Brian & Becca’s Wedding

Brian Bruning got married last weekend on September 20, 2008 to Becca Akerson in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Brian is my best friend. He and I have known each other for more than 27 years. We’ve done so much together that it is difficult to look back on life and find times in which he wasn’t a big part. Even after I moved to Florida seven years ago and he left for South Dakota, we are still making solid memories. Just ask anyone at his bachelor party. He is responsible for making my life much more interesting and crazy in the best way possible, and with his big personality, he rarely exits any day with friends without a good story to tell from it.

Al and Becca Akerson

Brian is also a good guy with a great heart and everything that I’ve seen shows that Becca really brings that out of him. But she also keeps him in line and doesn’t take his B.S. without dishing out a little bit of her own. I’ve never seen Brian so happy, and I don’t think the smile ever came off of Becca’s face the entire weekend despite all the craziness and exhaustion that comes along with a wedding. The two of them are a wonderful combination and it was a great joy to just watch them together.

The weekend started Friday evening at the rehearsal and groom’s dinner, which were both in the backyard of the home of Brian’s parents, Bob & Marilyn. They moved to Brandon, SD about seven years ago, and own and operate a graphic design company. Marilyn designed everything that was printed including invitations, programs, place cards and I’m sure a few other things. It was all VERY well done with an elegant and sophisticated style. The color scheme was consistent throughout the wedding, and all the printed materials even matched the bridesmaids dresses right down to the luminescence of the bronze-colored dress material. The boutonnieres even had a thin copper-colored coiled wire running across the light yellow rose petals.

It’s always great to see Brian’s dad, Bob. He’s sharp and fiery and funny, a lot like my own dad was. They knew each other pretty well and both of them coached Brian and I as we grew up playing baseball together.

“Tonight is all about a good time with old friends,” was how Bob greeted me and few others when we got up to the house. They had a large white tent set up which is where the party started before spilling out into the yard and the country club next door. Just outside the north opening of the tent was where they had built a permanent fire-pit. The pit is encircled by about 6 or 7 feet of textured cement with two staired entrances. It is almost entirely surrounded with all sorts of flowering plants and bushes (complete with bees, which will come up again later) that Marilyn maintains. This was also the spot of the wedding, and at about 4:15 pm, the late afternoon/early evening light was AWESOME.

Maiselynn Waldner

Everybody was a little goofy from traveling, and the excitement of seeing friends, and anticipation for the weekend made for a fun rehearsal. But we made it through the formalities and got the party started. We had some good food, toasted Brian and Becca, and spent the rest of the night meeting new people, and catching up with some folks we hadn’t seen in a while. It was good to see Brian’s brothers again, who I haven’t seen in years. Brian is the oldest. The middle brother, Jeff, is living in Arizona with his wife, Siobhan. They have a little girl, Peyten, who Jeff is totally googly for. Her whole face lights up when she hears his voice. J.R. is the youngest and has been around the world, having spent time in Germany and working in Africa. I’m honestly a little envious of his travels, but not of his spelling skills (sorry J.R.). It was also great to see Brian’s aunt, Leslie Jandro, who was a teacher of mine back in grade school, her children, Cally and Tim, who I also knew from back then, and their significant others. Later on, I got to meet her husband Doug, who just built a Gander Mountain outdoor goods store down here in my neck of the woods in Palm Beach Gardens, FL.

A large chunk of the wedding party left at about 11 pm to head back to the hotel where there were a few fire-pits set up for the guests. Deborah and I hung back at the house for a bit longer and I’m glad we did. We got to spend a good amount of time getting to know Becca’s older sister, Sarah Stirt, and her husband,  Justin. And then a little bit later, Brian invited the four of us over to he and Becca’s house back in Sioux Falls to close out the night. I knew they would be pulled in a thousand different directions the next day so it was good to be able to spend some chill time with them the night before. I was also glad that they got to meet my fiancee, Deborah, who up until that night had just been a voice on the cell phone. Their neighbor, Doug, an assistant District Attorney for the State of South Dakota, also stopped by for a drink before we called it.

Saturday morning came fast. We were going trap shooting. I had been looking forward to it since Brian had told me about it a couple months earlier. I haven’t shot a gun in years and I’m not a big hunter, but there’s something really satisfying about shooting flying pottery, as Deborah put it. There was plenty of food at the hotel, but Mike Agar and Damien Boutiette, two guys in the wedding party, felt the urge for Taco John’s at 9:30 in the morning. Nasty.

