Kaitlyn & Harrison at Bellevue Country Club, Syracuse 2026
Peter was exceptionally easy to work with. He did a great job keeping the energy up and dance floor packed. Very transparent. We are so grateful! 10/10 recommend.
My second wedding of the 2026 season took me to Cassville, a hamlet due south of Utica in the southeastern corner of Oneida County. Emily and Marty got married on her family’s sprawling property, complete with a pondside ceremony, a stunning sunset and fireworks once it got dark! Keep reading to check out their song choices, photos and more.
From a technical standpoint, covering this wedding presented some unique challenges, but I was up for the task!
Sound was needed in three different areas: the ceremony alongside a pond, the cocktail hour in a barn in another area of the property, then the reception under a massive party tent at the other end of the property.
Thankfully, I only needed to set-up equipment in two places, since the transmitter in my main system under the party tent was able to hit the wireless speakers by the cocktail hour barn. While I had a “Plan B” and even a “Plan C” in mind just in case, I was surprised — and very pleased — that Plan A worked!
Click any photo for a larger version
The pondside ceremony was beautiful! From a tech standpoint, it was pretty far away from any wired power sources, so Emily’s family provided a gas-powered inverter generator for the ceremony sound system.
One thing to keep in mind if you ever need a gas-powered generator for a wedding DJ — they generate noise and exhaust fumes, so you’ll want to keep it as far away from the action as possible. In addition to making a generator available, Emily’s family also offered at least 150 to 200 feet (my unofficial “guesstimate”) of extension cord, so the generator was far enough away that you could barely hear it at the ceremony site.
Once things got going under the reception tent, there was a unique twist. For the bride / father dance, I was actually asked to obtain a karaoke version of the song. It turns out one of the groomsmen is a singer who knows the song well, so he sang it live over the backing track!
Ceremony
Reception
After the parent dances, we kicked off a solid evening of open dancing, with only one brief pause to cut the cake and another pause later on for a fireworks display just after dusk… which wrapped up in time for us to get a few more dances in before the party wrapped up.
Click any photo for a larger version
I know there are lots of great choices for wedding entertainment in Central New York, so I appreciate every couple who allows me to do the honors for them. Thanks again to Emily and Marty for choosing me as your wedding DJ! Wishing you both lots of love and happiness in this new chapter of your lives!
Emily Helstowski says:
If you are looking for a DJ who will not only keep your dance floor packed all night but also handle the entire planning and technical execution with absolute ease, hire Peter immediately. He was hands-down the MVP of our wedding.
From our very first planning meeting, Peter made each step of the process completely seamless. His incredible attention to detail and focus on making sure the timeline ran smoothly allowed us to relax and actually enjoy our day, knowing we were in the hands of a true professional.
Our venue was highly complex, requiring separate sound setups and power routing across multiple on-site locations for the ceremony, cocktail hour, and reception. While this felt overwhelming to us, Peter handled it with absolute ease and confidence. We didn’t have to worry about a single technical detail.
When it came to the party, Peter absolutely delivered. He read the room perfectly, the transition between songs was flawless, and the energy was electric from start to finish. Our guests had an absolute blast, the dance floor was packed the entire night, and we are still hearing from family and friends about how incredible the music was.
Thank you, Peter, for making our wedding night an unforgettable celebration. We are so lucky to have had the best DJ in the business!
Peter Naughton says:
Emily, thank you so much for the awesome review! I’m very happy to hear how pleased you and your guests were with everything. Your parents’ farm was such a great setting for a wedding and you had such a great crowd there to help you celebrate. Thanks again for trusting me to help you put together such an unforgettable celebration!!