Christine and Lance

Christine and Lance

What an amazing couple! I met with Lance and his mother Lisa back in August and they were referred to me by Becky and Travis Cross. Lance met his beautiful wife Christine in China at Christine’s friends birthday party. Lisa, Lance and I met to discuss the intricacies of planning their wedding from China and Lance’s mother Lisa seemed so glad to have assistance in planning this wedding. They held their reception on a snowy Saturday in December at the Elks Lodge of Manistique.

During our planning meetings Lisa, Lance and I came up with several fun ideas to use for the wedding day. Christine and Lance named their tables after places they have traveled in their lives with a unique twist to the idea as well.

Table names with decor lighting accents behind

Christine’s parents came from China to celebrate and Lance’s parents were also instrumental in the success of the event and recognized before Christine and Lance were introduced in to the room to “LOVE” by Nat King Cole. I LOVE this cute pic of Christine and Lance where Christine is using the traditional American fork with Lance using traditional Chinese chopsticks!

Fork vs. Chopstick

After dinner, guests were treated to video messages from Christine and Lance’s friends and family in China and turned in their Words of Wisdom cards…suggestions for Lance and Christine to have a long and happy marriage. Here’s Becky and Travis’ card.

Words of Wisdom from Becky and Travis

Dancing was kicked off by Lance and Christine’s Love Story (spoken in English 🙂 ) and then a very special version of their first dance….the very song that Lance sang to Christine just before he proposed to her. But not Adam Sandler’s version from the movie….no…we went one better. Lance came into my office and we recorded him singing the song and then played that combined with an instrumental of the song as their first dance. AWWWW!!!!! An emotional moment for all. Next it was Christine’s turn to dance with Mark, Lance’s Dad and then Lance and his Mom shared a very emotional, tear filled dance as well to The Perfect Fan by the Backstreet Boys. Later in the evening, Lance’s parents Lisa and Mark sang a beautiful version of the recently popular again “All The Way” by Frank Sinatra and Celine Dion, and they performed it very very well. The end of the night made a very memorable moment for all as we sent Christine and Lance off to married life together with a night of fun and elegance. Thanks Christine and Lance!

Elegant Ending with Custom Monogram

Courtney and Jeff

Courtney and Jeff had an amazing wedding at the Terrace Bay Inn shortly after Thanksgiving of this year. Courtney and Jeff had an amazing wedding at the Terrace Bay Inn shortly after Thanksgiving of this year. The wedding was beautifully decorated by Amanda from Ever After Decorating. It’s really nice to see brides and grooms pay tribute to the history of their family tree and I was glad to see Courtney and Jeff do this near the guestbook. .

Courtney and Jeff opted to go with beautiful uplighting behind the head table and chose a red to accent the white and black elegant color choices. The bridal party introductions went very smoothly with Courtney and Jeff being introduced into the room to the song “Smile” by Uncle Kracker. Afterwards we moved to the Cake Cutting Ceremony with a gorgeous cake created by Cake Sera Sera. . Guests were invited to dinner in a very fun and creative way and after dinner guests also enjoyed a candy buffet as well.

Our full grand march happened after dinner with the bridal party entering to “Who Wouldn’t Wanna Be Me” and Courtney and Jeff introduced to “Love Is A Beautiful Thing” by Phil Vassar. From there we segued to their first dance to “History In The Making” by Darius Rucker, followed by Courtney and her father Dave’s dance to “I Loved Her First” by Heartland. Jeff and his Mom shared a dance to “My Wish” by Rascal Flatts and then the wedding party helped kick off the dancing.

The dance floor was hoppin’ all night, only stopping for a fun Garter and Bouquet segment featuring Jeff’s favorite NFL team…the CHICAGO BEARS! The reception ended on a wonderful note with a special twist to their last song “I Love This Bar” by Toby Keith…pleasantly surprising Courtney, Jeff and their guests. Congratulations Courtney and Jeff! Best wishes on married life together!

Courtney, Jeff and Mitch

Patty and Ralph October 24th, 2009

I met Patty through a mutual friend, Bridget, whom I thank greatly for the referral. Upon meeting Patty I was touched by her and Ralph’s story and what they were looking to create for their wedding day. The setting was the Oak Crest Golf Club in Norway. Guests arrived to the sounds of Sinatra, Michael W Smith, Nat King Cole and Michael Buble. Introductions were fun and the bridal party was creative with their entrances. Patty and Ralph then gave a very sincere welcome to their guests followed up by a gift presentation of a big bell for Ralph to put on his dream boat and also use that night to ring in kisses for the newlyweds. Patty and Ralph then shared their cake cutting ceremony with their guests to the song “Let It Be Me” by Everly Brothers. Toasts followed by a wonderful blessing by their good friend Pastor Jim.

