Today I was near downtown at the El Cortez to provide San Diego wedding DJ and lighting services for a ceremony & reception. It was in the forecast to likely be a very rainy day here in San Diego. Our bride and groom knew this was going to be a problem for their planned outdoor ceremony so they had a tent setup outside on the El Cortez patio. The ceremony and our bride’s uncle performed ceremony which was held facing the fireplace. He was really able to add a personal touch to the couple’s stories & vows.

Our couple met in high school and one memory that was brought up during the wedding ceremony was the fact that our groom always remembers his first kiss on the cheek with her. He graduated a few years before her & went on to college at USD. During this time they broke up for a while & moved on their lives. They both went their separate ways during college. Seven years went by… They didn’t totally lose touch during this time because when they were both in San Diego during holidays and summer they had a similar group of old friends. Our bride eventually moved back to San Diego. Once back they began to spend more time together and both realized they felt a little differently towards each other. They were a little older, wiser, more understanding, & slightly more mature. They learned how to value each other and eventually decided to get engaged & married. The bride’s uncle ended the ceremony with a great saying: “It only takes a few minutes to marry the one you love but it takes a lifetime to learn how to love the one you marry.”

Once inside the reception room our couple used lots of gold linens, candles, and manzanita branch centerpieces to complete their fall themed wedding. As a unique wedding favor our bride and groom decided to give each guest a personalized bottle of champagne. Our couple hired me as their San Diego wedding DJ but they also knew that they wanted to hire me to provide quite a bit of lighting for the reception ballroom inside the El Cortez. Our couple felt that the reception room tends to be on the darker side of things so it needed quite a bit of lighting to really make it look good. We were originally going to also add some lighting to the outside patio space and on the fireplace but because of the rain we had to pull everything inside. I used 20 uplights in various fall themed colors, cake spotlighting, and a gobo monogram projected down onto the dance floor to give the room a really warm and interesting look.

After the meal we kicked things off with the toasts. Our bride and groom made a very personal slide show that I projected onto an 8 foot screen as their “thank you” to family & friends. We then moved into the first dance and opened up the dance floor. Guests were a little slow to start dancing early on in the evening but after the cake they really warmed up and let loose. Everyone ended up having a great time.

San Diego Wedding Lighting & Extras Provided:  20 uplights, gobo monogram projection, cake spotlighting, and slide show projection equipment

SAN DIEGO WEDDING DJ MUSIC:

Ceremony Bridesmaid’s Song:  Forest Gump Theme – Soundtrack

Ceremony Bride’s Processional Song:  Canon in D – O’Neill brothers

Ceremony Recessional Song:  The Prince of Denmark’s March – Wynton Marsalis

Wedding Party Introductions Song:  Galvanize – Chemical Brothers

Bride & Groom Entrance Song:  Sweet Child Of Mine – Guns n Roses

First Dance Song:  Until – Sting

Mother/Daughter & Mother/Son Dance Song:  I Hope You Dance – Lee Ann Womack

Bouquet Toss Song:  Girls Just Want To Have Fun – Cindy Lauper

Cake Cutting Song:  Pour Some Sugar On Me – Def Leopard & Sugar Sugar – Archies

Last Dance Song:  November Rain – Guns and Roses

SAN DIEGO WEDDING VENDORS:

Photographers =  Your Inner Song Photography

For more information about this event or to hire us as your San Diego wedding DJ click here:   Positive Energy Productions  |  858.490.0445

Visit Us: POSITIVE ENERGY - SAN DIEGO WEDDING DJ BLOG - Professional San Diego Wedding DJ, Corporate DJ, MC, and Lighting Services

I was downtown at the El Cortez for tonight’s wedding. This wedding was a referral from two past weddings. I provided my San Diego wedding DJ services for them back in 2007 and 2008. It is always nice to see past couples at an event!

The room looked nice tonight with the contrasting purple linens & yellow uplighting. Even though the photo below was taken while there was a lot of sunlight coming into the room you can see the warmth that they add to the space. The El Cortez tends to be one of the darker reception venues due to the dark wood ceiling, red drapes, and dark wood dance floor. Lighting in this space really helps to balance that out.

A nice personal touch to the wedding was our groom’s grandparent’s wedding cake topper on display next to the cake. I am sure it was fun for them to see this after all of these years. They also had a special San Diego Chargers themed groom’s cake since he is a big fan.

I provided the cake spotlighting tonight and you can really see in the photo below what a difference it makes in a room like this! It places some importance on the cake and helps it stand out from across the room (especially when we dim the lights down later on). We opened up the dance floor and guests were ready to get out of their seats.

