When: Saturday, August 28th, 2010

Where: Ramada Inn, Grand Forks, ND
1st Dance Song: "Fever" by Michael Buble

My second weekend and third dance in a row at the GF Ramada.  They were kind enough to let me store my gear here, which saved me quite a bit of effort.


 This was a Catholic ceremony at St. Michael's church, a much earlier start than normal to a day.  Ceremony at 1:30, Ramada opened at 4, and dinner at 5:15.  For comparison, last week's lutheran service started at 4pm.

Every single member of the wedding party, 12, plus the bride and groom, did a toast.  That took a little while (30 minutes).  However, most were very good and the guests didn't seem to mind.

One huge item:  they choreographed their first dance and her dance with her dad.  Very cool.  Nothing too complex, but it makes a big impression.

Her vocal coach was the winner of the garter raffle.  He was a more than a bit uncomfortable coming up since he didn't realize he wasn't going to remove the garter.  No, no, sir, you merely won it.  When Shawn came out to remove it, one snap of his fingers and his groomsmen came out and formed a privacy barrier.  Public without being public.

My standard contract has a three hour dance to it, which would have only brought us to 10:15.  Despite the heat, they decided to add two extra hours (that pic above is from just after midnight).  The plus to that is you start to play songs you've never played before.  Deeper requests.  One was "I Wanna Be Sedated," by the Ramones.  In 12 years, hundreds of events, it's never been requested.  Ever.  I played it right away and they loved it.  Sweet.  Also unusual (but good), Christy's favorite, "Longtime" by Boston (you'd recognize if you heard it, probably, skip to the 3:30 mark).

One benefit to good equipment: a guest slipped (someone had spilled a drink) and fell hard into my table.  Which in turn slid a foot or so, but the music didn't stop and everything was fine.  Quality craftmanship courtesy Colorado Sound N' Light and their Super Table.

When: Saturday, August 21st, 2010

Where: Ramada Inn, Grand Forks, ND
1st Dance Song: "Then" by Brad Paisley

"Thank you so much for agreeing to DJ for our wedding reception.  We really appreciate you taking the time to meet with us to make sure our evening goes smoothly!"  - Whitney & Cody Christie. 

Custom coloring books and crayons were at the guest book table.  For kids, in theory, though I noticed quite a few older folks grabbing them.

I can't recall a room getting so quiet and attentive when I've started my introductions.  Ever.  It was so.... polite.

 As a surprise, Whitney and Cody had two extra cakes, one each for their own parents.  Both sets are celebrating their 30th wedding anniversaries this month.  We brought everyone up for a cutting before the speeches.

And, wow, what speeches.  Our best man had three typed single space pages.  Usually a big no-no, but it was very good.  Most of the wedding party stood up, too.

I had occasion to use my pre-edited songs again.  Both of their first two dances, the Brad Paisley followed by "My Wish" by Rascal Flatts, I've made two minute versions.  It really helps move things along at the beginning without being abrupt.

The dance was pretty easy.  Cody and Whitney provided a sizeable request list of their songs, with a couple marked as 'must' plays.  Mixed with guest requests, I always had songs I knew they wanted.  It really helps tailor the evening to their tastes.

When: Friday, August 20th, 2010

Where: Ramada Inn, Grand Forks, ND
1st Dance Song: "Tupelo Honey" by Van Morrison

Another family affair.  I worked Todd's brother's wedding in November 2008 (Jessica and Tanner) and one of his groomsman's Tanner Altendorf before that.

 One obstacle tonight is that Todd gets cluster headaches.  His body temperature will spike and bring on a migraine.  During dinner he snuck away and took a quick cold shower.  If it gets bad enough, he can take a shot, but, apparently, too early, and it doesn't work.

No cake, just cupcakes.  Two different best men, maids of honor, and speakers from the crowd, along with his dad's speech.  Somewhere, somehow, during the 1st dance, Kylie's dad managed to sneak out of the room and I didn't notice.  So we bumped Todd's dance with his mom while I found Larry.

 Todd, his brother Tanner, the other Tanner (Junior), and Chris have a bit of a tradition.  Play the song "Wipeout," Chris is the surfboard, and the guys take turns.  Hilarity ensued when Tanner took a spill, then Junior decided to ride the board on his tummy.  Just stop and picture that visual.

After the dance wrapped up, the best man (and my past client) Tanner got attacked by cupcakes.  In the ear.

