The Team:

Debbie at the Island Resort & Casino

Michele Freeman from Freeman’s Photography

Wedding Entertainment Director:  Mitch Taylor

Guests arrived at the Island Resort & Casino a little early and admired the beautiful room complete with wedding cake styled like a birch tree.  Sarah, Brad and their wedding party arrived fashionably late, UP style and were immediately introduced into the room.  Brad welcomes guests before turning attention to the cake cutting ceremony.  Guests then enjoyed a freudian slip by Best Man Joe during his toast as the audience roared and Sarah’s Sister Dana as Maid Of Honor gave a heartfelt toast and dinner was served.

I absolutely LOVED the color choices that Sarah and Brad went with.  Just before their first dance guests were treated to views of the wedding up on our big screens courtesy of Freeman’s Photography and Taylored Weddings.  Throughout the night as guests were dancing they enjoyed the photographic memories provided by this service.  Sarah and her Father Randy had a very heartfelt Father Daughter Dance, sharing their feelings with all of their guests in a unique way.  Brad and his Mother Son dance was next followed by our Wedding Party Dance.  The dance floor kicked off with guests dancing to Kei$ha, Bob Segar, Black Eyed Peas and Bryan Adams.  It truly isn’t a party until the chaps come out!  The ending of the night came at midnight with a special mix sing-a-long to Brad Paisley’s “Alcohol” followed by an encore of “Footloose”.  Thanks Sarah and Brad for an amazing reception!

The Team:

Photographer:  Nick Jensen

Caterer:  Spiro’s Downtown Restaurant

Decorator:  Amber, Dan, Mike and friends.  :)

Wedding Entertainment Director:  Mitch Taylor

Amber and Dan first heard about me when I did Dan’s brothers epic wedding on May 29th of last year.  That wedding was SO much fun and Dan and Amber wanted the same experience for theirs.  We met twice before the wedding to plan out their day and everything came together very smoothly.  Guests enjoyed the sounds of  Iron & Wine, Ben Harper, Ryan Adams and Rodrigo y Gabriela.  The wedding party arrived off the bus and were introduced into the room to “Say Hey” by Michael Franti and Spearhead.  The picture to the right shows one of the most unique card boxes I have ever seen.  Lighted from the inside and made of paper mache like material with epoxy!  Great idea and it looked beautiful!  Our cake cutting ceremony was next with Amber and Dan supplying their guests with two different kinds of cake including raspberry torte and a chocolate truffle cake.

Guests mingled and enjoyed the hors d’ouevres style meal and after dinner we showed a photo montage created by Amber and Dan on the TV screens surrounding the venue.  We cleared a few tables, created our dance floor and Amber and Dan then shared their first dance as husband and wife with their guests.  The Father Daughter dance was next and very memorable for Amber and her father Mike.  Mike had tears in his eyes driving over to the venue thinking of the moment and “Butterfly Kisses” was Amber and Mike’s song they had together growing up.  Dan followed up by dancing with his Mom to “In My Life” by the Beatles followed by the Wedding Party dance to “Free Fallin” by John Mayer.  Our dance floor kicked off with some of the tried and true classics first and after our first set Amber created a special moment honoring her Mom by dancing with her to “What A Wonderful World” by Louis Armstrong.

The dance floor was hopping all night with different mixes including “I Got A Feeling”, “Pretty Woman”, “I Know You Want Me”, “Old Time Rock N Roll”, and “Hollaback Girl”.  11pm came WAY too quick and we ended with “Shout” with Amber and Dan’s family and friends packing the dance floor.  When the song finished, Amber’s Dad Mike came up and asked us to go longer so we kicked off the overtime with the mix you see below “Billie Jean” into “Dynamite”.  The last set went fast and furious mixing “Sexy Chick”, “California Gurls”, and “Gettin’ Over”.  Thank you Amber and Dan for so much FUN!

Memories like this one to the right are created and planned…they don’t just magically happen.  Ask me sometime how this one was created.  Thanks Keith Freeman for capturing their expressions flawlessly.

Vanessa and Jeff’s Ceremony went off without a hitch and guests were able to actually hear their vows as I had mic’ed Jeff and Pastor Bill ahead of time.  After the ceremony their photographer Ashley took them for their wedding photos after the receiving line while guests enjoyed cocktail hour inside to get away from the heat.  :)  Introductions went very smooth and guests got to know a little bit about each wedding party member.  Vanessa then welcomed all of their guests and surprised Jeff by singing him “Grow Old With Me” by Mary Chapin Carpenter.  After that amazing performance, Vanessa and Jeff cut their cake.  Jeff’s Grooms cake was a tip of the cap to his brother’s presidency of the Detroit Foosball Association.  The Grooms cake is a great idea to personalize your reception and acknowledge a passion of your fiance.  Toasts and Blessing were then given and guests were invited to the buffet line via a fun game.

Dancing was kicked off with Vanessa and Jeff’s first dance to Big and Rich’s “Lost In This Moment” followed by the Father Daughter dance to “Butterfly Kisses”, a song they used to listen to on road trips together.  Jeff then danced with his Mother Barbara to “Find Your Wings” by Mark Harris…a beautiful song that I hadn’t heard up until them.  The dance floor then kicked off and continued into the night with a special ending (see first photo) created just for Vanessa and Jeff.  Thank you to Vanessa, Jeff and their families for an amazing night!