East Coast Soul was grateful 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 planning for the wedding day began months in advance, with Dana & Tucker offering a myriad of musical and logistical options with us for the wedding day (we take our preparation process extremely seriously). Dana & Tucker were incredibly helpful during this advanced planning and super helpful throughout.
Once the wedding day arrived, East Coast Soul traveled to and began our standard load-in and sound check for Chequessett Yacht & Country Club 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
Part of our planning involves outlining exactly what portions of the wedding day East Coast Soul will be involved with. For this wedding in particular, Dana & Tucker were also looking for 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 providing 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 relax after the heightened emotions of the ceremony. We do our part by providing a blend of relaxed music for guests to enjoy listening to. 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 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 receptions. This Chequessett Yacht & Country Club Wedding was no different. The bridal party danced in to the sounds of the Hora with everyone cheering them on.
The couple’s First Dance
The newly married couple's first dance is traditionally one of the most meaningful parts of the wedding day. It's an opportunity for the bride and groom to take a moment for themselves. For this particular performance, we were requested to play the first dance tune from a recording, as opposed to performing 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 portion of the evening finished, the guests and vendors took a break for dinner. After a quick break, East Coast Soul's Soulsville ensemble circled back 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!
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