On a more personal note, I'm exhausted.  I barely recovered at all for my wedding the next day.  If you're wondering: 7am to Noon, taking care of my 18 month old daughter and some household chores.  During her nap, I was tearing up a floor on top of a floor on top of a floor on top of a floor as part of a bathroom remodel (yes, remove four floors in order to install one new one).  At 3pm I loaded up the truck with my gear, cleaned up, drove to Grand Forks, setup, and worked the reception til 1am.  No, I don't take breaks.  During the reception I drank half a gallon of water and a V8 (great for replacing salt).  Twice that the next day along with a couple of milks and an hour sitting in front of an air conditioner.

When: Saturday, August 14th, 2010

Where: Holiday Inn, Detroit Lakes, MN
1st Dance Song: "Fishin' in the Dark" by Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

In between the ceremony and reception the entire wedding party hopped on pontoons for pictures on the lake.  They reached shore just in time to avoid a downpour.

The photographer, Brian Walker, setup a photobooth.  It printed a copy for the guest and one for Megan and Austin.  Brian also did pictures starting before the ceremony and was at the reception until about 11pm.  Quite a long day for him.

Along with my usual duties, I was hired to make a video slideshow and film the ceremony.  The former I've done quite a bit, the latter, not so much.  The slide show came out great with a little surprise.  Each Megan and Austin recorded a message of love and thanks for their parents that I dropped in.  It starts at the 3:15 mark of the video.  The quality isn't the best since we improvised.  Between the ceremony and reception I had them read these messages to my voicemail, which I then downloaded as mp3s. If you get a chance to try the cupcakes from Central Market Grocery in Detroit Lakes, take it.  They provided the dessert for the reception and I snuck one after the end of the evening.  Fantastic frosting and pumpkin spice in the cupcake.

When: Saturday, August 7th, 2010

Where: Clarion Inn, Grand Forks, ND
1st Dance Song: "When I Look At You" by Miley Cyrus

"Hi Robert!  Just thought I'd drop you a line and thank you for the great work at our wedding reception.  We had a fantastic time with you.  I appreciated the fact that you listened to our music preferences and catered our dance to us!  The little game during dinner was hilarious, too!  We will reccommend you to our  friends!"     -Michelle Schake

Khaki suits instead of black tuxedos seem very fortuituous on a day like today.  Hot and sticky.  The photographer, Brian (of Brian's Photographry), had them rotating back inside between pictures to keep from sweating too bad.  Also awesome was, instead of cake, a sundae bar!  A soft serve machine with toppings at the ready.

Once again I digitally edited their first dance song to shorten it up a bit, from about four minutes down to two and a half.  It's something I can't recommend enough when you'll be having multiple special dances at the beginning, thus excluding guests.  The reality of it is, these songs are mostly for the two people dancing, not for the guests.

I pretty noticeable mistake on my part tonight.  I missed a change.  Josh was supposed to dance with his mom to a certain Brad Paisley song (Oh, Love).  I had it, and it was taken care of quickly, but there was still my gaffe.  I had already begun bringing out wedding party to start the rest of the dance.  It's the kind of mistake I pride myself on NOT making and one that will stick with me for a while even though the net result was Josh's dance with his mom started about eight seconds late.

When: Friday, August 6th, 2010

Where: Marriot, Moorhead, MN
1st Dance Song: "Whatever It Is" by Zac Brown Band

There are little things you notice when trying to get guests interested and excited.  I should have noticed I wasn't quite engaging them.  Not that I did bad.  People still had fun.  However, I left with that nagging feeling that I really could have done much better. 

Milestone photographry was here tonight.  Dave Arnson is his name.  One of the four or so photographers I recommend.

Once again, the couple had very few specifc requests (that's been pretty common this summer).  She likes Zac Brown Band and Brown Eyed Girl.  They didn't want the YMCA, Mickey, Chicken Dance, Hokey Pokey, and C'Mon Ride It.  That's about it.  Naturally, Kaela changed it so her nephews could have the Chicken Dance and Hokey Pokey.  Then, later, she requested C'mon Ride It (the Choo Choo Train), which I used to make Derek lead a conga line.  I teased her that she only didn't like five songs and had me play three of them.  That's how it works, though.  We make compromises for family.

When: Saturday, July 31st, 2010

Where: Alerus Center, Grand Forks, ND
1st Dance Song: "Look at Me" by Carrie Underwood

Ryan is Canadian, which brings with it a few different wedding traditions.  The biggest change for me is they provide an MC to do the introductions.  I haven't talked so little since my first year DJ'ing.  Fortunately I still had people wrangling and setting up their video to keep me busy.

