Amidst news of $4 per gallon gasoline, a weakening U.S. currency and shaky consumer confidence, it would seem only logical for an independent business owner to fight and scrape for every last client.

But three Minnesotan entrepreneurs see things differently. Although they each own and operate their own business in the same industry and cover largely the same turf, they choose not to undercut one another’s prices. Instead, they are committed to helping one another prosper, both monetarily and vocationally, even if it means sharing potential clients. Maybe it has something to do with the business they’re in.

Don Larson of Le Sueur, Mike Anderson of Mankato and Nick Krause of Owatonna are all in the business love, the wedding industry. Once upon a time, they were typical wedding disc jockeys.

“I would play a lot of music, I’d do speeches and I’d introduce toasts, but every wedding was pretty much the same,” Krause said.

That was pretty much the story for all three, until a fateful Las Vegas convention of wedding planners brought the three Minnesotans together and inspired them to try something new. Larson and Anderson had known each other for some time and united with Krause at the Vegas convention. That convention not only solidified their camaraderie, it inspired each to take their individual wedding businesses in a new direction.

Today, they specialize in customized weddings, intended to reflect the personalities of the newly joined couple.

“We really make their reception unique,” Larson said. “We make an effort to get to know clients, so their guests can say ‘that’s totally their style, that’s totally them.’”

That can mean a lot of different things depending on the couple. Whether it’s a couple of basketball fans who want to make their grand entrance with the sounds and lighting effects of the start of a Timberwolves game, or a reception trivia match with questions based upon the couple’s history, Krause, Anderson and Larson are dedicated to making the evening unforgettable for both the newlyweds and their guests.

A lot of the planning goes into creating a steady flow for the event: a timeline that will keep the wedding party engaged and having fun — easy enough to do on paper, but a difficult art in practice.

Larson summed up his role during the reception with a comparison to an all-too-familiar face when it comes to formal events.

“We are more like Billy Crystal when he does the Emmys,” Larson said. “ Our job is to be creative with the couples to give them a worry-free day.”

This new production philosophy was not an easy shift. Each man has reformatted his individual business from offering one-night music services to offering a host of planning and creative design elements for wedding receptions.

The modern-day Musketeers have been working together to make this paradigm-shift. They offer each other advice, share lessons learned and even video-tape and critique one another’s receptions performances.

“We increase each other’s values. It’s really improving the performance and the service that we give to our clients,” Krause said.

“I might spend 20 to 30 to 40 hours planning a wedding,” said Larson, a far cry from the five or six hours he might have otherwise spent if simply showing up to the reception to play a few dozen songs.