Morgan and Zack’s wedding finally brought me to another “new to me” venue, Hartlot Happening in Elbridge! Let’s check out the photos, song selections and more in this blog post!
Hartlot Happening is located amongst a cluster of buildings along the Finger Lakes Railway’s single-track line which runs Syracuse to Auburn and beyond. Although it’s an active freight line, it’s not a very busy one, and no trains passed by during the wedding. If you’re curious, I’m happy to add “pin #97” to my venue map… getting closer and closer to a hundred!
So here’s how things were organized. My sound setup was in the room you see in the first photo here, which served as the ceremony location. Although I had my two big speakers next to me, I turned them off during the ceremony because it could have created feedback with the mics at the front of the room. Instead, I had a wireless speaker at the front of the room so everyone could hear the ceremony.
After the ceremony, the benches were removed, along with the curtain on the left, revealing the bar. This space would later serve as the dance floor.
In the meantime, dinner was held in a covered, but open area right behind where I was standing, so I placed two wireless speakers out there (circled in yellow in the next two photos) to provide music for cocktail and dinner, and so everyone could hear the toasts.
Click any photo for a larger version
Upon arrival, I was concerned about whether the solid concrete walls would block the wireless signals… not just the sound being sent to the speakers, but also the mics for toasts.
So I adjusted my usual setup routine to get sound up and running first, so I could test everything out. I did have a second setup just in case, but it turned out not to be necessary. The signals had no problem getting through the concrete wall.
With that concern resolved, the only tricky part was announcing entrances — since I was on the opposite side of the wall from where everyone was entering. Obviously I don’t want to announce anyone too soon or too late, so I need to be able to see everything… but the way things are laid out, I only had to go a few steps away from my mic, so it was easy to hop back and forth between the mic and my “sight line” spot.
I also had my own wireless mic to introduce each of the toasters and the blessing, so I could be in the same room and see everything, rather than being on the other side of the wall.
Ceremony
Reception
Once dinner was over, we got the dance floor open! Morgan and Zack’s friends had a great time, as seen in the video and photos below!
During setup, one of Hartlot’s owners told me there was a strict 10pm cutoff for music. Throughout the night, I kept adjusting the playlist order and swapping different songs in and out, taking a “Price is Right” contestant’s approach to seeing how close I could get without going over.
I’m proud to say the final song ended with only 25 or 30 seconds to spare — just enough to have one final round of applause for the newlyweds and quickly wish everyone a great night before I had to shut down.
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And here’s the 5-star review Morgan posted on Google afterward:
Peter was great to work with for my wedding in August 2026! From planning phone calls to drafting up a timeline for our day and sending it to all of our vendors, we felt confident in Peter’s DJ service! We had so much fun dancing to millennial throwbacks. I also requested “90s/2000s rom com” vibe for cocktail hour and he delivered! Thank you Peter!
Thanks so much for the wonderful review, Morgan! (And, full disclosure, thanks to Google with help rounding-out the “90s/00s romcom” cocktail hour playlist.) I had a great time helping you and Zack celebrate and I appreciate you choosing me as your DJ. Knowing there are lots of great options for wedding entertainment here in Central New York, I appreciate every wedding. Wishing you both all the best for many years of love and happiness!
And here’s some more photos from Michelle Lynn Photography!
