On Monday, Nov. 7, 2011, this Puerto Vallarta DJ went back to the Dreams Resort in Mismaloya. (Mismaloya is the next town south of Puerto Vallarta.) While Krista and Steven only had about 25 guests present, they were an energetic and fun-loving crowd.

During dinner music the bride wanted to hear lots of Michael Buble, Adele, and Matt Nathanson's "Come On Get Higher." The bride and groom's grand entrance was to "Crazy in Love," by Beyonce. Their first dance (which they learned some choreography for--see the video below) was Dierks Bentley's "I Wanna Make You Close Your Eyes." The garter belt was removed to "OMG," by Usher. The bouquet was tossed to...drum roll please..."Single Ladies," also by Beyonce. Dance music was 50% Top 40/Dance, 20% Country, 10% '80s, 5% Oldies, 5% Reggae, 5% Slow Dances, and 5% Salsa/Merengue. Bride's orders: no YMCA or Chicken Dance. (Although I must say, for the record, I've NEVER played the Chicken Dance at an event!)

We learned the Mexican line dance called "Payaso de Rodeo." The crowd knew the Electric Slide, and we squeezed that in twice. The Cha Cha Slide was also done to rave reviews! For slow dances, I played Elvis Presley's "Can't Help Falling in Love," Etta James' "At Last," and LeeAnn Womack's "I Hope You Dance."

The service, food, and over-all experience at the Dreams Resort was good. Like last time, security and rules are very tight there. I am not allowed to put out a tip jar as a "visiting vendor." They require me to surrender my Driver's License upon entering, which I feel very uncomfortable with (I'm not renting a jet ski!!!). A security guard followed me around as I moved my equipment from my car to the wedding area and repeatedly bugged me about being parked (temporarily) in a loading zone, having my emergency flashers on as I loaded, and so on. And, this year was different from last year in that, now I had to wear a badge saying, "VISITOR." A bit much...Other all-inclusives I've played at are not this over-the-top.



See the highlights from this intimate wedding in the video below:



Need a Puerto Vallarta wedding DJ? Contact Reventon DJ

What a fun night! On Saturday, October 29, 2011, I DJed a Halloween party for the Puerto Vallarta Young Professional's Association. The Halloween party was hosted and coordinated by La Luna Cafe (466 Carranza in Col. Emiliano Zapata). Kyle and Miriam, managers of La Luna, asked me if I could learn Michael Jackson's "Thriller" dance to perform at the party. While it's not a line dance, I was up for the challenge! (If you want to learn it, I highly recommend this set of YouTube videos).

We had YPO members dressed as a nerd, a cowgirl (Me! Note: Spurs come off when dancing), Morticia Addams, the Mad Hatter, a geisha, Snookie, vatos, Charlie Sheen, a doll, a protester from the Occupy Wall Street/99% movement, 3 butterflies, a Ghostbuster, a penguin, a shark-attacked surfer, an angel, and many more! Contestants for the costume contest had to compete in a dance-off to Rod Stewart's "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?" Snookie was pretty untouchable! Great fun

Throughout the night, I played my Halloween soundbites including the music from "Psycho," the "Twilight Zone" theme, and the "Addams Family" theme, the must-have Halloween songs like "Monster Mash" and "Superstition." Of course, I played "Thriller" when I performed the dance. I had plenty of willing followers in learning the dance along with me as I performed it. We also did the "Cha Cha Slide."

We partied until after 3:00 AM. I played the good dancing stuff from techno to Top 40 to oldies classics and sprinkled my Halloween sound effects throughout (screams, wolves howling, creeky doors shutting, Dracula saying, "I'm Dracula," etc).  



See me dancing "Thriller," the great costumes, and us raising the roof in the video below:



Need a Puerto Vallarta DJ for your holiday event? Contact Reventon DJ

I had a great time DJing La Luna's Grand Opening celebration on October 27. It was Thursday, also known as "Ladies Night." I played a variety of English and Spanish music. Free appetizers were available (and delicious! Can you say "fresh goat cheese"? Mmm mmm mmm).

La Luna is a restaurant, bar, and deli located at 466 Carranza in Old Town/Zona Romantica, Puerto Vallarta. Chef Miriam Flores also offers cooking classes at this beautiful, open, spacious venue. Check out the photo slideshow below to see just how amazing this space is. Plus, they rent offices in the upstairs around the open courtyard.

Looking for a Puerto Vallarta DJ for your venue's Grand Opening? Call or text me at 322-108-5224.





Puerto Vallarta business-to-business DJ Staci...ask about local merchant prices.

On Saturday, October 8, 2011, this bilingual, gay-friendly Puerto Vallarta DJ raised the roof at Reinas Bar! Seriously folks, I had such a good time I was dancing and singing on my chair! Yes! I got lots of love from the crowd too. Thanks for hiring me Marco!

