I recently had the chance to DJ Melissa and Greg’s ceremony, cocktail and reception in the wonderfully appointed Hay Adams ballroom [The wonderful images seen here are courtesy Documentary Associates.] The weather was surprisingly warm, and it was just a really pretty night to be in DC. When I arrived the ballroom was all set up for the ceremony, so I quickly set up my gear and soon guest were arriving to the sounds of Bon Iver, Otis Redding and Jason Mraz. The ceremony was under way shortly thereafter and Melissa walked down the aisle to Israel Kamakawiwo’ole’s “Over the Rainbow”. The rabbi did a short but sweet service and as soon as the glass broke I played “Ohd Yishama” as the couple walked down the aisle.

The ceremony set-up was quickly dismantled and we were soon ready for Melissa and Greg’s first dance. I announced them in and they danced to Jason Mraz “I’m Yours.” We then had a quick family dance to Frank Sinatra’s “Fly me to the Moon,” and then broke for food and cocktails.

Greg gave a traditional Jewish blessing over the challah and food was served buffet style. For the dinner/cocktail hour I played some classic soul, jazz and a bit of indie rock. I even had one of the guests come up and thank me for playing Fleet Foxes “Blue Ridge Mountains,” which is always nice to hear. The food was amazing, they had a bit of everything but it all just looked and smelled scrumptious.

After everyone was stuffed with food it was dance time, so I started out with a couple of slow songs from the Motown era and then got everyone going with The Four Tops “I Can’t Help Myself.” With most of the guests being younger I opted to play a lot more modern music so it wasn’t long before everyone was out fist-pumping to Lady Gaga’s “Just Dance,” which I mixed into Ke$ha’s “Tik Tok”and Usher’s “DJ’s Got Me Falling In Love.” I then proceeded to play a string of top 40’s songs with the song of the night being Flo Rida’s “Club Can’t Handle Me.”

I also strung in some slower classics like Mark Morrison’s “Return of the Mack” and Soul Decision’s “Faded,” which worked very well! We broke for a quick cake cutting in which I played Al Green’s “Lets Stay Together,” and then Paramour “You Are The Only Exception,” before upping the tempo again to finish out the night. We ended with Alman Brothers’ classic “Melissa,” and with that it was time to call it a night.