Mariah Maguire-Fong and Emilio Balingit Wedding
“We had a blast with Ceremony DJs at our wedding! DJ Jackie Sugarlumps 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
Gabriella Horn and Benjamin Tievsky Wedding
“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
Neetu Balram and Sean Rush Wedding
“Jamie of Ceremony DJs was incredible both before and during our wedding! We knew we may have a good match when we visited Ceremony DJs' website and it declared, "Finally, a DJ as cool as you are." Jamie and my now husband immediately hit it off. I loved that Jamie prioritized getting to know us and our tastes, but also took the time to hear about our guests. He has a great sound system, which was important for our outdoor venue. Jamie was super friendly, easy to work with and incredibly professional, keeping us on track and focused, without overburdening us. Jamie even made it out to our venue a few months before the wedding to check everything out and talk through the plan. Day of, Jamie was a lot of fun and killed it! He had music going from the moment guests arrived at the ceremony to the final moments of the reception. It all tied together and set the mood for every aspect of the day and evening, transitioning seamlessly. Our guests had great things to say and we couldn't agree more. Thank you Jamie!” -Neetu Balram
“Ceremony DJs and Jamie in particular were awesome to work on. From the moment we met, I felt like we totally understood our vibe and was able to really build on the things I already liked. His skills really gave the wedding the perfect feel, and all of my friends and family loved it. Additionally, Jamie is a calming force pre-wedding. He exudes that "I got you" vibe that's super helpful when you're stressing out about a million little details. Great guy, great DJ!” - Sean Rush
Ashley Smith and Ben Cannon Wedding
“We used Ceremony DJs for our wedding in June. Jackie Sugarlumps was the DJ and she was great. She and Jamie were both very enthusiastic which was great. As we weren't local when we booked the DJ, she made sure to have multiple video calls with us to understand us as a couple and the type of music we liked. I never felt like she tried to impose the type of music she wanted to play on us, she just really wanted to understand what we liked. I loved the music played at our wedding and I especially love the pictures I have of Jackie rocking out while she was DJing!” - Ashley Smith
Megan Miller and Jeff Pello Wedding
“Professional, knowledgeable, enthusiastic and down for a bit of an adventure. Jamie listened to our ideas and developed the perfect soundtrack for our wedding in the Joshua Tree area. He seamlessly transitioned from Gram Parsons-inspired, country/western tunes early in the event to a dance party that had the older and younger folks kicking up dust in the desert late into the night. What's more is that Jamie and his girlfriend/co-DJ, Rocky, were excited for a bit of an adventure and made the trek to the desert from SF for the wedding! Phenomenal service! Highly recommend Jamie and the folks at Ceremony DJs!!!” - Jeff Pello
Jasmine Littlefield and Randy Grimes Wedding
“James was great for our wedding. Made everything really easy. Met with us as many times as we needed to get our day right!” - Randy Grimes
”James was great. He met with us as many times as we needed before the wedding to get the music and announcements right! Very pleasant to work with and made the process fun.” - Jasmine Littlefield
Grace Yau and Devin Riley Wedding
“We hired James to DJ our wedding and he absolutely crushed it. We went in thinking he'd just do our dance music at the reception, but he ended up doing a fantastic job with our ceremony and dinner music as well. He spent a bunch of time with both of us going over our musical backgrounds and sneaking hidden gems from our conversations into his set list. He was hyper-aware to play music that both us and our guests, including family, would enjoy. He transitioned smoothly from more recognizable songs to surprising and fun deeper cuts. James convinced me playing some low-key music during dinner would help set the tone and it was a great call. He played a cool, nonintrusive set during dinner and then blew it away with a bunch of fun dance jams at night. People were getting weird on the dance floor by the end, which is really all we wanted. Don't let Ceremony's rock / indie vibe throw you off either, he was knowledgable in all the genres we talked about, and was very careful to tailor the set to what we wanted most. We mostly went for rap for our dancing and he knocked it out of the park with his set.” - Devin Riley
”So happy with our decision to work with James! He was super attentive to what we wanted and gave great suggestions as well. The most important thing - we danced the night away :)” - Grace Yau
Xander Piper and Andy Scudder Wedding
“Jamie was playing the night that me and my husband-to-be met, and I knew I had to have him DJ for my engagement party. Jamie and Rocky got the whole party dancing while still incorporting our eclectic and esoteric tastes. We can’t wait for them to DJ our wedding!” - Xander Piper
“My husband and I knew we wanted to get Ceremony DJs for our wedding because they were behind the decks when my husband and I first met. But, that alone wasn’t why we loved having them play at our wedding. For our initial consultation, Jamie and Rocky has us sit down with them and discuss the music that is special to us, our friends, and family. Jamie was impressed with how broad our family’s taste was, and was up to the task of making it all fit together! We wanted something special and that represented our tastes, and not just a generic playlist or top 40 pop songs. They went above and beyond when it came to a special request we had. When discussing the plan for the reception and the first dance, we mentioned that we needed a singer for the Magnetic Fields song my husband’s best man was going to perform. As luck would have it, Rocky used to sing in a Magnetic Fields cover band and so was happy to also step into the role of singer again for our first dance! When it was time to plan the setup during the site visit, their experience and familiarity with the venue really showed as they had a plan in mind that allowed us to move seamlessly from an amplified ceremony to music through the reception and dancing that followed. On the day of, they got us through one scheduling hiccup flawlessly. The rest of the night was full of joy thanks to their selections that filled the dance floor, and we had guests asking for a set list right afterwards because they loved the music so much! We really could not have been happier with choosing Ceremony DJs for our wedding.” - Andy Scudder
