The University of Montana - Montana Event Services

My son and daughter-in-law’s wedding at the UM ballroom was so wonderful! The staff there are outstanding—friendly and accommodating about every detail. Jess Shaffer was the lead and couldn’t have been more caring or invested in having everything run smoothly. My siblings were so struck by her kindness that they still ask if I know how she’s doing. Other staff were fantastic, as well. John Hartman, lighting and audio, was calm and patient regarding decisions about where to hang the chandeliers and placement of the uplighting, etc. Brooke Belanger and Jess climbed up a fifteen-foot ladder to hang a wreath from the ceiling over the ceremony area because they wanted to save us the cost of having additional staff come in to do that! Cristin Zachariasen is the super-organized catering manager, and Christy Dwigans, a building manager, was as cheerful at midnight helping us clean up as if it had been ten in the morning. Here are other suggestions for people we loved working with. Our very-reasonably-priced photographer, Cheyenne Oliver, took stunning photos. She has a fantastic eye for detail. One of our favorite photos of our daughter-in-law, taken in front of an historic brick building on campus, is gorgeous in black and white in part because the white moss on the exterior stairs looked just like scattered white rose petals. For another photo, Cheyenne used the iconic Main Hall as the backdrop and captured an image of our daughter-in-law in her wedding dress that is as elegant as any I’ve ever seen. For photos of our son and daughter-in-law with the bridal party, she used the wide, textured trunks of hundred-year-old trees as background—a really nice contrast to smooth black tuxedos and white satin. For music, we hired a UM faculty jazz band to play as people arrived for the ceremony and during dinner. Loren Stillman, a nationally-acclaimed saxophonist, was the lead. They were outstanding—very classy--and the cost was so reasonable. We hired RMF Entertainment for the dance music and specifically requested the owner, Ryan Bradshaw, as the DJ. He was just great—very professional. We used just the north half of the ballroom, with the south half sectioned off by a dividing wall. This made the beautiful view of the Rocky Mountains, the “big sky,” and the UM campus a focal point, as the north and east sides of that half of the ballroom are entirely floor-to-ceiling windows. The 6 p.m. ceremony was on the east side of the room, so guests looked out at the Mount Sentinel “M” Trail on which the sun was setting. The UC has long lengths of sheer, off-white fabric available, and they hung several of these from the ceiling, falling straight to the floor, to create a six-foot-wide backdrop behind the minister, bride, and groom. We sectioned the ceremony area off from the dining tables and dance floor using eight-foot sheer curtains hung on “pipe and drape” frames available through the UC. The theme for the wedding was Moonlight in the Mountains. We decorated with live trees delivered (and picked up) by Marchie’s Nursery. Some were deciduous, with leaves in jewel-toned fall colors. Others were evergreen, with pinecones. Marchie’s was really great to work with. We interspersed six-foot-tall LED twig trees available through Amazon ($39 each) with the real trees. The spotless floor and windows reflected the thousands of little lights, especially after the sun set. I would highly recommend this venue for a wedding or any other event!