April Kaiser & Tyler Grinde

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?).

Deanna Beiswanger & Jonathon Betting

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.

Linsey Hegvik & Ben Davis

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.

Laura Bury & Marc Knutson

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.

Kelly Olson & Chauncy Hendershot

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.

Elisa Benson & KC Flynn

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.

Megan Malnory & Brad Fredrickson

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.

Ashley Bezdicek & Riley Morgan

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.

Greta Lee & Chad Gerloff

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.

Trisha Richter & Cody Miller

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.