Angie and Kevin October 17th

Angie and Kevin celebrating with family and friends

This picture only tells half of the story from Angie and Kevin’s wedding reception. I’ll give you a better glimpse of their event at the end of this blog post. Angie and Kevin celebrated in style with a classic black and white theme with red roses to accent which looked absolutely timeless. The Terrace Bay Inn was their venue of choice and as always, Mike, Laurie, Kristin and the staff and I work exceptionally well together. We recognized the outstanding achievement by Angie’s grandparents Paul and Ora of being married for 70 years and I know Angie was proud of that fact and glad to share with her guests. The introductions into the room went flawlessly as Angie and Kevin surprised their guests by entering from the stage side of the room instead of the front. Angie and Kevin’s cake cutting ceremony followed their welcome and thank you to their guests from coming and their guests were invited to the buffet line in a fun way as well.

Angie and Kevin's First Dance

After dinner, guests gathered around for Angie and Kevin’s Love Story where at one point Angie said that Kevin was hilarious. Just as they started their first dance as husband and wife to the sounds of Lionel Richie’s “My Love”, one of the children from the bridal party was heard saying “That was hilarious!” Kids can be SO cute!

Angie and her father Bob share their Father Daughter dance

After their first dance Angie and her father Bob shared a moment with their Father Daughter dance to “I Loved Her First” followed by the opening of the dance floor with the bridal party to “You’ve Got A Friend”. The dancing kicked off with music from Bachman Turner Overdrive to Big N Rich, Kid Rock to KC & The Sunshine Band and Big N Rich to the Black Eyed Peas…with a special memory created during that song. Look for the video to be posted later.

Best Man Scott shaking his thang

The party was still going strong at 11:30pm so Angie and Kevin along with their families decided to extend it until 1am and the high energy celebration continued with 80’s mixes into hip hop, country into rock and even a little retro with Come On Eileen and Blister In The Sun thrown in for good measure. We ended the night with “Chicken Fried” by the Zac Brown Band and an encore of “I Gotta Feelin” To quote Kevin “It was a good night….a great NIGHT…an AWESOME NIGHT!!!

Havin' fun on the dance floor

Thank you Angie, Kevin and families for being wonderful clients to work for and best wishes!!!

AWESOME night with family and friends

Rhiannon and Landon October 3rd

Rhiannon and Landon's First Dance

The wedding of Rhiannon and Landon took place on October 3rd and Rhiannon and Landon were a little nervous in the days leading up to their wedding due to having an outside ceremony and threatening weather forecasted for that Saturday. I’m happy to report that the rain held off and the only thing that threatened their outdoor ceremony was a little bee that seemed to want to make an appearance during the vows. 🙂

What a unique couple! Yes, Rhiannon was named after the famed Fleetwood Mac song and had mutual friends for the Best Man and Matron of Honor who joined them that night at their sweetheart table…a new trend in weddings now making it’s way here to the Upper Peninsula.Rhiannon and Landon prepared fun introductions for their bridal party members with me and everyone walked into the instrumental version of “Hip Hop Hooray” by Naughty by Nature because that’s how Rhiannon and Landon roll! It was fun to do a more hip hop entrance that way and the bridal party was bouncing and dancing on the way in to the beats.

Rhiannon and Landon had a fall theme with beautiful colors and one of Rhiannon’s unique idea to incorporate her theme was not to have a cake cutting ceremony but instead to just have a beautiful spread of pies, brownies and the like laid out for a dessert table. It looked SCRUMPTIOUS and really added to the fall wedding with a unique perspective.

Scrumptious Dessert Table

After the dessert table was enjoyed by family and friends we showed a unique montage created by yours truly for them that incorporated 157 photos into only a little over 8 minutes and 30 seconds. A little more fast paced but the montage flowed beautifully with the song choice of “Ain’t It The Life” by the Foo Fighters, and “The Luckiest” by Ben Folds. Rhiannon and Landon then shared their first dance to “Green Eyes” by Coldplay, followed by their Father Daughter and Mother Son dances respectively. it was a beautiful moment to watch Rhiannon and her Father Daryl dance to “Landslide” by Fleetwood Mac as they have experienced Fleetwood Mac in concert several times together and see them sing the lyrics of the song to each other in that moment.

