Christie Canfield & Tyler McFarland

When: Saturday, November13th, 2010

Where: A Touch of Magic, East Grand Forks, MN
1st Dance Song: "Then" by Brad Paisley

"Robert, Thank you so much for being a part of our wedding! You did a great job and we truly appreciate it! Happy Thanksgiving!" - Christie & Tyler McFarland

This is my first wedding in a few weeks. To earn the evening out, from 7am to 2pm, I watched both my three week old son and 20-month old daughter so my wife enjoy part of her day.

Christie and Tyler had these very simple, but very elegant centerpieces of yellow leaves on stems. They looked like flowers and fit the fall weather. That seemed how everything was tonight. Simple, elegant, and a perfect fit. Almost effortless (though I doubt it was).

Normally, if a couple is showing a video, I get a copy in advance and take care of things. At a Touch of Magic, that is supposed to be done for you. However, the DVD didn't work with the player, it would have left off the last three minutes. Instead, I took care of it with my gear and managed to get it to work to the end.

Things really got going after 10pm, so Christie had me continue for a little over an extra hour.

Random song request that went over great, but wouldn't ever play anywhere else: T.I.'s "What You Know." I had it, but don't think I've ever played it before. Doubt I will again. That's OK, Tyler and his buddy, Flash, love it. Also, "Forever Your Girl" by Paula Abdul, from Christie's list.

See more at Grand Forks Wedding DJ.

Kathryn Schleisman & Jesse Bergstedt

When: Saturday, August 29th, 2009
Where: A Touch of Magic, EGF, MN
1st Dance Song: "Me and You" by Kenny Chesney
Special Song: "A Bride's Prayer" by Kathryn Schleisman

Yes, that last song above is a live recording by Katie (right click and 'save target as' to download). For her speech, she wrote and sang a song for Jesse. It was a complete suprise. My role was to rent and setup a full keyboard and mic out on the dancefloor without Jesse noticing. That was shockingly easy. The song along with all the speeches and two videos (two!) brought quite a few people to tears. One video was the picture slide show you'd expect, the other was from her dad, and was comprised of home videos as he'd let you know what was happening.

Well, something new with the garter. We did a raffle, brought up four contestants competing by fetching items in the room. When I asked them to bring back a person wearing a boutinierre, Gary, our winner, wheeled over grandma in her wheelchair. She did not see the humor in it. He did, however, win.

I'm legally required to play "Jesse's Girl" at this wedding, aren't I?

Some random compliments from the evening: "You make it so personal." and "I have never seen a DJ put so much into it." Those are two of my favorite to hear because that is exactly what I strive for.

Coolest part of the entire day was being able to play Kathryn's song as our last slow song of the night.