One Night, Five Floors, and a Second Line at Sunset
How Meghan and Anthony turned Hudson House into the most musical wedding Jersey City has ever seen.
Date: April 25, 2026 | Venue: Hudson House, Jersey City, NJ | Guests: 180
There are weddings with live music, and then there are weddings where the music is the wedding. Meghan and Anthony’s April 25th celebration at Hudson House in Jersey City was emphatically the latter – a night that moved through jazz, soul, funk, and full-band euphoria without ever letting the energy drop.
From the moment guests stepped into cocktail hour to the final song of the rooftop after-party, The Barnstorm deployed five distinct musical formats across five floors of one of New Jersey’s most breathtaking waterfront venues. The Manhattan skyline glittered across the Hudson behind every toast, every dance, every quiet piano interlude between courses. It was the kind of evening that reminds you why live music at a wedding isn’t a luxury – it’s the architecture of the memory itself.
Event at a Glance
- Date: Saturday, April 25, 2026
- Venue: Hudson House, 2 Chapel Ave, Jersey City, NJ
- Guest Count: 180
- Planner: Joy Gomez – The Wedding Plan and Co.
- Cocktail Hour: Jazz Trio + Second Line
- Dinner: Solo Piano
- Reception: 10-Piece Band (with added horns)
- After-Party: DJ Zack, Stork Club – 3rd Floor
The Setting: Hudson House at Golden Hour
Hudson House is the kind of venue that does half the work for you. Perched at the water’s edge in Jersey City’s Port Liberte neighborhood, the five-floor waterfront event space frames the full Manhattan skyline through floor-to-ceiling glass – the Freedom Tower, the Statue of Liberty, and the spans of the Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Verrazano bridges all visible from the dance floor. Part of the Landmark Venues family, it’s built for evenings that move through spaces, moods, and moments without guests ever needing to leave.
For Meghan and Anthony, the venue’s natural flow became the backbone of a night designed to feel like it was always building toward something bigger. Each floor held a different chapter of the story.
Cocktail Hour: The Jazz Trio Sets the Mood
Guests arrived at 5:45pm to a first floor alive with the warm, unhurried sound of The Barnstorm Jazz Trio. A classic piano-led trio format, this is cocktail-hour music done right – sophisticated without being stiff, melodic enough to draw you in, relaxed enough to let conversations breathe. Drinks were poured, introductions were made, and the New Jersey sunset turned the Hudson gold through the windows.
The cocktail hour wrapped just before 7pm – but not quietly. Rather than a simple transition, the evening made its intentions known with something far more alive.
The Second Line: When the Party Moves
As cocktail hour drew to a close, three horn players launched into a Second Line – the New Orleans parade tradition that uses brass, rhythm, and joyful noise to lead people from one place to the next. For Meghan and Anthony, it was the signal to follow the music upstairs into the reception space, transforming what could have been a routine “please make your way to the ballroom” moment into a genuine procession.
Second lines at weddings have become one of the most requested additions in recent years, and it’s easy to understand why. There’s nothing quite like a live horn section snaking through a crowd, hats waving, guests grinning, everyone suddenly part of the performance. By the time the 180 guests reached the reception floor, the energy was already electric.
The Reception: A 10-Piece Band with Added Horns
The Grand Ballroom delivered exactly what a room with cathedral ceilings and a wraparound terrace overlooking Manhattan deserves – a full 10-piece Barnstorm band, augmented with added horns, performing across three live sets throughout the evening.
- 7:00pm – Live Set 1: 20-minute opening set as guests were invited upstairs.
- 8:00pm – Live Set 2: 20-minute mid-evening set between courses.
- 9:10pm – Live Set 3: 110-minute continuous set carrying the dance floor to the after-party.
Between sets, a solo pianist provided a quieter sonic backdrop during the meal service – a deliberate contrast that gave the room room to breathe, and gave guests space to actually hear each other across the table.
The Special Dances
Three formal dances anchored the emotional core of the evening. Meghan and Anthony’s first dance was performed to “More” by Bobby Darin. Anthony then took the floor with his sister Danielle for “Forever Young” by Rod Stewart. Meghan danced with her father to the Temptations’ “My Girl.”
One particularly meaningful touch: “September” by Earth, Wind and Fire was designated a special song for the evening – a late grandfather’s favorite, and deeply sentimental for Meghan’s family.
After-Party: DJ Zack in the Stork Club
At 11pm, the band led a final transition upstairs to the Stork Club on the third floor, where DJ Zack took over for a two-hour after-party set under red uplighting, pulling from a playlist of 2010s college-era anthems.
What Made This Night Work
Weddings with multiple musical formats succeed when each element is intentional – curated to serve a specific moment in the evening’s emotional arc. The trio created warmth and intimacy, the second line built kinetic excitement, the solo piano gave the room breathing room, the full band delivered the main event, and the DJ closed the loop with something looser and celebratory.
Wedding planner Joy Gomez of The Wedding Plan and Co. coordinated the evening’s flow alongside the Barnstorm production team and Hudson House event manager Gabe Rodriguez, keeping a complex musical program running seamlessly across five floors and eight hours.
VENDOR TEAM:
📍: @hudsonhousenj
📋: @theweddingplanandcompany
🎸: @thebarnstorm
📸: @captured.by.jessicalynn
🎥: @negronicreative
💐: @whisperandbrookflowerco
🛋: @nuagedesignsinc
🛋: @partyrentalltd
📷: @smilebooth
🎪: @classeventrentals
🪩: @gotoshout
💄: @beautyiconnyc
Photos by Justin Aharoni (@jaharoni) below:
