Of all my 2020 wedding DJ bookings, most still haven't happened yet! When the pandemic forced most couples to delay their 2020 weddings into 2021, Joe and Lauren kept their October date with the Craftsman Inn and Suites in Fayetteville. Thankfully, we were no longer under "lockdown" by this point, but significant restrictions were still in place.

The first unusual twist is that... there was no "Twist." Nobody was invited to jump in their big-as-a-whale Chrysler to visit the "Love Shack," nor did anyone hop 6 times during the "Cha-Cha Slide." Dance floors were banned as part of the the social distancing regulations in-effect at the time.

Another twist: gatherings were limited to 50 guests, including myself and the photographers. A cell phone camera streamed ceremony video to loved ones who couldn't attend in-person.

Would guests get bored of sitting at their tables and leave early? Would people break the rules and put the venue staff (or me) in an awkward position? I wasn't quite sure what to expect. Thankfully, everything ran very smoothly! The crowd was wonderful, they had a great time and we had no problems.

Lauren and Joe's Key Song Choices

Ceremony

• Processional: Hozier / Like Real People Do
• Grand Entrance: Hozier / Strike
• Recessional: John Mayer / Face to Call Home

Reception

• Wedding party intros: Clean Bandit feat. Jess Glynne / Rather Be
• Newlyweds' intros: Ellie Goulding / I Need Your Love

Because NYS regulations prevented dancing within the venue, Lauren and Joe enjoyed their first dance and their parent dances outdoors and off the venue property, during their post-ceremony photo shoot while guests enjoyed cocktail hour.

• First Dance: City and Colour / We Found Each Other in the Dark
• Father / Bride Dance: Journey / Lights
• Groom / Mother Dance: Elton John / Your Song
• Cake Cutting: John Mayer feat. Katy Perry / Who You Love
• Last Song of the Night: Gerry & The Pacemakers / You'll Never Walk Alone

Lauren and Joe said the "dance floor ban" was no big deal, as they aren't really big on dancing that much anyway. Their request list featured a collection of their favorite "sit back and relax" songs. And after dinner was over, that's pretty much what everyone did -- an evening of catching-up on each other's lives, perhaps some predictions of how much longer "all this pandemic stuff" would continue, and ... well, considering the election was less than a month away, I'm sure there was a decent amount of political talk somewhere within the room.

Photo Album

I didn't take as many photos as usual, but I've got all of these and a few more ready for liking, tagging and sharing on my Facebook page! Keep scrolling for the link.

Click any photo to see larger version

Joe and Lauren's Review

We wanted to take a minute to say a few words about DJ Peter. We were fortunate enough to have Peter as our wedding DJ for our wedding this fall. When we met him we were taken back by his level of professionalism and detailed approach to his craft. My wife and I considered music one of the biggest and most important aspects of our wedding, so we knew finding a DJ would be important.

What drew us to Peter was our first sit down meeting where he laid out everything he could offer. His attention to detail and his willingness to provide the exact atmosphere we were hoping for made our decision very easy. He made it clear that his role was to be there for us, and that’s exactly what he did.

In the year leading up to our wedding, Covid-19 happened. And with that our wedding planning was thrown into disarray. Things continued to become more difficult culminating in an executive order that there would be no dancing allowed at gatherings of any kind. We went from excitement to dread around our own version of Footloose playing out in front of our eyes.

With all the stress around the new rules and planning, Peter stepped up. He was so happy to find that we were going to continue with the wedding and he stepped into action. One thing we really appreciated was his dedication to the planning. He made minute by minute plans of how the day would go under the new guidelines to keep everyone on the same page.

We also made a plan to dance privately for our Father-Daughter/Mother-Son and First Dances in a gazebo near the venue. Peter provided us copies of edits for all the songs we wanted to do in perfect quality so we could work around the regulations.

At the ceremony he hit all the notes perfectly for the songs we wanted which added to the emotional punch of an already relieving day. His expert advise helped us make a couple of decisions around the music that played out perfectly. He nailed all the intros to the reception, and most importantly, he nailed our atmosphere.

While we couldn’t dance on the evening, he took everything we were looking for and wove together an atmosphere that was picture perfect. We got to hear all of our favorite songs as we mingled with our guests. And just as everyone says, it went SO FAST. I’d love to have bottled that atmosphere with all of my favorite (albeit less than planned) people. Peter was a big part of that for us. We will always appreciate his professionalism and dedication to our big day. We would highly recommend him over and over again.

--Joe and Lauren

Peter's Response

Joe, thank you very much for the awesome review! I really appreciate the time you took to write this review, and I'm extremely happy to hear you and Lauren were so pleased with my wedding DJ services! Considering the COVID restrictions, it was definitely a unique and memorable experience… I'll admit I was a bit nervous about how things would go -- so it was a huge relief to see everything come together so smoothly so you and your guests could still celebrate and keep things safe for everyone. Big, big thanks to you and Lauren for choosing me as your DJ! All the best for the new year and many more beyond.