On Saturday, we went to to the Oaks Hotel in Sioux Falls for the wedding reception of Zach and Meg. When we got there, we found out there was another reception right next door to us that we would be competing with, soundwise! The DJ was very nice though and we agreed to be considerate of each other. It was more of a low key dance as the bride did not want any party starters or really anything specific done. We ended up just playing to the tastes of their friends as the night wore on. All in all, it was a pretty unremarkable evening, but we hope they were happy and had fun.
One result of the dance was our decision to redesign our event planning guides, so look for those to be uploaded onto the website soon.
7/23/2007
We finally make it to the Black Hills
We have lived in South Dakota for almost 3 years and have never seen those things that every good South Dakotan is suppossed to see. Since Kristen's Mom and Stepdad were here with their camper for an extended visit, we decided to take a few days off and head out to the Black Hills. We stopped in Murdo to visit the Pioneer Auto Show, since there were a lot of gear heads with us. It was pretty cool, but very hot and some of the cars looked very sad. We wished they were better taken care of! Next stop was Wall Drug. We had been told it was a huge tourist trap, and that is exactly what it was! We took some fun pictures in the backyard and enjoyed our share of free ice water, too hot for the 5 cent coffee though.
After Mt. Rushmore, we decided to just drive around a bit. We headed north to Lead and Deadwood and just drove through town. It would have been cool to walk around, but we were short on time, so we are saving that for another time. Next stop was Sturgis, which Kristen's mom really wanted to see. It honestly is kind of crappy without all the bikers. It was sooo hot and there was nothing to do except buy $3 tshirts from past ralleys. I am sure it is a whole different town during bike week, but I don't think any of us have any desire to ever go back there again. Once we got back to Custer, Kelly and Kristen headed out in her stepdad's hot rod to take a drive through Custer State Park. We expected it to be a short jaunt, just to check out the scenery and see some animals. We saw a sign for the 'Wildlife loop' and decided to check it out, even though Kelly insisted we would not see any animals. The sight we saw when rounding the corner was truly spectacular- there were buffalo everywhere! After taking about 30 minutes to move through the herd, we followed the rest of the trail through antelope, deer and even more buffalo! It was really amazing, and being in the hot rod with no top made us feel even more a part of it. We really reccommend checking this place out, it is really beautiful.
We arrived at our final destination, Custer, very tired and not in the mood to do much of anything. After unloading the camper at the campsite, we went for dinner at a place in town. I forget what it is called, but the food was amazing! They had Buffalo ribs that were so tender and yummy, we should have asked if they sold their BBQ sauce as it was just perfect! Kristen and Kelly stayed in a hotel, so we parted ways to get some sleep. The next morning, we headed out to Crazy Horse. Kristen has always wanted to go and it was really amazing to see in person! Its sad that it won't be finished in our lifetimes, but maybe when we bring our kids back someday they will have made more progress!
Next stop was Mt. Rushmore, which was very crowded. It is certainly impressive to see something that is so famous. It is almost hard to believe what you are seeing in front of you. It was fascinating to learn about the history of the mountain and see how the carving was done. I only regret that we didn't see the evening lighting ceremony, which we hear is spectacular!
After Mt. Rushmore, we decided to just drive around a bit. We headed north to Lead and Deadwood and just drove through town. It would have been cool to walk around, but we were short on time, so we are saving that for another time. Next stop was Sturgis, which Kristen's mom really wanted to see. It honestly is kind of crappy without all the bikers. It was sooo hot and there was nothing to do except buy $3 tshirts from past ralleys. I am sure it is a whole different town during bike week, but I don't think any of us have any desire to ever go back there again. Once we got back to Custer, Kelly and Kristen headed out in her stepdad's hot rod to take a drive through Custer State Park. We expected it to be a short jaunt, just to check out the scenery and see some animals. We saw a sign for the 'Wildlife loop' and decided to check it out, even though Kelly insisted we would not see any animals. The sight we saw when rounding the corner was truly spectacular- there were buffalo everywhere! After taking about 30 minutes to move through the herd, we followed the rest of the trail through antelope, deer and even more buffalo! It was really amazing, and being in the hot rod with no top made us feel even more a part of it. We really reccommend checking this place out, it is really beautiful. 
