DTLA Oviatt DJ

The DTLA Oviatt DJ Rooftop is one of the unique locations in Southern California to have a wedding and Jessica & David must have chosen it because it has that charm you don’t get from a normal ballroom. The Oviatt is 97 years old and is a great example of French Art Deco, and definitely has a distinct vibe.

Jessica & David must have felt the vibe was similar to Stephen Kings h otel “The Overlook”, because the theme of this wedding was “The Shining”. This Los Angles Wedding DJ has seen many themes, but never a Shining theme. The couple created all sorts of Shinning touches, such as the table assignment was a hotel key tag. The table number and the room number, #237 (The room you should never go into) were on the tag. They also had pictures of the cast at each table. It was so awesome, especially since I’m a huge King fan and have read the book several times.

As you can tell by the video we are definitely not videographers. I try to catch great moments at all our weddings on my iPhone. This is super hard because we are actually (believe it or not) focusing on the wedding. I always forget to capture footage/proof of what we do, but this time I was on it :). At this wedding I caught a few good moments which boiled down to 7 hours in 7 minutes. Yes I know in this Tik Tok world 7 minutes is a feature length movie, but you can’t get the vibe of any place by just poking your head in.

Other than the quirky theme, everything else was traditional, which actually started off with a bit of mist and rain.  They had a guitarist playing pre-ceremony and during the wedding we had Mom play and sing. During cocktails everyone went to play around with our Photo Booth and our cool new props. The staff of the Oviatt quickly switched the rooftop ceremony into a reception spot. They also laid down a dance floor, but it does take a full hour for the turnaround.

I love that the couple came into Walter Murphy’s, A Fifth of Beethoven, which I have never used before for a grand entrance… it actually works great. Then they directly went into their first dance, Neil Youngs, Harvest Moon. As soon as it ended we went into some dancing which I feel is the key to a great wedding…let me explain.

In my opinion you need to get the crowd up to dance before dinner. Having everyone join the couple after a 1st dance is a no-brainer. It puts the thought in the head of the guests that this is a “fun” wedding, not a dinner party, and when they get them up you break down that barrier of them not getting involved. They actually sort of have to dance the first dance or they seem kinda lame. Also because we hit them with a fun dance song after a slow song, they stick around for one more. “Ok, I’ll dance one more”, but since we are monster mixers, they dance to 2 or 3 songs. Now when they walk back to the table… they feel better/cool. They are actually now full fledge participants in your wedding, not leaving early.

When we do the Grand entrance, 1st Dance, a short dance set and the toasts; we do it all in 30 minutes. It makes all our weddings a solid 10 because it starts things off right! (Great example in this DTLA Oviatt DJ video).

Here are a couple of problems we run into. The first is, if the party is running on time from the start we have no issues. If things happen (weather, dress issues, long photo sessions, crazy family drama) the time frame will be pushed back. But instead of EVERYONE adjusting 30 minutes (Kitchen & Staff), they ALWAYS have the dj cut what they have planned and set up, which is crucial to the whole nights vibe. Everyone needs to adjust the exact amount of time they are late, then communicate and compromise.

The second is an inexperienced wedding planner who either has never seen guests dance before dinner. Or one that crams the 1st dance, Father & Daughter dance together and having a cake cutting right after dinner. Why? So they can send staff home early saving them $. The excuse is, we want to get all the formalities out of the way so you can have fun.

This wedding had everyone dancing, and you will be able to hear a couple of the fun mixes. I believe in most instances every song can me mixed. Unless it’s super famous like a “Sweet Caroline” that everyone knows, mix every 2 minutes, and give everyone more music. If your DTLA Dj is not on board with this philosophy… run away.

Shout Outs

Photographer – Hello Photo LA – Heather is such a pro, easy to work with, easy to COMPROMISE with :). All of the photos in the video are hers.

The Oviatt – Lindsey Haskins is the best to work with, I’m pretty sure you can add her on as a day of coordinator. Something I highly recommend.  myevents@releventful.info

And here is our 5 star Google review of the day from Jessica Sandridge.