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!

Just last night, I had the privilege of performing for Alice and Jim. They live in Chicago now and had a very interesting love story that was presented just before their first dance as husband and wife. I also created the photo montage that was shown that evening. We even had what seemed to be a drunken sing a long occur at 9:30pm at night to Faithfully by Journey.

Several videos of the items that I’ve described can now be found on my YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/tayloredweddings. I’ve included photo montages that I have created in the past for clients, touching moments created for the specialy dances at the weddings I perform at, and some of my favorite mixes and crowds.

My family and I celebrated my birthday Saturday morning before I drove to Marquette to entertain for Alice and Jim’s wedding. I’ve got a couple of weekends off now, one by design and one that was a good thing. This upcoming Labor Day weekend my brother in law and I are shipping up to Boston to watch my beloved Red Sox play in a weekend series with the Chicago White Sox and Saturday we will also travel up to my home state of Maine to see a good friend of mine in Portland and have dinner with my parents. The following weekend my Dad, son and I are going to take a fishing charter when my parents come to visit me and my family here from the State of Maine.

Enjoy your upcoming holiday weekend and a busy September kicks off for me again with 5 events starting on September 12th. Staci and James have a few fun surprises planned for their guests and I am happy to be a part of it. Stay tuned.

Saturday, August 2nd 2008. What a beautiful day here in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Just gorgeous. Near the shores of Lake Superior at the Up Front and Company in Marquette Michigan is where Vallery and Brian Krah had their reception that day. The evening started off slightly behind schedule but we caught right up and love was definitely shared from the moment they walked into the room as husband and wife.

Vallery and Brian had a very touching Love Story, and the Father/Daughter and Mother/Son dances were filled with emotional moments as well. I actually found tears welling in my eyes watching Brian and his mother Jill share their moment on the dance floor as Mother and Son.

One of the highlights of the night was the New Orleans 2nd Line. Several guests of Vallery and Brian’s were from New Orleans and wanted to inject some true New Orleans flavor into the event. Vallery’s father, Mr. Godfrey Heitmeier took over the MC duties for this presentation. I think you can tell by the pictures that a very festive atmosphere occurred.

At the end of the night, NO ONE wanted to leave. Guests on the dance floor clamored for one more song even AFTER I had performed the encore for the night. It was exactly what Vallery and Brian had hoped for.

I often comment with other mobile entertainers that our view of wedding receptions is completely skewed because we perform at several throughout the year. I can honestly say that Vallery and Brian Krah had a very memorable reception and one I will not soon forget. I am truly blessed to work for some of the best people in the world. Thank you Vallery, Brian, Godfrey, Carrie, Scott, Jill and all of the members of the Heitmeier and Krah families.