Main ballroom
A long hall, about 90 feet by 45 by the venue's own measure, with a ceiling a little over 17 feet, arched windows down one side, mirrored alcoves and a carved stone fireplace. Its length is the thing I plan the sound around.
DJ and MC at the Julia Morgan Ballroom
Everything I bring to the Julia Morgan Ballroom rides an elevator to the 15th floor of a Financial District tower in San Francisco, so your gala or wedding is planned before I leave the curb. I'm the DJ and the MC here: the music, the microphone and the timeline, held from first guest to last song.
Financial District, San Francisco
The fifteenth floor,
The fifteenth floor,
above California Street
The Julia Morgan Ballroom takes up the whole 15th floor of the Merchants Exchange Building, a Beaux-Arts office tower at California and Montgomery in San Francisco's Financial District. Its full name is The Julia Morgan Ballroom at the Merchants Exchange. Guests come in at street level and ride the elevators up.
The building went up in the early 1900s, designed by Daniel Burnham and Willis Polk, and it survived the 1906 earthquake and fire with heavy damage inside. Julia Morgan worked with Polk on the repairs and kept her architectural office in the building for decades. The ballroom is named in her honor. Before that, the floor was the Commercial Club, a private civic and business club.
For an event, that means everything lives on one floor, high above the street. A long hall with tall arched windows, a coffered ceiling and the city lit up outside. No parking on site, so guests use nearby garages or a valet.
The rooms
One floor,
One floor,
several rooms
Daniel Burnham Bar and Lounge
The lounge beside the ballroom, with a long black marble bar. It's where cocktail hour naturally lands. If you want music in here while the ballroom is being set, that's an additional sound zone, and I keep it at a level people can talk over.
Breakout rooms and foyer
Small rooms named for people tied to the building, plus a foyer. They're the kind of rooms used for getting ready, a green room or a quiet meeting, so I ask the venue which come with your event. If one is free, my cases go there, out of your photos.
Arrival and elevators
Everyone arrives the same way, by elevator from the street, and the venue is listed as wheelchair accessible. I time my own load-in to be finished well before your guests start arriving.
How I set up here
Built for a long room
Built for a long room
with a view
A ballroom in an office tower asks different questions than a lawn or a barn.
Load-in from the curb
A 15th-floor room with no parking on site means the load-in is the first thing I plan. I get the unloading spot, the elevator and my window from the venue, then I arrive early enough that the system is tested before your first guest steps off the elevator.
Sound down the length
The ballroom is roughly twice as long as it's wide, and the glass, mirror and wood all reflect. Set up carelessly, a system in a room like that is loud at one end and thin at the other. I aim the speakers down the length so a toast is clear at the far tables and the floor still has weight.
Working with the house
Catering, bar and audio-visual production are all run in house here. So I find out early how an outside DJ fits with the house team: who runs which microphone, whether there's a feed to share, and when dinner service wants the room quiet. One conversation, well before your date.
Where the booth goes
In my photos here, my booth sits on a low black-skirted riser in the center arch of the paneled wall, with a speaker on each side and a subwoofer beside it. I confirm the spot for each event, because where I stand decides where the sound lands.
My own photos, 2015
The room, set for
The room, set for
a winter dinner
No planner required
You don't have to
You don't have to
hold the night
Somebody has to know when dinner is cleared, who's holding the microphone for the toast and how many songs are left before the music has to stop. At this ballroom, that's me. Before your date we go through a planning questionnaire and planning calls, with your must-plays, your do-not-plays and the exact versions of the songs you love.
I ask the venue what time amplified music has to stop, then I build the timeline back from the answer so the dance floor gets its full stretch and the last song is the one you chose. On the day I arrive early, carry backup equipment and make every announcement, so you can simply be there.
Lighting, if you want it
What light would do
What light would do
in this room
This room already has a lot going on overhead: a coffered wood ceiling and pendant lights. So lighting here is about adding, not covering. Uplighting along the paneled walls and arches warms the edges of a long room. A monogram or pattern projection gives a wall or the floor a focal point. Dance-floor lighting tells people where the night is headed.
What I bring is chosen in the instant estimate, and I check with the venue first about what the house already provides, so we don't double up.
More than weddings
Galas, fundraisers and
Galas, fundraisers and
company nights
Weddings are only part of what this floor hosts. The venue also takes nonprofit galas and fundraisers, meetings and conferences, and corporate events, and I play galas, fundraisers and company nights as well as weddings. A gala needs clean microphones, walk-up music that hits on cue and a program that runs to time. A holiday party needs dinner music people can talk over, then a reason to get up.
It also suits a milestone birthday, a mitzvah, a brand launch or a welcome party. If you want a sound more than a full program, a Selector Session is a set of my own programming, up to four hours, for a cocktail hour, a dinner or an after-party. And The Journey, a live sound bath that flows into a facilitated ecstatic dance, can stand as its own event or sit inside a bigger one.
Good to Know
Questions about a DJ
Questions about a DJ
on the 15th floor
Can I bring my own DJ to the Julia Morgan Ballroom?
I've played here as an outside DJ, and the photos on this page are mine. The venue runs its own audio-visual production, and terms for outside music vendors can change, so I ask them directly about insurance paperwork and how I fit with the house team. Tell me your date and I'll take that conversation off your plate.
What time does the music have to end at the Julia Morgan Ballroom?
I don't know yet, and I'd rather say that than guess. I haven't seen a cutoff published for this room, so I ask the venue for your date. Then the whole timeline gets built back from that time: entrances and toasts early, dinner with room to breathe, and a dance floor that opens when it should.
We don't have a planner. Can you run the timeline and the announcements?
Yes. I'm the MC as well as the DJ: every entrance, toast, announcement and big moment. We work out the order on our planning calls, I confirm the timing with the venue's team, and on the night I'm the one watching the clock. You get to be a guest at your own event.
Can you play a ceremony and a reception on the same floor?
Yes, if the venue is holding both for you. I confirm with them where it sits. Ceremony sound is its own setup: a speaker aimed at your guests, a wireless mic for the officiant and the vows, and the processional cued. Then I move with the room as it turns over to cocktails and dinner.
Do you play company events and galas here, or only weddings?
I play both, and plenty in between. My photos on this page are from a seated winter dinner here in 2015, with poinsettias on the tables. For a gala or a company night I run the program from the booth and keep dinner low, then open it up when the speeches are done. Open format or my own sound, whichever fits the room.
More rooms
Other rooms I've played
Other rooms I've played
in San Francisco
- Asian Art MuseumSan Francisco
- Golden Gate ClubSan Francisco
- Hotel NikkoSan Francisco
- Marines' Memorial ClubSan Francisco
- The Rotunda at Neiman MarcusSan Francisco
- St. Francis Yacht ClubSan Francisco
- Temple NightclubSan Francisco
Every room, from Napa Valley to the coast, is on the rooms list.
Your event
Tell me about your event at the Julia Morgan
Your date, the kind of night you want and how many parts it has. The instant estimate gives you a price in a couple of minutes, or book a short call and we'll talk it through. I'll take the venue questions from there.