I didn't meet Lauren and Zach until the day of their Palm House wedding. We had phone calls, exchanged emails and collaborated on a google doc to plan their day. I knew we were going to have a great time and I was right. It was an epic wedding!
The Palm House at Brooklyn Botanic Garden Wedding
in Brooklyn, NY for Lauren & Zach
by DJ Ben Boylan
Venue
The Brooklyn Botanic Garden is a beautiful oasis of trees, flowers and exotic plants in the middle of Brooklyn. It has two wedding venues and Lauren & Zach chose the Palm House.
The Palm House is a glass ballroom with an impressive chandelier. It's a large space and can accommodate up to 250 seated guests. The other space, The Atrium, can accommodate up to 125 seated guests.
Ceremony
Zach & Lauren's ceremony was held outside, a short walk from The Palm House. They asked for it to be wireless and I was happy to make an announcement asking their guests to put away their phones and cameras. I provided a great wireless mic for their officiant and speakers too.
Their wedding party entered the ceremony to "I Was Made For Loving You" by Tori Kelly and Lauren entered to Ed Sheeran's "Firefly." When the ceremony had finished, the couple left the ceremony to the sound of their guests cheering and "Hold On" by Wilson Phillips, a real classic.
After the ceremony, guests moved to an area right outside the Palm House surrounded by small pools with lily pads for cocktail hour. They ordered drinks from a bar, munched on snacks and tapped their feet to a custom Motown playlist I created.
Intros and Special Dances
When cocktail hour finished, guests moved inside for dinner to really get this Brooklyn Botanic Garden wedding started. When everyone was seated, I announced the wedding party and the couple. Lauren and Zach had chosen Beyonce's "Formation" for the song their wedding party was introduced to, and "Crazy in Love" for their introduction. When I played the first note of Formation their guests went crazy.
After a brief welcome toast from Lauren's mom (using the same wireless mic used at ceremony), the couple did their first dance to "We've Only Just Begun" by Dionne Warwick. I was impressed by such a deep selection from a young couple. Lauren followed it up with her dad by dancing to James Taylor's "How Sweet It Is" and finally Zach's mom and he danced to "Bridge Over Troubled Water" by Simon & Garfunkel.
Early Dance Sets
We hadn't planned it, but there was a little extra time between the courses so we started dancing right after a blessing by Lauren's grandfather. I kept the Motown vibes going and threw in some classic rock too. The Palm House has a big dance floor and they filled it up.
We took a break for the waiters to bring out the next course and for some speeches, and then everyone headed back to the dance floor. I moved up through the decades and played some disco and 80's hits while over 100 of their guests danced.
During one of the speeches there was a surprise song from Lauren's dad. He sang it with one of Lauren and Zach's friends. It was a highlight of the night and when Lauren's dad started singing everyone applauded.
Main Dance Set
For their main dance set they asked me to play some of their favorite artists and a mix of top-40, hip-hop and a few sing alongs. Their guests had a lot of endurance and kept dancing for a long time. It was awesome! We took a couple breaks to cut the cake and do a bouquet toss, but besides that it was a lot of dancing and music. Super fun wedding.
Thank you Lauren & Zach for letting me be a part of your
Palm House at Brooklyn Botanic Garden wedding!
All photos by Lev Kuperman (more below videos)
