Oldies, classic rock, soul, new wave, punk and indie wedding, Amphitheatheater of the Redwoods, Pema Osel Ling, Watsonville, CA.
“We did our initial consult with Jamie. My wife is passionate about music and had already begun compiling an enormous library of songs she wanted to hear/dance to. He was able to sit with us, and directed the questions to make certain he captured the entirety of her vision while also making me feel heard. Unfortunately (for him, fortunately for us!), he was booked for the date of our wedding. With other vendors this would be a challenge, but not with these professionals! Jamie handed over his detailed notes to Jackie, who called us to make sure we were ok with the change and who was clearly a professional who had prepared for our wedding. The ceremony: They supplied the equipment, and we had no mic issues. The ceremony went perfectly with the right music at the right times etc. No complaints there. The reception: Jackie is an absolute rockstar! She played every song we wanted to hear, avoided the ones we didnt (even when guests made ... loud... requests), and danced along with the music. She knew how to work the room, and got our older family members up and dancing early before gradually transitioning to more modern/upbeat dance songs by the end of the night. She was so much fun and kept the dance floor going from 9 to 1AM! She really went above and beyond for us. We could not be more pleased. Several guests approached me during the evening to compliment our DJ choice and to ask how we found her. What better compliment can one have? You work with a lot of vendors to pull off a wedding. Jamie and Jackie are consummate professionals, and I suspect that no matter who you work with here you'll be in good hands! I'd give them 6 stars if I could.” - A.J. Cole
A Fall Wedding in the Santa Cruz Mountains
I like to think of Bonnie and AJ’s taste in music the way that their venue impressed me, classic, with a little twist of the unexpected. Arriving at Pema Osel Ling takes you by surprise- One minute you’re in the middle of a shadowy, dense redwood forest, the next you’re out in the open sunshine of a hilltop in the Santa Cruz Mountains at this beautiful retreat center run by the Vajrayana Foundation. The venue offers a diversity of locations within the location that I found interesting and appealing- a lake, a redwood ampitheater, various open air fields, several indoor rooms.
This variety ranging from classic to surprising was reflected in my clients’ wide ranging and eclectic tastes. It was clear right away in our initial meeting that Bonnie and AJ were music lovers with tastes grounded in oldies, classic rock, soul and new wave, with some fun punk-flavored digressions.
Jazz, Folk & California Pop Cocktail Hour & Dinner
Not to stop at just that huge scope of musical options, the newlyweds-to-be also dug jazz, mostly vocal standards like Blossom Dearie, Dean Martin, Billie Holiday and Louis Armstrong. They envisioned a smooth, jazzy cocktail hour, that also combined some folk and pop sounds in a very interesting way.
The cocktail hour and dinner time took advantage of California’s warm and sunny autumn weather, outdoors on a grassy lawn surrounded by the towering trees of the redwood forest. This complemented the jazzy light atmosphere of the music perfectly, the warm folk flavors, and the keenly selected pop tracks that had a definite “California” feel to them. “Wedding Bell Blues” by the 5th Dimension, “Dream a Little Dream of Me” by the Mamas & the Papas (which manages to be both jazzy and California pop), “God Only Knows” by the Beach Boys, and (ok it’s not pop but c’mon) “Going to California” by Led Zepplin.
Kicking Off the Dance with Oldies, Soul, Classic Rock & New Wave
We moved indoors for the dance party, where we had family dances to “Fast” by Luke Bryan and “Heart of Gold” by Neil Young, and the first dance to “Just the Way You Are” by Billy Joel- a song which I am surprised I haven’t heard as a first dance before, since it has really great lyrics and the right kind of midtempo vibe that is perfect for this romantic moment.
From here on out, Bonnie and AJ’s impressive musical taste was really on display! They had given me so much to work with, I decided that the best plan of action was to work my way more or less chronologically, starting all the way back with Elvis, Little Richard, “If You Wanna Be Happy,” and other jams from the 1950s!
Next, we moved into the early 1960s with Sam Cooke, “Love Potion Number 9,” “Do Wah Diddy.” This flowed naturally into the late ‘60s and early 1970s some funky stuff from James Brown, and right on into full 1970s goodness with “I’m Coming Out” by Diana Ross and “Joy to the World” by Three Dog Night and “Everlasting Love” by Carl Carlton. I remember being somewhat surprised at what a hit “Mr. Blue Sky” by ELO turned out to be- people really got out on the floor for that one… Do I have Guardians of the Galaxy 2 to thank for this?
Here is where we started throwing in a little of that punk flavor that added a fresh bite to things: the Clash and “A Town Called Malice” by the Jam (which is arguably a Motown song done by angry white Englishmen). This transitioned well into the new wave of the 1980s with New Order, “Cars” by Gary Newman, “Whip It” by Devo, the Police, Hall & Oates… Okay, there was a lot of 1980s :)
Prince & Indie Fave Jonathan Richman : What Are Your Special Songs?
I often ask my clients to let me know if there are any songs that are special to them as a couple, or that they just really wanna dance to! To be totally honest, I can’t remember if Bonnie and AJ let me know ahead of time whether these two songs were especially important to them, but I remember them both being highlights of the evening, and they both happened to fall in the “1980s” portion of the night.
Prince is pretty much a standard at weddings- Unless you specifically tell me not to play the Purple One, I am almost certainly going to spin “Kiss” or someone is going to request it. In this case, the song at hand was “Let’s Go Crazy” which was apt, because Bonnie took the opportunity to play air guitar with her bouquet and writhe around on the dancefloor, showing off the red Converse sneakers she had changed into with her wedding dress. The moment was fantastic, and I’m sure I’m not the only one there that night who remembered it!
If I remember correctly, I was unsure how to pull off “I Was Dancing in a Lesbian Bar” by Jonathan Richman, but decided to just go for it. The singer-songwriter, who somehow straddles indie and punk asthetics with humor and wit (you might know him from his appearances in the comedy “There’s Something About Mary”). Now it was AJ’s time to shine on the dancefloor; he knew all the lyrics and just glowed as the center of attention, when he struck me as someone that didn’t necessarily need to be such.
Make it Romantic and Classic, But With a Playful Punk Kick
As we got closer to the end of the night, we got closer to the end of the century. “99 Luftballons” and “You Can Call Me Al” gave way to ‘90s favorites like “Virtual Insanity” by Jamiroquai. Here is where some more fun and playful punk spiced up the mix a bit with “Sweetness” by Jimmy Eat World and “Time Bomb” from Rancid. We finally hit the end of the millenium with Arcade Fire, Carly Rae Jepsen, Daft Punk, and Tegan and Sara.
Overall, the night was a blast. I remember AJ coming up to me at some point and telling me that he was having fun. “No, I’m having so much fun! This is so much fun!” I enthusiastically responded. It is always a pleasure to DJ for music lovers of all stripes, and especially when I get to play so many varieties of music in a single night. I loved the classic feel of Bonnie and AJ’s taste in music, and all the little surprises sprinkled in along the way kept me on my toes.
Venue: Pema Osel Ling / Photographer: Ashley Wexler Photography / DJ: Ceremony DJs
