Sarah Lappegard & Matt Abentroth

When: Saturday, June 6, 2009
Where: Grand Forks Clarion (formerly Holiday Inn)
1st Dance Song: "My Best Friend" by Tim McGraw

Tonight went well most of the time. It can be difficult to be heard with 325 people in an odd shaped room... well, two rooms actually. Sarah & Matt had some nice touches, both in the room with the favors (boxes with Chippers), colorful cupcakes on the tables and a putting green by the head table. If you wanted to get Sarah & Matt to kiss, you had to sink a putt. Miss, and you kissed someone yourself. Video at the bottom, left hand side.

The best news (for me) was the photographers, Shawna Noel and Kory. You can see their photos below (you can tell which, because they're actually good).

A little birdie let me know that the Pastor had referenced "Turn, Turn, Turn" by the Byrds in his sermon at the ceremony so I played it immediately after the blessing.

Since Sarah & Matt were a bit shy about being the center of attention we altered their first dance song a little. Sarah provided the photos of them and I got a screen and projector. The net result was a backdrop of photos that looked great, but also drew a little attention away from the nervous couple. Video is below, on the right. The wonderful photo to the right is courtesy photographer ShawnaNoel.com

The remainder of the evening was pretty typical except for an impromptu dance contest between two of the guys. It went on for almost five minutes and was amazing. That led us up to a very tired couple making their except at 12:30 before I had to stop per Clarion Inn rules.

These photos courtesy Shawna Noel