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Reception room inside the barn at Olympia's Valley Estate with round tables, a wooden balcony, string lights and warm uplighting, with Wayne's DJ booth at the foot of the stairs

DJ and MC at Olympia's Valley

A day at Olympia's Valley happens in three places: the willow pond, the farmhouse and a timber barn more than a century old. I set up sound at the pond and in the barn before your guests get there, run the microphone and the timeline, and build the night toward that barn floor.

Petaluma, Sonoma County

A working farm,
then a party

Olympia's Valley is a family-owned farmstead in the rolling hills outside Petaluma, in southwestern Sonoma County. The same family has farmed this valley since 1905, and it's still a working organic dairy and apple orchard. Wedding directories list it as Olympia's Valley Estate. Same place.

That matters for the music. This is open farmland, not a hotel ballroom. A typical day starts outdoors beside the pond, moves to drinks by the Victorian farmhouse, then into the barn for dinner and dancing. Your guests walk between all three, and the sound has to be planned for each one or the day goes quiet every time people move.

Outdoors there are no walls to hold a voice, and any breeze across open pasture will find a microphone. Indoors it's tall timber over a concrete floor, which is a lively room. I set up for both.

The spaces

Pond, farmhouse
and the old barn

01

The pond and the willows

The outdoor ceremony spot, beside a pond under weeping willows with the farm behind it. In my photo a wooden arch is set between the trees. It's open ground, so it gets its own sound, separate from the barn.

02

By the Victorian farmhouse

Drinks happen outdoors near the old farmhouse. Its first floor and a separate cottage are used for getting ready. If you add music out here, it stays at a level people can talk over, and I ask the venue where a speaker can sit and where its power comes from.

03

The barn

Open beams, string lights and chandeliers overhead. In my photos you can see the wooden staircase and mezzanine, the stage end, and the concrete floor. My booth sat at the foot of the stairs, with speakers on stands facing the room.

Setup and sound

How I set up
a farm in three parts

I arrive early. On a property this spread out, that's the only way everything is tested before the first guest walks out to the pond.

01

Two systems, not one

The pond gets its own setup: a speaker aimed at your guests and a wireless mic. For a wedding that's the officiant, the vows and the processional cued. For a company event it's whoever's welcoming the room. The barn system is already built and tested. Nothing gets carried across a farm while your guests wait.

02

Power at the pond

I don't assume a pond on a farm has an outlet. My estimate asks about power at the ceremony spot and adds a generator when one is needed, so it's settled weeks ahead, not found out that afternoon.

03

A tall room, a hard floor

Timber, height and concrete make the barn bright to the ear. Speakers go up on stands and point at the dance floor, not the rafters. Dinner music stays under conversation, then I build it as the plates clear. Backup equipment is within reach all night.

04

The walk between

Three spaces means two walks, from the pond to the farmhouse and from the farmhouse to the barn. That's my microphone. I announce each move, and the barn is already playing when they walk in. Music by the farmhouse during drinks is an additional sound zone, an add-on in the estimate.

My own photos, 2015

The barn,
as I've set it

Reception room inside the barn at Olympia's Valley Estate with round tables, a wooden balcony, string lights and warm uplighting, with Wayne's DJ booth at the foot of the stairsThe barn set for dinner, with the DJ booth by the stairs Wayne at his DJ setup with headphones on, facing a crowd on the barn floor at Olympia's Valley EstateAt the decks with a full barn in front of me Wayne Noel speaking into a microphone inside the barn at Olympia's Valley EstateOn the mic, announcing from the barn's stair landing Wayne's DJ booth and speaker set up beside the wooden stairs and balcony inside the barn at Olympia's Valley EstateThe booth tucked beside the barn staircase, ready for the evening View from behind Wayne's DJ controller looking across the barn at Olympia's Valley Estate, string lights overheadThe view from the decks, string lights and the whole room ahead Timber-framed barn interior at Olympia's Valley Estate with a raised platform, LOVE marquee letters, speakers on stands and the DJ booth beside the stairsThe barn's timber frame and stage end, speakers and booth in place Outdoor ceremony arch with white drapes and flowers in front of weeping willows at Olympia's Valley EstateThe willow-framed ceremony spot beside the pond Guests dancing on the barn floor at Olympia's Valley Estate while Wayne works at his laptop and controllerDance floor in full swing, seen from behind the decks DJ Wayne Noel smiling with two wedding clients under the barn rafters at Olympia's Valley in PetalumaWith the couple in the barn, late in the night Wedding cake with fresh flowers in front of lit LOVE marquee letters in the barn at Olympia's Valley EstateThe cake and the lit LOVE letters on the barn stage
No planner? You're covered

You don't hold
the clock here

The order of the day is mine to keep: when the ceremony or the welcome starts, when to call people over from the pond, when dinner has settled enough for toasts, and how long is left before the music has to stop. Every entrance, announcement and toast comes from me, so you can simply be there.

Before your date we go through my planning questionnaire and the music calls, down to the exact versions of the songs you love. And I don't guess at the venue's rules. I ask, then I build the timeline back from the music cutoff so the dance floor gets its full stretch and the last song is the one you chose.

Lighting

Warm light on
old timber

The barn has its own string lights and chandeliers under the rafters. The warm uplighting on the walls in my photos is mine.

In a tall timber room, uplighting does one job. It lifts the walls out of the dark once the sun is down, so at dance time you can still see you're in a barn. Uplighting, dance-floor lighting and a custom monogram or pattern projection are add-ons you choose in the instant estimate.

What I play here

Retreats, dinners
and barn parties

The farm invites everything from a corporate retreat to a wedding, and that fits what I play: company events and holiday parties, birthdays and milestone celebrations, fundraisers, dinners and welcome parties.

Not every event needs an MC and a timeline. A Selector Session is a set of my own programming, up to four hours, for a dinner, a cocktail hour or an after-party. The Journey is its own thing: a live sound bath that flows into a facilitated ecstatic dance.

Good to Know

Questions about
a DJ at Olympia's Valley

Have you DJ'd at Olympia's Valley before?
Yes. The photos on this page are my own, from playing here in 2015: my booth at the foot of the barn staircase, speakers at the stage end, the ceremony arch between the willows. I'm based in Petaluma, so this one is close to home. I'm an independent DJ, not the venue's house DJ.
How late can the music go at Olympia's Valley?
I won't print a time here, because rules change and I'd rather confirm than guess. For your date I confirm the amplified music cutoff with the venue, indoors and outdoors, and then plan backwards from it. Toasts and the first big moments land early, dinner breathes, and the dance floor opens on time.
Can you provide sound for a ceremony by the pond?
Yes. The pond gets a second setup, separate from the barn, with its own speaker, a wireless microphone and your music cued. I carry a backup mic, because open farmland and wind go together. Power out there is one of the first things I ask about.
We don't have a planner. Can you keep the day on track?
Yes. I build the timeline with you ahead of time, check it against the venue's rules, and MC it on the day: every entrance, announcement and toast. If someone is coordinating your event, I work alongside them. If nobody is, you still won't be watching the clock.
Do you only play weddings at Olympia's Valley?
No. The farm hosts corporate retreats and other gatherings too, and I play company events, holiday parties, milestone birthdays, fundraisers and dinners. Some want a full MC and a timeline. Others just want a sound for the evening, which is what a Selector Session is for.
More rooms

Other rooms I've played
in Sonoma County

Every room, from Napa Valley to the coast, is on the rooms list.

Your event

Tell me about your day on the farm

Your date, what you're celebrating, and which parts of the farm you're using. 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.