Mountain View Grand Resort and Spa Wedding in Whitefield, NH

East Coast Soul was blessed to be asked 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 initially got in touch with East Coast Soul in July of 2018. Our planning for the big day began well ahead, with Hilary & Chris sharing their music and logistical preferences and vision with us for the big day (we always leave an excess of time for preparation). Hilary & Chris were heavily involved in this advanced planning and super helpful throughout.

Once the big day arrived, East Coast Soul traveled to Whitefield, NH and began our standard load-in and sound check for Mountain View Grand Resort and Spa weddings. Our process for loading in and setting up at any given venue is a big part of our preparation process. 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

One aspect of our planning involves outlining exactly what portions of the big day East Coast Soul will be involved with. For this wedding in particular, Hilary & Chris were also looking for 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 roughly 30 minutes of “prelude” music as guests arrived, 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 common, East Coast Soul was requested to perform cocktail hour music. Cocktail hour is a wonderful chance for the bride and groom to unwind after the intense emotions of the ceremony. We do our part by performing a variety of relaxed music for guests to enjoy. 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 Duke Ellington, Glenn Miller, and more.

Reception

In a majority of wedding celebrations, the band is asked to handle 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 headed into into the bride and groom’s first dance.

The groom and bride's first dance is almost always one of the most unforgettable parts of the big day. It's an opportunity for the bride and groom to take a moment for themselves. For this particular performance, we were requested to play the first dance tune live, as opposed to performing it from a recording. Hilary & Chris danced to Time After Time by Chet Baker, which everyone thoroughly enjoyed. With this portion of the wedding complete, the guests and vendors took a break for dinner. After as short a break as possible, East Coast Soul's Stax ensemble returned to the stage.

Parent Dances

In many weddings, we are also asked to play the couple's parent dances. The parents dances were an opportunity for the to join Hilary & Chris to share a brief moment in the middle of the dancefloor with their mother and father. For this particular performance, the bride and her father shared a dance. Chris and his mother shared a dance as well. Parent dances are an amazing way to start 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!