Newport Marriott Wedding in Newport, RI

East Coast Soul was grateful to be asked to join Emily & Drew for their stunning Newport Marriott Wedding in Newport, RI.

Preprations for Emily & Drew's Big Day

Our planning for the wedding began many weeks prior, with Emily & Drew expressing a variety of musical and logistical preferences with us for the wedding (we take our preparation process extremely seriously). Emily & Drew were happy to be a key part of this advanced planning and super helpful throughout.

Once the wedding arrived, East Coast Soul traveled to Newport, RI and began our standard load-in and sound check for Newport Marriott 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

Part of our planning involves outlining exactly what portions of the wedding East Coast Soul will be involved with. For this wedding in particular, Emily & Drew were also interested in East Coast Soul to help out for their ceremony. Emily & Drew 's ceremony started at 6:00 pm on and was held the Atrium at Newport Marriott. East Coast Soul prepared a a Solo Piano performance and One Wireless Mic and One Lavalier Mic for speeches. Following East Coast Soul providing roughly 30 minutes of “prelude” music as guests found their seats, the ceremony took place. Emily & Drew provided a beautiful collection of songs for us to perform for the ceremony:

• Processional: The Beatles – In My Life
• “Bride’s Entrance”: Roberta Flack – The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face [Performance]
• Recessional: Hall & Oates – You Make My Dreams [Recording]

Cocktail Hour

As is common, 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 heightened 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 Upstairs from ceremony in the hallway outside of ballroom. We provided a Playback and and featured music by artists such as Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, and more.

Reception

In a bulk of weddings, the band is asked to provide MC services for the formal portions of the receptions. This Newport Marriott Wedding was no different.

The bride and groom’s First Dance

The groom and bride's first dance is consistently one of the most emotional parts of the wedding. It's a chance for the bride and groom to take a moment for themselves. Emily & Drew danced to Crazy Love by Van Morrison, which everyone thoroughly enjoyed. With this portion of the evening finished, the guests and vendors took a break for dinner. After as short a break as possible, East Coast Soul's Soulsville ensemble returned to the stage.

Dance Party

East Coast Soul dance performances commonly kick off with vintage material. We've discovered this is an excellent approach to get everyone up on the dance floor with songs they're familiar with. Artists like Stevie Wonder, The Temptations, Earth Wind & Fire, and more dominated the outset of our performance. We then transitioned into performing music by artists like Whitney Houston, Prince, Michael Jackson and more. Finally, we ended the night performing contemporary material that everyone could sing along with.

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 Emily & Drew for having us at their beautiful October wedding at Newport Marriott! And thank you to Silver and Salt Photo for sharing these beautiful photos with us!