For their video, I supplied (no charge, as usual) the LCD projector and my custom portable screen (5'x6').  The benefit is I can set it all up and test the video before guests arrive.  Then it all disappears until a few minutes before show time. 

The best man is Brad Miller.  He and Ryan used to play UND hockey together and were responsible for those sweet Brad Miller Time videos.

We did a fun elimination game to give away the garter.  Scott, one of our ushers, won.  Cool for me was getting to eliminate former UND Sioux standout and current St. Louis Blue TJ Oshie (not for anything in particular, just how many NHL'ers will I ever get to boss around in my life?  At least one, I suppose.).

When: Saturday, July 24th, 2010

Where: Bestwestern Townhouse, Grand Forks, ND
1st Dance Song: "All About Loving You" by Bon Jovi

"We were really impressed with the quality and performance from Robert Benda. We got married almost three weeks ago and we are still receiving compliments on how good of a job that Robert did. I would recommend him to anyone!! He knows how to keep things going and how to have a good time!!  Thank you very much Robert for making our reception unforgettable!!!"  - Ashley Champagne

I got to mix things up a little and we did their first dance song when they arrived, and cut the cake as a lead into the dollar dance.

I delivered a 2 Liter of Dr. Pepper for Jon.  It's his favorite.  And nothing says classy and romantic at a wedding like placing a giant 2 liter at the head table.  He enjoyed it, though.

Unfortunately, Jon is a big Boston Red Sox fan.  While we all can't be perfect, Ashely indulged him by having a few Red Sox items put into her bustle.  That was sweet.

When: Friday, July 23rd, 2010

Where: Clarion Inn, Grand Forks, ND
1st Dance Song: "I'll Be" by Edwin McCain

"We had seen Robert in action at the Alerus Center (we work there) for many weddings and have been very pleased with his ablility to provide a fun filled evening for many wedding events. Remember Mom's he is there for the wedding couple but did accomdidate our requests also. Thanks Robert for making it a great night for our daughter and son-in-law!"  - Del & Jim Winfield, Mallory's parents.

I actually booked this wedding because Mallory's parents both bartend at the Alerus center and have seen me work many times.

A pretty straightforward evening.  The fear of public speaking reared it's ugly head though.  The best man (whose wedding is in three weeks) and the bride and groom were all terrified.  I've never really related to that, and I've always wondered what, exactly, people think will happen.

 When: Saturday, July 17th, 2010

Where: Hilton Garden Inn, Grand Forks, ND
1st Dance Song: "My Best Friend" by Tim McGraw

They stopped by the Eagles Crest for pictures at the golf course.  Tass' heels sank right into the green.  The limo broke down (that seems to happen a lot).  Neither the broken one, or the replacement had air conditioning.  It's 80 degrees today and very humid.  They were very drained when they arrived at the Hilton.  I got Tass a damp wash cloth for her neck, got them into the cool ballroom, and things got much better.

Tass and Joe are using the same cake knife Tass' parents used.  Already engraved with the parents' wedding day, they'll add their  own engraving and start a family tradition

A larger, single tiered cake for pictures.  Slips of paper out gave guests a chance to offer congratulations or advice.

No bouquet toss (no single friends) or garter tonight.  Just a few requests and the dollar dance.  Even the first dance was a bit different.  I cut out almost two minutes (the first verse and chorus), and we also invited guests halfway through to start things quickly.

When: Sunday, July 11th, 2010

Where: Under a tent, Outside Thompson, ND
1st Dance Song: "Come Rain, Come Shine" by Ray Charles

Only my third Sunday wedding in 12 years, and my only under a tent this year.  The day couldn't be better, partly cloudy and temps in the upper 70's.  Their guest book was (were?) fabric swatches for each guest to sign.  Kate and Seth took a picture on the tree swing and kicked off our evening with a big introduction set to 'Crazy in Love' by Beyonce.

Seth's mom put together a nice slide show on Power Point.  Multiple pictures up at the same time and the entire thing was only about five minutes.  Very nice.  I took care of the projector and screen, though it was tough with the sun peeking through the sides of the tent. 

You can NOT do enough about mosquitos at these evenings.  Once sundown comes, and they're everywhere, I don't care how much you sprayed your yard this week.  If it wasn't an hour ago it won't matter.  Oh, and bug zappers attract bugs.  I ended up bug spraying (that's a verb, right?) guests, using my own stash.

 The highlight was a two year old's request, a song called "Buzz's Jig." 