Rhiannon and her father Daryl

The dance floor at Pine Mountain resort is small but was the right size for Rhiannon, Landon and their 140 guests. Everyone danced throughout the night and the bar inside of the same room was a great touch that helped keep people there celebrating with them throughout the night. Dancing included the alternative sounds of Violent Femmes, RUN DMC, the current “I Gotta Feelin'” and “Say Hey”, rockin’ out to “Nothin’ But A Good Time” and “Paradise City”, and classics such as “Can’t Help Falling In Love With You” and “Crazy” The evening ended to the sounds of “Summer of ’69″…one of Rhiannon’s faves! Thank you Rhiannon and Landon for a wonderful wedding celebration! Moments like these at the end of the night are what make me truly love my career!

Everlasting moment for Rhiannon and Landon

Kim and Tim September 19th, 2009

Photo by Freeman's Photography

Kim and Tim were married on September 19th, 2009 and I was privileged to serve as their Wedding Entertainment Director on this day. Kim and Tim were originally referred to me by Alison and Brad, good friends of theirs and a couple who are truly beautiful as well. Kim and Tim booked with me shortly after their engagement and set upon planning. Their venue of choice was the Island Resort & Casino. Sherri and the staff there always do an outstanding job and we work exceptionally well together. Sherri will take care of your every need.

Photo courtesy of Freeman's Photography

Guests arrived to the sounds of “Anyone Else But You” by Moldy Peaches, “Sea Of Love” by Cat Power, and Adam Sandler’s “Grow Old With You”…along with a mix of country artists. The room was beautifully decorated by Amanda from Ever After Decorating Kim, Tim and their bridal party arrived a short time after and entered to fun personalized introductions followed by their cake cutting ceremony. Toasts followed, blessing and dinner with tables being invited a fun way as well. Keith from Freeman’s Photography always does an outstanding job and really goes above and beyond to ensure that everything is just right for his clients at every wedding. The images that you have seen so far in this post have been all his and I believe he can truly capture the essence of your wedding day beautifully.

Photo by Freeman's Photography

Kim and Tim also hired me to produce a photo montage for them to show at the reception. It came out beautifully and everyone enjoyed the walk down memory lane of Kim and Tim’s lives and their new life together.

Kim and Tim opted for me to share their Love Story with their guests which then led to their first dance as husband and wife to “Johnny and June” by Heidi Newfield, a song which I feel describes this couple to a “T”. Ron and Kim then shared an emotional moment for the Father Daughter dance to “I Loved Her First” by Heartland, with a few special edits as well. 🙂 Tim and Patti then shared their Mother Son dance to “It’s Your Song” by Garth Brooks. The bridal party kicked off the dancing with “Footloose” next complete with a soul train line and the party was on!

Garter Bouquet Ceremony happened and we had an interesting twist. Kim and Tim employed a Nerf football and wrapped the garter around it along with some drink coins from some of Escanaba and Gladstone’s finest bars glued to the garter for the toss/hike! It made for a fun moment and ended up that the garter with the drink coins was separated from the football so two people went home happy that night from that moment!

Football Garter Toss (photo by Mitch Taylor)

The night ended on an upbeat note and everyone had a blast! What a beautiful wedding day! Thank you Kim and Tim! I’ll leave you with other images from a beautiful night.

Reactions from intros captured beautifully by Freeman's

Kim and Ron's Father Daughter Dance (photo by Freeman's Photography)

Amanda and Martin September 5th, 2009

Song title table names

Amanda and Martin were married on September 5th, 2009 and had their reception at the Masonic Temple. Having never played there before, I arrived quite early and was impressed with the hospitality of the staff. Martin and Amanda were originally referred to me by Carrie and Chad McNair, whom I had the pleasure of performing for on their wedding day in October of 2006.

