Are you annoyed when people show up late for a wedding? Well, this time, it was both acceptable and planned -- everyone showed up exactly one year late for Karina and Eric's wedding at the picturesque Hayloft on the Arch in Vernon Center. Check out the full blog post for photos, song choices and more!
Believe it or not, even in my 10th year as a wedding DJ, there are still some venues I haven't played yet... career wedding #121 was my first time at Hayloft On The Arch in Vernon Center. (This brings my venue count to 72, plus a handful of private residences.) The barn sits next to a large, beautifully manicured lawn with picturesque views that stretch for miles.
In the photos below, you can see the primary setup next to the dance floor. A second system outside ensured everyone could hear every word of the ceremony. And in case you were wondering, yes, that structure that looks like a short silo... is actually a full outdoor bar!
Karina and Eric's Key Song Choices
Ceremony
- Parents / Grandparents Entrance: Vitamin String Quartet cover of American Authors / Best Day of My Life
- Processional: Piano cover of Bright Eyes / First Day of My Life
- Grand Entrance: Piano Guys / A Million Dreams
- Recessional: Andrew McMahon / Fire Escape
Reception
- Wedding party intros: Coldplay / Sky Full of Stars
- First Dance: Goo Goo Dolls / Boxes
- Father / Bride Dance: Paul Canning / You’re My Best Friend
- Last Dance of the Night: N*Sync / Bye Bye Bye
So the not-so-big secret is that Karina and Eric still got married as originally planned on 9/12/20... but with only a few close relatives and friends in attendance, due to the pandemic putting a damper on large gatherings. Luckily, September 12 still happened to be a weekend in 2021 (albeit on a Sunday, rather than a Saturday) and all of Karina and Eric's originally-scheduled wedding professionals had the new date available, so we all just delayed everything by exactly a year.
Now, any wedding DJ can tell you a Sunday wedding can be tricky -- you never know if guests will be in the mood to party. If they all live locally, they might be looking to leave early so they can get home and rested for work the next day. But Eric and Karina's guests were awesome, keeping the dance floor packed right up to the end of the reception!
Photo Album Highlights
As always, this is just a select handful of my photos -- there's always more on Facebook! Scroll down for a link.
Click any photo to see larger version
This isn't the first time I've said it on my blog -- while these photos get the point across that everyone had a great time, there's a reason why I'm a DJ and not a professional photographer. For even better photos, check out the incredible album from Janelle Rodriguez Photography ... here's a preview:
It was also a pleasure to work alongside Gavin Law Films. As of this writing, they're still working on the finished product. But when it's ready, I'm sure it'll be awesome and hopefully we'll see it at http://gavinlawfilms.com/ .
Here's the 5-star review Karina posted on various websites afterward:
Peter is very professional and prompt during the entire planning process all the way through the event. After signing with him, we had no worries and knew that we had made an excellent decision going with him. He assists in anything you need along the way and was very understanding and sympathetic regarding us having to postpone because of COVID. Even though we had to have a Sunday wedding, he did an amazing job getting people on the dance flow and staying on the dance floor the entire night - overall, he was amazing to work with!
A big, big, big thank you to Karina and Eric for choosing me as your wedding DJ and keeping me on board as part of your wedding team for the move from 2020 to 2021! Such a great crowd, an awesome party and a wonderful couple. A happy first anniversary to you and all my best for many more years of love and happiness!!
