“Jamie & DJ Jackie were AMAZING! More than we could have asked for. I've had some really awful experiences with previous DJs and so I was super nervous trying to pick one for our wedding. I felt in such good hands after my thorough first chat with Jamie. He walked me through the process and when DJ Jackie got involved it was continued smooth sailing. I highly recommend Ceremony DJs. We had guests absolutely blown away by DJ Jackie. People were coming up to us all night saying they had never been anywhere with such a great DJ. (that's a great feeling on your wedding day!) I cannot say enough thanks, you were kick ass! *They did our uplighting too! It was perfect!” — Julianna Koopmans
Kristin Neland and Nate Bowen Wedding
“My wife and I could not be happier with the job that Jackie Sugarlumps and Ceremony DJs did for us during our recent wedding in San Francisco. We absolutely recommend her and Ceremony DJs for your event.
One of our top priorities for our wedding was that we have a good DJ, someone who was knowledgable and passionate about music, someone who could read a crowd and put together a solid set list that got people moving. Jackie exceeded our expectations in every category.
First of all, she was incredibly organized and easy to talk to. We had several meetings before our ceremony and Jackie was always ready to go with questions and great ideas that helped make our experience smooth and unique to our musical tastes.
At the event, Jackie arrived early to the venue and made sure that the sound and lighting would be perfect. As major music nerds and audiophiles we were super impressed. The bass and treble were perfectly set and both the chapel for the ceremony (indoors) and courtyard for the reception (outdoors) had studio-quality sound.
Jackie supplemented the songs that we chose with similar genres and artists that melded perfectly with our musical tastes. Moreover, you could tell that she herself is a huge music fan. As she DJ'd she danced along with the music and made our guests feel like they were attending a music festival. We received so many compliments from our friends and family for our choice of DJ. Everyone, especially this newlywed couple, went home happy.” — Nate
Amanda Tomasetti and James Rymer Wedding
“My husband and I hired Jamie as our DJ for our wedding this past September and he did such a fantastic job! He really wanted to get to know what types of music our guests and we loved to listen to and customized the music to fit our group perfectly! On top of DJing our entire wedding, he also helped us live stream our wedding to all of our guests who were not able to make it. He spent so much time making sure everything went perfectly and we are so happy our friends and family who couldn’t travel were able to share our wedding day with us! Jamie was so fun and easy to work with and we are so fortunate to have chosen him for our special day!” - Amanda Tomasetti
“We noticed Ceremony DJs was highly rated on multiple platforms so we set up a call. We liked Jamie so much that we didn’t call anyone else! During the first call Jamie asked us questions to get an understanding of the kind of music that we liked as well as what our guests might like. From there, he crafted an amazing set for the entire wedding! Another awesome thing with Jamie is he helped us with day of coordination since we did not have a wedding coordinator. Apart from handling the entirety of our music, Jamie and his good friend Ed helped us stream our entire wedding for our loved ones who could not make it. They have a combination of cameras for a variety of situations and we received much praise from the stream viewers! Jamie is amazing at what he does but even better than this he is an awesome person to work with! We will be recommending him to all of our friends and family that are getting married!” - James Rymer
Lexi Clayburn and Ernie Harmon Wedding
Lisa Sim and Peter Yang Wedding
“A DJ, MC and lighting team that elevated our entire wedding program. From the initial inquiry, Jamie was very thorough to understand our wedding theme and expectations. He also provided past insight during our pre-wedding brainstorm to help us plan out the run of show (welcoming cocktails, grand entrance, toasting speeches, first dance and party music). We were not having a ceremony and wanted the reception to be more than the usual open bar + dance floor program. Jamie and Rocky delivered more than just the usual dance floor / club /top 40 music. There was deep consideration for the range of guests (family vs. relatives) to really make the music feel like a soundtrack for all on our special night. The equipment was not only high quality in sound and setup in a true audiophile consideration - there was not a table that was overwhelmed by the speakers placement. Last thing to mention, the communication during the whole process went smoothly. They followed up on our curated playlist suggestions, were punctual with load in/out and partnered well with our day-of coordinator and venue staff. Thanks again Ceremony DJs for making it a memorable wedding and New Years party for all!” - Peter Yang
Camille Cuentas and Patrick Mahar Wedding
“Jamie was so awesome to work with from the beginning. He met with my husband and I to get a sense of our individual music tastes and to see how he could fuse them together. We appreciate his openness to our requests and understanding of what kind of vibes we wanted to set for our reception. We had a much smaller wedding reception and it still felt like a huge party! The original timeline of events didn't quite go as planned but Jamie was great at going with the flow and reading the crowd to see what was best. Our families love to dance and so 99% of the night consisted of us dancing.” - Camille Cuentas