The night capped off with Seth and Kate lighting two 'Wish Lanterns.'  These are paper lanterns with a special candle at the bottom.  The effect is the same of a hot air balloon.  They each lighted the candles and sent them floating into the night sky.  A proper send off and good night.

When: Saturday, July 10th, 2010

Where: Hilton Garden Inn, Grand Forks, ND
1st Dance Song: "Someone Like You" by Van Morrison

Today started earlier than usual.  I was hired to videotape the ceremony.  Brandie wanted video, but not to spend a fortune, and was OK with what I called "uncle" quality.  My gal and I brought in a pair of cameras, recorded audio off the Hopper Danley sound system for a good quality (I hope, I haven't heard it yet).

Hey, look at that, the photographers are West Fargo's Milestone Photography, another fine vendor from Freshwed.com.  My, what professionals!  (Too much?  Well, they were great to work with...)

Poured champagne was served by the Hilton for the speeches, except that everyone kind of forgot to do a toast with their speech.  That left me.  Don't worry, not my first time.  I will say, it was the first time I saw a (clean) diaper used as a speech prop.  Kudos to Jenica for that one.

When: Saturday, June 26th, 2010

Where: Vista Inn, Fargo, ND
1st Dance Song: "Only You Can Love Me This Way" by Keith Urban

I usually stay positive on this blog but feel an exception today.  Not for the bride and groom, or their guests, but for the Vista.  The thermostat was set for the air conditioning to kick in at 80 (a 2nd thermostat was at 85).  This made the beginning of the evening very unpleasant since the humidity was almost unbearable.  And even though we complained, no staff did anything.  It also brought other touches, like servers in blue jeans, staff items laying around the room, and not waiting for the bride and groom before serving dinner (they were there, but not at the head table), to the forefront.

The guests and the couple, however, were fun.  Pom poms were passed out for Amy and Chris' entrance to the room (her mom is a big Sioux hockey fan, apparently).

When: Saturday, June 19th, 2010

Where: Touch of Magic, East Grand Forks, MN
1st Dance Song: "It's Your Love" by Tim McGraw & Faith Hill
Photos Courtesy Shawna Noel Photography

This couple was referred to me by Tony and Brandi Melicher, married May 2008.  Since it's at the Touch of Magic, certain rules apply and I didn't start work til dinner was ending.  I picked up for the speeches and moved right into their first dance.


 The dance started slow (at 7:30pm, with the sun still shining bright), but picked up after 8:30, when the dollar dance got folks up and socializing.  It really let loose later when Tyler got to, for lack of a better phrase, dance up on April (to OMG by Usher) which moved us into the garter (a raffle and contest) and bouquet toss.

They added an extra hour, again tonight.  I got a request for The Stroke by Billy Squier (really?).

When: Friday, June 18th, 2010

Where: Clarion Inn, Grand Forks, ND
1st Dance Song: "Into the Mystic" by Van Morrison

Every wedding is different.  Sometimes in small ways.  Sometimes a bit bigger.  Much of the reception for Deanna and JB is an understated elegant (courtesy wedding decorator Daryce Van Hoff).  They also chose no wedding party.  Their head table was themselves and their seven month old, Matea.  No dollar dance and no garter tonight, either.  Who cares.  It took a bit for the socializing to die down and the dance to warm up, but we got there.

I was in their room prior to the reception, helping bussel her dress.  Always bring the diagram, folks.  It will help a lot.

When: Saturday, June 12th, 2010

Where: Plains Art Museum, Fargo, ND
1st Dance Song: "You Are the Best Thing" by Ray LaMontagne

The setup at the Museum has us starting on the 1st floor for the social, moving up to the 3rd for dinner, then back to the 1st for the dance.  I setup two complete sound systems on each, ran cable so the speakers upstairs were on the same setup as the downstairs, and also patched into their house system.  Confused?  It was actually not too hard.  Though it made small volume adjustments and the video a bit more complicated (during dinner, speeches, and the video, the sound controls were two floors away... thanks Katie Lewis  for the help!).

Along with a traditional guest book, a canvas was setup with paints nearby.  Everyone made a brush stroke, or a smiley face or whatever.  It turned out much better than I would have thought, pretty cool actually, though you can see the color turning mostly green on top (from no one cleaning the brushes, I suppose).

We did an anniversary dance, inviting all married couples to dance to "Could I Have this Dance" by Anne Murray.  It was the first dance song for Ben's parents.  One couple on the floor will have their 50th anniversary in October, another just did their 55th in March.


