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!

Jacquelyn and Kyle

Jacquelyn and Kyle

Jacquelyn and Kyle and I met originally at a bridal show and shortly after we met again along with their parents over dinner at Applebee’s in Marinette. I could tell right away that this couple was a very special couple and one I would be privileged to work for. Their reception took place at the SC Grand in De Pere, Wisconsin and I must say that Angela, Kristen and the staff there are very much detail oriented as I am.

SC Grand

Upon entering the room I noticed how spacious it was and the beautiful cake table with the backdrop of a quilt with childhood photos of Jacqie and Kyle together with one of them dating in the center.

Beautiful Cake Table with childhood photo quilt

Jacqie and Kyle also had a beautiful candy buffet table unveiled for guests at 7pm to enjoy and invited them to take a bag of candy home with them instead of favors for their guests.

Delectable Candy Buffet

Spacious SC Grand ballroom

Placecard table

Jacqie, Kyle and bridal party entered the room via personalized introductions and then Jacqie and Kyle shared their cake cutting ceremony with their guests. Best Man Jake and Maid of Honor Amy then gave their toasts and dinner was served. Jacqie and Kyle didn’t kiss via traditional glasses clinking, instead they encourage guests to come up and hula hoop in front of them to get them to kiss! It was a great way to liven up the dinner hour.

Jacqie and Kyle's first dance sealed with a kiss

After dinner, we shared Jacqie and Kyle’s Love Story followed by their first dance as husband and wife to Jason Aldean and Bryan Adams version of Heaven. The Father Daughter and Mother Son dances were very meaningful to Jacqie and Kyle and we spent an evening together a while back with their families working on creating just the right moment.

Jacqie and her father Wayne share a heartfelt moment

Joy filled moments with Jacqie and Wayne

Kyle and Carol’s Mother Son dance was next, filled with joy and funny moments too “Oh, Kyle…you were an excellent driver!” was a comment that everyone thought was humorous.

Kyle and his Mother Carol share a special moment

Next came a parents tribute dance to Wayne and Nancy, Leonard and Carol followed by the bridal party dance with a unique spin of All My Life by K-Ci and Jo Jo into Ice Ice Baby by Vanilla Ice! From there the dance floor was open and we also had a Dollar Dance, Anniversary Dance (winning couple was 3 of them tied at 42 years of marriage!), and a Garter Bouquet Ceremony too. The end of the night was a beautiful moment for Jacqie and Kyle, very romantic surrounded by their friends and family and candlelight.

Jacqie and Kyle surrounded by candlelight

The best part about it….I feel as though Jacqie and Kyle aren’t just clients…but friends. That’s the way it’s supposed to be. Thank you again for an amazing reception Jacqie and Kyle. It was my privilege to perform for you, your families and friends on your wedding day.

Jenny and Kyle

Welcome Friends and Family

Jenny and Kyle’s reception took place at the NMU Great Lakes room in Marquette. Guests arrived and enjoyed an eclectic mix of alternative pop love songs for the cocktail and dinner hour. After Jenny and Kyle arrived with their bridal party, we organized their introductions with everyone walking into a special vocal reduced mix of Get Freeky by Pitbull that I made for them (with the assistance of a business colleague of mine…thanks Ed!)

Family tradition: Kyle's Mother Laura made the beautiful cake

Head table decoration

After our cake cutting ceremony, guests were engaged with the Toasts given by the Best Man, Maid of Honor, then Father of the Bride. A moment of silence then followed for Jenny and Kyle’s grandparents who were there that night in spirit and then a wonderful sit down meal was enjoyed. Next, Jenny and her dad Steve shared their Father Daughter dance to a very meaningful song for both of them, it was the song playing on the radio when Jenny was born. “If You Leave” by OMD

Jenny and her father Steve

Kyle and his mother Laura then danced to “Heart To Heart” by Toby Keith and we set the tone with a special announcement just before that.

Kyle and his Mother Laura

From there the party was on and a wide variety of songs were played from traditional favorites such as Shout, Beer Barrel Polka and Unchained Melody to not so traditional wedding songs such as Like A Prayer, Let’s Get Married (Remix), and Headsprung by LL Cool J. Current music also was big for Jenny and Kyle as they like the club scene so we played hits such as Hotel Room Service by Pitbull, Umbrella by Rihanna (great mix out of Pour Some Sugar On Me into that…I LOVE that one!) and Good Girls Go Bad by Cobra Starship. Here are some sample dance photos. (I’m NOT a professional photographer…lol.)