It really is extremely important for all of the vendors to communicate with each other. A professional coordinator always helps with this process.There were a few hiccups in the schedule (the photographers taking the bride & groom outside right after I announced that we were going into the next event). This put things on hold for about 15 minutes and guests started lose their momentum. We picked things up once they got back inside and ended the night on a strong note.

Click Here to view the professional photos from this wedding.

Extras Provided:  Gobo Monogram Projection, Slide Show Projection Equipment, Cake Spotlighting

MUSIC:

Bridal Party Introductions – “Yeah 3X” by Chris Brown

Bride & Groom Introduction – “The Time (Dirty Bit)” by Black Eyed Peas

First Dance – “From this Moment” sung by Bride’s Mom & Step-dad

Mother/Son Dance  – “The Perfect Fan” by Backstreet Boys

Bouquet Toss – “Holding Out For a Hero” by Bonnie Tyler

Garter Toss – “Pour Some Sugar On Me” by Def Leppard

Last Dance - “When You Got A Good Thing” by Lady Antebellum

SAN DIEGO WEDDING VENDORS:

Coordinator = Courtney

Catering = Ranch Events

Photographer = Pix Of Life

Videographer = Taylor Films

For more information about this event click here:  San Diego Wedding DJ

Positive Energy Productions  |  858.490.0445

Visit Us: POSITIVE ENERGY - SAN DIEGO WEDDING DJ BLOG - Professional San Diego Wedding DJ, Corporate DJ, MC, and Lighting Services

We started off the afternoon cocktail hour on the outdoor patio at the El Cortez. Once we moved inside for the reception we kicked things off with a loud and fun mariachi grand entrance! The mariachi continued to play throughout dinner. The flowers and centerpieces were comprised of a variety of vibrant colors. They really stood out against the darker rich colors of the linens and dark woods. A really fun Guinness beer groom’s cake was on display near their “official” wedding cake. I was hired as their San Diego wedding DJ because I DJ’d for their friends wedding about 6 months earlier that was also held at the El Cortez. Popular place! The music tonight consisted of a mix of Latin and American music. The group had a great time and it is always nice to run into past clients!

Extras Provided: Custom Gobo Monogram Projection

MUSIC:

Wedding Party Entrance:  Magdalenha – Sergio Mendez

Bride & Groom Entrance:  Mariachi

First Dance:  Lucky – Jason Mraz

San Diego Wedding Vendors:

Photographers:  Theorie Photography

For more information about this event click here:  San Diego Wedding DJ

Positive Energy Productions  |  858.490.0445

Visit Us: POSITIVE ENERGY - SAN DIEGO WEDDING DJ BLOG - Professional San Diego Wedding DJ, Corporate DJ, MC, and Lighting Services

El Cortez is one of my favorite San Diego wedding reception locations because it is a unique room in every aspect. The shape of the room, the wood carved ceiling, the large dark wood dance floor, the outdoor patio with fireplace, among other reasons. Tonight’s wedding was from a referral from one of my past wedding couples that actually had their wedding at the El Cortez as well. My past bride is the Director of Catering and Conference Services at The Lodge at Torrey Pines so it was great to see them again since they were guests at this wedding. The cocktail hour was moved inside due to the rain so it was a little tighter than normal with the addition of two bars inside that are normally outside on the patio. It made for a cozy atmosphere especially with the six member mariachi group handling the cocktail hour music. A nice personal touch was during the grand entrance I announced the couple and then the mariachi group played a special entrance song to really kick things off. After dinner we moved into dancing. I played a large variety of Latin music and American music and this group was pretty much non-stop until the end. El Cortez has a firm ending time by 11pm. It was one of those weddings where you know it could have gone on for another hour or two. It was also great to work with Amy and Maurice from Theorie Photography. I always have a great time when they are around. A very enjoyable night…  Click here to view more photos:  Theorie Photography Blog

San Diego Wedding Vendors:

Photographers:  Theorie Photography

Caterer: Ranch Events

For more information about this event click here:  San Diego Wedding DJ

Positive Energy Productions

858.490.0445

Here are a few pictures from Theorie Photography:

Visit Us: POSITIVE ENERGY - SAN DIEGO WEDDING DJ BLOG - Professional San Diego Wedding DJ, Corporate DJ, MC, and Lighting Services

The El Cortez is a unique round shaped room with a wood carved ceiling. The cake spotlighting truly helps the cake stand out in a great way. Uplights look beautiful on the outdoor tent during cocktail hour. Fun groom’s cake that looked exactly like a box of cigars. This wedding was a referral from their photographers at Theorie. Another great dancing group!

Here is a link to professional photos from the evening and blog post:  Theorie Photo Blog

Extras Provided: Uplights, Cake Spotlighting

Visit Us: POSITIVE ENERGY - SAN DIEGO WEDDING DJ BLOG - Professional San Diego Wedding DJ, Corporate DJ, MC, and Lighting Services