After we made it back to town (and vey late for dinner) we went back to Crazy Horse to see the 'Legends in Light", a light show projected on the side of the mountain. It was very hard to get good pictures of this, but it was pretty cool to see. The show lasted about 30 minutes, and the second it was over it started pouring, which ruined any more opportunities for pictures.
The next day, we headed back to Sioux Falls, since Kristen had to work! Kelly had the rest of the week off to relax before more weddings and work. It was a great vacation and we will definitely be back there someday. The rest of our photo gallery is here: http://picasaweb.google.com/kristen.cline/BlackHillsTrip?authkey=uLfqRAon348
Demo pics! Taking out some agression....
On July 17th, we went to Cherokee, Iowa for the county fair. Kelly has been working on a demo car all summer for the demolition derby and he finally got to test it out! He did really well, getting first place in his heat (he had to be pushed out with a bulldozer because of a broken tie rod) and doing very well in the feature. He got a trophy and $50! (Nothing close to what he invested in the car, but it covered the beer at least!). He had a lot of fun, and was a little bit sore in the morning, with some pretty purple bruises as battle scars.Kristen's mom and stepdad were there, as well as Kelly's family and our good friends Joe and Crystal, who spent a lot of time helping Kelly work on this thing that is thankfully not in the garage now!
Check out all the action here: http://picasaweb.google.com/kristen.cline/Demo?authkey=8m7n1ZhhyLc
7/08/2007
Congratulations Andy and Tiffany!
Yesterday we had a wedding in town, which was very nice. We were able to get into the reception hall very early and get everything set up exactly the way we wanted to. It is a rare luxury and one we definitely took advantage of! This was our first dance at the Sheraton and it is a very nice facility. The staff were very nice and helped us out a lot. We heard they had seven weddings that day! We both sat up a few hours beforehand, but then Kristen had to go to work, which was luckily only a few minutes away. Kelly was on his own for most of the dance, which went very well.
It was quite an amazing reception, we haven't seen one yet that was so unique. It was very obvious that the families had put a lot of time and effort into each and every detail. It was all very personal, and we were pretty honored to be included. The family had lots of little prizes that were given away throughout the night during trivia contests and such. We also gave away our first t-shirt, which was pretty exciting. They come out really nicely and we are so happy, we love CafePress!
After Kristen got off work, she came back to help finish the dance and tear down. It was close to midnight by this time and the reception had wound down to just a handful of people. The happy couple had already gone to bed, but we played a special request for the bride's parents and they were very sweet on the dance floor. Kristen brought our camera along to experiment with different settings and get some pictures of our new lights. Some of them are pretty cool looking!
Next weekend is the demolition derby in Cherokee, Iowa. Kristen's mom and step dad are heading up from Colorado to check it out, and then we are all heading out to the Black Hills for a few days. We have never been there, so we are pretty excited to spend a few days relaxing and seeing what the other end of the state has to offer. After that, we will be at the Oaks for a country-free wedding reception (who knew such a thing existed in South Dakota!)
Check out the photo album from last night: http://picasaweb.google.com/kristen.cline/LarsonBaumannWedding
6/26/2007
More website stuff
We are currently investing in some promotional items for the business, so I decided to go to Cafepress.com and create a few things we could purchase through them, since that seemed to be the cheapest option. While I was there, I decided to go all out and create our own store! I doubt anyone will buy anything from it except for us, but hey, I still think it is pretty darn cool.
The main reason for all this was my idea to give out t-shirts to the winner of the air guitar contest. They are really popular and I think a t-shirt is a fun prize that people will hopefully think is cool.
Check it out!
Check it out!
6/25/2007
Barn Dance! The Sieverding Family reunion
This Saturday, we drove out to Humbolt, South Dakota for the Sieverding family reunion. We were out in the country, so were weren't sure what to expect as far as facilities were concerned. What we saw when we arrived was impressive, to say the least. There was a tent and port-a-potties set up and about 100 or so people! At the center of it all was a barn that looked brand new. They had the meals catered and the food was being served from the barn. This was also where we were to set up and play. It took us a little longer to set us because we had to wait for the caterers to clear out of the space and for a table to become available. We were also debuting our new truss system for the lighting. It looks really good and its much more stable than our old system. I think it will do a much better job lighting a larger area. We still have the old system for smaller spaces. Its nice to have more options, and more space to add on lighting effects in the future. Unfortunately, it was too bright out for most of the dance, so we didn't get to see the difference in the lighting. Hopefully we will get to see this better at the Sheraton in a few weeks.
