Lomas Santa Fe Country Club Wedding – Angelina and Jeff Stordahl

Client: Angelina and Jeff Stordahl
Venue: Lomas Santa Fe Country Club
Venue Address: 1505 Lomas Santa Fe Drive, Solana Beach, CA 92075

Number of guests: 218+
Services Provided: Wedding DJ and Master of Ceremonies, Enhanced Dance Floor Lighting, Wedding Video Montage

On-site Coordinator: Michelle from Lomas Santa Fe Country Club
Day-of Coordinator: Vali Nemetz
Officiant: Matt Warner
Photography: Jackie Wonders Photography
Videography: Curtis Nemetz Productions (Travis Avila / Nick Bower)

This wedding was the second of two I had in a weekend, and contained so many unique touches which I just have to share with you all.

Angelina Duran and Jeff Stordahl contacted me in March to see if I could DJ their wedding. We talked about their budget, and based on what they had allotted I was able to put together a package which we were both confortable with. They had chosen Lomas Santa Fe Country Club as their wedding venue and wanted someone who knew the venue. We met in-person and after the meeting I felt pretty good about our conversation. Apparently so did they because the day after our meeting they e-mail and said they were ready to book me for their wedding!

A few weeks before the wedding one of the groomsmen, Curtis Nemetz, e-mailed me to ask about assisting with some ideas he had. At the time these were ‘top secret’ but now that the event is over I can divulge the details. Basically Curtis planned to do his toast to the bride and groom as a rap performance(!) and wanted to ask about microphone details and provide me with the instrumental track he was going to be rapping over. We talked a bit back and forth via email, and got all the details worked out.

A week or so after working out the details with Curtis, I met with Angelina and Jeff for my usual wedding worksheet review and finalization meeting. In this meeting, Angelina played some songs she liked and was considering using for her ceremony and reception. I showed her alternate versions and helped them with every song of the ceremony and many of the reception. We even discussed a song they wanted to use for their recessional (MGMT – Kids) but were hesitant about because of the slow buildup. I offered to remix it for them removing the slow buildup and instead having a short drumroll build-up with a ‘slam’ directly into the high-energy part of the song. They accepted the offer.

When I arrived at Lomas Santa Fe Country Club, I was greeted by the helpful and friendly staff. Due to the non-standard setup I use for weddings (turntables and such), we had previously arranged to have the room a little different than normal, and they worked with me to make sure everything worked well for me as I in turn worked to make sure that the set up would not inconvenience the venue staff/catering in any way. The set up actually took a while because they were over capacity (seems to be a recurring theme at my weddings!) and it was difficult to get equipment into the room and then to the proper location. Ceremony took place down a long set of stairs while led out to the grass area, which also took a bit of work to get equipment to. Luckily I knew this venue and had arrived early so that I would have enough time to complete set up and sound checks. I also must give a special thanks to Michelle, the venue coordinator who worked with me all night long. She was amazing! It is rare to find a coordinator that is so helpful, willing to work with you and compromise on details in order to make sure everything runs smooth. She not only has her client’s best interests in mind, but also the vendors. I look forward to working with her again.
The ceremony was beautiful. The guest count was large, and so was the amount of people in the wedding party! There were 9 bridesmaids and 9 groomsmen altogether, as you can see here.

Ceremony music:

Seating (Prelude): Traditional classical string music
Parents and Bridesmaids: Vitamin String Quartet – Coldplay’s “Yellow”
Processional: Pachebel – Canon in D
Sand Ceremony & Communion (Interlude): Jon Foreman – Your Love Is Strong
Recessional: MGMT – Kids (DJ Dennis J processional remix)

The remixed version of MGMT – “Kids” really did the trick. The energy was high, people really seemed to like it, and the bride and groom looked incredibly happy as they walked back from the altar.

The reception started well with a nice relaxing playlist of “rat pack” tunes. For the Grand Entrance, the wedding party entered to an instrumental version of Debbie Deb – When I Hear Music. Both Michelle and Vali helped me with this. With their assistance it was much easier to manage the events and make sure everything ran smooth. When it came time to announce the Bride and Groom, I mixed in the regular version of the same song and as they hit the dance floor the lyrics started playing. The wedding party had a blast dancing to the introduction song, and this pretty much set the tone of the night… celebrate!

First dance came next, and it was beautiful though I was busy coordinating so I was unable to get a picture of it. I’ve contacted the photographer and will post a picture of it if I receive one from her. Jeff and Angelina danced to Elvis – Can’t Help Falling In Love.
During the end of dinner, I set up my projector and screen and played a beautiful slideshow that had been created by Curtis Nemetz Productions.

Toasts began a little behind schedule but that’s not unusual. Due to the size of the room and the amount of people, we didn’t have the toasters stand in front of the bride and groom as is customary, instead they gave the toasts from their seats, which worked well in this case.

After standard toasts, I announced another special performance from a young girl named Alexia “Lexie” Jones (Angelina’s niece, I believe). We hooked her piano keyboard up to my soundsystem and she played a rendition for Angelina and Jeff with amazing skill which received generous applause. I am hoping to get a picture of her performance as well, for now all I have is a set up picture of her equipment…

Jeff and Angelina are very close to their families, so there were more than the usual amount of ‘parent dances’.

Father/Daughter dance (Tom) – “You are so Beautiful To Me” (Joe Cocker)

Grandfather/Granddaughter dance (Richard) – “We’ve only just Begun” (Carpenters)

Mother/Son dance(Janice) – “My Wish” (Rascal Flatts)

Mother/Daughter dance (Jeannette) –
“I Hope You Dance” (Leanne Womack)

After parent dances it was time for the special toast. I handed Curtis Nemetz the mic, got behind the turntables, and well… you’ll just have to watch for yourself!

The end of Curtis’ rap triggered incredible applause, and the groomsmen all stayed on the floor ready to dance. So, I announced open dancing and started a good set of dance music. There was no problem getting these guests to dance, and my set flowed from disco to funk to current 40s, and surprisingly ending with 70′s funk because of the amount and types of guests still remaining at the end of the reception. Usually I count the guests remaining, but it was actually impossible this time. By the time I counted one side of the room half those people were now on the other side, or on the dance floor, or someplace else that made counting impossible! Here’s a picture towards the end of the night. Notice how many people are still there?

Everyone was having so much fun that Jeff asked me to go for an extra hour which I was all too happy to do.

When it was time to shut down, guests were yelling “one more song!” and one or two actually yelled, “ten more songs!”. However, Jeff and Ang were ready to go! I thanked the guests and family for coming and then directed their guests to follow them outside and see them off while I started tearing down.

Before I got into the equipment breakdown I did manage to get a good photo with Jeff and Angelina.