Carrie and Chad

Amanda, Martin and their bridal party arrived at quarter to 6 and we introduced everyone into the room to “I Believe In A Thing Called Love” by the Darkness. Amanda and Martin then thanked their guests for joining them and then their siblings gave their toasts. I sometimes have to handle the champagne at weddings and due to the venue had to that night as well. No problem. My philosophy is whatever it takes to help create a successful event. Tables were then invited to the buffet line via the songs that were their table names. After dinner, a couple of tables had to be broken down to create our dance floor so the groomsman assisted with that while guests were informed of the upcoming events. We shared Amanda and Martin’s Love Story followed by their first dance as husband and wife.

Amanda and Martin First Dance

Amanda and Martin then shared their Father Daughter and Mother Son dances with their parents and the dance floor was opened.

Daytime

Nighttime dance floor

Piano Man ending

It’s AMAZING the difference that decor lighting can make on a room. After utilizing decor lighting for Amanda and Martin’s reception, I think a room looks almost naked without it anymore. You can change the mood and feel of the room to create just the right ambience for your first dance, dancing or even a specific song (Like Red On A Rose for example). The beauty of using my system over others is that we can change colors and moods whenever you want AND it’s wireless…no messy long extension cords or data cables that people can trip on or looking ugly against a wall on the floor. Why only have one color when you can have them all?

The event ended with a fun sing a long to Piano Man with Amanda and Martin surrounded by their closest friends and family. Thanks Amanda and Martin for a great wedding! Congratulations and I wish the best that life has to offer to you both.

Love the pink lighting

Amy and Robert August 29th, 2009

Beautifully Decorated American Legion Munising

I was referred to Amy and Robert by a previous groom, Derek, whose wedding I did 5 years ago! It’s amazing the impact that we as wedding entertainers can have on people’s lives sometimes. I’m flattered that he remembered me after all of these years. Amy and Robert’s reception was held at the American Legion in Munising, the same venue for Derek’s and his brother Travis’s wedding. Amy’s friend Mara did the decorating for the event and I must say it came off beautifully.

Candy Buffet

They had a delectable candy buffet laid out just as you entered the room and one of the coolest things that I liked about their reception was the picture frames they had on each table with different phrases about love from their guests. Here’s an example.

Love Quotes Picture Frames

Amy, Robert and their bridal party were introduced very simply to “Me & My Gang” with Amy and Robert being introduced to a special edit of “Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You by Frankie Valli. Dinner was then enjoyed and guests wrote out suggestions for a long happy marriage for Amy and Robert which we shared just after dinner. Now…the reception started at 4pm and due to the fact that the windows would pour natural light in from the outside, we did not use dance floor lighting for their wedding. Who says you need dance floor lighting to party? Amy and Robert’s crowd didn’t as the party went well past 10pm when we did our first wrap-up to the specially selected karaoke favorite of Amy’s “Wanted Dead Or Alive” by Bon Jovi.

Dance floor hoppin'

Guys rockin' it out!

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun!

Thank you Amy and Robert! Great party!

Amy and Robert's First Dance

Megan and Dave August 22nd, 2009

Terrace welcomes Megan & Dave

Megan and Dave had a beautiful wedding day on August 22nd, 2009. The room was very nicely decorated courtesy of Tiffany at Final Touches Designs and guests arrived and enjoyed cocktail hour.

Tables beautifully decorated

Megan and Dave with their bridal party arrived shortly after, and were having a great time on the bus during their bar crawl before the reception. Let’s just say it was a little difficult to round everyone up for the Grand March :). For the introductions Megan and Dave entered first to the sounds of Thunderstruck by AC/DC, and then we brought the bridal party in from a different way than normal into the room, each to their own song. Dave and Megan then welcomed their guests followed by the toasts and blessing. To get Megan and Dave to kiss that day, guests had to walk up to the putting green and sink a putt, which was a fun addition to the dinner hour.

After dinner we had a wonderful cake cutting ceremony with the bridal party bringing out cheesecakes for every other table in the room and one special couple per table with cheesecake performed the “cake” cutting ceremony with Megan and Dave. Beautiful moment!

Megan and Dave's Cake Table

Megan and Dave’s first dance to “We Are Man & Wife” by Michelle Featherstone followed their Love Story, then Megan and Dennis shared their Father Daughter dance with words to each other during the dance to Cinderella by Stephen Curtis Chapman. Dave and his mom Jean then had their Mother Son Dance to “Simple Man” by Shinedown. The wedding party dance then broke out to “Forever” by Chris Brown for a change of pace to a traditional wedding party dance.

