I hired Alex Ramey through DJ Cutt Entertainment for our multi-day Indian wedding, which included a…read moreSangeet and two wedding ceremonies. My personal experience working with him was deeply disappointing, and I feel compelled to share what happened.
As someone who is extremely detail-oriented, I planned every element of our wedding carefully. I booked Alex almost two years in advance and was very clear early on about the complexity of an Indian wedding. At first, he seemed to understand. Our initial invoice was around $6,000, but by the month of the wedding, it had grown to $7,790. Every conversation about my expectations seemed to lead to new charges -- for additional speakers, more DJ hours, uplighting, etc. I paid all fees in full via Venmo before the wedding and never pushed back on any of the added costs.
When Alex arrived, I personally felt he was unprepared. We had issues with the cold sparklers during our flash mob dance, and I recall him running onto the dance floor and shouting at people in the middle of a carefully rehearsed routine. It really threw me off, and the sparklers didn't go off as planned. His energy came across as frantic and, to me, not very warm or professional.
On the day of the wedding, I was told by both my planner and maid of honor that Alex was being difficult to work with and inflexible about changes. I understand that some vendors have strict policies -- he stated he didn't allow any changes within 7 days -- but weddings are fluid events, especially Indian Weddings. He was the only vendor at our wedding who didn't seem able to adapt when things shifted.
At the reception, our grand entrance felt chaotic. The music was blasting, and we couldn't even hear our names. Many of my Indian family members' names were mispronounced and felt rushed/mumbled. Alex had not checked pronunciation in advance.
One thing that really stood out to me was that Alex had his own videographer filming HIM during the wedding. This was not part of any service I paid for, and it felt strange to see someone creating promotional content at my event. It made me question his motives. I later learned that these recordings are used to document his presence at weddings so he could prove brides wrong if he needed to.
During the reception, Alex approached me while I was sitting at the sweetheart table to point out that I hadn't written "instrumental" on one of my entrance songs. It felt unnecessary and poorly timed -- especially since I had created seven playlists, detailed cues, and organized a two-wedding weekend. Mistakes happen. Not even 15 minutes later, the cocktail hour playlist started repeating songs, which made the whole "I'm detail-oriented" comment feel a bit ironic.
After the wedding, I felt incredibly let down. In my personal opinion, I was overcharged and underwhelmed. I also didn't feel respected or treated kindly by him during the wedding weekend. I sent Alex a long email explaining how I felt. In response, he firmly stood by his performance, blaming the planner and me for any shortcomings and offering a $300 refund (with a non-disparagement agreement). I declined and asked for a larger refund, and the tone of the conversation shifted. I perceived his responses as defensive and even intimidating. At one point, he mentioned making a video about my wedding (in a negative way) and warned about potential defamation.
I decided to rewrite this review to express my side of the story. This is my experience, from my perspective. Of course, Alex may have a very different interpretation of events, and that's his right. But as someone who invested a great deal of time, trust, and nearly $8,000 in this service, I feel it's important to share what it was like for me -- especially for other South Asian brides navigating similarly complex events in the Portland area. I deleted my original review out of fear, but I no longer want to stay silent about how I felt. I refused to be intimidated by someone like Alex Ramey.
