Mountain View Grand Resort and Spa Wedding in Whitefield, NH

East Coast Soul was grateful to be brought to join Hilary & Chris for their stunning Mountain View Grand Resort and Spa Wedding in Whitefield, NH.

Introductions and Preprations for Hilary & Chris's Big Day

Hilary & Chris first reached out to East Coast Soul in July of 2018. Our groundwork for the wedding day began many weeks prior, with Hilary & Chris expressing a variety of musical and logistical preferences with us for the wedding day (we always leave an excess of time for preparation). Hilary & Chris were incredibly helpful during this advanced planning and incredibly helpful throughout.

Once the wedding day arrived, East Coast Soul traveled to Whitefield, NH and took care of the normal load-in, set up, and sound check process for Mountain View Grand Resort and Spa weddings. We're often asked about our process for loading in and sound checking at various venues. This is a part of the day that we take seriously, spending extra time to avoid rushing, and ensuring our gear is properly tuned for the room.

Ceremony

Part of our groundwork involves outlining exactly what portions of the wedding day East Coast Soul will be involved with. For this wedding in particular, Hilary & Chris were also interested in East Coast Soul to help out for their ceremony. Hilary & Chris 's ceremony started at 3:30 pm on and took place just out the back doors of the ballroom at Mountain View Grand Resort and Spa. East Coast Soul prepared a a Solo Piano performance and Single Mic for speeches. Following East Coast Soul providing approximately 30 minutes of “prelude” music as guests found their seats, the ceremony took place. Hilary & Chris provided a beautiful collection of songs for us to perform for the ceremony:

• Prelude Suggestions: Paul Simon – Graceland and similar
• Processional: Dirty Projectors – Two Doves
• “Bride’s Entrance”: John Prine & Bonnie Raitt – Angel From Montgomery
• Special Song: Simple Gifts
• Recessional: Talking Heads – This Must Be The Place [Recording]

Cocktail Hour

As is often the case, East Coast Soul was asked to provide cocktail hour music. Cocktail hour is a great opportunity for the bride and groom to relax after the intense emotions of the ceremony. We contribute by performing a variety of relaxed music for guests to enjoy listening to. In this case, cocktail hour took place garden/outdoor patio next to ceremony site. We provided a Guitar/Sax Duo and and featured music by artists such as Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, and more.

Reception

In a lion's share of receptions, the band is asked to provide MC services for the formal portions of the receptions. This Mountain View Grand Resort and Spa Wedding was no different. However, there were actually no formal intros for this wedding.

The bride and groom’s First Dance

With no introductions to take care of, we moved into into the bride and groom’s first dance.

The couple's first dance is traditionally one of the most unforgettable parts of the wedding day. It's a chance for the bride and groom to take a moment for themselves. For this wedding in particular, we were requested to play the first dance tune live, instead of performing it from a recording. Hilary & Chris danced to Time After Time by Chet Baker, which everyone thoroughly enjoyed. With this part of the evening complete, the guests and vendors took a break for dinner. After a quick break, East Coast Soul's Stax ensemble returned to the stage.

Parent Dances

In a majority of wedding performances, we are also asked to perform the couple's parent dances. The parents dances were an opportunity for the to join Hilary & Chris to spend a couple minutes in the center of the floor with their mother and father. For this wedding in particular, the bride and her father shared a dance. Chris and his mother shared a dance as well. Parent dances are a fantastic way to kick off the performance portion of the evening. We often ask guests to join the couple and their parents on the dance floor, and then move directly in to the rest of the performance.

Dance Party

As part of our preparation process, we like to get a sense of what the bride and groom are excited to hear. Hilary & Chris Were a huge help here, giving us a ton of great input. The bride and groom shared some amazing requests such as: his Must Be The Place by the Talking Heads, Start Me Up by The Rolling Stones, I Wanna Dance With Somebody by Whitney Houston. They also pointed to Kiss by Prince, Brown Eyed Girl and Into The Mystic by Van Morrison, Feel Like Makin’ Love by D'Angelo as additional tunes they'd love to hear.

Guests danced non-stop from beginning to end, and we limited our breaks to ensure people had as much time to dance as possible.

Thanks so much to Hilary & Chris for having us at their beautiful September wedding at Mountain View Grand Resort and Spa! And thank you to Billie Weiss for sharing these beautiful photos with us!