Wedding DJ at Riviera, one contact for the whole night.
Looking for a wedding DJ at Riviera? Sean Chi is an open-format DJ and MC who has DJ'd weddings and events at Riviera - the upscale restaurant set inside a grand former bank hall in the heart of downtown Ottawa, off Sparks Street. Ceremony, cocktails and reception, run end to end by one DJ. Eight-plus years on the floor, Ottawa summers and Medellín winters.
The Riviera, from a DJ who's played it.
Riviera sits inside a heritage building on Sparks Street that opened in 1869 and became a bank, the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, by around 1900. The restaurant took the space over in 2016 and kept the bones: travertine floors, marble panel walls, nickel details, Corinthian pilasters and an 80-foot brass bar built out of the old teller counter, all under a tall, sculpted ceiling. From a DJ's chair that is a beautiful, unforgiving room - hard, reflective surfaces bounce sound around, so the job is clarity over volume, not filling the space with noise. Riviera also isn't one fixed layout: couples book anything from the small Banker's Office to a full restaurant buyout, and each version of the room is its own sound problem.
Small room or full buyout, four ways it plays out.
Riviera books four different ways depending on your guest list. Here's the shape of them, smallest to grandest.
The old bank manager's office, now a small private dining room. A quiet setup - a speaker and a mic is plenty.
Riviera's own repurposed bank vault. Small and enclosed, so sound stays contained and levels stay low.
Marble, brass and travertine under a tall, sculpted ceiling. Most receptions run here, and it's where the sound plan matters most.
The whole restaurant, bar included. Confirm your exact number with the venue - Sean scales sound and lighting to whichever version you book.
What Sean brings to a Riviera wedding.
- One DJ and MC for ceremony, cocktail hour and reception - no handoffs, no second vendor to brief.
- Sound tuned for a tall, reflective hall: levels set for definition first, so vocals and beat stay crisp instead of smearing across the marble.
- Lighting kept tasteful for a heritage room - accents that lift the dance floor without cheapening the architecture.
- A warm MC for the timeline: grand entrance, speeches, first dance, all cued so the night flows.
- Open format - Latin, afro house, Top 40, throwbacks, whatever this particular crowd actually gets up for.
- Scaled to whichever room you book - a quiet setup for the Banker's Office or Cellar Vault, full rig for a full buyout.
Where the night tends to turn here.
Riviera is a working restaurant by day, and that is the thing to plan around at night: dinner and the dance floor live in the same beautiful room, so the energy shift is the moment that makes or breaks the evening. Early on it is low and conversational - guests are seated, plates are moving, the music is there to set a mood, not compete with the table. Sean reads that turn carefully: holding the room warm and unhurried through the courses and the speeches, then lifting it once the formalities clear and the tables start to empty toward the floor. Because a room like this gets configured differently for every couple, he asks for your exact layout and run-of-show on the call rather than assuming where dinner ends and dancing begins.
Downtown Ottawa, the core, and the Sparks Street walk.
Riviera sits right in downtown Ottawa, in the Sparks Street area at the centre of the city. That is home turf - the core is part of Sean's normal coverage, with no travel surcharge, and a downtown wedding pairs naturally with the rest of his Ottawa work. The trade-off of a city-centre venue is load-in and parking, so he plans gear and arrival around a downtown room rather than a venue with a wide-open loading dock. Wherever your day lands, it stays one DJ for the ceremony, the cocktail hour and the reception.
Couples, on the record.
"We have a really wide range of taste, from house to country to rap to oldies, and he nailed every single one."
"Communication was seamless, he understood exactly the vibe we wanted, and he had everyone on the dance floor all night."
Planning a Riviera wedding? Here's what I know.
What are the Banker's Office and Cellar Vault?
They're Riviera's two small private rooms, built into the old bank's own architecture. The Banker's Office was the bank manager's office and seats about 12 for a semi-private dinner. The Cellar Vault was the actual bank vault and also holds about 12 guests as a private room. Neither needs much of a rig - a clean small system for toasts and background music does the job.
