The All Occasions Bridal Spectacular

We spent our Sunday at the Ramkota Exhibit Hall for our second bridal show. The first one was very stressful for us since we were just starting out on our own. But now we have lots more confidence and it was a great to get to meet with so many couples face to face and explain what makes us different. With a little more tweaking, our booth setup will be really nice- we want to attractive and different from the other DJ booths, which either have too much or not enough going on. One thing we are going to add for next time is a TV and DVD player with slideshows and videos. Our pretty little photo album is full, but we needed another one to pass around! This should help when explaining out services because people can clearly see them as we are talking.

We got to wear our new polos and they looked great! We are also test driving an assistant to go along with Kelly when I can't, to make sure we get pictures and that he has the extra hands when he needs them. The business is really growing and it is so exciting to have dates book up so quickly! We have even had to turn people away! We have been networking with other DJ's so we have a place to refer these clients to, but its sad to say no all the same.

We are keeping our fingers crossed that this show will be fruitful and some of the lovely couples we met with will give us a call!

Congratulations Mike and Kim!

On Saturday, we went to Little Rock, Iowa to celebrate the 30th wedding anniversary of some dear friends of ours. Kelly grew up with their son, so we were honored to be able to celebrate with them and their family. We set up in their garage (which was soooo hot- the humidity was very high and it was very sticky, yuck!). As it got darker, we were able to clearly see and try some new lighting rffects which look very nice, We also tried out our new camcorder. Its am inexpensive model ment to record videos that can easily be loaded on the internet. The quality of the videos were great and it is really easy to use. We are going to have to rig some kind of tripod for it so we can take pictures and cideo at the same time. Its a really exciting little feature to add to our website and offer our clients. We plan to host the videos on YouTube to allow clients to easily share them with friends and family.

The party was fun- we love playing family gatherings because things usually get very silly and fun, people feel more relaxed and we feel more like a part of the fun. The food was great and all homemade. We really enjoyed ourselves and were happy to be there! Its nice to be with friends and entertain them too!

Here is the full album from the party: http://picasaweb.google.com/kristen.cline/MikeAndKimPedersonS30th

Congratulations Matthew and Katy!!!!

Kelly headed out to Ethan, South Dakota for a Friday evening wedding last week at the Legion Hall. We love small town weddings because they are so much fun and this one was no different. Everyone was so nice and laid back, it was easy to have a good time. They were a very nice couple and we wish them the best.

Its hard for Kelly to go alone sometimes because things are so much easier with 2 people. We are thinking of hiring a friend to help out when Kristen has to work. Its a wonderufl problem to have, being this busy- we have been booked for every weekend this month! Hopefully the bridal show this weekend will be another sucessful event!

See you on Sunday!

Just a reminder, we have a booth in the All Occasions/Hy-vee Bridal Show at the Ramkota Exhibit Hall on Sunday, August 19th. We will have examples of our props, tshirts, etc. Plus its' just a great opportunity to meet with us face to face so we can discuss your event. We are excited to be there and hope to see and meet you!

Congratulations Zach and Susie!

We headed up to the Arrowwood Resort at Lake Okoboji, Iowa this weekend for one of our largest and most fun weddings ever! There were many moments where things could have gone wrong, but everything went smoothly and it turned into a very special occasion. We were crammed into a little corner during dinner, so once they cleared the dance floor, we moved the lights onto the floor (which was very precarious, I hope we never have to do that again!). One of the best moments was during the father daughter dance- the brides brother sang and played guitar live, and it was a song he had written. It was really beautiful and I am glad it turned out the way it did; he had tried to send us a mp3 of the song, but his computer crashed and playing live was the only option. There aren't too many moments like that!
The reception was so much fun! The couple's friends and family were there to have a great time and it was wonderful to play for a crowd that was enjoying themselves so much. The dance floor was crowded all night and we got lots of compliments throughout. We ended up playing 30 minutes longer than our contract, but probably could have played all night! We had several requests for 'Piano Man' by Billy Joel and the groom asked that we play it at the end of the night. Little did we know that this song held special meaning for most of them. They all gathered in an circle at the center of the dance floor and dropped their pants! I have never seen anything like it! We were told later that this is something done every night at the bar they used to frequent in college.
We had so much fun and took lots of pictures. The groom's father said they have 3 more kids, so we hope they ask us back, its definitely a crowd we would love to entertain again! See the entire photo gallery here: http://picasaweb.google.com/kristen.cline/ZachAndSusieLewis

Congratulations Zach and Meg!

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.

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.

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