We got to the range, hopped in the back of Chuck’s truck, and he drove us out to the shooting area.

L to R Chuck Wallace, J.R. Bruning, Justin Stirt, Jacob Akerson, Brian Bruning, John White, Mike Agar, Damien Boutiette, Jeff Bruning

L to R Chuck, Justin, Jeff, J.R., Brian, Damien

Justin Stirt

Brian Bruning

J.R. Bruning

Damien Boutiette

Nick Wallace and Brian Bruning

The hands-down funniest part of shooting was when Nick tried to shoot Chuck’s super-loud, big-ass 12-gauge shotgun. The gun was almost as tall as Nick, but he stood up there determined to not let it get the best of him.

Nick yelled “PULL!” and the pottery went flying. He took aim, squeezed the trigger, and BAM!!! The gun kicked, his head jerked and he was bucked hard, stumbling backward a couple steps. He then turned to us and, completely calmly, said “I think I need a smaller gun.” Priceless.

Damien said that he could have been out there all day, and I have to agree. It was one of the many highlights of the weekend. The only downside is that I think I now have some permanent hearing loss. My ears were already screwed up from flying and after we were done shooting they began ringing and haven’t stopped yet. seriously.

While we were playing with fire, Deborah and Mike’s girlfriend, Amy, met in the lobby of the hotel and decided to go out to get ready for the wedding.

Mike and Amy

Deborah's toes

Deborah and Amy both got French pedicures. Deborah had never had one before.

Brian Bruning

After finishing up at the range, we went to Nutty’s for lunch. It’s a sports bar apparently known for its strong drinks. There are also 17 different types of hamburgers on the menu, you know, just in case you need a few more options. They’ve got a small room with plexi-glass walls that is full of live parrots, the opening to which is right at the entrance of the building. It almost looked like you have to go through the parrot room to get into the bar, and in fact, someone (I think it was Damien) accidentally opened the door thinking it lead to the bar. I wish I had taken a picture of the parrots because they proved too tempting for Jacob and Nick. The two of them left the group for a minute, and we weren’t sure where they went until they were escorted back to the table by the bartender after they were busted opening the door while back checking out the birds. The bartender asked if they belonged to us and we took ‘em back. They vowed to go back and free the birds at some point in their lives!

Jacob Akerson & Nick Wallace

After lunch Brian dropped us off back at the hotel to take a quick shower and gather our clothes before heading to his parents’ house to get ready for the wedding. We were all still moving a little slowly and were supposed to be at the house by 2 pm at the LATEST. We left the hotel at about 1:45 and it was good that we had a fast truck. Mike Agar, Johnny White, Damien Boutiette and I floated down interstate 90 from Sioux Falls to Brandon at about 110 mph and made it there with a little time to spare. Fuel-efficiency, be damned.

Once we all got to the house, it was a little bit of a chess game to keep Brian and Becca separated while having photos taken. Aside from beer runs to the garage, the women stayed upstairs and we stayed downstairs. The incredible photography team of Dan Elliott, his wife Kari Elliott, and their third photographer, Melissa, kept everything moving smoothly and ensured that there were no accidental pre-mature bride/groom run-ins. They were hooked up with walkie-talkies and ear-pieces so they knew where everyone was all the time. They looked like secret-service, especially while talking into their shoulders.

While getting ready in the basement of the house, we joked about the possibility of getting stung by a bee during the wedding and decided that if it happened that we would just grit our teeth and get through it. The bees were definitely an issue. They were everywhere, so about 20 minutes before the wedding Brian’s dad, Bob, hosed the plants down with yard-guard. Somebody mentioned to me that that might just piss them off even more, and I relayed that message to Bob. He joked that it was either the bees who will be pissed if we spray, or his wife, Marilyn, who will be pissed at him if he didn’t spray. Good call, Bob.

out of focus bee

THE WEDDING

Pastor Andrew, Brian Bruning, John White, Mike Agar, J.R. Bruning, Jeff Bruning, Alex Boerner

Damien Boutiette, Matron of Honor Sarah Stirt

Al Akerson, Becca Akerson

It was a perfect prairie afternoon on the second to last day of summer. Someone mentioned that it had rained the few weekends prior, reinforcing the good fortune we had shining down along with the incredible sunlight. I told Deborah that if I wasn’t in the ceremony I would have loved to photograph it. It was an ideal situation for an outdoor wedding.