I raised the roof with Disco, 80s Pop, and mucho musica mexicana (including salsa, banda, rancheras, cumbias, and mariachi). Yes, it is possible to open up a can of "hell ya" without Lady GaGa (no offense to the "Lady" as she would've been treated like the royalty she is at Reinas Bar).

Marco served some burritos, meatballs, cake, and queen-tastic tequila jell-o shooters. He made his grand entrance to "God Save the Queen" (performed by the London Army Band) around 11:00 and handed out party favors to everyone in attendance. We had some karaoke performances--including Dale in drag doing the country classic "Harper Valley PTA."

Finally, thank you for your generous feedback on Facebook Marco: "STACI....thanks to you! You did a great job!!! Remember, for the coming 24 years, you're booked on all the 8 Octobers!! Kisssss Marco."

Watch this brief video for highlights of this fabulous bilingual Puerto Vallarta DJ event:





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Need a gay-friendly DJ in Puerto Vallarta? DJ Staci

On Friday, October 7, 2011, bilingual Puerto Vallarta DJ Staci played at a "pre-wedding celebration." The event was held at the Gran Terraza in Col. Versalles in Puerto Vallarta--a truly beautiful and convient location. The event was catered by Liana Turner from SazOn. Dinner consisted of beans, rice, salad, guacamole and chips, vegetable skewers, and beef and chicken fajitas. But Liana saved the best for last--a yummy coconut cake!

The crowd was a blast. They waltzed, line danced, merengued, bachata-ed, salsa-ed, sang acapela during the dinner toasts, and even started a conga line! The couple is to be married on Saturday at the Fiesta Americana resort just a few blocks away.

Thanks Liana for hiring me and for your feedback on Facebook: "Staci Nichols is a great DJ. She had those people dancing and they weren't even drunk yet!"

Watch this brief video for highlights of this bilingual Puerto Vallarta DJ wedding event:





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Need a bilingual DJ in Puerto Vallarta? DJ Staci

Just a quick note to say thank you for some of the recent feedback I've received from summer wedding clients. Liz C. (7/23/11) wrote me:

"I wanted to thank you sooo much for your services at our wedding--you did an amazing job. I got many compliments from our guests about how great the music was and also your interaction with the guests...The music was awesome. I can honestly say I danced my butt off at my wedding. I think I might have taken one break to go to the bathroom and that was it You did great taking my play list into consideration, and you played all my favorites...Again, THANK YOU SO MUCH for everything...I will eventually get around to posting a review of your services on a wedding website I know a lot of brides go to."

And Laura G. (8/13/11) wrote me:

"I had no idea the hotel was giving you so many problems. I was just trying to have a good time. I did notice the power problems and in the beginning the lights were on. You did a wonderful job on the music and made our wedding a memorable time...I did request the vegetarian plate for you, and I was told it was not a problem...On the good note, you did a great job! Thank you!...You managed to cover it all up, and we had a good time."



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Need a wedding DJ in Vallarta? DJ Staci

On Saturday, I DJed a bilingual wedding at the Riu Palace Pacifico in Nuevo Vallarta. The hotel wedding coordinator was inexperienced, which created a number of headaches. She asked me to move ALL of my equipment FOUR separate times. After I was mostly set-up, she asked me to move everything again because she did not like my table. They brought in a different table, and I set up again. Then they decided they wanted a table cloth on it, so I moved everything yet again. When I play at other hotels, if they want me to use a special table or table cloth, it is already set up when I arrive--not after an hour of breathing down my neck. I also got a lecture from some kind of hotel manager there, which was inappropriate. Despite all this, I was STILL set up and ready to go with time to spare, and I started DJing 20 minutes early for free.

There were still problems though once the music started. The wedding coordinator did not know where the electrical outlets were. She didn't want any cords on the ground (even if I taped them down or ran them along the walls), which made it practically impossible to set up my equipment. I have never heard another hotel tell me I couldn't put down an extension cord--particularly when the venue was not designed for weddings (because the outlets were poorly located). The wedding coordinator kept telling me to wait to set up the disco lighting. I told her if I plug the sound equipment and the light equipment into the same outlet, they WILL short out. She called the hotel engineer (another delay) whose solution was--yes--to plug everything into the same outlet...sigh. You can see in the video below how that played out. The only way to correct the situation was to stop the party for about 3 minutes (a serious bummer) and switch out some extension cords. On top of all this, the hotel's idea of a dinner for me was 2 handfuls of lettuce. Thank goodness the crowd was in great spirits, and I was able to keep the mood up.

I can not recommend the Riu Palace Pacifico (nor do I wish to ever play there again). I have never had such a poor experience at any wedding venue or with any wedding coordinator. You can see in the video from the last event I DJed at the Riu Palace Pacifico that the staff's refusal to turn down the house lighting seriously crushed the mood and, because of it, there was very little dancing and low "party energy." I also had to beg for dinner that night too--thank goodness for dinner rolls and wedding cake. (Click here to see the video).