Claudia Eslahpazir and Mike Michon Wedding
“Jamie did a great job with our wedding. We had some special hardware needs because of our actual ceremony being on top of a hill. Jamie got the hardware that we needed and hooked us up. The rest of the party was completely on point -- the dinner was romantic and chill, the dance party was high-energy and got people moving. He spends a lot of time up front tailoring the set list to your specific tastes and needs. And the comments we got from guests were that the songs played fit exactly our style, with a lot of nuance. It was great!” - Mike Michon
Katie Barsanti and Cyrus Blankinship Wedding
“James DJ'd at my wedding 2 weeks ago and he completely blew away both me and my wife's expectations. From the first phone call I had with him, he was extremely enthusiastic and I knew we were in good hands. We simply gave him a list of some of our favorite songs and he managed to break them up perfectly into a groovy afrobeat cocktail hour and 70's inspired main set that had everyone on the dance floor. Couldn't recommend him enough.” - Cyrus Blankinship
”James was amazing! My husband talked to him on the phone when we were on the hunt for a DJ and called me up afterwards to tell me that he didn’t want to talk to any other ones, James was the one. He is super outgoing and attentive and really just seems like he loves his job. He played everything we wanted the night of our wedding and at some point during the night a friend said "how do I get this guys playlist?!" I would highly recommend to any friend or family member! “ - Katie Barsanti
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
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
Karen Choy and Jan-Ole Simon Wedding
“Jamie is a fantastic DJ. Besides playing exactly what we wanted and knowing how to mix and match music to make the flow perfect, Jamie is also extremely professional and reliable. He is in constant communication from the planning stages to the day of the wedding. He is a very pleasant person to work with, and his enthusiasm and knowledge made me really happy because I knew he cared a lot about what he was doing and wanted to do a fantastic job. All my friends loved the music, and my husband and I are extremely satisfied. Music was one of our top priorities in our budget and Jamie fit the bill perfectly. Highly recommended!” - Karen Choy
“James had a great feeling for what we wanted, a wedding with great music finally. We had people from all over the US and other countries coming and still he made everybody dance!” - Jan-Ole Simon
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
Danielle Perez and Drew Daniel Wedding
“When I started looking for a DJ, I knew I didn't want your typical cheesy DJ that barks at the crowd and plays the chicken dance. I knew Jamie's DJ work and thought he would be a great fit. And he was! He worked with us months in advance to make sure he knew our music likes and dislikes. My FH had a great time talking music with Jamie, who is a music knowledge god. He then came up with a playlist that kept us dancing all night! He was flexible and accommodating when I changed the set-up of the dance area on him day of. He also provided the music for our ceremony. Overall, exceeded our expectations!” - Danielle Perez
“Jamie by far is one of the nicest djs I have ever met. He djed for me and my wife's wedding in May. When I heard he actually uses turntables and records I was blown away with excitement. Months before the amazing day he sent us an extensive list of stuff he has. Me being really into an eclectic range of genres had a blast picking and choosing bands/artists my wife and I would love to hear at our wedding. We was stoked on some of the stuff we chose and he also was very intrigued by our love of 90's hip/hop and country. Weeks before the wedding he came and toured our venue with us to see where he was going to set up. Jamie did such an amazing job queing and looping the jams all throughout the day and night! We had a blast dancing and everyone enjoyed all the music! He goes above and beyond and you can see and tell he enjoys what he does. Thanks again, Brother!” - Drew Daniel
Brittany Schell and Ryan Loughlin Wedding
“Rocky was the DJ at our wedding, and the whole process working with her and Jamie ahead of the big day was very smooth and enjoyable! On our wedding day, Rocky handled the transition from ceremony site to reception site smoothly, and kept people dancing all night with a great mix of music! She really developed a playlist in line with our tastes, we couldn't be happier. Thanks Rocky and Jamie!” - Brittany Schell
Ceremony: Dipsea Gardens / Venue: Stinson Beach Community Center / Photographer: Romin Lee Photo / DJ: Ceremony DJs / Caterer: El Tonayense
Catherine Hollis and Michael Littleton Wedding
“Jamie is the best DJ you could possibly hire, especially if good music and fun dancing is part of your wedding plan. We were looking to have an 80’s dance party at our wedding and Jamie cooked up a magical set for us. He handled two locations (an outdoor meadow for the ceremony and an indoor space for the reception) without a break in the music. We had fun talking and planning with him ahead of time. It was a really seamless and easy experience. And though we wanted 80s music, Jamie is such a cool music nerd that he can handle or create whatever kind of mood you are looking for. Now stop reading reviews and call DJ Jamie!!”