Christine Goffredo and Julian Aguayo-Pohl Wedding
“The most amazing experience you could ask for in a DJ. These guys really really know music. I did a lot of DIY/nontraditional things for my wedding (a friend took photos, not a professional, I had no cake, I didn't have a wedding party--that kind of thing), and I was intending to make my own playlist. But as I did more planning, I realized how much WORK goes into that, and knowing what to play, and how could I change songs in the middle of my own wedding? Plus, my wedding combined people who liked 70's rock with Puerto Ricans who love merengue and friends who love indie. So, I decided to hire Jamie because I used to go to his Debaser DJ shows in San Francisco and loved them. I'm so glad I went with him--it made me feel so relieved and took a lot of stress off. He did a consultation where he asked us about our friends and family's music tastes, and about what my now husband and I really liked and wanted to hear. He saw threads through those totally disparate sounding genres that we never would have seen, and he crafted a beautiful, seamless evening of music that kept everyone stoked, dancing, and in the best moods ever, from pre-ceremony through reception. Even my sister-in-law's DJ boyfriend couldn't believe the transitions. Also, he knew way more about weddings than I or my husband did. Jamie's wedding experience actually helped us plan our schedule so the day flowed perfectly, and music never stopped. We requested a mash-up for our first dance, and a specific part of a song for exiting the aisle, and he nailed it. At the end of the night, we got permission from the venue to stay an hour later, and I don't know how, but he kept the seamless flow of music going that whole hour. Lastly, he's an awesome awesome person, who is flexible, down to earth, energetic, and great to work with. In sum: everything was just absolutely amazing.” - Christine Goffredo
Amanda Lawrence and Tommy Good Wedding
"To start, we want to say that Jamie was an absolutely amazing DJ. We found Jamie through our wedding photographer (who we also had a wonderful experience with), and were immediately impressed. After very promising email correspondence, we had an hour-long video chat with Jamie where he asked us all about what we wanted in terms of music for the wedding ceremony, reception, and everything in between. He then went on to ask about each of our favorite songs, bands, and genres, as well as what our family and friends liked. This may seem like a simple step, but it's far removed from what we experienced with the other DJs we interviewed - his interest in our musical taste and how to cultivate a great experience for our guests was incredibly genuine. He clearly took time to listen, take notes, and think about how to create a wonderful experience. It's obvious that Jamie didn't simply take the music that we and our friends liked and make it into a simple playlist. He very clearly dove into the genre and came up with a killer soundtrack informed by our input and interests. We had at least three people stop us the night of the wedding, and more since then, to compliment him on his playlist. If you're looking for a non-cheesy, fun DJ who will listen to what you, your friends and your family like to hear, and take the time to build a playlist you will love, we highly recommend Jamie. If you're looking for a cheesy wedding DJ, we suggest you go elsewhere. If we were to do it all again, we couldn't imagine a scenario where Jamie wasn't our DJ." - Tommy Good
"Jamie was the best DJ! We were planning our wedding from afar, so we had a call with Jamie just to chat with him and understand his vibe and his services and he was hands down the best DJ we spoke with. We had several other calls with other DJs and the all sounded like yourtypical, cheesy wedding DJ. Jamie is completely the opposite. It was so clear to us how much Jamie loves music and cares about what he does, so it was a pretty easy decision to decide to book with him. Once we booked, we had another call with Jamie to go over our musical tastes, what our friends and families like, and the overall feel we wanted for our wedding. Then we went through his insane list of music that he has, marking off what we liked. He took so much time to really understand what we liked and craft the most perfect soundtrack for our wedding. The wedding day was perfect. Jamie’s music was exactly what we hoped it would be and more. Our friends and family still talk to us about how great the music was. I’ll also note it was about 107 degrees the day of our outdoor wedding and Jamie was a champ setting up all of his equipment in the horrible heat. You really could not find a better DJ so just save yourself some trouble and go with Jamie!" - Amanda Lawrence
Shayna Rader and Michael DiGrande Wedding