How many guests does Riviera hold for a wedding?
For a full restaurant buyout it's up to 140 guests for a cocktail-style reception or 60 for a seated dinner. Confirm your exact number with the venue, since it depends on the layout you pick, and I scale the sound and lighting to whichever version of the room you book.
What's the history of the building?
It's a heritage building on Sparks Street that opened in 1869 and became a bank, the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, by around 1900. Riviera opened in 2016 and kept the marble, travertine and brass, including that 80-foot bar built from the old teller counter. I keep the lighting and gear in step with the architecture instead of covering it up.
Can you cover a full restaurant buyout at Riviera?
Yes. When a couple books the whole restaurant, I run the reception across the full room, working with the marble and brass instead of against it, and keep the sound tuned for a hard-surfaced, high-ceilinged space so speeches stay clear and the dance floor still hits.
Riviera wedding DJ FAQ.
Have you DJ'd at Riviera?
Yes. Sean has DJ'd weddings and events at Riviera in downtown Ottawa. It is an upscale restaurant and private-event space set in a grand former bank hall, so he plans the night around a tall, hard-surfaced room rather than a soft, low-ceilinged hall.
Do you bring sound + lighting?
Yes. Sean brings his own DJ sound system and dance-floor lighting, and tunes both to the room on the night. A high stone-and-marble hall like Riviera carries sound differently than a carpeted ballroom, so he sets levels for clarity over volume and keeps the lighting tasteful for the architecture.
Can you cover ceremony + reception?
Yes. Sean covers ceremony, cocktail hour and reception as one DJ and MC, so there are no handoffs across the night. Because every couple uses a space like Riviera differently, he asks for your exact run-of-show on the planning call and tailors the sound and timing to your layout rather than assuming a fixed setup.
Do you travel to downtown Ottawa (Sparks Street area), ON?
Yes. Downtown Ottawa and the Sparks Street area are home turf - Riviera sits right in the core, and city-centre venues are part of Sean's normal coverage. No travel surcharge for downtown.
What does a wedding DJ at Riviera cost?
It depends on hours, whether you want ceremony plus reception, and lighting. Sean gives a real quote on a quick call once he knows the shape of your night - see the wedding DJ cost guide for the ranges before you reach out.
One honest note: a downtown room like this gets used a dozen different ways, so rather than guess at the logistics, bring your exact run-of-show to the call - where the ceremony, dinner and dancing land - and Sean tailors the sound and timeline to your version of the room.
See if your Riviera date is open.
Riviera books up fast in summer - a two-minute check costs nothing and clears the calendar question before you go further. No deposit, no obligation. One message gets you a yes or a no within 24 hours.
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From the booth
Hey, it's Sean. Riviera is a tall, tiled space, but you don't need extra subs to fill it, the room carries low end fine. A bit more sub is a nice-to-have for a big bass night, not a requirement, so I scale the rig to your crowd.
Good questions
How do you handle sound in such a live room?
I set my speakers to throw short and focused, angled into the dance floor rather than filling the whole hall. The goal is a kick you feel in your ribs without the vocals turning into a wall of noise off the back wall.
Do you have to change your MC style for a heritage space like Riviera?
I keep it understated. In a room with this much natural drama, the mic work should be warm and direct, just cuing the timeline without making announcements feel like a production.
What time do you usually start the dance set here?
There is no set clock. I watch for coffee service and the last round of table photos, then I start threading in tracks that tell the older tables we are dialing up the night, so when the floor opens, half the room is already primed.
At Riviera, I always walk the room during cocktail hour and listen for the slap-back off the mezzanine glass. If I catch even a slight echo, I pull the high-mids back a touch so speech stays crisp for the toasts.
Riviera is one of the central Ottawa rooms I play. See my full guide to central Ottawa wedding venues, or a few more I love nearby: Fairmont Chateau Laurier, Lord Elgin Hotel, Sala San Marco.