60’s baroque pop and top 40 wedding, Pelican Inn, Muir Beach, CA. Photo: Nataly Zigdon
“The best wedding DJ ever! (And I’ve been to a lot of weddings). James did such an awesome job with our wedding, we were being complimented nonstop about how good the music was and how well he was reading the dance floor (and keeping people dancing!) He listened to our requests and came up with lots of ideas that fit our more unique theme of a British wedding and my very eclectic music tastes. We have been to a lot of weddings recently, and ours was definitely the only one that kept people dancing until closing. He also did a great job with the music before and after the ceremony, plus acting as an emcee whenever we needed. I should also add, our was a destination wedding being planned from Denver, so we never met in person and it still went perfect. He was super nice and professional, can’t recommend him enough!” - Lauren Cross
”Everything we wanted and more. Jamie played my wedding and was everything we wanted and more. We planned the wedding remotely and had to put a ton of faith in our vendors. Jamie did not disappoint. His level of communication leading up to the day was just enough that we felt confident, but not too much to stress us out. We had a number of songs that could not be sourced on typical streaming services and Jamie found a way to get high-quality versions of these songs ready to go. His music kept the event running smoothly and his planning / time management with his music was spot on. His mix kept the dance floor going the entire night. His read of the crowd and of us was impeccable. This is the DJ you want for your special day, we love Jamie!” - Evan Jones
An Elegant Old World Wedding at the Pelican Inn
So we do weddings at the Pelican Inn all the time, and invariably someone says “We want it to be elegant and old world, like the space!” And at first, I wasn’t entirely clear on what they meant, but after half dozen or so weddings down at the Pelican, I get it.
First off, if you don’t know the Pelican Inn, get over there right now. It’s practically the only bar and restaurant in the area over there by Muir Woods and Muir Beach, and if you haven’t been to check out the park yet, let alone the venue, you’re really missing out.
The History of the Pelican
I didn’t know this before working there, but the Pelican Inn isn’t actually from the times of Sir Francis Drake’s first landing at the beach over there, it’s more like from the 70’s when everyone was really into baroque architecture that looked medieval, but that in no way detracts from it’s charm and possibly even enhances it! There’s a whole story about how no one in Marin even wanted the restaurant built back in the 70’s and there was a whole campaign to block it, but clearly the people of Muir Woods have seen the error of their ways because now the Pelican is literally beloved by the residents of the area, not a few of which are both storied and famous counter culture figures in their own right.
A Super Laid Back Couple
Which brings me to Evan and Lauren, who were actually our third take at tackling this challenge, but the most fun and also the most laid back. The secret of playing the Pelican is that you have to pick up some of the classical elements early in the event to accentuate the whole medieval vibe, but it’s kind of a down to earth spot, so you don’t want to overpower everyone with the formality of literally playing classical music (though we’ve tried!)
A Baroque Pop Twist
The way we’ve split the difference frequently is by going with 60’s folk and baroque pop that was influenced by classical music, but fell squarely in that hippie, renaissance fair, folk tradition the bay area is so famous for. Or as I like to call it, Wes Anderson style. Basically, the Beatles, the Beach Boys, the Kinks and even The Rolling Stones all looked to classical music as a major influence on the progressive rock music they were making in the 60’s borrowing not just from the structure of classical music and how it proceeds linearly in movements, but also the instrumentation. When you think of Wes Anderson, what do you think? Harpsicords.
A Classic Folk Ceremony
So for these guys, we started out kind of folky before the ceremony. I’ve really come around to things like Judy Collins “Hey Mr. Tamborine Man” and even Claudine Longet “Love is Blue” which is kind of a 60’s pop banger. For the cocktail hour, we brought in a little more drums, like the Andrew Oldham Orchestra’s cover of the Rolling Stones “The Last Time” made famous as a sample in The Verve’s “Bittersweet Symphony.”
A Slightly More Soulful Dinner
For the dinner, we tried to keep it 60’s but bring in a little more of a groove, so soul stuff from the same era and rock crossovers like Joe Cocker “With a Little Help From My Friends” or something. I’m always trying to bring in a Britpop pub element for the dancing to complete the idea, but these guys were just ready to rage, so we laid into it with all new pop stuff for the dancing. Like real, jump up, “I’m Sexy and I Know It” silly stuff that’s just fun when everyone’s just going for it.
A Fun Top 40 Dance Party
I forgot to mention, that while other couples we’ve worked with at the Pelican can be kind of serious about the British element, these guys literally had a cardboard cut-out of the queen to take photos with. So, as you can see, they weren’t taking the whole thing seriously and trying to one up Harry and Meghan with the formality.
Big Ups & Shout Outs
We honestly had a great time and I’m super grateful to both the couple for giving us another shot at the baroque pop idea and the Pelican for having us back so many times. If we have succeed at this task of building a cool, creative wedding company, it’s thanks in large part to the Pelican Inn for believing in us basically when we had no other clients.
Andrea is great and deserves a major award for her service to the community over there. Pop in for a beer even if you don’t get married there. And be sure to do it on Thursday nights, because that’s when all the cool locals go.
Hopefully I’m remembering that right!
Shout out to Natalie Zigdon Photography for doing a great job with the photos.
Shout out to the folks at Mill Valley Flowers who still seem to love doing weddings after an unimaginable amount of years in the business. Her and her husband are absolutely adorable and the flowers always look great. More folks I hope to be when I grow up.
Ceremony Songs
Prelude:
Processional:
Leslie Wood “Safe in Your Arms”
Recessional:
Judah the Lion “Take It All Back”
First Dance:
Father Daughter Dance:
Requests:
The Lord of the Rings “Concerning Hobbits”
Vitamin Strong Quartet “Harry in Winter”
Harry Potter Soundtrack “Nevilles Waltz”
Eric Clapton “Wonderful Tonight”
Ahmed Chawki feat. Pitbull “Habibi I Love You”
Pitbull feat. Kesha “Timber”
Macklemore “We Danced”
Nikki Minaj “Starships”
Avicii “Levels”
Venue: Pelican Inn / Photographer: Nataly Zigdon / DJ: Ceremony DJs / Florist: Mill Valley Flowers
