It's nice when things end on a high note, so I'm pleased to say my 2015 wedding season did just that! Matt and Justin were great clients who chose an excellent venue and invited an awesome group of guests to their wedding in the Finger Lakes. And they picked a wonderful date -- the autumn colors were at their peak (or pretty darn close), combining with Seneca Lake to provide a spectacular backdrop for the outdoor ceremony.
The grooms said their vows and celebrated at the Glenora Wine Cellars, on the west side of the lake, about an hour and a half's drive southwest of Syracuse. Although there was rain in the forecast and it did indeed rain for what seemed like the majority of the day, we were fortunate enough that the rain let up at just the right time -- and for just enough time -- for the ceremony to remain outdoors as originally planned.
The ceremony took place on the sprawling lawn behind The Inn at Glenora, right along the edge of the vineyards. A short walk and a brief elevator ride took guests to the reception at the winery's Veraisons Restaurant, with the dance floor located on the outdoor deck, overlooking the lawn and the lake. As the ceremony was immediately followed by the reception, two sound systems were used to provide a seamless transition from one location to the other.
There are several photos from the ceremony later in this post, but the first shot serves to illustrate my set-up for the ceremony. The venue provided the table and location. I brought my own canopy tent to protect the gear from the rain. My longest cable speaker (50 feet) was used to feed sound to one speaker, which is always enough to cover a ceremony. Although the speaker was placed as close to the seating as the cable would allow, I would have put it there anyway even with a longer cable, so as to keep it well out of the view of any photos. The photo angle makes it look like everything was in a straight line, but the speaker was actually well to the right of the back right corner of seats, so it wasn't anywhere near the aisle.
As always, I like to share the couple's selections for the "key" songs from the festivities, as potential inspiration for those planning future weddings:
- Ceremony Processional: Pachelbel / Canon in D (piano and violin)
- Ceremony Recessional: Beatles / All You Need is Love
- Wedding Party Intros: Queen / You're My Best Friend
- First Dance: Etta James / The Man I Love
- Groom (Justin) / Mother Dance: Israel Kamakawiwo'ole / Somewhere Over the Rainbow - What a Beautiful World
- Groom (Matt) / Mother Dance: Bette Midler / Wind Beneath My Wings
- Cake Cutting: The Archies / Sugar Sugar
- Last Dance of the Night: Drifters / Save the Last Dance for Me
And now some more photos from the big day, starting with the outdoor ceremony, then to the Veraisons Restaurant where dinner indoors was accompanied by dancing out on the deck:
Click any photo below for a larger version.
Here's the 5-star review Matt posted on WeddingWire:
Peter is an amazing DJ! He was great to work with throughout the entire process, from start to finish. He's great at taking your concerns, choices, and vision to heart and working with you to make everything just as you want it. Our wedding couldn't have been any better and Peter was just great! I would absolutely highly recommend him!
Thanks again to Matt and Justin for selecting me as their DJ -- and also to Matt's brother Greg, a former co-worker from my TV news days who recommended me! It was an honor to help celebrate your special day and I wish you both all the best. Incidentally, in the time since Matt and Justin booked me, Greg became engaged himself -- so I'll get to see Matt and Justin and many of their relatives and friends again when Greg and fiancée Emily tie the knot next spring!
As I mentioned at the top of this post, this was my final wedding for 2015... so another big thank-you to all of my customers from the past year! The 2015 wedding season was a blast, and with quite a few dates already booked for 2016, I'm already looking forward to next spring. While many dates are booked, there are still plenty available, so if you've got wedding plans next year, get a hold of me. It's never too early to book for 2017, either!