Moving 200 people up and down floors takes time, and we didn't start til after 9pm, which was complicated by museum's rule that we have to stop at midnight.  I shoe horned in as many songs as I could, including beatmixing a string of six songs in about eight minutes (stayin Alive; Walk this Way; Another One Bites the Dust; SexyBack; Billie Jean; Kiss) then moved into new music.

When: Saturday, June 5th, 2010

Where: Munincipal Golf Course Clubhouse, Bismarck, ND
1st Dance Song: "Happy Ever After in Your Eyes" by Ben Harper

The afternoon began outside.  Dessert appetizers and a Jamaican band entertained guests in the beautiful sun until dinner was ready.  Both dads gave a speech just after the salads.  While Mr. Knutson's was good, he was one-uped by Mr. Bury when he showed the letter from UND that came today, accepting Laura into medical school.

Marc's speech was awesome.  Just really awesome.  He remembered to thank the important folks, which is awesome, and made sure to talk about Laura, also awesome.  In fact, his awesome was totally awesome.  See the awesome video of his awesome speech to see why I'm being awesome.

No dollar dance.  No garter toss.  Bouquet toss only, during which I introduced Laura's brother, Nick, who happens to be single, to all the ladies.  You're welcome, Nick.  The only line or group dance allowed was the Cupid Shuffle.  The dance's start was delayed while we waited for the staff to clear tables off the dance floor.  We still started about 7:45.

The highlight?  A coordinated, five man worm across the dance floor.  Awesome.

When: Saturday, May 29th, 2010

Where: Holiday Inn, Minot, ND
1st Dance Song: "Better Together" by Jack Johnson

Chauncy had his heart set on doing the robot for their introductions.  When the time came, we walked the entire wedding party out to the dance floor, where they all froze.  As I introduced each to Pretty Light's "Hot Like Sauce", each pair came to life and made their way to the head table.  A great opening, but could have been better if I'd brought some lasers, but what can you do (other than bring the lasers, I suppose).



 Instead of a traditional guest book, a type writer.  Type your names, a joke, whatever.  They also had a table cloth for guests to sign.  A dessert table set out (looked fantastic).  Custom shot glasses for favors, available up at the bar.  Just order a 'Hendershot' and enjoy.  Centerpieces included a cleverly redisguised lights.  Taped up with green (or maybe its fabric), bundled together, it looks like a little lighted tree.  Beverage napkins were custom printed with a little phrase:  "chauncy=crazy; Kelly=Awesome; Chauncy + Kelly = Crazy Awesome."


I digitally edited their first dance song, cutting out the middle verse and chorus.  This made the song just about two minutes long, and a more enjoyable first dance for them (and I do it for free!).  As a side note, when you think of songs that fill a dance floor, its not usually "Don't Stop til You Get Enough" by Michael Jackson.  Can you even think of the tune?  In my first hour, though, it was the big song.  Good.  That song is as danceable as anything.

No dollar dance, tonight.  Bouquet and garter tosses.  One dance off to Missy Elliot's "Lose Control."  Two of her cousins wrote some new lyrics to the Archie's "Sugar, Sugar."  I caught the video and audio (video to the right).  One of the groomsmen also sang karaoke "Pride and Joy" and was pretty good though he had to dodge a couple of drunks who tried to join him.

When: Saturday, May 22nd, 2010

Where: Touch of Magic, Grand Forks, ND
1st Dance Song: "Drive On" by Jack Ingram

A few less responsibilities for me.  A Touch of Magic has some very specific rules about what the DJ can and can't do.  This means I didn't really start work until I got everyone ready for the speeches.  Jazz on Tap handled the dinner music and welcomed Lisa and KC into the room.

Place cards assigned the seating.  No dollar dance, no garter.  Some excellent speeches here.  One dad, best man, maid of honor, a bridesmaid, and a groomsmen.  That's usually a bit long, but each was good, relatively short (under 3 minutes), and kept it moving.

For the bouquet toss, I brought out her brother, Alex.  As the lone single groomsman, and recently turned 21, I figured he could use an introduction to our single ladies (not really though).  He flew in from Australia.  Another guest, from Argentinia.  So no excuses about how you couldn't make it all the way from Fargo, people.

 Nothing too demanding for their playlist.  KC had some songs not to play, and Lisa likes the 80's.  Their friends like newer top 40 and AAA rock (Modest Mouse, MGMT, Feist).  Strict instructions that anything JT or MJ was to be played (Justin Timberlake and Michael Jackson for those with the free time to say entire names).

