Goldman Ballroom
The main event room: hardwood floors, large restored windows and the old amber chandeliers, air conditioned, with audio-visual built in. Hardwood and glass make a room lively, and I set up for that (more on it below).
DJ and MC at Hotel Petaluma
Hotel Petaluma is in my own town: a historic 1920s hotel in the middle of downtown, with a ballroom of hardwood, large windows and amber chandeliers. I DJ and MC company dinners, weddings and galas there, and I plan the sound for a lively room in a building where people are also spending the night.
Downtown Petaluma, Sonoma County
A hotel the town built
A hotel the town built
for itself
Petaluma paid for this building. In 1922, 855 local investors bought stock to put a proper hotel downtown, and the five-story result is still the tallest building in the Petaluma Historic Commercial District. It spent decades as something else (the Elks Club bought it in 1959, and it later housed long-term residents) before a full restoration in 2015 turned it back into a hotel.
That history is in the room. The restoration brought back the ballroom windows and rehung original amber chandeliers that had been sitting in storage. The street-side courtyard was returned to its original look, fountain and all.
Your guests can sleep upstairs and walk to dinner, coffee and the rest of downtown, so nobody is driving a dark country road at the end of the night. It's also a working hotel on a downtown street, so the music has an edge to respect. I don't guess where that edge is. I ask.
The spaces
Where the event
Where the event
actually happens
The smaller room
A second room, listed beside the ballroom for meetings and small gatherings. A compact setup and one wireless microphone cover it: clear speech first, music underneath.
Lobby and bar
The lobby has a fireplace and a bar, and it's where guests land before and between the big moments. People drift out there. So I time the announcements and give a few minutes of warning before a toast, an award or a first dance, and nobody misses it.
Courtyard entrance
The street-side courtyard was restored to its original look, with a hexagonal fountain and plaster cherubs above the door. It's the first thing your guests walk through. Whether music can happen out there is the hotel's call, and I check before I plan on it.
How I set up here
How I run a night
How I run a night
on Kentucky Street
Hardwood, glass, a downtown street and people sleeping upstairs. I plan for each one before I load a single case.
Hardwood and glass
Hardwood and glass make for a bright-sounding room, and speech rings if the speakers are in the wrong place. I position them for the guests, test the wireless microphone from where the toasts will be given, and keep dinner music at a level you can talk over. Then I build it as the plates clear.
One room, two moments
When a ceremony or a program shares the ballroom with the party, the changeover is the part that needs a plan. I find out how long the hotel needs to turn the room. For vows I cue the processional and mic the officiant. For a program I mic the speakers. Either way, the next song is ready when the room reopens.
A downtown load-in
The entrance is on Kentucky Street, in the middle of town, and the building is five stories. So I confirm ahead of time where I unload, whether the gear goes by stairs or elevator, and when the ballroom is mine. I arrive early and carry backup equipment, so a slow load-in never becomes your problem.
Guests asleep upstairs
At some hour, people upstairs are trying to sleep. I get the music cutoff from the hotel and build your timeline back from it: entrances, toasts and the big moments early, a full stretch of dancing, and a last song you chose, not whatever was on when the clock ran out.
From my own events
My own nights
My own nights
at Hotel Petaluma
No planner? You're covered
You host.
You host.
I'll hold the rest.
Before your date we go through a planning questionnaire and a planning call: the order of the night, who speaks, how names are pronounced, the must-plays, the do-not-plays and the exact versions of the songs you love. I take the hotel's questions too: the music cutoff, the load-in, the changeover. By the time I walk in, I already know your event inside and out.
On the day I'm the MC as well as the DJ. Every entrance, toast and announcement comes from me, on time, so you aren't checking your phone or looking for whoever has the microphone. If something goes sideways with the gear, there's a backup already within reach. Most hosts never find out what I quietly handled.
Lighting
Color on the balcony
Color on the balcony
and along the walls
The lighting in the photos on this page is mine. Pink and teal uplighting washing the white balcony above a full dance floor, and a soft teal line along the base of the walls by the tall windows. In a pale room with white trim, a little color shows. It's what changes the space from dinner to dancing.
Uplighting, dance-floor lighting and a custom monogram or pattern projection are all add-ons you can choose in the instant estimate.
What it suits
Not only weddings
Not only weddings
under these chandeliers
The hotel hosts weddings with the ceremony and reception under one roof, and it hosts plenty else: company events and meetings, conferences, fundraisers and parties. I play all of them. A holiday party, a milestone birthday, a gala with a paddle raise and a program to keep on schedule, a company dinner where the music has to stay out of the way until it's time not to.
Because guests can stay on site, this is also a good place for the nights around the main one. A Selector Session, a set of my own programming, fits a welcome party, a cocktail hour or an after-party here. Afro house, soulful electronic, hip-hop and the classics, or open format when the crowd calls for Motown, Latin or the 80s.
Good to Know
Questions about a DJ
Questions about a DJ
at Hotel Petaluma
Can I hire my own DJ for an event at Hotel Petaluma?
I've played here, but I'm not the hotel's house DJ and I don't speak for its vendor rules. Those belong to the hotel and they can change, so ask the hotel when you book the room. Once you know, tell me the date and I'll handle the rest of the coordination with them directly.
What time does the music have to end at Hotel Petaluma?
The hotel sets that, and I'd rather be right than quick, so I won't put a time on this page. It's a hotel with overnight guests on a downtown street, so expect a cutoff. I confirm it for your date and plan the night around it, so the dancing isn't the part that gets cut short.
The ballroom has a sound system. Do you use it or bring your own?
I bring my own professional sound, a wireless microphone and backup equipment, because I know exactly how it behaves. The ballroom does have audio-visual built in, and I ask the hotel what's there and what outside equipment is welcome before the day, so there are no surprises at load-in.
Can you do the ceremony and the reception in the same room?
Yes. For the ceremony I mic the officiant and your vows, cue the processional and keep the sound gentle in a room that carries. Then I work with the hotel on the changeover, and the party starts on the first song when the doors reopen.
Do you only play weddings at Hotel Petaluma?
No. Company events, holiday parties, fundraisers, milestone birthdays, dinners and after-parties all fit this building, and I play every one of them. I'm based in Petaluma, so this one is close to home. Tell me what the event is and I'll shape the music and the microphone work around it.
More rooms
Other rooms I've played
Other rooms I've played
in Sonoma County
- Dawn RanchGuerneville
- Jacuzzi Family VineyardsSonoma
- Kunde Family WineryKenwood
- The Lodge at SonomaSonoma
- Olympia's ValleyPetaluma
- The Secret GardensBodega Bay
- ViansaSonoma
Every room, from Napa Valley to the coast, is on the rooms list.
Your event
Tell me about your event at Hotel Petaluma
Your date, the kind of celebration and the feeling you want in the room. The instant estimate takes a couple of minutes, or book a short call and we'll talk it through. I'll take it from there.