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»218-791-7596
»RobertBenda@gmail.com
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»Apologies
if the posts seem brief or abrupt. They're written at the end of
what is typically a ten hour work day.
»He
is not a
photographer but he does like to take photos. Click them to see
larger versions.
»All
songs are linked to Amazom.com so you can hear a preview of each song
if desired.
»Updates
are usually posted by Sunday morning, 9am.
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When: Saturday, August 30th, 2008
Where: Grand Forks
Alerus Center
1st dance: "When
I Said I Do" by Clint & Lisa Black
Favors: none . They donated to a breast
cancer charity instead
First off the Alerus had the wrong name on the marque. For most
of the day, their sign out front incorrectly contratulated 'Gary'
which, naturally, meant that's what we started calling Jerry.
As the photo to the left might tell you, this group had a pretty good
energy level. Here the wedding party is waiting to join Jerry
& Janessa.(Bridal party song: Rusted Root's "Send
Me On My Way")
I scanned and arranged the photos for the slide show. I had
actually checked it by playing all the way though twice at the Alerus
(earlier in the day). While the video itself was fine, halfway
through the audio started to fail (the volume would get softer and
softer, then back to normal for a few seconds...repeat). It was
probably a failing cord but since it wasn't mine
but the Alerus center's cords and sound system, I only had so many
options, but it worked out. Fixed it by switching to
playing the songs through my sound system (which meant timing
them to
match).
To the right: air guitar... or was it fiddle... to Conway Twitty's
"Tight Fittin' Jeans." One of the few songs on their request
sheet. In fact, its the song that got the biggest reaction of the
night.
During dinner, guests had to answer trivia questions about the couple
in order to get them to kiss. Items like their middle names,
school mascots, his degree from college... all fair game. Get the
question wrong and the guest had to kiss someone else. This led
to one of the groomsmen intentionally getting his question wrong so he
could step down and give grandma a kiss.
We sold raffle tickets for the garter and did the drawing to determine
which four men we brought up. Those four then competed for the
garter in a no-holds barred, fight-to-the finish game of musical chairs.
Once again I had to break out the first aid kit. The maid of
honor got a small cut on her foot (stepped on during dancing).
To the right: our esteemed best man, Eric. Brother to the
groom and budding crooner who graced us with his version of Joe
Nichols' "Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off." To listen, click
the link.
To download, right click and 'save target as' or 'save link as'.
As always, the recording doesn't quite do him justice (he was pretty
good).
The dance started out slow but picked up late and they
added an extra (5th) hour to last until 12:30am. There was
another
wedding next door so I poked my head in after we were done. They
started two hours later than us, with almost three times the guests and
had about the same number at their ending as we did (I'm saying my
group had better staying power).
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When: Friday, August 29th, 2008
What... a high school dance? Yes, I know it says 'exclusively for
weddings'... even at the top of this page, but I do make a couple of
exceptions, especially for Red River (and non-profit groups like
Sertoma and ARC). I've been doing their dances since 1998 when I
started
to DJ (or rather, most of their dances... weddings always come
first). No pictures because, well, its a high school dance and
I'm 31 and don't wanna be that guy (and its just dancing... there
aren't any special events or suprises to photograph, like
weddings). I do like the change of pace, though. Playing a
lot of (or all of) new music rather than all the wedding songs.
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When: Saturday,
August 16, 2008
Where: Roseau
Gene's Bar & Grill
1st dance: "Lost
in This Moment" by Big & Rich
father/bride:
"My
Wish" by Rascal Flatts
mother/son:
"Its Your Song" by Garth Brooks
favors:
candied caramel apples
Off for another long day. I left Grand Forks at 12:30pm (and
didn't arrive home til 6am) to arrive
in Roseau at 2:30. The reception began at 5:00pm. Gene's
was setup
for 350 guests which meant 10 tables (and 2 speakers) outside to
accomodate the large group.
Fun for me were some old friends from previous Roseau weddings:
On the left is Jenni Walsh with her daughter Ava. Jenni's was the
first Roseau wedding I DJ'ed back in 2002; the right is Jackie (married
2004),
whose reception was ended 30 minutes early by a tornado in the area
(the only reception ever I didn't finish). Not pictured is a
woman who said hello that was a guest at the Roseau wedding I did in
2003 for Anika Olson. The insane story for that wedding can be
read here.
The wedding party arrived all together via RV and introduced into the
room to "Right
Now" by Van Halen - an old warmup song for Eric and his hockey
teammates.
The speeches were unbelievable and each better than the one before (too
many moments to recount).
I was responsible for putting together their slide show and no preview
for them, it was to be a surprise. Thanks to the hard work of my
favorite photographer, Shawna Noel,
we included 17 photos from the day of. The result was I cut it
pretty close. The
video was ready about 2 minutes before we started the speeches, with
the video immediately following.
