Tina and Nathaniel, SKY Armory, Syracuse
Peter was so great to work with! Our guests are still talking about the music and dancing. His ability to read the room is second to none! He kept the dance floor full until the end.
It’s been nine years since my last wedding at Bellevue Country Club, so I was very excited when Harry booked me to DJ his and Kaitlyn’s big day. During one of our planning discussions, I mentioned how a previous Bellevue wedding was to be partly outdoors, but the weather that day forced us to stay inside. Would there be better luck this time around? Check out this blog post to find out — and see which songs the couple picked for their key moments!
So I won’t keep you hanging — the weather was absolutely perfect! And that was a big relief, because plans called for everything except dinner to be outside. The ceremony took place on grass along the edge of Bellevue’s beautiful golf course. Just a few steps away, the cocktail hour and dancing took place on the patio and under a party tent just outside the clubhouse.
For this wedding, I used two sound systems. My main system was under the big party tent. Two wired speakers covered the dance floor and adjacent patio area. I was also able to shoot sound to two wireless speakers to cover the ceremony.
My second system was inside the clubhouse’s banquet hall, ready to cover the dinner hour. Once cocktail hour was over, I moved the wireless speakers into this room and, presto! Ready to go with most of the cocktail hour still to spare. Since guests would be passing through to/from the restrooms, I got both systems playing the exact same music within a second of each other. That way, guests walking between the two areas wouldn’t hear any “echo” effect or a clash of different songs from the different set-ups.
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While I was setting up, I noticed Kaitlyn and Harry did a “first look” prior to the ceremony. If you’re not familiar with the concept, you stage a moment where you and your future spouse get to see each other in your wedding attire about an hour or so before the ceremony… and your photographer (and videographer, if applicable) capture the moment for posterity.
While it’s a break from old school tradition, a first look offers a very big practical advantage: once you’ve seen each other, you can now proceed to get many of your planned formal/group photos “out of the way” (for lack of a better term) before the ceremony, rather than during cocktail hour after the ceremony. Even if you still need to get some more photos after the ceremony, it won’t feel as rushed if many were already done beforehand.
Another time-saving strategy: Kaitlin and Harry’s wedding party was pretty large, and the number of bridesmaids vs. groomsmen didn’t match up evenly. They solved the problem by having me announce all the groomsmen come in as one big group, then all the bridesmaids together before the newlyweds themselves were introduced. We also used just one song for all the intros, so there was no need for song changes between each group.
Ceremony
Reception
Kaitlyn and Harry’s crowd was off the charts! They obviously knew their crowd well — many of the songs on their request list (including one or two I normally wouldn’t think to play at a wedding) resulted in much of the crowd energetically singing along to every last word.
This wedding had it all: golf tee shots, a drone for overhead ceremony video, energetic sing-alongs, oversized dog photo cutouts, newlyweds being hoisted up over the crowd in chairs, and even a few slow dances for good measure.
Perhaps the only “down” part of the night was when the reception ended and guests chanted for “one more song” — but knowing they all had to catch a shuttle bus to the afterparty (and out of respect for the venue staff and nearby neighbors), I had to wind things down.
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What a great night! Thanks again to Harrison and Kaitlyn for choosing me as your wedding DJ — your guests had such spectacular energy, I really enjoyed being a part of your celebration! My wishes to you both for many years of love and happiness together!