Guests were invited to the buffet line by answering fun questions about Patty and Ralph while enjoying a beautiful slide show created by Patty’s friend Shelley. What followed after that was a very touching moment created for our military personnel in attendance. The attention was focused on them with a thunderous round of applause in appreciation for those past and present protecting our freedoms while “God Bless The USA” started playing in the background.

Patty and Ralph’s Love Story was then shared before they had their first dance as husband and wife to “Born Again” by Third Day. Patty and Ralph then presented bouquets to their mothers at the end of their dance. Patty’s three sons then shared a Mother Son dance with her that was very special to them with messages from each one to Patty during their dance with her. The song they chose was “I Will Be Here” by Stephen Curtis Chapman. From there the dancing was kicked off and the decor lighting we provided really made the room “pop” that night as well with Patty’s fall colors palette of orange and reds. Thank you Patty and Ralph for a wonderful night filled with memories to cherish.

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

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

Angie and Doug 052309

Terrace sign

Whew…time flies when you’re sick! Sorry I haven’t gotten to posting about Angie and Doug’s wedding…I’ve been under the weather the past few days and preparing for this weekend’s weddings!

Angie and Doug are an amazing couple who became friends and I’m honored that they chose me to be their Wedding Entertainment Director that evening. Their reception was held at the Terrace Bay Inn.

Terrace Bay Inn

Angie and Doug opted for our uplighting package and we created a color to match her wedding colors to accent the pillars in the ballroom.

Terrace uplighting

We had so much fun…including a specialized intro with big props going to Nino…a good friend of Angie’s who does pyrotechnics for the Detroit Pistons at the Palace of Auburn Hills. (video coming soon!) From there Angie and Doug had their cake cutting ceremony, toasts and then a plated meal was served by the Terrace. We had a fun way for Angie and Doug to kiss during dinner.

Kissing Game

and then we moved to the dancing part of the evening after a photo montage was shown by their photographer, David Hakamaki. Angie and Doug’s Love Story was emotional, fun and very unique and had everyone involved from the start.

Angie and Doug's First Dance

Their first dance was quite unique as well (ask me about it sometime) and then the fun began.

Everyone Dancing!

Most everyone stayed, danced and had a great time! We even had a wonderful fast ending to Footloose! Thanks Angie and Doug for everything!

Angie told me her feet hurt. She was so tired from dancing!

Heather and Nic

Heather and Nic's Wedding Day

Wedding season is now in full swing and last night I had the pleasure to perform for Heather and Nic and their families. Heather and Nic opted to go with our uplighting package, a little more advanced from others that you may have seen before as ours will transform the mood of the room during the evening creating different colors and accompanying different emotions throughout the night. Here’s a pic of their head table done with uplighting.

Blue uplighting head table Bark River Sr. Center

Our dinner was a bit delayed due to Heather and Nic showing their affection for each other by smashing cake and they also came up with the unique idea to get them to kiss by having their guests pop bubblewrap in the same wedding colors that they had chosen. Heather held back emotion filled tears during their Love Story and during her Father Daughter dance.

Heather and Dale Nic and Connie enjoying moments together

Dancing got underway and everyone had a great time. I’m sure Fawn Clement of Fawn’s photography got some amazing images as there was definitely some fun shots to take. We wrapped up the evening at midnight with everyone saying goodbyes and congratulations to Heather and Nic, and ended their reception as they wished, on an upbeat note to the sounds of Outkast’s “Hey Ya”.

Heather Nic and I at the end of a fun night!

Thank you Heather, Nic and families for making the night one to remember. Congratulations!

Adding Elegance and Magic to your Wedding Night…at a discount!

Terrace Bay Inn Transformed Decor by Final Touches Photo by Daniele Carol

You’ve chosen your wedding colors…now make them come to life! Have your wedding colors displayed in a non-traditional way! Book an uplighting package with Taylored Entertainment in the month of March and get 50% off regular rates. Uplighting package must be paid in full by March 31st to receive 50% off rates.
Simple Elegance: 4 uplights designed to accent items you wish to spotlight. Suggestions are: one column of light behind you and your new spouse signifying you are one, one column of light each behind each side of your head table and one column of light behind your cake table spotlighting your exquisite choice in cakes. Cost: $400 Now only: $200!
Creative Flair: 8 uplights designed to accent your décor in the room and make your setting shine. Suggestions are as above as well as: Columns of light along your walls or accenting doorways…accent the walls of your room bringing your wedding colors to life. Cost: $800 Now only: $400!
One Enchanted Evening: 16 uplights designed to make your wedding come to life with vibrant color accentuating your venue of choice. Your creativity level is only limited by your imagination here. Cost: $1600 Now only: $800!
All uplighting packages include one static color. Programming charges apply if more than one color is desired. Call Mitch Taylor at Taylored Weddings today at 906.786.6967 for more information.

Red uplighting at Terrace - Decor by Final Touches Designs Photo by Daniele Carol Photography

March 2009 50% off Uplighting Special