A breathtaking wedding at the Artists For Humanity in Boston, MA where East Coast Soul's Stax ensemble found it nearly impossible to say goodbye to this particular group of guests!
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Check out some images from this Artists For Humanity wedding!
East Coast Soul was blessed to be asked to join Sarah & Ben for their stunning Artists For Humanity Wedding in Boston, MA.
Preprations for Sarah & Ben's Big Day
Our preparations for the big day began months in advance, with Sarah & Ben sharing their music and logistical preferences and vision with us for the big day (we always leave an excess of time for preparation). Sarah & Ben were incredibly helpful during this advanced planning and a huge asset throughout.
Once the big day arrived, East Coast Soul traveled to Boston, MA and moved swiftly through our standard load-in, set up, and sound check process for Artists For Humanity 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
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 & Ben were also looking for East Coast Soul to help out for their ceremony. Sarah & Ben 's ceremony started at 6:00 pm on and was held Artists for Humanity at Artists For Humanity. East Coast Soul prepared a a Solo Piano performance and Single Mic for speeches. Following East Coast Soul performing roughly 30 minutes of “prelude” music as guests arrived, the ceremony took place. Sarah & Ben provided a beautiful collection of songs for us to perform for the ceremony:
- Processional: The Who – Love Reign O’er Me
- Recessional: Bill Withers – Lovely Day
Cocktail Hour
As is common, East Coast Soul was asked to provide 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 providing a variety of relaxed music for guests to listend to. In this case, cocktail hour took place Second floor of Artists for Humanity. We provided a Playback and and featured music by artists such as Duke Ellington, Glenn Miller, and more.
Reception
In a majority of weddings, East Coast Soul is asked to take care of MC services for the formal portions of the celebrations. This Artists For Humanity Wedding was no different.
The groom and bride’s First Dance
The groom and bride's first dance is traditionally one of the most meaningful parts of the big day. It's a chance for the bride and groom to take a moment for themselves. For this specific wedding, we were asked to perform the first dance tune live, as opposed to performing it from a recording. Sarah & Ben danced to The Horrah, which everyone thoroughly enjoyed. With this portion of the wedding finished, 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 many weddings, East Coast Soul is often requested to play the couple's parent dances. The parents dances were an opportunity for the to join Sarah & Ben to share a brief moment in the middle of the dancefloor with their father and mother. For this specific wedding, the bride and her father shared a dance. Ben and his mother shared a dance to The Temptations - My Girl/Ain't Too Proud to Beg. Parent dances are an amazing 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
East Coast Soul shows commonly kick off with vintage material. We've found this is a great way to get guests up on the dance floor with songs they're familiar with. Artists like Sam and Dave, The Temptations, Earth Wind & Fire, and more dominated the outset of our performance. We then moved into performing music by artists like Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Prince 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 & Ben for having us at their beautiful November wedding at Artists For Humanity!
Ready to Learn More?
Planning a Wedding? Maybe at Artists For Humanity, perhaps in Boston, MA? Either way, feel free to learn more, and let's connect!