Dance floor hoppin'

Kyle and Jenny partying with their friends

We went overtime til 12am with a last song of Forever by Chris Brown…which ended up not being the last song as the crowd begged for two more encores including Jump Around by House Of Pain! It was a phenomenal celebration for two beautiful people in love. Thank you Jenny, Kyle and families for a wonderful wedding!

Stephanie and Matt

Stephanie and Matt

WOW! What a wedding! Stephanie, Matt, Stephanie’s parents Laurie and Scott and I have been planning for this day since May 2008.

Pine Grove Welcomes

Matt and Stephanie originally met through Stephanie’s brother…and Matt is very thankful for him introducing them. They had a champagne fountain set up in the foyer area for guests to enjoy champagne and prepare a glass for toasting later.

Champagne Fountain with Ice Sculpture

The bridal party arrived ready to party and Gary and the staff at Pine Grove CC always do a great job in food prep and planning with their clients as well. Upon arrival the bridal party entered to “Power Of Love” by Huey Lewis & The News and Stephanie and Matt entered to “Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You” by Frankie Valli with a special twist courtesy of yours truly. Stephanie and Matt’s cake was gorgeous

Wedding cake accenting her bridal colors

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After our cake cutting ceremony, best man and maid of honor toasts, Stephanie’s father Scott gave a very heartfelt toast complete with performing a song on the piano in honor of his daughter. I had tear-filled eyes as I witnessed this beautiful moment between father and daughter. LOVE. Gary and the staff at Pine Grove again did an outstanding job and Pine Grove CC is DEFINITELY the premier venue in Dickinson County for a wedding reception, in my humble opinion.

Bridesmaids with Stephanie

After dinner, everyone gathered round for Stephanie and Matt’s Love Story followed by their first dance as husband and wife to “When You Say Nothing At All” by Ronan Keating from Notting Hill Soundtrack.

Laurie and Bridal Party engaged with Stephanie & Matt's First Dance

. Stephanie and Scott then shared a heartfelt moment for the Father Daughter dance

Stephanie and Scott

and Matt danced with his Mother Grace to “I Have A Dream” by Abba, a song with special meaning for them as they saw “Mamma Mia” together in London when Matt was studying abroad.

Matt and Grace

The bridal party helped kick off the dancing next to, wait for it……………………………………………………………..

You won’t believe this…………………………………………

“Jump For My Love” by the Pointer Sisters and the dance floor was non stop from then on. Keith Freeman of Freeman’s Photography once again did a phenomenal job of capturing the day, even providing a photo montage to show in the bar area for guests. The end of the night didn’t happen until midnight when a “I Want It That Way” by the Backstreet Boys sing a long broke out. The Backstreet Boys music had a hand in bringing these two together and it was a perfect ending for a fun party. Thanks Stephanie and Matt and families for a fun reception!

Stephanie and Matt's First Dance

Jessica and Ryne

Jessica and Ryne

Jessica and Ryne are friends of Missy and Jake, whom I performed for back in June. Jessica and Ryne got together through mutual friends at a party one night and have watched their love grow over the years. They also have a beautiful daughter Kayla, one of the VIP’s of our bridal party this past Saturday. I even got to play “Bad Day” by the Chipmunks for her at one point in the night.

Jessica opted to go with an uplighting package to create a pink glow from under her head table. This effect really made the room pop and went well with her pink sashes on the chair covers. Here’s before and after pictures so you can really see the difference between the two.

Before pic of head table

After pic of uplighting at head table

Jessica and Ryne’s reception was held at the Nostalgic Ballroom in Florence

Nostalgic Ballroom

John from Richer Image was the photographer for Jessica’s wedding and again, a pleasure to work with. Jessica and Ryne arrived with their bridal party and organized for their introductions. Jessica and Ryne said thank you to their guests immediately following, a really heartfelt moment which I know Jessica was nervous for.

Jessica and Ryne's Cake

Our cake cutting ceremony was next accompanied by “Our Song” and “Take My Breath Away” by Jessica Simpson. After dinner, we moved on to Jessica and Ryne’s Love Story followed by their first dance together as husband and wife. Jessica and Ryne had me create a special edit for them to dance to of the song “Do You Know?” by Jessica Simpson and Dolly Parton. (Jessica’s a big Jessica Simpson fan.) Guests then danced and enjoyed the night. It was a pleasure seeing Tiffany and Mark again, whom I had the pleasure of performing for back on April 26th, 2008 and of course seeing Missy and Jake again too. It’s always nice to see past clients at weddings I’m performing and good to see things are going well for them. Thank you Jessica and Ryne. It was a pleasure helping you create your wedding day.