The dance got off to a good start and we got a lot of people dancing with the Snowball dance. The family reunion had been going on all day, so a lot of people were pretty tired by the time we got there. Many of the older guests just pulled chairs into the barn and watched the action. The air guitar contest also went well and we had great participation from all ages. We spent most of the night playing requests from the kids.
We did meet a very nice family from Gettysburg, South Dakota. Their six kids ended up keeping the dance alive with their surprisingly sophistocated dance requests. They really made it fun and it was entertaining to see them dancing with their parents. One of them told us "you should come play for my dad's side of the family, we would have so much fun!" They stayed afterwards and talked with us as we were loading up the equipment in our car. Dances like this are a great opportunity to meet new people. We haven't lived here very long, so we are still learning about South Dakota and meeting new people definitely makes it more enjoyable to live here.
We have this weekend off. I imagine Kelly will take the time to work on his demo car to get it ready for the Demolition Derby at the Cherokee County Fair which is 3 weeks away.
The dance got off to a good start and we got a lot of people dancing with the Snowball dance. The family reunion had been going on all day, so a lot of people were pretty tired by the time we got there. Many of the older guests just pulled chairs into the barn and watched the action. The air guitar contest also went well and we had great participation from all ages. We spent most of the night playing requests from the kids.
We did meet a very nice family from Gettysburg, South Dakota. Their six kids ended up keeping the dance alive with their surprisingly sophistocated dance requests. They really made it fun and it was entertaining to see them dancing with their parents. One of them told us "you should come play for my dad's side of the family, we would have so much fun!" They stayed afterwards and talked with us as we were loading up the equipment in our car. Dances like this are a great opportunity to meet new people. We haven't lived here very long, so we are still learning about South Dakota and meeting new people definitely makes it more enjoyable to live here.
We have this weekend off. I imagine Kelly will take the time to work on his demo car to get it ready for the Demolition Derby at the Cherokee County Fair which is 3 weeks away.
Photo Album from the dance is here: http://picasaweb.google.com/kristen.cline/FamilyReunion
6/22/2007
Congratulations Jacob and Laura!
Last weekend, Kelly made the solitary trek to Parkston, South Dakota for the wedding reception of Jacob and Laura (Kristen had to work again). Their wedding and dinner was in Mitchell, then everyone drove approximately 40 minutes to the American Legion. Kelly got their a little while before everyone else and had to track down the manager of the American Legion at a local bar to get it unlocked for him. After that little adventure, he was able to get in a get everything set up and ready to go.
The evening went pretty well- small town receptions tend to get crashed towards the end of the night, but Kelly kept busy most of the night. He felt like he barely had time to get everything done, but somehow there was time. This was a last minute booking for us, but I am glad we were able to accommodate them. We actually met that at the wedding of a friend of theirs a few weeks ago and they liked what we did.
We didn't really have a DJ at our reception, so we didn't have a real wedding dance. We know first hand how much a DJ can add to a party, even when you don't have a big budget. Every couple deserves a proper celebration- for most people, their wedding reception is the only time when it is all about them and there are lots of great memories that can be created during the dance. I'm glad we were able to help them out and give them the party they probably didn't think they would be able to have.
The evening went pretty well- small town receptions tend to get crashed towards the end of the night, but Kelly kept busy most of the night. He felt like he barely had time to get everything done, but somehow there was time. This was a last minute booking for us, but I am glad we were able to accommodate them. We actually met that at the wedding of a friend of theirs a few weeks ago and they liked what we did.
We didn't really have a DJ at our reception, so we didn't have a real wedding dance. We know first hand how much a DJ can add to a party, even when you don't have a big budget. Every couple deserves a proper celebration- for most people, their wedding reception is the only time when it is all about them and there are lots of great memories that can be created during the dance. I'm glad we were able to help them out and give them the party they probably didn't think they would be able to have.
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