Also present were superstar photographers, Shawna Noel and Kory Wallen.  They setup a photo booth for guests until 10pm.  All three of the photos here are courtesy of them (me, to the right) so that you nice folks don't have to look at my photography (It's bad.  Just terrible pictures).  Thanks, guys!

The weather took a turn towards 'Lightning' as the evening went on.  When I went to load out my gear at the end of the night, it was a massive downpour and my tuxedo and I were soaked by the time I got to my car.  But at least I forgot a change of clothes, right?  Ugh.

When: Saturday, May 15, 2010

Where: Holiday Inn, Fargo, ND
1st Dance Song: "Then" by Brad Paisley

"Dear Robert, thank you so much for the fabulous job DJ'ing our wedding reception.  Seeing you in action at Kali & Dan's wedding, we knew you'd be great and we wouldn't have to worry about anything.  Your fun and engaging personality really helped make the reception wonderful, and I can't count how many compliments we got from our guests about you.  Keep doing what you're doing!  :)"          -Brad & Megan Fredrickson

Megan & Brad were at a wedding I worked in September of 2008.  As a result, they felt full confidence in me.  We met once last year, but only emails between then and the reception.  That's their choice, but always make me nervous for some reason.  I guess I just prefer face to face to be clear on what they mean when they say what they want.

They hired me to make their video slide show.  Traditional style, but they made it shorter (seven minutes down from ten) and swapped their song choices with two of mine (Eight Days a Week by the Beatles and I Love You, You Imbecile).  I noticed, during the video, that the groomsmen kept cheering for certain things.  The Vikes, Twins, Fighting Sioux.  After the video I tried a little experiment.... simply saying the work 'Vikes' over the mic got a big cheer from them.  Good to know.

No Chicken Dance, no hokey pokey, no dollar dance.  Requests were all over the place... Justin Bieber to an Irish jig and one for Whitney Houston's I Want to Dance with Somebody."  The list included "Queen of Hearts" by Juice Newton.  At Megan's mom's wedding 28 years ago that song was a big deal, and they were singing so loudly the police came and broke up the party.  Its been a tradition ever since for mom and her siblings.

When: Saturday, May 1st, 2010

Where: Community Center, Minto, ND
1st Dance Song: "Waltz Across Texas" by Willie Nelson

The Minto Community Center is my favoritest place.  They have 48 speakers in the ceiling making it easy to be heard in the entire (very large) room.  It keeps it loud on the dance floor and no where else.

Early in the dance, I got a special request for a very old waltz.  Ashley wanted it for her grandmother, a widower, who danced to it with her husband.  Unfortunately, the only version I could dig up on short notice sounded like a recording off the radio.  In 1946.   It was still appreciated, all the same.

No bouquet toss and no garter tonight.  Just a dollar dance for the events.

 When: Friday, April 23rd, 2010

Where: Hilton Inn, Grand Forks, ND
1st Dance Song: "Something" by Beatles

A few years in the making, apparently.  They've been dating five years (or was itseven?).  They have a wonderful daughter, Bailee, who is shy to start, but warms up quickly.  She was supposed to give the blessing, but froze up.  30 minutes later you had to take the microphone from her, she was so enthusiastic (and apparently knows the alphabet backwards, already).

The picture (sadly, one of the few before my camera failed) is of Greta's speech.  She wrote her notes on the back of a Target receipt.  Which is still better preparation than most speeches.

 When: Saturday, March 13th, 2010

Where: Bestwestern Doublewood Inn, Fargo, ND
1st Dance Song: "Bless the Broken Road" by Rascal Flats

Apparently Cody had some trouble at the ceremony.  Halfway through he turned white as a sheet and almost passed out.  They sat him down, but he was a trooper and finished strong.  He's much better now, thank you.

Turns out Bon Jovi is a big jerk.  He was rude enough to schedule a concert at the Fargo Dome this same night which caused traffic headaches for guests trying to get from the church to the Doublwood.

Trisha made a video slide show.  Rather than stopping everything to have guests watch, we put it on repeat in the corner.  Guests could watch anytime they liked.

When it came time for the garter removal, Cody came prepared with head lamp flashlight.  Pull the dress over his head and it all lights up like a lampshade.  Very cool.  Very funny.

When: Saturday, February 20th, 2010

Where: Eagles Club, Valley City, ND
1st Dance Song: "Faithfully" by Journey

I'll be honest and say I don't really like working at the Eagles.  Its my third or fourth time there and the dance floor area where I setup is about 50 yards from the start of the dinner area where guests are seated.  I ran all my speaker cords so I could have two speakers in the other room for speeches and background music.  It also means a very long walk to make simple adjustsments to the volume during speeches.