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.

Jennifer and Chad

Signing the Marriage License

Some couples are troopers to the end, proving time and time again that their love will stand the test of time. Such is the case for Jennifer and Chad…who had some obstacles to deal with on their wedding day. I arrived at the Terrace Bay Inn shortly after 1pm to set up their event and had to unload in the pouring rain. I strongly dislike doing so but my thoughts quickly turned to Jennifer and Chad. Their reception was to be at 3:30pm outside in Garden, MI…just a few towns away. As luck would have it, 3:30 rolled around and the rain began to pour down on the ceremony site. Different family members asked Jen and Chad what they wanted to do and they both said unbeknownst to the other one that they would get married in the rain. This presented quite the challenge for their photographer Daniele Carol but she and her assistant handled it flawlessly…even getting an umbrella-full of water dumped on them at one point!

Green uplighting at the Terrace

Green was one of Jen’s primary color choices for the wedding so we accented the Terrace columns with her color choice. Guests began to arrive to the sounds of 70s and 80s classic rock. Shortly thereafter, Jen and Chad arrived with their damp bridal party in from the rain and then we got everyone together for their introductions. The Best man Mike even came in with a cape!

Best Man Mike's cape!

After the introductions of the bridal party Jen and Chad went over and cut their cake, followed by toasts and the blessing before the meal.

Beautiful wedding cake

. Chad and Jen even invited Chad’s Aunt Sue to perform the second cut of the cake that day since it was her birthday as well. What a great honor!

Jen and Chad live in Vegas and wanted to spice up their dinner a little bit so we played a fun game to invite tables to the buffet line. Suffice it to say that I had something happen to me at their wedding that has never happened in the past 13 years or over 500 weddings that I’ve performed in that time frame. It was a lot of fun and made for great conversation starter for their in and out of town guests. Dinner was great and soon it was time to deliver Jen and Chad’s Love Story followed by their first dance to “Lucky” by Jason Mraz and Colbie Caillat.

Father Daughter Dance William and Jen

The Father of the Bride William and Jen then shared a dance to “Always Be Your Baby” by Natalie Grant…a beautiful and unique song choice. Chad and his Mom Lael then shared their Mother Son dance to “On This Day” by Christian Barnes, an up and coming popular choice for Mother Son dances this year.

Lael and Chad Mother Son dance

. Dance floor opened with our bridal party dance to “Friends In Low Places” by Garth Brooks and guests danced the night away to songs like “Sexyback”, “Humpty Dance”, “Fat Bottomed Girls”, “Paradise By Dashboard Light”, and “Hey Ya!”. The evening ended with everyone up and dancing to “Celebration”, a special request to end the night by Jen and Chad. Thank you Jen and Chad so much!

Mitch, Jen and Chad

Katie and Pat

UpFront & Company

UpFront & Company was the site for Katie and Pat’s ceremony and reception for July 18th. I arrived early as usual and had all of my equipment inside and set up by 12:45pm. Katie and Pat planned on having their ceremony on the dance floor at the UpFront with the reception immediately following. Bridal party members were dressed and milling about as they were to have rehearsal at 1pm with pictures with their photographer, Cameron Fure before the reception. Katie’s mom kindly asked me if I would help them in directing the ceremony and I assisted with rehearsal. The ceremony went off without a hitch thanks to their friend and officiate Mark and Katie and Patrick walked back down the aisle to 525,600 minutes from the Rent Soundtrack. Cocktail hour was fun and then we introduced the bridal party into the room followed by Katie and Pat’s cake cutting ceremony.

Katie and Pat's gorgeous Gopher's cake

. From there the UpFront staff did a great job with dinner served right on time. After dinner, Katie and Pat’s Love Story was shared with their guests and then their first dance to “Someone Like You” by Van Morrison.

Katie and Pat's 1st Dance

. Katie and her father Thomas then shared their Father Daughter dance with guests followed by Pat and his mother Laura dancing to “Child Of Mine” by Carole King.

Pat and Laura Mother Son Dance

A few unique requests for dancing included “You’ve Got The Love” by Candi Staton and even “Sister Christian” by Night Ranger or as the bridesmaids affectionately called it “MOTORIN’!” What a fun group! The night was capped off with all friends and family on the dance floor celebrating to the sounds of “Sweet Caroline” by Neil Diamond. What a great wedding for a wonderful couple!