Discovering Our Dream Portland, Oregon DJ | Getting Hitched
Photo by Cast + Forge Photography
We’re not gonna lie: We didn’t always envision ourselves hiring a DJ for our big day! Okay, maybe Jared did, but Kathryn wasn’t exactly sold. After some conversations with our loved ones and informative fellow vendors, Jared gathered enough ammo to convince Kathryn of this vendor addition that ended up being one of the most important, valuable hires for our entire event. Here’s our experience discovering our dream Portland, Oregon DJ!
Discovering Our Dream Portland, Oregon DJ: Stumptown DJs
In the beginning, Kathryn believed that we could cut costs for the wedding by simply preparing Spotify playlists and playing them through the bluetooth hookup at the venue. However, without a Day-Of Coordinator, we quickly learned the benefits of having a full-service DJ who also emceed and hosted the event, keeping the event’s timeline on track and helping to make all the necessary announcements to guests.
Jared had done some early Google research of the best DJs in the Portland area and was most drawn to Stumptown DJs. Once we decided to move forward with booking one, we knew we wanted a mid-tier package that included DJ and emcee services, as well as planning meetings directly with the DJ. We upgraded to increase the time in our package and added on larger physical range of audio so the sound is pristine in all rooms of the venue!
When we were ready to select our specific package, they had a couple DJs who were available on our date and we were thrilled to see DJ Benni on the list. Benni was our top pick from the get-go and was familiar with the genres of music we adore. An even bigger bonus: He also comes with a background in pro-sound and lighting production, as well as audio engineering, which is fantastic for clients like us who have live performances worked into their big day.
From the jump, DJ Benni has made the process incredibly easy and smooth - he’s proactive and on top of our meeting schedule, ensuring that we at least quickly touch base every single month and iron out any outstanding questions. He has been eager to take on all our little quirky requests and has even taken the time to separately coordinate with our friends who are doing the main live performance for our first dance. Stumptown DJs also provides an incredibly easy to use timeline software that allows clients to get incredibly specific about their desires (and it organizes all your info in one place!).
Here’s a few of the questions we asked DJ Benni:
How do you approach the music you play for your clients? Can we suggest a majority of the songs and that won’t step on your toes?
Are you able to transition specific songs and accommodate small custom tweaks / cuts that we have in mind?
Who makes the announcements for X, Y, Z? What is your overall role as emcee?
Can we do a decent soundcheck for our live performers?
What all do you need for your station - table, chair, linen, etc.?
We truly couldn’t be happier that we decided to pull the trigger and hire DJ Benni! Everyone on the Stumptown DJs team has been fabulous to work with and we cannot wait to jam out to Benni’s legendary talent on the big day.
Vendor Rec:
DJ Benni with Stumptown DJs
@stumptowndjs on Instagram
www.stumptowndjs.com/dj-benni
About the Couple
We’re Jared and Kathryn - Olympia, Washington natives that have dated since April 2013 (a whole decade in, baby!) and have lived together a majority of those years as well. Jared is launching into his career in IT, and Kathryn is the owner of a freelance content marketing agency serving clients across the country. Together we’re tech nerds, Pacific Northwest travelers, the ultimate foodies, and drag show lovers. We’re so excited to share our wedding journey with you + hope to provide some insight that helps you along the way!
