Chequessett Yacht & Country Club Wedding in Wellfleet, MA

East Coast Soul was blessed to be asked to join Dana & Tucker for their stunning Chequessett Yacht & Country Club Wedding in .

Introductions and Preprations for Dana & Tucker's Big Day

Dana & Tucker first reached out to East Coast Soul in October of 2017. Our preparations for the wedding began months in advance, with Dana & Tucker expressing a variety of musical and logistical preferences with us for the wedding (we always leave an excess of time for preparation). Dana & Tucker were happy to be a key part of this advanced planning and super helpful throughout.

Once the wedding arrived, East Coast Soul traveled to and moved swiftly through our standard load-in, set up, and sound check process for Chequessett Yacht & Country 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

One aspect of our preparations involves outlining exactly what portions of the wedding East Coast Soul will be involved with. For this wedding in particular, Dana & Tucker were also interested in East Coast Soul to help out for their ceremony. Dana & Tucker 's ceremony started at 3:00 pm on and took place on the sand in front of the boathouse at Chequessett Yacht & Country Club. East Coast Soul prepared a a Guitar/Sax Duo performance and Two Mics for speeches. Following East Coast Soul performing approximately 30 minutes of “prelude” music as guests found their seats, the ceremony took place. Dana & Tucker provided a beautiful collection of songs for us to perform for the ceremony:

• Processional: The Beatles – All You Need Is Love
• “Bride’s Entrance”: The Beatles – Here Comes the Sun
• Recessional: Hall & Oates – You Make My Dreams

The ceremony also included a beautiful Circling Ceremony, where the Bride circles the groom 3 times, then the groom will circle bride 3 times, then they’ll hold hands and circle each other. This was the first part of ceremony after Processional, and the song was Can’t Help Falling In Love by Elvis Presley.

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 unwind after the intense emotions of the ceremony. We do our part by performing a blend of relaxed music for guests to enjoy. In this case, cocktail hour took place boathouse right next to ceremony. We provided a Piano/Sax Duo and and featured music by artists such as John Coltrane, Miles Davies, and more.

Reception

In a bulk of receptions, the band is asked to take care of MC services for the formal portions of the weddings. This Chequessett Yacht & Country Club Wedding was no different. The bridal party crushed it by dancing in to the Hora with the wedding guests cheering them in.

The bride and groom’s First Dance

The newly married couple's first dance is almost always one of the most emotional parts of the wedding. It's an opportunity for the bride and groom to take a moment for themselves. For this particular performance, we were asked to play the first dance song from a recording, as opposed to playing it live. Dana & Tucker danced to a customized medley of At Last into Rock Your Body, prepared by East Coast Soul, which everyone thoroughly enjoyed. With this part of the evening complete, 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.

Parent Dances

In many weddings, East Coast Soul is often requested to play the couple's parent dances. For this particular performance, only the bride and her father danced together to I Loved Her First by Heartland. Parent dances are a fantastic 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

As part of our preparation process, we like to get a sense of what the bride and groom are excited to hear. Dana & Tucker Were a huge help here, giving us a ton of great input. Twist And Shout by The Beatles, Shut Up And Dance, and Cheerleader by Omi.

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 Dana & Tucker for having us at their beautiful October wedding at Chequessett Yacht & Country Club!