WOW…What can I say about Thea and Justin’s wedding day.  The decor was absolutely beautiful courtesy of Final Touches Designs and the staff at the Terrace Bay Inn as always did a phenomenal job!  There was not a dry eye in the house as we introduced the Father Daughter dance with Thea and her father Mike and the tears continued (in a good way) for Linda and Justin’s Mother Son dance.  Dance floor was non-stop for the rest of the night with wide variety of tunes.  Thank you to Darcy, Mike, Linda and the rest of the family for having me play a small part in the reception.  I was honored to be there.

I first met Sandy and Cory about a year and a half before their wedding day.  They reminded me so much of my wife and I with our young family and I KNEW  I would LOVE to work with them.  Sandy and Cory and I got together a few times over the next 15 months to plan their reception, delivering exactly what they wanted on this once in a lifetime day.  Guests arrived to a mix of cocktail music interspersed with pop songs for Chloe and Hunter, their two children.  Our grand march proved very entertaining followed by a welcome given by Sandy with a quick “Thank You” by Cory…a man of few words.  :)

Their cake cutting ceremony was next, followed by toasts from Jessica and Chad, their Maid Of Honor and Best Man.  Guests were invited to the buffet via  a fun interactive and everyone thoroughly enjoyed dinner provided by the Terrace Bay Inn.  After dinner, we gathered everyone around for a special presentation just before Sandy and Cory’s first dance.  They danced to Bruno Mars, “Just The Way You Are” for their first dance, which is where the snapshot of Cory and Sandy above was taken from.  The photos in this blog are my own, and not representative of the high quality images you will get when hiring Wren Photography, who did a great job with the coordination of the night and the debut of her new interactive Photo Backdrop….very creative idea! Visit her website for more information.

Sandy and her father Ed danced next to a special edit of “I Loved Her First” in a moment that was so heartfelt there was not a dry eye in the house.  Cory and his mother danced next to “I Hope You Dance” by Leann Womack.  The wedding party danced to a special piano only version of “Then” by Brad Paisley courtesy of my friends at TM Century Prime Cuts.  Dancing kicked off with some favorites for Sandy and Cory’s kids Hunter and Chloe and songs from Lady Ga Ga to Big & Rich, Katy Perry to Lynyrd Skynyrd.  An anniversary and dollar dance were included along with the song “Girlfight”, quite apropos for the Bouquet Toss.  I love the fact that Sandy and Cory had a little fun with the song selections for those moments.  

The last song of the night was a special edit to “Alcohol” by Brad Paisley that left Sandy and Cory very happy with all of their friends and family surrounding them on the dance floor pictured to the right.  Thank you Sandy, Cory, Hunter and Chloe for having me be a small part of your wedding day.  I’m so glad to call you friends.

Molly and Ashley were married outside at the Terrace Bay Inn’s gazebo and they had a beautiful ceremony presided over by Molly’s childhood Pastor Thompson…who traveled all the way from Wisconsin to join the two in holy matrimony.

The Team:

Decorator:  Final Touches Designs

Photographer:  Ardent Photography

Wedding Entertainment Director:  Mitch Taylor

Molly’s parents live just down the road from me and it was a pleasure to be involved in their wedding planning and entertainment for the reception.  Wedding party members traveled from Minnesota, Wisconsin and other midwest states to celebrate and enjoyed the beautiful, albeit humid day.  Tiffany from Final Touches Designs did a beautiful job with the decorating as always, with beautiful hydrangeas on the tables for centerpieces.

Toasts were the next order of business after photos outside with Amy from Ardent Photography.  I must say it’s not very often I have the pleasure of working with a photographer as talented as she is.  She did a GREAT job capturing the special moments for Molly and Ashley.  Molly’s Father Don welcomes guests followed by Toasts by Matron of Honor Shannon and Best Man Shawn.  After the buffet meal, guests enjoyed a special presentation for Ashley and Molly’s first dance.The Father Daughter Dance and Mother Son dance came next…with Ashley choosing a song near and dear to his mother’s heart…”Catch Your Hand” by Mark Stary…who happens to be Ashley’s Mom’s best friend’s son.  The dance floor was hopping right from the very start of the night.

The Sausage Race was one of the highlights of the night and really personalized Molly and Ashley’s evening.  One of their concerns upon first meeting with me was that there may not be many dancers but from the start of the night the stage at the Terrace was shaking due to how many bodies were moving below on the hardwood floor right next to it.  EVERYONE danced and had a great time.  At the end of the night, Molly’s father Don came up to me and extended us an extra half hour past the original half hour extension we already had.  Two encores with “Jump Around” and “I Gotta Feelin’” kept everyone on the floor until the very end.

Thank you so much Molly and Ashley for such a fun reception!

Emily and Tom also chose instead of having favors, to make a donation to the American Cancer Society in each guests name.  What a thoughtful way to give back as a young couple instead of the waste that sometimes occurs with wedding favors being left behind on tables after the reception is over.  A mix of Chicagoland and U.P. trivia was used to invite guests to the buffet line for dinner.

After dinner we proceeded with the Grand March with a unique choice of First Dance as husband and wife by Emily and Tom, “Don’t Worry, Baby” by The Beach Boys.  A combined Father/Daughter, Mother/Son Dance followed then we kicked off the dancing with one of the Father of the Bride’s favorites “Old Time Rock N Roll”.  Guests packed the dance floor  to a mix of music from Pour Some Sugar On Me to Imma Be, to Johnny Cash and David Guetta.  A wide eclectic mix for everyone and we ended up going a half hour longer than expected.  The end of the night started with “Save The Last Dance For Me” by Michael Buble, followed by “Goodnight Sweetheart” and ended with a big group sing a long where you could feel the emotion flowing from the guests with love for Emily and Tom to Elton John’s “Tiny Dancer”  Thank you Emily, Tom and families for having me be a small part of your wedding day.  Congratulations!