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)

Savannah and Jamison

Jamison and Savannah

June 6th, 2009 was the wedding date for Savannah and Jamison, or should I say Sav and J-mo…as they are commonly referred to by their closest friends. 🙂 Their reception took place at the Island Resort & Casino in Harris and Sherrie Skradski once again did an outstanding job ensuring everything was moving along smoothly with the venue including food and beverage. Sherrie and I both even assisted with putting up the final floral design above the doorway before guest arrival. I arrived quite early, programmed some new light scenes into my controller, did a walk through of the room and event, ensuring everything was in its proper place.

Elegant tables named with favors

The colors Savannah and Jamison chose were white and black, simply elegant for their reception with bottle of water favors and tables dismissed via song for the buffet. Dinner went off very smoothly, regulating the buffet line via song and it was time for our specialty dances.

Savannah and Jamison's First Dance

I gathered our bridal party and parents around and helped the guests live in the moment that Savannah and Jamison was about to share with them with a new idea I came up with not long ago. It worked very well as guests were fixated on these moments shared between Savannah, Jamison and their parents.

Savannah and her Father

Jamison and his mother share a moment

The dance floor started hopping almost from the moment we opened it up and Savannah and Jamison also included a Garter Bouquet Ceremony, Honeymoon Dance and Anniversary Dance as well.

Dance Floor hoppin'

We ended the night with a sing a long favorite with everyone on the floor singing along to Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond. What a great night for a wonderful couple!

Mitch, Savannah and Jamison

4th of July

What an amazing last few weeks it has been. Just after my last post, I had a wedding reception at Pine Mountain in Iron Mountain for Amanda and Dan Krznarich. The Sielaff and Krznarich families are TRULY beautiful people, and it was a pleasure working with and for their children. Amanda and Dan had a very personalized and memorable wedding day and we even went overtime and created a very intimate ending for the last song of the night for them.

June 20^th found me in Marquette for the Superior Bike Race. What a fun time when a community comes together and supports a sport such as cycling. People came from all over in and outside of the state of Michigan to participate in this event and we had a great time. Thanks to all of the hardworking folks at Frei Chevrolet for their assistance that night.

June 21^st was Jessica and Steve Gartland’s wedding. These two are meant for each other and their beautiful daughter Shannin is just a doll. We had a great time and we even had a special introduction for one of their groomsman who strongly resembled Larry The Cable Guy!

June 28^th brought the wedding of Angela and Craig Harris at the Island Resort & Casino. Angela and I have been working together on her wedding for quite some time and had several different moments that were personalized just for the two of them. Their first dance twist definitely surprised the crowd and created a moment that they and their guests will never forget. The evening ended on a high note with everyone celebrating with the two of them.

This weekend marks the 4^th of July. I have two amazing weddings this weekend and am truly blessed to work for the best clients in the world. First, Jessica and David are getting married in Gladstone with a reception to follow at the Terrace Bay Inn. David proposed to Jessica in Paris exactly one year ago on the 4^th of July after a friend’s wedding there. These two met with me a couple of months ago and currently live in the Baltimore Maryland area. Jessica and David’s tastes in music are eclectic and I am looking forward to entertaining their guests from all over the world who want to celebrate with Jessica and David in style. One of my best friends Eric Wagner aka “Crash” is making his usual trip up from Detroit to the U.P. and since he performs as a wedding entertainer in that market, he will be joining me to assist with their wedding on Friday night. My next reception is on Saturday night in Manistique at a private residence for Janice and Matthew Chittle. This will be a very intimate gathering of family and friends to join these two as they start their new life together.

Sunday marks the 5^th annual Taylor 4^th of July party and we should have approximately 50-80 people here at our home to celebrate summer in the U.P. and America’s independence. I would like to encourage all of you to thank your veterans of our Armed Forces this weekend. Freedom IS NOT free and we truly owe a debt of gratitude to these brave men and women. Thank you and have a happy and safe 4^th of July.

Kickoff to the U.P.’s 2008 Wedding Season!