"If you’re looking for a thoughtful, professional, and an unbridled showman—stop reading this review and hire Jamie as your DJ. But if you’re here for the review, I’ll elaborate. Thoughtful – Jamie provides the kind of attention that can’t be replicated. He gets to know you and what your expectations are for your event, and he lets that inform the structure and vibe. For my wedding, we told him to focus on Motown, 60s rock, power-pop and 90s hip-hop. He then worked with us to connect the dots, to experiment in finding a way to make these moods track seamlessly throughout the night. In a way, it felt like we were sculpting the vibe with him, rather than rely on some Spotify algorithm. His encyclopedic knowledge of music is unmatched—he finds a way to suggest things that will surprise you—and is unafraid of getting creative. He brings you into the process because he’s thoughtful in a way most DJs won’t be. Professional – Jamie brings his own gear and he * knows * his gear. He arrives earlier than early and keeps everything above board with venue staff. Jamie may have a laid-back demeanor, but he’s hyper focused on the details (you know, where the devil lives). And when the show’s over? He’s gone. Like a ghost. Our venue staff noted how efficient he is when it comes to set up and teardown. He won’t leave you in the lurch. Jamie’s prepared for every contingency. Showmanship – I’m not a dancer but Jamie had me on the floor all night. It is a non-stop party when he’s spinning. And when the mood changes, he changes with it. When our folks and family got tuckered out, Jamie skewed contemporary, which give our wedding about 5 different lives of its own. The result? We all left exhausted. Jamie had us on our feet all night and kept things moving as the night went on. tl;dr I saw my 62-year old father dance to Lil Jon…and love it. Thank you Jamie. I hope you can give someone else a memory like that." - Michael DiGrande
"Jamie did an absolutely amazing job at our wedding!! We had a pretty specific idea in mind of how we wanted our evening to play out, and some of the genres of music we picked were a bit unfamiliar to him, but he dove headfirst into researching and compiling a fantastic playlistfor us, including some songs I’d never even heard of but totally fit with the vibe. He kept our guests up and out of their seats (even the old folks!) and we got SO many compliments on our music. Jamie is an artist and a veteran of the club circuit in SF, so he puts a lot of thought into curating an entire evening for you and making sure it flows, rather than just taking Top 40 requests all night long. There are plenty of DJs that can do that—if you want something unique and memorable, you should contact Jamie and the team at Ceremony. Worth every penny." - Shayna Rader
Tiffany Ishihara and Josh Compton Wedding
"Jamie was the DJ at my wedding and I cannot recommend him enough. I should mention that the music at my wedding was the the most important element to my husband and I; Jamie did not disappoint. He has a very extensive knowledge of all types of music and was able to curate a playlist for our very specific request - 1970’s Power Pop. Not only was he able to create a playlist we really loved, but he was super excited about it and made the process very easy. There was never a moment that we had to worry about what was playing. If you want a DJ that will put a lot of thought and energy into your big day, Jamie is the way to go!" - Tiffany Ishihara
Addie Evans and Adam Schnirel Wedding
"Jamie jammed out our wedding a few years ago and I loved his style. Jamie rocked the dance party and curated the dinner perfectly. I loved that he worked with us to learn our style and mixed the music accordingly. I also was excited that he brought records new and old.If you are looking for a fun DJ and want a custom, hard working, energetic and passionate guy, Jamie is for you!" - Adam Schnirel
Emily Schaeffer and Michael Omer-Man Wedding
"I'll just come out and say it: we had the best music of any wedding I've been to before and since ours! Jamie played the perfect combination of tunes from the genres we selected to fit the exact moment of the wedding, from cocktail hour to dinner to dancing. The music built upon itself, telling a story that flowed flawlessly and fit each moment of the wedding perfectly. Most importantly - and impressively - he had everyone from toddler, to Gen X survivor, to octogenarian shaking their booties all night long! Our guests, from uncles to best friends, complimented us repeatedly.
Music is an essential part of both my and my husband's lives, but although we had been together for two years, finding common musical ground seemed daunting. (Were we going to have a wedding playing only NIN, Tool and Tori Amos?!) Jamie has a vast and impressive collection of music. Through discussions by phone and a super fun exercise he created that we each did, Jamie homed in on our individual and mutual tastes and helped us design a playlist that would have us both exclaiming, "I love this song!" over and over throughout the night (playing, for instance, upbeat and danceable tracks from Morrissey, to the Cure, to Depeche Mode, weaving in rug-cutting songs by Michael Jackson, David Bowie and the like). He also made planning a wedding from abroad easy, affordable and even fun! We can't recommend him more highly." - Emily Schaeffer
Jessica Taich and Josh Levitz Wedding
"When planning our wedding we knew that we wanted to have a reception with music we actually loved. But finding a wedding DJ that got our taste was a challenge. We had attended a few of Jamie's Debaser nights at the Knockout and always had so much fun. On a whim we contacted Jamie to see if he would DJ our wedding - and luckily he was interested! We met for drinks and talked about the kind of music and vibe we hoped to have at our wedding reception. Jamie was extremely responsive and very excited to give us our dream party. On the day of the event Jamie was timely and professional and the dance party was incredible. Our friends 3 years later still talk about how Jamie was the best wedding DJ and love to reminisce about the playlist. Jamie and team are hands-on, passionate, and genuinely want you to have the best time at your wedding. We would highly recommend hiring Ceremony DJ's!" - Jess & Josh Levitz