aloft Wedding Party

Last Saturday in Minneapolis, after spending the earlier part of the evening doing this:

…and the later part of the evening doing this:

…I returned back here at around 3:00 a.m.:

The lobby was still packed with people, many of whom were still dressed up pretty nicely. A quick look confirmed that it was a wedding party that didn’t want to stop, even though last call for alcohol in Minneapolis is 1:00 a.m. (it used to be that way in Ontario until the mid-’90s). They’d turned the lobby into their own private party, and the aloft management, as hip as they are, let them be. The tables were covered in boxes from Pizza Luce and bottles of beer.

I made my way to the elevator, but was stopped by a big grey-haired gentleman who said “Oh, no you don’t!”

“Pardon me?” I asked

“You just can’t wander through a lobby at three in the morning, with an accordion, without at least explaining what it is you’re doing!”

“I take it out a lot. Good things happen when I do,” I replied.

“That’s my son,” the guy said as he pointed to a young, shaven-headed guy in a dark grey T-shirt. “He just got married!”

“Congrats,” I said. “Would you like a song?”

“That is exactly what I want. Play whatever you like!”

And so I stayed for another hour, chatting with the bride, various wedding guests and relatives, and singing with the groom, who knew the lyrics to a lot of songs. We did The Clash, Black Eyed Peas, Britney, Cee-Lo, Stone Temple Pilots, AC/DC, Violent Femmes and Steppenwolf. People sang aloug — boisterously — and all the while, I could see the night manager at the front desk, smiling. aloft run an extremely cool hotel.

I made it to my room at 4:00 a.m.. A nice night all ’round.