Megan and Dave's First Dance

Megan and Dennis enjoy the moment

Jean and Dave's Mother Son Dance

Amanda and Jesse

Remember Amanda and Jesse? They were there too…Jesse was a groomsman and had a blast the entire night. Dance floor was going all night to the sounds of “I Gotta Feelin'”, “Summer of ’69”, and even one of Dave’s favorites, Nickelback’s “Something In Your Mouth” Dave’s father even sang a beautiful song to Megan and Dave during our first slow set of the night.

Slow dancin'

The night ended with a fun group sing-a-long to “Jack & Diane”by John Mellencamp. Thanks Megan and Dave for the memories! You are a wonderful couple to work with!

Jessi and Mark

Ceremony site at Four Seasons

The Four Seasons resort in Pembine, WI was the setting for Jessi and Mark’s ceremony and reception this past Friday.

Ceremony grounds from the balcony

Jessi, Mark and I met at the Four Seasons bridal show this past year and connected right away with what they were looking to create. They hired me to provide ceremony sound and play at the reception as well and as you can see…it was a beautiful day for the two of them to get married.

A proud man marries the love of his life

Jessi walks down the aisle

Pastor did a wonderful job with the ceremony, injecting humor where appropriate and keeping it lighthearted for Jessi, Mark and their guests.

Pastor, Jessi and Mark

. Once the ceremony finished, Jessi and Mark had their receiving line at the top of the hill and guests were then invited to make their way upstairs in the Spring and Autumn Salons to enjoy cocktails. Hors D’ouevres were served in the Autumn Salon and I provided satellite sound in that room so guests could enjoy the same music from room to room and hear the pertinent announcements being made such as the toasts. Peggy from Four Seasons (who does an OUTSTANDING job by the way) tells me she’s surprised that no other DJ’s are providing this service to their clients.

Sign welcoming guests

I provided uplighting for Jessi and Mark to create a “wow” factor when their guests walked in to the room and Jessi even commented on the beautiful glow from just inside the room before she entered…she said it looked amazing.

Light blue uplighting at Four Seasons

. Guests enjoyed cocktail music from Darius Rucker, Train, Rascal Flatts, and Josh Groban with Jessi and Mark welcomed into the room. Guests enjoyed the heavy hors d’ouevres after Mark’s brother gave his toast. After dinner, I shared Jessi and Mark’s love story with their guests followed by their first dance together as husband and wife. The dance floor was jumping pretty much the entire night with music from Norman Greenbaum and Elvis to Kevin Rudolph and Nickelback. I’m not sure when this crazy antic in the night happened, but it happened.

Bottoms Up

Thanks Jessi and Mark! It was a pleasure entertaining for your friends and family.

Missy and Jake

Place setting for Annaliese

Missy Jake and Annaliese

Pine Mountain in Iron Mountain Michigan was the venue for Missy and Jake’s wedding reception, and this is the place setting for their beautiful daughter Annaliese. Missy and Jake wanted to create a lot of fun on their wedding day and keep people dancing. Their crowd was a big drinking crowd and the bar was in a separate room, so this could prove to be a bit of a challenge.

Missy and Jake Cake Topper

Missy and Jake are a fun loving couple, as evidenced by their cake topper. Teres and the staff at Pine Mountain always do a great job and I was pleased to see the layout of the room a little bit more conducive to entertaining guests. The introductions were funny and was followed up by our toasts before plated dinners were served.

After dinner we moved on with a slideshow presentation created for Missy by Stephanie and then Missy and Jake’s Love Story followed by their first dance.

Missy and Bob's Father Daughter Dance

Missy and Bob’s Father Daughter dance was very touching, and an emotional moment for the two of them.