Brian was still out in front of the tent about 10 minutes before the wedding greeting people as they showed up. Apparently nobody told him what time it was. But we got him back inside the house and everybody got seated.

His cousin, Cally, came down and told us it was time to begin. The wedding party got into position and the music started. One by one, the bridesmaids made their way from the back of the tent down the aisle, met their groomsman at the front, and were lead up to the spot of the ceremony. Once everyone was all set, the string quartet stopped and the music changed to Pachelbel’s “Canon in D” for Becca, who finally peeked out from around the corner of the tent with her father, Al, on her right arm, and her son, Jacob, on her left arm. Brian’s face was completely lit up.

When they got to the end of the aisle, Brian walked down from the fire-pit to meet them and took Becca’s hand from Al and Jacob. He then lead her back up to the spot where Pastor Andrew was waiting. The sunlight coming from the southwest lit up the back of Becca and the bridesmaids, giving each of them a bright soft glow, and illuminating Becca’s long white veil.

L to R Sarah Stirt, Lori Wallace, Brooke Woitalla, Nichoelle Waldner, Karey White, Becca Bruning, Pastor Andrew, Brian Bruning, John White, Michael Agar, J.R. Bruning, Jeff Bruning, Alex Boerner

The ceremony itself was going to be rather short. It began with a welcome prayer, followed by a reading by Brian’s aunt, Nancy. About five minutes into it though something hilarious and a magical happened. Brian’s brother, J.R., got stung by a bee! He got it RIGHT on the BACK of his NECK! inside the collar of his shirt. The bee had flown around his head and he swiped at it in an effort to get it away from him. He must have just irritated it more and then lost track of it while it crawled down his neck. Brooke Woitalla, one of the bridesmaids, said she saw the whole thing happen, as did some of the people in the audience. To his credit, J.R. did exactly what we talked about and just gritted his teeth while rolling his eyes and uttering obscenities to his brother, Jeff, who was standing to his left. The whole wedding party was trying to hold in their laughter. When all was said and done, J.R. had a quarter-sized welt on the back of his neck and a good story to tell.

The rest of the ceremony went smoothly. There was no fainting or lost rings or people yelling that they object to the marriage. It closed with Pastor Andrew giving a thoughtful talk about hands while Brian and Becca held on to each others. They kissed, got announced as husband and wife…and we all ran! Brian and Becca lead the way as the wedding party paired off and bolted through the stand of pine trees just to the southwest of the fire-pit.

The wedding party headed for the limo bus being driven by a guy named Charlie who was a total trip. He was pretty quiet until he piped-up and told an uncomfortable story about a transvestite out in front of DAVID, the gay bar in Sioux Falls. Good stuff. He layed down the rules of the bus and we hit the road. We did a bunch of toasts and flew through the three bottles of champagne on the way to a park for the big group photos. We hopped off the bus and all the guys headed for the woods. We had another photo session with Dan and Kari Elliott, and hopped back on the bus. Brian and Becca were going to hang back with Dan and Kari for a few more photos and then get a ride to the reception. We were told to continue on. We told bus driver Charlie it was alright to leave without Brian and Becca, but he didn’t believe us. I went and confirmed with Kari, and he still didn’t believe me. He ended up going out to check for himself a third time before he agreed to get the bus moving. Better safe than sorry I guess. Don’t want to leave the bride and groom behind without being sure of what their plan is.

Brian Bruning

The Minehaha Country Club was a swank place for a reception. The room was stylish and dark inside with an expansive view from a bank of bay windows that sat at tree-top level and looked down out over the course.

The wedding party arrived and hung out in the bar and the hallway next to the reception area, joking around while waiting for Brian and Becca to come back from their photo shoot. We half-heartedly stayed out of sight, but couldn’t stay away from the hors d’oeuvres table.

Once Brian and Becca were dropped off, we all lined up and were announced by the leader of the band as we entered the room and made our way to the head table. Following the announcements, Mike Agar and I ran to the bathroom, thinking we would have a little down time. Turns out, we were wrong. When we came back to the reception, Becca’s father, Al Akerson, was already in the middle of his speech. We tried to be subtle about returning to our seats, but we had to pass right in front of him. We should have just waited until he had finished.

Brian’s dad, Bob, gave a solid speech as was expected. The night before at the rehearsal dinner I joked with him about running for mayor. He said he really had no interest in that, but I think he could probably do pretty well. He certainly has a gift when it comes to speaking.