During the dance, Erik came up and sang "Fishing in the Dark" (download
it here). That was shortly before the groomsmen attached an
ankle
chain.
 
(to the left) After a long day, Tina & Erik tried to sneak out
after the last
slow song, but to no avail. Everyone noticed them and gave them a
standing ovation on their way out.
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When: Saturday,
August 9, 2008
Where: Grand Forks
Alerus Center
father/bride dance:
"I
Loved Her First" by Heartland
couples 1st dance: "Faraway"
by Nickelback
First up, the couple was married at St. Michael's church which meant a
2:30 service in an unairconditioned church (poor kids). Erin was
the smart one and had a handheld battery operated fan with water in the
base to help keep cool and I'm very jealous I didn't have it back when
I was in a wedding party at the same church.
The favors were small candles made by Jordan's mom. Guests
enjoyed appetizers while the wedding party took pictures in University
park. We drew RSVPs and asked for example kisses each time we
heard the klinking of the glasses, which is how we got the photo of
Erin's mom and dad to the left.
Erin and her dad started the dance because his cancer has left him
exhausted. They danced to a shortened version of "I Loved Her
First"
before she was joined by Jordan for their first song. The wedding
party stepped up halfway through that and away we went.
Unfortunately two different people broke a glass on the dance
floor. We swept but there were still casualties. I'm pretty
sure it still felt better than wearing heals the entire night (but
that's just a guess) and I had band-aids in my first aid kit anyway.
We took the banner down from behind the head table and had guests sign
it with markers provided.
To end the evening, I played the first song Erin & Jordan ever
danced to ("Crash
Into Me" by Dave Matthews), then "We
Are Family"
while guests danced down the middle of the floor (a stroll);
their second time through the gauntlet Erin & Jordan just kept
going and headed
for the door while I announced their goodbyes before playing one last
song for the remaining guests.
Below Left: Jordan's sister & dad dancing; Below Right: Erin &
her dad after she presented him with the garter.
 
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When:
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Where: Valley City
Eagles
1st dance: " Home"
by Michael Buble
father/bride dance:
" Butterfly
Kisses" by Bob Carlisle
What they said: "Wow,
it's taken me way too
long to get back to you! :) Sorry for that! Thank you
though for all
you did at the wedding, you did a phenomenal job! You were so
accommodating to what we wanted (or didn't want!) and we never had to
worry about a thing. The evening progressed perfectly, but it
would
not have without your enthusiasm and professionalism! Thanks
again!!"
Once again I'm off to the Eagles in Valley
City so I
brought extra
speakers
to accommodate the unusually large and long room (about 75 yards from
my gear to the head table)..
No
favors on the tables but they did setup what they called a 'Candy Bar'
(a pun I refused to repeat). A table setup with candies to pick from.
To the left, the
wedding party watching the video slide show.
The wedding party arrived from photos via golf carts. There was even an
incident where the photographer hit her head while riding when somebody
(*cough* the groom *cough*) hit a railroad tie but everything was ok.
A big suprise at the end of the speeches: a group from the groom's side
came forward
with guitars to sing a customized version of "500 miles (I'm gonna be)"
by the Proclaimers. Hear
it (or right click to download). It was fantastic (even if my
recording isn't).
The toss bouquet was in a vase surrounded by votives and, not
suprisingly, caught on fire. We had a spare so other than a quick
scare, no harm done.
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When: Friday,
August 1st, 2008
Where: Grand Forks
Holiday Inn
1st Dance: " I
Could Not Ask For More" by Edwin McCain
Father/bride: " What
a Wonderful World" by Louis Armstrong
Favors: none
What they said:
"Thank you for doing
such a wonderful job
at our dance. We had many comments from guests with how much fun
they had. It was such a great night, truly memorable. Thank
you again!"
This evening threw me because the dinner was at the church and I wasn't
involved. All afternoon I kept worrying I was late because a 5 or 6pm
start is normal for me and I panic at the idea of guests arriving
before I do. I finally gave in and arrived at 7pm - 90
minutes early for a 9pm start.
To the left, the cake has some evidence that little hands got to it
before anyone else did.
There
was food set out for guests to enjoy as they arrived, speeches at 9:30,
and then their first dance. Normally the Edwin McCain song is four
minutes long so they had me edit the song down to an even three by
cutting a verse and chorus.
The father/bride dance was done about 30 minutes after the start of the
dance and unannounced. I simply let the bride know a bit before I
played her song and she asked her dad to dance.
The paper lanterns hanging above the dance floor were apparently
provided by their florist and added a nice touch to the room (tip: if
you're going to light them use something more than the tiny battery
powered votives to acheive any sort of effect).
To the right, guests crowd around during Susan & Thomas' sendoff at
the end of the dance.
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