Wedding DJ at The Barn at Gibbet Hill
I am John Hathaway, and Elation Entertainment is my one person operation in Shirley, Massachusetts. I have DJed weddings at The Barn at Gibbet Hill in Groton, MA, about six miles away and inside my service area, so no travel fee. In a hundred year old barn I place sound low and wide rather than loud.
The Barn at Gibbet Hill from the DJ Booth
The Main Barn is a restored hundred year old structure and the timber shows it. Up to 240 sit down in there with the dance floor in the same room, so tables and dancing share one volume of air. Old wood and a high peaked ceiling send sound upward first and hand it back a beat later, a slow return rather than a slap, and that return decides where the speakers go. Chandeliers hang over the ceremony setup inside. The heated deck outside runs year round behind retractable clear siding, which makes it a second room with its own level rather than an overflow of the first. The floor sits where the barn is widest. That is the part I set first and the part I check last.
How I Run a Wedding at The Barn at Gibbet Hill
Most nights here open on the front lawn with the pasture behind you, or up at the castle ruins, or inside the barn if the weather takes the choice away. Whichever it is, the ceremony gets its own system and wireless microphones for your officiant and your readers, placed and checked while the lawn is still empty. Cocktail hour moves to the heated deck, a separate space at a separate level, quiet enough that people can hear each other over a drink. Then the barn opens for dinner. I hold dinner at a level a table can talk through and bring it up once the floor opens. Your coordinator keeps the timeline and I run the announcements against it, so nothing has to be chased.
Getting to The Barn at Gibbet Hill from Shirley
The drive from Shirley is about six miles, 12 to 15 minutes on Route 225 or Route 119. I arrive 2.5 to 3 hours before guests. Here that window means the barn gets set and checked while it is empty, the deck gets its own pass, and the lawn or hilltop ceremony system is up and tested long before anyone turns in. If the ceremony is at the ruins, the shuttle timing gets built into that window rather than discovered on the day.
Services
- Professional DJ & MC for your reception
- Ceremony music with wireless microphones
- Uplighting to transform your venue
- Photo booth with props and digital gallery
- Audio guestbook keepsake
- Online planning portal for song selection
Why Couples Marrying at The Barn at Gibbet Hill Choose Elation
- One event per day, so your wedding gets my full attention
- True open-format DJ: every genre, every era
- 300+ celebrations and counting
- 5-star rated across 100+ reviews
- No travel fees. Groton is inside my standard service area, which reaches 120 miles or about three hours from my base in Shirley.
Wedding DJ Questions About The Barn at Gibbet Hill
Have you DJed a wedding at The Barn at Gibbet Hill?
Yes. It is one of the closest venues to my base in Shirley, about six miles, and I have run weddings in the Main Barn. What that buys you is not a story. It means I know how that ceiling returns sound before I unload, so setup is placement rather than experiment.
Where do you set up in the Main Barn?
Near the floor and spread wide rather than stacked in one corner. A barn this tall sends everything upward first and hands it back a beat later, so two lower sources close to where people actually stand will beat one loud pair aimed down the length of the room. Cable runs stay off the path guests walk.
Does the castle ruins ceremony need its own sound?
It does. The hilltop is a separate site from the barn with its own power question, so it gets a dedicated system and wireless microphones for your officiant and your readers. It goes up before the shuttles start running, and the barn stays set and ready the whole time, so nothing gets carried between the two while guests are watching.
Can you cover cocktail hour on the heated deck?
Yes. Behind the clear siding the deck is a room of its own, so it gets its own sound rather than spillover from the barn. The level out there sits under conversation, because cocktail hour is for talking and the space is small enough to make that easy. The barn stays quiet until the doors open for dinner.
What Massachusetts Couples Are Saying
5.0 stars across 100+ reviews on WeddingWire, The Knot, and Google
Read All ReviewsOther Venues
Rooms I've worked across Massachusetts and New England, each with its own page on the sound, the floor and the drive.