Beauport Hotel Wedding in Gloucester

East Coast Soul was fortunate to be asked to join Sarah & Matt for their stunning Beauport Hotel Wedding in Gloucester.

Introductions and Preprations for Sarah & Matt's Big Day

Sarah & Matt initially got in touch with East Coast Soul in June of 2021. Our preparations for the big day began many weeks prior, with Sarah & Matt expressing a variety of musical and logistical preferences with us for the big day (preparation is a key part of our process). Sarah & Matt were incredibly helpful during this advanced planning and incredibly helpful throughout.

Once the big day arrived, East Coast Soul traveled to Gloucester and took care of the normal load-in, set up, and sound check process for Beauport Hotel 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 preparations involves outlining exactly what portions of the big day East Coast Soul will be involved with. For this wedding in particular, Sarah & Matt were also looking for East Coast Soul to help out for their ceremony. Sarah & Matt 's ceremony . 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 arrived, the ceremony took place.

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 blend of relaxed music for guests to enjoy. In this case, We provided a Playback and and featured music by artists such as Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, and more.

Reception

In a lion's share of wedding celebrations, East Coast Soul is asked to take care of MC services for the formal portions of the weddings. This Beauport Hotel Wedding was no different. However, there were in fact no formal intros for this wedding.

The bride and groom’s First Dance

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

The newly married couple's first dance is invariably 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 wedding in particular, we were asked to perform the first dance tune live, as opposed to playing it from a recording. With this part of the wedding finished, the guests and vendors took a break for dinner. After as short a break as possible, East Coast Soul's King ensemble returned to the stage.

Parent Dances

In many weddings, we are also asked to play the couple's parent dances. This was a chance for the to join Sarah & Matt to spend a couple minutes in the middle of the dancefloor with their mother and father. For this wedding in particular, the bride and her father danced together. Matt and his mother danced together as well. Parent dances are a fantastic way to start the dance party 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

our performances often start with older material. We've found this is a great way to get everyone up on the dance floor with songs they're familiar with. Artists like Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye, and more dominated the beginning of our set list. We then transitioned into playing tunes 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 Sarah & Matt for having us at their beautiful May wedding at Beauport Hotel!