My wedding day speech bombed. I had “written” it a few weeks before, but when I got up there, I choked up right at the beginning and fumbled my way through it. I felt the lower part of my jaw begin to tighten up, and during a moment of unintended frozen silence on my part. I had intended to include a little bit of teasing humor, but second-guessed myself in the middle of it…bad idea. I mean, I literally started the joke and then stopped it halfway through, not being able to deliver the punchline. Blah. It just came off as uncomfortable at best, and embarrassing for Brian and Becca at worst. I finished on an alright note, but I was so anxious to get out of the spotlight at that point that I don’t think I even asked people to raise their glasses. It was a nightmare! There is the anatomy of a bad best man speech.

I can take the embarrassment of giving a bad speech. That’s no big deal. What I am most upset about is that I failed to properly honor my best friend and his wife on their most important day. I will make it up to them. But the day wasn’t about me, so that’s the last I’m going to say about it.

Brian stood up and brought the house down with a knockout speech. He gracefully thanked all the parents, Al, Pat, Bob and Marilyn, and everyone who came out to celebrate the day with he and Becca. He followed up with the story of how the two of them met when they were set up on a blind date by their parents. Their date was actually in the same building in which the reception was held, making the day’s setting all the more significant. He poked fun at the situation though, telling the crowd that the description he got of Becca was that “she has a great personality,” and that he was described to her as “the-Tom-Cruise-bartender-from-the-movie- Cocktail” type. He continued on, shortening their descriptions to “the Wallflower” and “the Gigolo,” when he described them sitting together, hitting it off over drinks and dinner. That got the best laugh of the afternoon. Grinning big whole time, he walked back to the table and planted one on Becca.

It was shortly after this point that our camera ran out of batteries, so there aren’t too many more photos. But the party was on, and one of the best parts about weddings is getting to see old friends whom you may not have seen in months or years.

Matt Tift

Matt Tift, a good friend from high school, was there with his wife, Marnie. They have two children who Matt proudly displays on his cell phone. They recently moved back to Minnesota after living in Madison, WI. Another life-long friend, Stephanie Campbell, formerly Stephanie Jesberg, was there with her husband, Joe Campbell, who has also been a long-time friend of mine as well as the groom and others at the wedding. Their one-year anniversary will be coming up in about a week on Sunday, Oct. 5. David Beach made the trip out with Sir Doug Jessen, who is always exciting to see. Buddies David Antonovich, Joe Zasky and Jeremy Briese were also there, adding to the party.

It was also a blast to see my bean-bag tossing comrades Dr. Ray and Sarah, who I met while visiting Sioux Falls on the Fouth of July in 2007.

Me and Damien Boutiette

The whole night was a whirlwind and it seemed like it ended as soon as it began. There were a lot of shots, good dancing and some Led Zepplin sing-alongs. Sarah and I signed the marriage certificate, and shortly thereafter, I was being pulled onto what I was told was the last shuttle back to the hotel.

Brian and Becca were driven home that evening by Bob. They had a 6 a.m. flight to Cancun where their room, complete with a lazy river that came right up to their door, awaited them. I’m sure they enjoyed the hell out of it.

We woke up slowly the next morning, said our goodbyes and made a drowsy 4-hour drive through corn and sky back to the Twin Cities.

One of my favorite parts of the trip happened when Deborah and I went to the airport to catch our flight out. Our schedule was changed and we ended up having a three-and-a-half-hour wait before we could board the plane. We decided to walk into the only restaurant in the Hubert Humphrey terminal of the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport and as we sat down, I noticed that all the tables had a map of the Lake Minnetonka area on them. Looking a little closer, I saw the logo for Lord Fletcher’s restaurant, a well-established bar and restaurant on the lake. It is also the place where Brian worked as a bartender for a few summers, and was the jumping-off point for a lot of long nights and bleary-eyed mornings spent with friends.

That reminder of my buddy Brian, the Sultan, was a fitting way to close out the trip.

CONGRATULATIONS BRIAN & BECCA!

All these photos were taken by Deborah or Alex. If you want any of them for personal use feel free to rip them off the blog. Or, if you want a hi-res version, give me a shout and I’ll send it out to you. Also, check back in a little while and I’ll hopefully have the link and login information for the gallery of photos taken by Dan and Kari Elliott.

I apologize if I spelled anyone’s name wrong. Please let me know.