Bedford Golf and Tennis Club Wedding in Bedford, NY

East Coast Soul was fortunate to be asked to join Lily & Nick for their stunning Bedford Golf and Tennis Club Wedding in Bedford, NY.

Introductions and Preprations for Lily & Nick's Big Day

Lily & Nick initially got in touch with East Coast Soul in October of 2014. Our preparations for the wedding began many weeks prior, with Lily & Nick expressing a variety of musical and logistical preferences with us for the wedding (preparation is a key part of our process). Lily & Nick were incredibly helpful during this advanced planning and super helpful throughout.

Once the wedding arrived, East Coast Soul traveled to Bedford, NY and moved swiftly through our standard load-in, set up, and sound check process for Bedford Golf and Tennis Club weddings. Being prepared for load-in and set-up at any given venue is a critical part of our workflow. 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

In this case, East Coast Soul was not involved with couple's ceremony, with those arrangements having already been taken care of.

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 blend of relaxed music for guests to enjoy listening to. In this case, cocktail hour took place in the same space as the venue. We provided a Guitar/Sax Duo and and featured music by artists such as Duke Ellington, Glenn Miller, and more.

Reception

In a bulk of receptions, we is asked to handle MC services for the formal portions of the weddings. This Bedford Golf and Tennis Club Wedding was no different. In this case we introduced the couple by themselves, leading them directly into their first dance.

The couple’s First Dance

The bride and groom's first dance is traditionally one of the most emotional parts of the wedding. It's a chance for the bride and groom to take a moment for themselves. For this particular wedding, we were asked to perform the first dance number live, instead of playing it from a recording. Lily & Nick danced to A Whole New World from Aladdin, 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 a majority of wedding performances, East Coast Soul is requested to perform the couple's parent dances. For this wedding in particular, the groom and his mother shared a dance to Stand By Me by Ben E. King, and this was actually our only parent dance for the evening. Parent dances are a fantastic way to kick off the main dance performance. 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. Lily & Nick Were a huge help here, giving us a ton of great input. The bride and groom requested artists like Jackson 5, Sam Cooke, The Supremes, amn The Temptations. They also requested certain specific songs such as Brown Eyed Girl, Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic, Shake It Off, For Once In My Life, Twisting The Night Away, Don't Stop Believing, I Wanna Dance With Somebody, Baby I Need Your Lovin', and of course, Shout!

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 Lily & Nick for having us at their beautiful June wedding at Bedford Golf and Tennis Club!