Yesterday morning, April 12th, 2008 I awoke to the sound of my children playing in the living room. I made my way into the living room and was slightly surprised with the view as I looked out the window. Mother Nature decided to dump 3 to 5 inches of snow on us on the overnight and I was faced with the task of snowblowing my driveway just so I could get out to perform at last night’s wedding reception. Bryan and Lindsey LaMarch had already been married 3 weeks earlier aboard the cruise ship the Norwegian Pearl, and were now having their celebration back home with family and friends. Of course being a former cruise ship entertainer I was immediately enchanted with this couple having learned of their plans of marriage during our initial interview. The setting for their reception was the Island Resort & Casino and as always, Sherry Skradski, the convention supervisor did a fabulous job in decorating the Paradise Room to reflect Lindsey and Bryan’s tropical themed wedding. She had amazing attention to detail with sea horses and starfish in the trees surrounding the room and a lavishly decorated buffet of heavy hors d’ouevres for guests to enjoy. The reception was designed to be more laid back and really just a party with very little of the traditional wedding formalities. A fellow Dream Day Event Center vendor, Tara was there in attendance and it was also great to see people that I hadn’t seen in awhile such as Paul Jacobs (my dentist)and his lovely wife, Jim Dufresne (the father of the bride) and Andrew and Karin Doutree (Matron of Honor). A great time was had by all with the personalized introductions seemingly being one of the highlights of the evening. As I look ahead, Gladstone High School’s prom will be this weekend. My wife, her sister and brother all graduated from Gladstone and we as a family are glad that my son and daughter will also be attending the same school system that my wife was educated through. I’ll be making my preparations during this week to rock 250 high school students and create Prom memories that will hopefully last a lifetime.

Holiday First Blog

Well, the holidays are upon us. It’s hard to believe that 2007 has almost come and gone. It has been a busy year for me and the Taylor family. From two different trips one to Montana and one to Maine, to leaving my full time day job and pursuing my dream of being a wedding entertainer full time…it’s been a roller coaster ride of emotions. My wife’s grandmother passed away just a couple of weeks ago. She will be dearly missed.

This time of year causes reflections. I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to the people who have assisted me throughout the year. Vendors such as (in no particular order), Keith and Michelle Freeman, Maggie Depuydt, Tiffany Albaugh, David Hakamaki, Bill Thum, Mickey Connor, Mike and Laurie from the Terrace, Ron, Kristy, Kim, and Mitch from the Danforth Place, Gary from Pine Grove CC, the ladies from Norway Mountain, Barb from Four Seasons Resort, Sherri from the Island Casino, Jack Ouelette, Ray Maki, Rhonda from Flinn’s, Joanna Amis from HobNob, Dan from Celebrations Charters, Vicki Micheau and everyone from the Delta County Chamber of Commerce, all of the vendors of the Dream Day Event Center…there are several others I am sure and you all played a role in my success this year….I thank you.

To my business associates in Lee Haynes, Ann Marie Jasso and Danielle Carlson, my web designer Sarah Chouinard, my tech guru Michael Malone, and everyone with my DJA family I say thank you for all of your help and assistance throughout this past year. Your drive and determination has been an inspiration to me.

Last but CERTAINLY not least, I say THANK YOU to my valued clients. Thank you for your belief in me and for allowing me to be a part of your special days. I’m so privileged to work with and for such wonderful people week in and week out.

Finally, I would like to say thank you to my family. Michelle, Hunter, Kendall, my Mom and Dad Harry and Peggy Taylor, my brother Kirk and his family, Michelle’s family, Mike, Judy, Kristy and Tim and all of their extended family members. You all have had my back and supported me 100% in the passion I have for my business. You are the best family infrastructure anyone could ask for.

To all reading this, take a moment this holiday season and slow down. Life moves pretty fast. We all too often get caught up in our day to day activities and forget to stop and cherish the moment that we are living in, feel our surroundings and take that breath of fresh air and experience it. Do that today. Do it now.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you.

Thanks for reading.

Mitch Taylor