Patrick Malloy and Diego Ruiz Wedding
“My husband and I had an absolutely amazing experience with Jamie DJing our wedding a couple of weekends ago! We had a good feeling from the beginning - he hosts indie dance nights at a bar near our apartment and his sample playlists perfectly matched our tastes - and he totally exceeded our expectations.
The most important part first: Everyone had an amazing time at the event! Jamie covered the time before our ceremony, flawlessly handled music and audio during the ceremony, and kept the party going from the cocktail hour all the way through last call. He chose the perfect music for all the different parts of the evening, and managed to appeal to all the generations that were there. I knew he would nail it with the indie music, but he also did an amazing job getting up to speed some on some of our lower-brow pop favorites, which our friends loved.
Bigger picture: Jamie went above and beyond to help with our music. We did not have a wedding planner, so were stretched pretty thin at times. A less involved DJ might have all the music you want, but it will end up on you to spend a lot of time choosing exactly which songs you want to hear and when. All we had to do with Jamie was tell him our general concept, pick a few of the important songs, and mark the artists we liked in his catalog, and then he handled it all from there. I'm sure it was a lot of work for him, but we were immensely grateful that he was able to take vague direction from us and create an unforgettable musical experience.
I will be recommending Jamie to anyone I know in the Bay Area who is looking for a DJ! He does a fabulous job and is also a very nice person who is a lot of fun to be around!” - Patrick Malloy
”Jamie did such an amazing job with everything for my wedding a few months ago in San Francisco! He was super easy to communicate with leading up to the event, and did a great job working collaboratively with my husband and I to figure out music that would both feel distinctively like us but also appeal to all our friends and family – he’s so knowledgeable about so many genres, I got the impression he could work with pretty much anyone’s musical taste. He covered everything with day-of set up, did our sound during the ceremony, edited specific verses out of our recessional song – he was willing to step up and do basically anything we asked to help the event run smoothly (a really big deal, as we had no planner and were not familiar with event planning ourselves!). And above all, he did an incredible job getting our reception party started, keeping everyone dancing until it was time to shut down the venue. I’d enthusiastically recommend him and Ceremony DJs to anyone who needed a DJ for any event, and especially a wedding -- his music and all-around service was a huge part of what made the day so special for me, my husband and all our friends and family! (A sample text from a friend the day after about our wedding music: “THAT WAS LITERAL BLISS FOR ME”.)” - Diego Ruiz
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
SF Weekly Mix
Giving Reality Bites the Soundtrack It Deserves
For Debaser's 9th anniversary party this Saturday, DJ Jamie Jams has put together a booming alt-rock mix.
Jessie Schiewe Fri. May 26, 2017 12:17pm, All Shook Down
This year, Debaser — a monthly party at the Knockout dedicated to early ’90s alt-rock and led by DJ Jamie Jams — turns 9. For the party’s third anniversary in 2011, Jams concocted a mixtape of “odes to love and love lost” themed around Cameron Crowe’s film Singles, replete with vocal cuts from the movie. For its fifth anniversary, Debaser created a mix themed around Boyz n the Hood, with tracks by Cyprus Hill, EPMD, Grand Puba, Public Enemy, and more, and jokes from Ice Cube littered throughout.
In keeping with that tradition, Jams has just released Debaser’s third official mixtape, this time based on the iconic ’90s film Reality Bites, with songs by Yo La Tengo, Fugazi, R.E.M., The Lemonheads, My Bloody Valentine, and more.
“I wanted to take another stab at the ’90s rock era,” Jams says. “How can we distill it into its most distilled form? How can we get a concentrated dose of whatever je ne sais quoi there was about the ’90s?”
He’ll be playing the mix — along with an assortment of records, from the 12 crates of vinyl he’ll be bringing to the party — at the Knockout on Saturday, May 27.
“The idea is to create the feeling of being at the craziest rock show, but made out of all records,” he says.
We chatted with Jams about the mix, the particular songs he simply had to include on it, and why he chose Reality Bites in the first place.
Catch Debaser’s 9th Anniversary Party from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m., on Saturday, May 27, at The Knockout.