To see photos from the reception goto the Wedding Photo Album's page.

After the ceremony and greeting Stacey and I stayed behind along with our wedding party to take pictures. Stacey's mother was the photographer. As we completed sets of photographs, people headed to the reception. Finally, Stacey and I headed down to Central Park in Red Wing for a few last photographs.

Aaron's friend Kathy let us use here classic Mustang, decorated for the wedding with "Just Married" written on the back window and a flag on the antenna. When we arrived at the reception hall it was 4:30. We were nearly the last to arrive. The hall was full in the main room and extension wing, but the annex room was set up for children with toys, a TV, and two baby sitters. Having kids, we knew the value of this for the other parents attending with small children. We did not want the kids who were there to feel left out and uninterested in the entire event. The baby sitters were young women arranged by my mother and they did an excellent job. Some of the guests gave them tips on top of the fee they were already to be paid.

After getting in the door we gathered our wedding party to the main table and we all sat down for dinner. The main table was served but the remainder of the guests went through a buffet line. The food was homestyle chicken, beef roast, veggie medly pasta, fruit-marshmallow salad, salad, and mixed vegatables. Everyone seemed to enjoy the meal. I thought the chicken was a little soggy. We served the merlot and chardonnay that I made for the dinner, and I received many comments about it. As little time as it had to age, I was surprised it tasted as good as it did. It think it also helped, however, that the chardonnay was chilled to the right temperature and the merlot was given time to breath before serving. I have also found that agitating the wine a couple of times for a few days before serving seems to give it a better taste as well. Carting the wine to Red Wing may have helped.

Just as we were getting ready to eat, Stace left the table to feed Forest. It was not until everyone had finished eating that she returned to the table and I went to get her some warm food so that she could eat as well. As she was finishing up we got a round of clanking glasses and obliged the guests with a kiss, and Dave P. followed it with a toast to Stacey, I, and our family. He was followed by Keith, Joel, Matt Heller, and Thang. Next, Kristie toasted Stacey and I and we followed by thanking everyone for being our guests. Stacey also toasted Rachel and Claudia as her guests of honor, and I toasted Aaron, Schaubach, and Don Munson as my guests of honor. I described how Aaron and I went fishing as kids and in pirticular one time when we were fishing when a terrible rainstorm blew in and drenched us. We stayed fishing, however, and caught a full bucket of fish - mostly bull heads - and brought them home to our mom. When we were kids we used to go fishing all the time. I thanked Jerry Schaubach for being a positive influance for our group of overenergetic teen agers and for directing our energy to positive outlets. Don left as soon as the dinner was over but I had the opportunity to thank him for his guidance in my transition from high school to college and I gave him a pewter wine cork as a sign of my gratitude.

After the toast, several people started indicating that they had to leave soon so we worked on getting the dance started. At about that time Forest started getting tired and it took Stacey about a half an hour to sooth him and get him to sleep for a nap. When she finished we cut the wedding cake, and shortly afterwards the older folks were ready to go, along with people with small children and others who had to work early in the morning. We took time to see them off while my dad's bluegrass band played a couple of songs. People really seemed entertained by the band, but no one was dancing to it, so we went ahead with our first dance set. Stacey and her dad lead off with There Is Love by Peter, Paul, and Mary. Next Stacey and I danced to All My Lovin by Mazzy Star. We danced through half of Leaving On A Jetplane by Jewel before others cut in, and then we continued with about 4 or 5 more songs before going back to the band for a while. The next hour was spent thanking people for coming to our wedding and sending them on their way. For a while it seemed as if things were winding down and at one point the band stopped playing and my dad started packing up the sound equipment. I guess that was at about 9pm. I started helping him pack up and Stacey came over and asked what was going on. When I told her we were packing up she said to put it all back together because the party was just about to get going. I was a bit confused because almost everyone was gone, but we hooked things back up and started the dance CD and sure enough she rounded up the party crew and started people dancing.

River had fallen asleep on the way from the ceremony to the reception and slept in a quiet corner at the reception for about two hours. After he woke up he was tired and confused when I brought him into the main room where the band was playing. It was clear that it was overwhelming to him at that point so I took him out and gave him a plate of food the kitchen crew warmed up for him. After that he was ready to go and he played in the playroom for a while and danced to the music as well. Forest did well for the reception considering he was passed to every relative and in a strange place with loud sounds and music. He needed soothing a couple of times during the reception but considering everything we put him through during the whole week he did very well. After a while of having the dance music on Stacey's mom and Stacey's aunt Mary took River and Forest back to her house for the night.

The people who were left at this point in the evening were ready to have fun. It was Sunday night and most people had to work the next morning. That was one of the drawbacks of switching the wedding to Sunday, but after going through it and seeing how well Welch Village did with the food and location, I am very glad we did decide to switch the day. Of the people remaining the ones really hitting the dance floor included Stacey, Kristie, Jessica, Aaron, Chad, my dad, Maggie, Sarah, Chy, Chy's friend Dave, Thang, and a few others. I am not one to dance, but I did get out a few times on slower songs. The only Welch Employees remaining at the reception were the three bartenters and the security guard. The security guard was a waste of money because I don't recall seeing him until after 11 pm, and then all I saw him do was stand against a wall, ready to fall asleep. When I suggested he grab a beer he didn't even crack a smile. The bar did well after the dancing started and the tip jar filled up quickly. They must have done all right considering they emptied it at least twice and bill for the reception had a built in tip as well.

The music sets that I prepared for the wedding had a great variety of songs, but once the dance songs ended and the set moved to slower music Stacey intervened and forwarded to more dance music. After a while, that was not good enough either so people started bringing in music from their cars. I was proud of my prepared music, but it did not fit the purpose once all the dance songs had played out. I think the dancing went on for about two hours before they moved back into the music sets to hear classics like Bobby McGee, You Look Wonderful Tonight, and In My Life.