On Friday night, Fun DMC began the winding journey from Springfield to Carrollton Illinois for the Greene County Fair. As both Katey and Chad Kamerad were on vacation celebrating Chad’s 30th birthday, we had the honor to be accompanied by Liz Gall and Billy Cooper of The Mix. On the occasion when fill-ins and subs are needed for band performances, I always find it interesting to observe how each of them uniquely fit into the Fun DMC mold. Of course Billy and Liz are both longtime friends of the band and so each of them easily fit into their roles and of course excelled beyond expectations.

After a late night on the road, the band set out the next day for Assumption for the Bridgman wedding. Now I would like to preface that the members of Fun DMC are very capable when it comes to navigating back roads and country lanes. That said, the location of this wedding reception proved very difficult to find. Both Google and Apple Maps proved to be useless when it came to locating our destination. Finally, we backtracked to St. Mary’s church in Assumption where the wedding ceremony was to take place and asked the wedding party for directions. This further added to the confusion as four different individuals gave each of us four completely different responses, ranging from very complex instructions to the simple, “you can’t get there from here.” There was, however, one clue that was constant throughout every iteration: “follow the big circle B.” And so we got back on the road. A few miles down the road we saw a round sign on the right that looked like a large capital B sitting in a crest. There was nothing indicating which direction to go so we continued straight. Finally we saw another one, a huge one, this time at an intersection. We recalled that someone had mentioned turning left at the “big B.” So we did. And in doing so turned into a small access road with corn and beans pushing up all around us. Finally we came to one final B which sat near the entrance of a driveway to a house. We had finally arrived, albeit painfully late. Turns out the guy from the church was right; “you can’t get there from here.”

Set up commenced in a fury and proud to say we were up and going well before the arrival of the guests and wedding party. The reception took place in a large tent in the back yard and the driveway served as a make shift stage and dance floor for the band. The Bridgman’s and their entourage arrived, greeted their guests, and began to line up outside the tent to make their entrance. As I was calling out names to ensure that everyone was in place I noticed that there was no sign of a photographer. I inquired but no one seemed to know either. To other entertainment companies this might have been seen as an obstacle but to Fun DMC it was simply an opportunity to serve. Turns out that we always keep at least two professional grade cameras near us and so when it came to capturing the wedding reception, Fun DMC tech phenom Chad Kamerad was right on it.

The evening’s activities progressed and, as usual, Fun DMC delivered on all accounts. The crowd was so energetic and the dance floor was packed all night long. During our one slow dance, “Let’s Get Loud” (Thinking Out Loud/Let’s Get It On Mashup), I called out to the dance floor, dismissing couples based on how long they had been together. Finally we came to the end with a couple who had been together 42 years. As the band played and the couple danced, in a completely spontaneous moment, fireworks began to go off in the sky behind us. Apparently Steven Spielberg was directing this moment.

It has been mentioned by several band members that the Bridgman wedding was one of their favorites that we have been a part of. It definitely was for me, in particular the speeches and toasts. Now, I should say I see a lot of these and some are better than others. They can be heartfelt, funny, or based on the blood alcohol level of the best man, severely cringe-worthy. The toasts given at the Bridgman wedding were just perfect. They were completely authentic and wonderfully delivered. One of them that I found particularly moving was the speech from the father of the bride. And I guess the reason why is that I’m a father to a little girl myself. As he was delivering his speech through nervous laughter and tears, I couldn’t help but think about myself in twenty or so years standing in that very spot, perhaps making a speech about my little girl, talking about the moments that stood out, references that only she and I would get, and wondering where the time went. But I’m not there yet. My little girl is still all about Moana, pretending to be a dinosaur, and changing her dresses 4-5 times a day. We’ve only just set out on our journey to that day when I have to give her away. And in the way that I’ve called so many fathers to dance floors for one last dance with their daughter, someday, someone will call my name as well. These are the things I think about during wedding receptions. So if you catch me staring off into space during your wedding, I’m not bored. I’m just contemplating the journey and the destination. And you can’t get there from here.

I’ll be at my desk crying.