KINGSTON — On one of the most important days of one’s life — namely the wedding day — the last thing anyone wants to worry about is whether the music will fall flat. That’s where Indianola resident Ed Waterman, his Kingston business Entertainment Northwest and his ranks of disc jockeys and party planner specialists step in. He has an arsenal of knowledgeable employees, different musicians and entertainers for any classy occasion.

“In a nutshell, we are a regional event company,” he said. “We do event planning for turnkey events like weddings, corporate events and festivals… I put together the Port Gamble Oktoberfest a couple of years ago and just had a great time. Most of our business right now is entertainment and special events.”

At the tender age of 10, Waterman had his first experience on stage, and has been performing both individually and with groups since. He said it was a natural transition from being in a band, to organizing shows to booking events, and now he’s discussing opening several new offices around the Puget Sound.

“In a special event, the DJs are more like event planners,” Waterman said. “The average person only plans a couple of special events in their lifetime. We do thousands of these events a year. There are things we deal with that someone else may not even think of, and that’s what we’re there to do.”

Kingston is a perfect venue for such events, and he said he has plans for working with different organizations, like the Port of Kingston, to capitalize on them. He said he’s also working on a charitable foundation, and plans to donate at least $2 million back to children’s funds in Kitsap County in the next 30 to 40 years.

“I was born and raised in Kingston, and I went to school at the (University of Washington) and lived in Seattle for a while,” Waterman said. He added he came back because of his love for the area, and it’s potential for a picturesque venue. “The thing that’s exciting about a venue in Kingston is, the area lost three major venues recently, and the best thing for Kingston will be something to draw people. What this is will do is bring about 5,000 people to Kingston in the next year.”

Recently, Entertainment Northwest was presented with The Knot Magazine’s Best of Weddings Best of the Best Award, skyrocketing his client numbers and requiring more employees. Waterman said the one thing really holding him back is the labor shortage, but he said that is the only setback as business booms.