Real wedding we DJ’ed in December 2024. Moments here mentioned in this blog.
One of our favorite weddings at The Farnam ended with a sweaty bear hug to Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now.” We had all the guests standing in the circle, holding hands, swaying back and forth, belting out the chorus together, and then prompted them to run in and bear hug the bride and groom at the peak of the song. It was absolutely beautiful. You can watch it above.
The Rosewater Ballroom is long and polished, with floor-to-ceiling windows, modern chandeliers and a skyline view. Long rooms come with a problem you have to plan for: if the DJ's speakers on one end are trying to reach all the way to the back, the people sitting closest to the DJ find the volume uncomfortable. The Farnam has a fix for that built into the ceiling, and it's below.
Why we wrote this
Quick intro, since you're trusting me with advice: I'm Brent, and I founded Alternative Wedding DJs in 2016. I've personally DJ'd 100-plus weddings and planned and organized thousands of events over my years as an event promoter and the owner of House of Loom nightclub. I've obsessively studied the group psychology behind a great party, why people run to or away from a dance floor, and how a room's size and layout can help or hurt the experience.
Spence, Erin and I have all DJ'd weddings in the Rosewater, plus a stack of Sunday brunches in the restaurant downstairs and bar sets in the hotel. We love the place. It might be the best-smelling hotel in Omaha, and the staff are easy to work with.
So we're gonna hand you that insight from behind a velvet rope, so you can skip the rookie mistakes and get the best night, with the least stress, out of your venue.
Here we go …
Dance floor strategy
Here’s our floor plan for The Farnam Hote’s Rosewater Ballroom
The Rosewater is one long room, so the booth anchors one end and the dance floor sits right in front of it. We set up on the west end, in the middle, with the floor directly ahead. Every time we've DJ'd in there, the head table was at the opposite end from the booth.
For a large wedding, the west end keeps the dance floor tight and central instead of stranded in the middle of a runway. For smaller weddings, we've set up in the middle of the room on the north side facing south, and that worked fine for those crowds. I'd skip the middle spot for a big wedding, though. It brings on the same sound issues we've run into in the Schimmel Ballroom at the Kimpton Cottonwood.
The Rosewater is carpeted, so there's no built-in dance floor. You rent a portable one and lay it right in front of the booth. Skip it and your guests are dancing on carpet, which nobody does for long.
Thirty people packed and moving on a right-sized floor looks and feels like a party. Thirty people scattered across a big one looks like a school dance. The first hour of music is multi-generational, so we get your friends and the grandmas out there, then trend younger as the night goes on. The venue sets oval guest tables rather than standard rounds, so we plan the floor and sightlines around those. The rest of our room setup is in our 7 steps to make a dance party post.
Making sure everyone hears the toasts
Because the room is long and the DJ anchors one end, a guest at the far end may have a hard time hearing mic announcements coming off the dance-floor speakers.
The good news is that The Farnam has an in-house wireless mic and speakers in the ceiling. Those ceiling speakers aren't made for peak-hour dancing, but they're great for speeches and background music, and they cover the whole room evenly. So we run toasts, welcomes and dinner announcements through the in-house system, then switch to our setup when it's time to dance.
How the room sounds
It sounds great. The carpet and the low padded ceilings keep the Rosewater from getting boomy or harsh. We still read the room all night and adjust, so the floor hits for the people on it without blasting the grandparents at the table behind them.
There are hotel guests in the building, but the ballroom sits above the main lobby, and we've never had a sound complaint from a guest room.
You can get married in there too
The Rosewater handles the whole day in one space. Couples set the ceremony on the east end, with a wall partition dividing it from the rest of the room. After the ceremony, guests walk straight out into the second-level lobby for cocktail hour, while vendors pull the partition and reset the full room for the reception.
That reset is why cocktail hour needs a full hour here. It's also the length we recommend anyway, and no longer, in our case for a 5-hour reception.
Cocktail hour
Cocktail hour happens in that second-level lobby right outside the ballroom, so guests never have to hunt for the next room. It's a smaller space, so the music sits in the background. We bring a small dedicated speaker up there. When the ballroom is reset, guests walk right back in for the reception.
If your guest count is big
The Rosewater is 3,304 square feet and holds up to 250, with 225 recommended by the venue once you account for the dance floor and tables. If your list runs past that, The Farnam can talk through options, but the Rosewater is the room built for weddings here.
Insider info
Load-in is easy. There's a loading dock at the back of the hotel, but every time we've DJ'd here we've walked in through the main front lobby like everyone else and taken the elevators up to the second floor. There's storage next to the booth on the west end for empty boxes and cases.
Rehearsal dinner: the Dynamite Wood-fire Grill has a private room for up to 30.
Welcome drinks: the ground-floor Catalyst bar and its patio are a good spot to gather guests earlier in the weekend.
Stay over. This is one of the best hotels in the city, and certainly the best location. We highly recommend staying the night and doing brunch at the lobby restaurant.
FAQ
Is there a dance floor in the Rosewater Ballroom at The Farnam? No. The ballroom is carpeted, so you rent a portable dance floor and place it in front of the DJ. Your planner or rental company can size it to your guest count.
How do we make sure everyone can hear the toasts at The Farnam? Use the venue's in-house wireless mic and ceiling speakers for speeches and announcements. The Rosewater is a long room, so mic audio coming only off the dance-floor speakers is hard to hear at the far end. Running toasts through the in-house system covers the whole room, then the DJ's setup takes over for dancing.
Where does cocktail hour happen at The Farnam? In the second-level lobby right outside the ballroom, while vendors reset the room from ceremony to reception. The music stays in the background, and guests walk back into the Rosewater once the room is ready.
How many guests fit in the Rosewater Ballroom? Up to 250, with 225 recommended by the venue once you allow for a dance floor and seating.
Getting married at The Farnam?
We have a team of Omaha DJs who've played the Rosewater and know where the booth goes, how to run the toasts and what to rent. Meet our Nebraska wedding DJs, then get in touch. The call is free and useful even if we're not your DJ.
Brent Crampton, Company Founder