Ericka Backer married David Jolly on 10/23/16 at the Crystal Ballroom in Altamonte Springs, Florida. I had the honor of being their wedding DJ of choice. In this post I’ll show you some photos from their beautiful wedding and give you some insight on the venue as an insider. If you’re considering getting married at the Crystal Ballroom, or thinking about hiring us as your wedding DJ, hopefully this post helps you make a decision.
I’ve performed several weddings at the Crystal Ballroom in more than one of their locations. The first thing that comes to mind is how beautiful their venues are. Their Altamonte location has a marvelous and elegant design, with lots of natural light and uplighting. They also have several rooms, which gives it a distinctive feel. The Jolly wedding looked fantastic because their lighting matched the cake and table decor.
They even had a photobooth too!
Sometimes it’s hard to get everyone to dance at a daytime wedding. Not in this case! They were a lovely crowd that wasn’t shy when it came time to dance… 
Their photographers weren’t booked to cover the entire reception. While DJing and MCing on a wireless mic, I was able to snap a few quick photos of their bouquet toss. I try to go above and beyond for every client, in a way that best fits the circumstances. In this case I was able to provide a few photos of a memorable moment that might have otherwise not been captured.
The staff is always friendly and helpful whenever I work at the Crystal Ballroom. It’s definitely a place I’d recommend considering getting married at. However, as a service to my future clients I like to present both the pros and cons of each wedding venue I blog about. Let’s look at a few downsides to the Crystal Ballroom Altamonte wedding venue.
Wedding Photography Slideshow
Main Problem with the Crystal Ballroom in Altamonte
Perhaps my biggest complaint about this venue is where the DJ booth is located in relation to the wedding couple’s table. There’s only one place for the DJ to set up (pictured below) and you can’t see the wedding couple’s table because there’s a huge column blocking the view. Plus the DJ booth is faced towards the dinner tables rather than the dance floor, which is adjacent to the DJ booth. This isn’t a deal breaker but it’s definitely something worth noting before you decide to get married here.
Other Things That Could Be Improved
- Fix the mixer in the house’s DJ booth
- Add a Camera in the house’s DJ booth for ceremony
- Add outdoor speakers for the cocktail area
Fix The House Mixer
They have a small room with a mixer in it that connects to the outdoor speakers used during the ceremonies held there. This is a really nice and convenient option for the DJs. It means we don’t have to set up separately for the ceremony. We can just plug a computer into their mixer.
However, their system isn’t hooked up perfectly. When I was there for the Jolly wedding I couldn’t turn up the speakers outside real loud without having the speakers inside being too loud. It’s not a big deal but it certainly needs to be fixed, if it’s not fixed already.
Add a Camera for the DJ to see the Ceremony
While their DJ booth being connected to their outdoor speaker system is convenient for the ceremonies held there, it introduces a new problem – you can’t see the ceremony from the DJ booth. Luckily this problem can easily be fixed. All they need to do is add a camera that allows the DJ to see the ceremony so he knows when to play and stop each song. Otherwise, the DJ has to rely on someone giving him signals.
Add Outdoor Speakers for the Cocktail Hour Area
My last suggestion for them is to add some outdoor speakers where the cocktail hour is held. They already have outdoor speakers where the ceremony is held. And the cocktail hour is held just around the corner from the ceremony. Only there’s no speakers for the cocktail hour. That means the DJ would have to set up a speaker out there for the cocktail hour. Unfortunately, I’d bet a lot of times they don’t. That means that guests are outside and can barely hear the cocktail music because the speakers are only on the other side of the building. Again, this isn’t a huge deal but with a little bit of effort they could improve the weddings there.
Visit Other Crystal Ballroom Locations Too
Keep in mind that these are suggestions for the Crystal Ballroom in Altamonte only. They don’t apply to the other locations. So if any of these are deal breakers for you, I would still suggest looking at their other venue locations because they’re beautiful too.
Venue – Crystal Ballroom in Altamonte Springs
Photography – Photography by Captiva
Photo Booth – Dream Vision Media, LLC
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