Nevertheless, the newlyweds were from Chicago and introduced me to some great old school, Chicago-style house music. There reception was pretty laid-back and simple. There were no father/daughter or mother/son dances, only one toast, and the cake was cut by the hotel staff during the last dance. We had some great requests for paisano music--which I was happy to play. Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Villalobos!





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Need a bilingual DJ in Nuevo Vallarta? DJ Staci

Welcome Mr. & Mrs. Morgan from Dallas, Texas! I had the pleasure of DJing this bilingual wedding in Nuevo Vallarta at the Marival Resort on Saturday night. The theme I absolutely loved--it was Frida Kahlo. There was lots of bright, solid colors and traditional Mexican flare. The Marival was also great. The staff was friendly and accomodating at every step of the process. The food was delicious--and they were kind enough to serve the lowly DJ a custom vegetarian dinner--like I said, excellent service!

A wonderful mariachi band played from 6:00-7:00 to kick off dinner. Of course, we had a grand entrance, toasts, the couple's first dance, a Father-Daughter, and a Mother-Son dance before I got the house rockin'! The crowd was lots of fun. I got a few requests throughout the night. We also threw in some line dancing, including a Payaso de Rodeo dance lesson. The groom, a "gringo," got into the Mexican spirit and elected to do a Mexican wedding tradition called the Vibora de la Mar (see on the video below). Later, the groom's friends were tossing him into the air--mosh pit style. Crazy good time!!!

At the end of the night, the bride and groom were kind enough to give me a video testimonial of their experience for the night. The bride said, "The music was...PERFECT!" Thank you so much--greatly appreciated.

Watch this video to see us raising the roof!





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Need a bilingual DJ in Puerto Vallarta? DJ Staci

On Friday night, I DJed the Mediterranean Cafe's one year anniversary party...and what a fabulous party it was! Patty Saxonis, the owner of the Mediterranean Cafe (in the photo, right), had a bellydancer, delicious free snacks (spanikopita, olive bread, some 4 cheese something that was to die for), performances by Diva Divine and Angie Star...and me! Unfortunately, there was a terrential downpour outside, I was VERY under the weather, and I had some technical difficulties...but the party raged on late in to the night.

I highly recommend the Mediterranean Cafe...best FOOD and best DESSERTS in town. I recommend Patty's bakery for EVERY wedding I DJ here in Puerto Vallarta! Her restaurant is located 419 Basilio Badillo (near Jacarandas). Her bakery website is SweetDesireCakeStudio.com and you can look up the Mediterranean Cafe on Facebook and Trip Advisor. Plus, I'm vegetarian, and Patty is always very accomodating!

Watch this video to see how much fun we had!





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Need a Puerto Vallarta DJ? DJ Staci

Can you imagine planning your beautiful dream wedding on the beach in Punta Mita, Mexico...only to discover that a hurricane has invited itself to the festivities? As the minister and DJ at this wedding, my heart really goes out to Kylie and John from Oklahoma. Hurricane Beatriz was "demoted" to a tropical storm on the actual wedding day, but we were still unable to hold the reception out in the sand near the crashing waves, onlooking the sunset. (This wedding was actually my first event breaking in a lot of brand new equipment, including two amplified speakers...water just wasn't going to do!)

The bride, of course, took plenty of her time to custom craft her own personalized ceremony, which was about 10-12 pages in my minister notebook. Due to the downpour and wind, (my pages were getting so wet I couldn't read them...even WITH an umbrella) the ceremony was cut down to vows and rings and kissing the bride...Ok, let's get inside! Despite all of this, the crowd was in great spirits!

At the reception, I switched gears and put my "DJ" hat on. For dinner music, the bride requested big band, classic rock, and general variety "stuff." I squeezed in "Singing in the Rain," "Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head," "Smokey Mountain Rain," "I'm No Stranger to the Rain," "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," "Here Comes the Sun," "I Can See Clearly Now (The Rain is Gone)," "Rockin' with the Rhythm of the Rain," "Come Rain or Come Shine," and "Like the Rain." Who knew there were so many rain-related dinner music songs?

I taught this group how to do a Mexican line dance called the Payaso de Rodeo. Much fun! I loved the bride's choice for her bouquet toss: "Labels or Love" by Fergie. Awesome! I also thought the selection for the combined Father/Daughter and Mother/Son dances was a winner: "Isn't She Lovely" by Stevie Wonder. The last dance was another creative choice: "Anyone Else But You" by the Moldy Peaches (the last song from the movie Juno). But we were rocking the roof too hard, and when 11:00 rolled around, the crowd wasn't ready to call it quits. I played 4-5 more songs with some generous $$$ in the tip jar from the guests.

The event was at the Four Seasons in Punta Mita. The service was AWESOME. Everyone was accomodating and friendly. The venue itself was gorgeous. I wasn't terribly impressed with the food though. My meal was cold when I received it, and the taste was nothing special.

Watch highlights from the "hurricane wedding" in this video:






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Punta Mita's Wedding DJ and Minister...Minister & DJ Staci