Jake and brothers embrace Mom for Mother Son Dance

Bonnie and Jake’s Mother Son Dance was next and then the dance floor started up as guests danced the night away to Cotton Eyed Joe, Don’t Stop Believin’, Dancing Queen, and Billie Jean among others. By 9:45pm the dance floor was covered in beer (did I mention this crowd likes to drink?) and before you knew it we were ready for the party to end. One last group sing a long to Friends In Low Places ended a wonderful night for Missy and Jake. Thank you Foster and Lucas families for allowing me to be a part of your children’s celebration. I hope you had just as much fun as I did.

Missy, Jake, Annaliese and I

Friends enjoying the dancing

Fenway and Fall Weddings

Well…it’s been a while since my last post. Sorry about that. I know at least a few people are reading this blog, and it’s pretty cool to hear that upcoming brides are seeing what I have done for recent couples and becoming even more excited for their wedding day. The last few weeks have been quite hectic, yet extremely fun.

First, my brother in law and I shipped up to Boston (Cue Dropkick Murphys) for Labor Day weekend. We had so much fun. Our trip actually started on Thursday night as we travelled to Milwaukee for Harley Fest and saw Kid Rock, Sugarland and Lewis Black perform. Jennifer Nettles of Sugarland is one of my favorite singers….she is SO passionate and emotional, especially when she sings her song “Stay”. It’s beautiful to watch. Friday morning we drove back down to Milwaukee from Tim’s apartment in Manitowoc and flew to Boston. We got our convertible Mustang rental car, checked into our hotel and proceeded to one of baseball’s last great parks….Fenway. We ate at a couple of the local pubs just outside of Fenway before both games that we saw…one Friday night and one Sunday afternoon, both versus the Chicago White Sox. Just before the Sunday game we got to take a tour of Fenway Park, which was definitely one of the highlights of the trip. Can’t you tell I’m a big Boston Red Sox fan?! LOL.

Saturday Tim and I drove up the coast of Maine to meet up with a good friend of mine who does morning drive on the #1 country station in Portland, ME. Dave is a truly genuine person, very cool and actually lives on a farm! From there, we met up with a buddy of mine from high school who I hadn’t seen since his wedding and then we were traveling south to meet my parents in Hampton Beach, New Hampshire…some of my dad’s old stomping grounds where he grew up. We drove along the strip in Hampton Beach and took in the beauty of the Atlantic Ocean and afterwards went for a lobster dinner at a coastal restaurant.

The following weekend my parents flew out from Maine to visit our family here in the U.P. My kids love having their Nana and Bumpa from Maine come to visit. My dad, my son and I got to take a fishing charter on Saturday thanks to Morti Young from Big Bay De Noc Charters. I’ve known Morti for a few years now and he’s one of the best guys you will ever meet. I am privileged to be performing for his wedding upcoming in June of next year.

Friday September 12th it was back to work for two weddings over the weekend. First, I performed for Staci and James in Manistique followed by Dana and Jacob on Saturday at the Terrace in Escanaba. Staci and James had a few fun things planned for their guests such as putt putt for kissing and they even did an evolution of dance performance for their first dance. The following night, Dana and Jacob Maki had a beautiful wedding day, complete with gorgeous decoration courtesy of Amanda from Ever After Decorating and Rhonda from Flinn’s Flowers. Dana and Jake’s Love Story was beautiful and everyone had a good time.

Last night I had the pleasure of performing at the Wawonowin Country Club in Ishpeming, MI. I don’t get to Ishpeming often, but I have to say that Kevin and his staff do a phenomenal job. The Wawonowin was the perfect size for Rachel and Dave Riley’s wedding with 170 guests. We had just the right special touches added for their wedding day; they had a very touching Mother/Son dance (thanks Marianne!) and even a fun surprise for Dave’s brother who is “In The Navy”! The night concluded with a drunken group sing-a-long to “Friends In Low Places” followed by dancing and singing along to “Don’t Stop Believin’” and ended with Dave and Rachel’s first song they ever danced to together “Can’t Help Falling In Love” by Elvis. Everyone had a great time and they had a wonderful wedding day.

This weekend I am performing for Megan and Adam with what is sure to be a great time. I previously performed for Megan’s sister a few years ago and it’s a pleasure to be able to perform for her family again. We’ll have a surprise guest at the reception (approved my Megan of course) so stay tuned!