 Jill and her mom put together a very cool guest book.  A large photo album scrap book using pics of Jill and Ryan with space for guests to write.  Votive candles on all the tables had Jill and Ryan's name and wedding date on them.  Beer can cozys for the favors.  A candy table setup for guests until dinner.

Dinner was delayed about 40 minutes when the party bus carrying our wedding party was delayed.  The Eagles had four buffet lines so once we did start, all the guests were through quickly.


Its always fun to learn things about people... like Ryan recently hosting an impromptu 80's party at 2 in the morning.  His passion for 80's music led me to play Huey Lewis' 'Power of Love' which I've certainly never done before...  The best man, Cory, kept trying to panic the maid of honor about her speech.  Repeating 'crickets', as in, that will be the only sound when its over, it will be so bad.  On the contrary, hers was excellent and her delivery was almost relaxed (though I doubt she'd say that).

When: Saturday, February 13th, 2010

Where: American Legion, Park River, ND
1st Dance Song: "She's Everything" by Brad Paisley

Hi Robert, Thank you so much---you did a great job, we had many compliments about the job you did!!!  Thanks" - Shannon and Dee Jay Johnson



I had an assistant with me, James.  This leaves me hands free for a few more things I like to do during a reception and not have to worry about starting the next song.

 To the left, pictures of Shannon and DeeJay in a wedding when they were young.

No dollar dance, again, tonight.  Bouquet toss and a garter raffle.  For the raffle, the groomsmen sold decks of cards (tear them in half and you have tickets).  They sold through three decks in only about 20 minutes.  Easily the fastest I've ever seen.  This setup a little game to give away the garter instead of drawing only one winner.

For the second week in a row we did a quick compatibility quiz for the bride and groom.  See the video for what I'm talking about.

 The cake was a barn with animals in between the tiers.  They didn't cut it up, but served cheesecake in the buffet instead.  Her son, Tucker, tried to feed frosting to one of the cows and you could see the kids' finger pokes in the frosting after about 10 minutes at the hall.

One of the groomsmen, Kelly, filled their car with shredded paper, covered their windows with spray snow.  Apparently as revenge for DeeJay filling his car's heater unit with flour (when you turn the car on it *poof* sprays all over).  Kelly's only mistake was admitting all this on camera.  Woops.

Dance was fairly typical except that DeeJay wanted to add two extra hours and go until 1am.  When your day starts at 1pm (or for the bride, 6am) that is one long day.  But its not up to me and they were having fun.  We also had some singing.  First was Shannon's daughter, Jaylie.  Then DeeJay sang two John Michael Montgomery songs (about an hour apart).

When: Saturday, February 6th, 2010

Where: A Touch of Magic, EGF, MN
1st Dance Song: "Only You Can Love Me This Way" by Keith Urban

Lindsay & Justin were actually married on January 11th, in Jamaica.  Today was a reception only, but they dressed up.  Bad weather was a concern, but they still had most of their guests arrive on time. 

I'll admit, though, I wasn't happy with myself.  There wasn't much dancing at all.  I know the guests were still enjoying themselves but I always feel I can do better if there isn't a packed floor (and I mean packed).  In this case we weren't even close.  I also had a container with some party and emergency supplies go missing.  Nothing too vital (backup toss bouquet, garter, etc), but it meant our plans to embarras the groomsmen weren't gonna happen.  We did manage an air guitar contest, though.

Fun for me were two past clients, Katie & Ryer Stark (August 1st, 2009) and Greta & Tom Beard (November 21, 2009).

We skipped several traditions... no speeches, no dollar dance, no bouquet.  They hired me to put together a short video, combining pictures and video from the wedding ceremony.  We also raffled the garter off.

When: Saturday, January 23rd, 2010

Where: Valley Clubhouse, EGF, MN
1st Dance Song: "The Nearness of You" by Norah Jones

The life threatening cold temperatures are gone, and replaced with rain that will surely freeze and create streets of ice tonight, when I'm trying to drive the 30 miles home.  More importantly, this limited guests who were largely from MacIntosh and so that an already relatively small reception (125) shrank down to almost half size.  Fortunately, weather isn't enough to stop a good time.


