Bert Jansch as well as some instrumental Yo La Tengo. I remember being pleasantly surprised by Emilio and Mariah’s choice of processional, “Oh Me Oh My “I’m A Fool For You Baby” by Aretha Franklin, which is rather a deep cut from the queen of soul. While certainly sometimes my clients choose an unusual processional/recessional/first dance/etc, I often hear the same songs or artists repeated. This is not a bad thing! They are classic wedding songs for a reason. I honestly think that Stevie Wonder wrote “Signed, Sealed, Delivered” to be a recessional. Or if a well known artist like Aretha is picked for a processional, I would have expected a more well known song.
It was clear that Emilio and Mariah had put a lot of thought into their wedding, and there was deep emotional meaning behind their decisions. Bearing that in mind, I listened carefully to the vows that the couple had written for each other. My ears pricked up when I heard Mariah say that one of the ways that Emilio made her fall in love with him was by singing Carole King at the top of his lungs without any hesitancy in front of her. “Aha!” I thought, “I know what I’m going to do to make this pay off big time later...”
Feel-good music for everybody young & old
One of the challenges (and pleasures!) of this wedding was the wide age range of the guests, with everyone from little kids to elderly grandparents in attendance. I wanted to play music that would make my clients happy, and keep everyone entertained, and hopefully dancing. Fortunately, Emilio and Mariah’s taste in music lent itself to that. Dinnertime and cocktail hour mixed together feel-good classics from Paul McCartney and Wings, John Lennon, Sly and the Family Stone with modern groovy tunes and folky favorites from Jens Lekman, Feist, and Solange. The couple had requested a lot of Yo La Tengo, a band that I also am fond of and that is known for playing covers, so I decided to dabble in playing a few of the originals, such as “You Can Have It All” in all its sparse drum disco glory from George McCrae. The dance floor opened with plenty of fun soul oldies from Marvin Gaye and Jackie Wilson, 70s disco hits from Donna Summer and the Commodores, working up into the 80s 90s and 2000s with David Bowie, Mariah Carey, Missy Elliott and Taylor Swift.
Magical moments & special requests
Then came the first of what were for me the two incredibly magical moments of the dance. Emilio and Mariah had made one specific special request for the dance time: a Sufi song in Urdu “Khwaja Mere Khwaja” by Jodhaa Akbar. This was not a cultural thing- Mariah and Emilio’s backgrounds were Filipino, Chinese and European-American- It was explained to me that this song was something meaningful from Emilio’s college days, and that his college buddies would know what to do. Sometimes when you’re a wedding DJ, you don’t need a whole lot of explanation, you just get the vibe that something is important. Once, at another wedding I had a very drunk maid of honor run up to me to request “Toxic” by Britney Spears, explaining that it was “sooooooo important during our study abroad in Spain!” and she really didn’t have to explain any further, that was sufficient for me to know that it would make the whole bridal party get down. So I knew I had to find just the right moment for this unusual song, and make it fit somehow with the rest of the music I was playing, which sounded nothing like it. My fears melted the moment the track started playing. It was like a dream moment, Emilio and all his college friends joined together in a circle and started dancing together to this mystical piece that worships god. The wedding planner and I exchanged glances with giant grins on our faces. I’ll never forget it. And somehow, I transitioned out of that into “Old Town Road” by Lil’ Nas X (Which in August of 2019 was at its zenith as the “it” song of the summer) and EVERYBODY danced. Like I said, magic.
How to pick the last song to create a memorable end of the wedding night
The second magic moment of the night was at the very end, and it was a call back to the beginning, to the ceremony vows. The whole dance party had been an enormous success, with no one seeming to get tired no matter how elderly or little they were. There was time for once last song, and I’m a big believer in making the last song of the night something very special. Remembering what Mariah had said about Emilio singing Carole King to her, the unusual deep-cut processional (as well as many other Aretha requests- they were clearly big fans), I cued up “Natural Woman,” written by Carole King and made famous by Aretha Franklin. It’s a song that gives me goosebumps every time I hear it, and now even more so. While it’s not the most dancey song in the world, it seemed like everyone that night knew what to do, old and young taking hands in loops and circles, hugging each other and swaying in rhythm and singing along at top volume until the very last note had passed.
To this day, when I am explaining the skills I possess necessary to be a great wedding DJ, I often give this as an example. You have to listen to your clients, to pay attention to the details even on the fly and in the moment. And of course, you have to know about and love music, whether it’s a rare Urdu holy song or famous Carole King singalong.
