Kristen Vanek & Justin Carlson

Kristen Vanek & Justin Carlson

When: Saturday, January 2nd, 2010
Where: Ralph Englestad Arena, Thief River Falls, MN
1st Dance Song: "Making Memories of Us" by Keith Urban

"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).

Tiffany Holmes & Travis Boespflug

When: Saturday, September 26th, 2009
Where: Ralph Englestad Arena, Thief River Falls, MN
1st Dance Song: "True Companion" by Marc Cohn

For this Ralph, guests entered on the main arena entance, then took the stairs or elevator down to the dressing room level where a kitchen and ballroom for up to 350 guests wait. I got to drive down to unload my gear, which was pretty sweet.

Something I've brought up but never done before.... we saved the cake until 30 minutes into the dance. The cake cutting was immediately followed by the dollar dance, which also gave guests a chance to serve themselves. I'm a fan because it means waiting to enjoy your dessert instead of while you're full.

The picture of me with all the purses... well, when the wedding party arrives, we introduce them into the room. This means someone has to get all the stuff they're carrying in so they don't have to during their grand entrance. That's five purses and a breast pump and it all weighed a ton.

Also on the list of duties, shortening their special dances. They wanted three: a first dance, her dance with her dad, and Travis' dance with his mom. Rather than that totaling 12 minutes of music, I digitally shortened each to about two minutes each. Those who have stood out there for a dance, just the two of you, understand that two minutes is long enough. The songs were intact, each got their moment, and we kept things moving as best we could.


Another new one, I inserted Travis and Tiffany's heads (a photo from the reception) into a disco dancing video, played it at the end of the garter giveaway. No one expected it. It wasn't planned. I figured out I could do it during the dinner thanks to the magic of WiFi and the internet. The site is called JibJab.com and while you can make some of the videos free, to actually download or post them to YouTube, you have to pay.