The ceremony was earlier, 1pm, to allow pictures and a field trip afterwards.  Bizzy and Tyler met when they both worked at Sam's Club so long ago and made a stop there today.  The first song Bizzy and Tyler ever danced to was Taylor Swift's "Love Story," which is unfortunate (it references Romeo & Juliet, which, I'd point out, is a tragedy, not a love song).  Bizzy chose Norah Jones because, well, it wasn't Ella Fitzgerald.  See, she was at a wedding a year ago with that song by Ella.  She loved the song but didn't want to copy the other couple.  Subtle.
The guest book was a custom book of photos from Shutterfly.com.  Favors were cute little buttons with their name and date on them.  Cake was a single top tier with cupcakes for the rest.  Wine and champagne was made available for everyone.

When: Friday, January 8th, 2010

Where: Ramada Inn, Grand Forks, ND
1st Dance Song: "First Day of My Life" by Bright Eyes

"Robert, thank you so much for everything you did for our wedding.  The music was a perfect blend of my picks and crowd favorites and the night went off without a hitch largely due to your awesome work.  It truly was the best day, thanks again!"  - Katelyn & Josh Salwey

The evening high was -18F.  This is cold enough to take hot or boiling water, throw it in the air, and it instantly turns to snow.  Go ahead, google it.  It's pretty cool.  Fortunately, I had another great couple to celebrate with and the photographers Shawna Noel and Kory Wallen.  Even my mom, Kathy Benda, provided the chair covers.  Decorations (table runners, candles, and flowers) by Just Add Water (Miss Brooke Roche).

Katelyn wanted them introduced into the room to Hall and Oates' "Make My Dreams Come True."  You might recognize it if you ever watched the movie "The Weddingsinger."


 Another good set of speeches.  Best of all was the grooms.  As a surprise, his band, Yellow Stripe, played the music for the slide show.  We kept this from everyone until we brought out the instruments.  Not bad considering we had no time for a proper sound check or even a proper setup for live music on my part.  I had to rent a mixer to handle all the instruments and extra microphones.

We tossed the bouquet and garter at the same time, and then segued into a dance for the groom.  Once, many years ago, he did the dance for NSYNC's "Bye, Bye, Bye" on a bus trip to Washington, D.C.  Katelyn has never forgotten it and had me play it for him again.  Enjoy.

"Justin and I wanted to send a big thank you for going above and beyond for us on our wedding day.  You did a wonderful job and we could not have asked for a better reception.  We have heard countless times from our guests about how great of a job you did and how your work and personality made the evening so enjoyable.  Also thank you for making all of our requests happen! No chicken dance!! ;)  We are VERY pleased with how it all turned out!  Thanks again!"  -Justin and Kristen Carlson

First off, it was -33F at the start of this day.  The good news, it didn't seem to affect the Carlsons or their guests because we hit 95% of the guest count for the reception.  That excellent photo to the right is courtesy photographer Megan Sugden, http://www.meganphoto.com/.

The introductions into the room were simple.  Kristen and Justin first, then he called out each group (guys and ladies) to their themes (Who Let the Dogs Out, and Single Ladies by Beyonce, respectively).


We drew numbers for which table went up to the buffet.  That was fine.  The real issue was only two lines for 400 people.  It took about 70 minutes to serve everyone.  Not the worst, but folks were getting cranky after a bit.  Remember kids, 1 buffet line per 100 people or so keeps things moving along.  One table offered me $5 to pick them next.  Hmmm.... nope.

Their cake had charms baked in.  The bridesmaids each pulled one out via its ribbon, each charm representing something in their future.

Very different was the beginning of the dance and video.  I'm a big proponent of 'your video is too long.'  Kristen solved that by combining the first three dances with the video.  She and her uncle danced while her pictures appeared behind them, then Justin and his mom during his pics, finally Justin and Kristen during their couple pics.  It worked perfectly.


For the garter, we sold raffle tickets.  The drawing brought up a couple of guys who then competed.  I called out something, they went out into the room and brought it back.

Lots of requests, but one stuck out.  Johnny Prine's "In Spite of Ourselves."  No, I didn't know it either.  All the groomsmen do.  They sing it when out hunting (which seems like it would scare away the deer, but what do I know).

It was a great year for me, both personally and professionally.  I had 27 wedding receptions this year.  My daughter was born and has even began to crawl a few days ago.  We bought our first house.  2010 looks to be even better so keep an eye out for what's coming.  Meanwhile, enjoy my favorite two video highlights from this year.

Yeah, I've been published!  I'm a member of FreshWed.com, and they've posted my article on how to creating a video slideshow your guests can enjoy (seriously, I have no idea why I'm so proud of this, but I'm rolling with it).

Read the article and find out about fellow wonderful wedding worker bees over at the blog.