It's always exciting to visit new venues, and this one was special because "Our Farm" between Manlius and Cazenovia is not only a popular place for hay rides and pumpkins in the fall -- it's owned and operated by the bride's parents, who also live on the property. So whenever Natalie tells people she "came back home" from California for her wedding, she means it quite literally!
The venue offers multiple "settings" to help split-up the day. For example, the ceremony and cocktail hour were held outdoors in one area of the property. At dinnertime, guests moved to tables underneath a large tent, adjacent from a barn where the remainder of the reception would take place. My set-up location was inside the barn, near the doorway closest to the dinner tent.
When it was time for dinner (and my music) to begin, I was able to run a speaker outside to provide music for the tent. When dinner was over and guests moved into the barn, that speaker moved as well, joining another speaker and dance floor lights inside the barn. At some point during the afternoon (you'll see in the photos), Mr. Golub even demonstrated Our Farm's famous pumpkin-launching trebuchet.
Normally, this is the part of the blog post where I share the couple's selections for their "key dances" of the evening, but Natalie and Bobby decided to skip all the usual "formalities" in order to maximize open dance floor time for their guests (and they loved it!). So, we'll skip right along to the photos. First, a few quick disclaimers: (1) I misplaced my "good" camera, so these were all taken with my phone, and (2) you'll notice no dance lights in most of the photos; I was initially asked to leave them off, but the newlyweds reversed that decision as the night went on.
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- The beautifully-landscaped grounds offer many options for photos. Here's the dinner tent outside of the barn.
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- Another shot of the grounds during cocktail hour.
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- The pumpkin-launching trebuchet at Our Farm.
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- Open dancing for the rest of the night!
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- The only "planned" event was to play Hava Nagila at some point, but as you can see, it didn't stop the momentum on the dance floor!
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- One of my favorite aspects about receptions in barns: being able to pull my van right in at the end of the night... especially when it's downpouring outside!
After the event, Natalie followed-up with a very kind email. Here's an excerpt:
I just want to thank you so very much for your great work on Saturday. You made the party--and we loved everything you did. I'll be sure to highly recommend you to any friends getting married in the area. Thank you!
Natalie and Bobby, thanks again for selecting me to be your DJ! Was glad to be a part of your big day, and I hope to have a chance to come back for future weddings at the farm!
