Beauport Hotel Wedding in Gloucester

East Coast Soul was grateful 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 first got in touch with us in June of 2021. Our groundwork for the big day began months in advance, 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 happy to be a key part of this advanced planning and a huge asset throughout.

Once the big day arrived, East Coast Soul traveled to Gloucester and moved swiftly through our standard load-in, set up, and sound check process for Beauport Hotel weddings. We get a lot of questions about the logistics of loading in to any given venue. 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 groundwork 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 performing roughly 30 minutes of “prelude” music as guests arrived, the ceremony took place.

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 unwind after the intense emotions of the ceremony. We contribute by performing a blend of relaxed music for guests to enjoy listening to. In this case, We provided a Playback and and featured music by artists such as Duke Ellington, Glenn Miller, and more.

Reception

In a majority of weddings, the band is asked to handle MC services for the formal portions of the celebrations. This Beauport Hotel Wedding was no different. However, there were in fact no formal intros for this wedding.

The couple’s First Dance

With no introductions to take care of, we headed into into the couple’s first dance.

The groom and bride'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 specific wedding, we were requested to play the first dance number live, instead of performing it from a recording. With this portion of the wedding finished, the guests and vendors took a break for dinner. After a quick break, East Coast Soul's King ensemble circled back to the stage.

Parent Dances

In a majority of wedding performances, East Coast Soul is often requested to play the couple's parent dances. This was a chance for the to join Sarah & Matt 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 danced together. Matt and his mother danced together as well. Parent dances are an amazing way to kick off 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

East Coast Soul performances often start with older material. We've discovered this is an excellent approach to get folks up on the dance floor with songs they know and love. Artists like Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye, and more dominated the outset of our performance. We then transitioned into playing tunes 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 & Matt for having us at their beautiful May wedding at Beauport Hotel!