A lovely July wedding at the Harrington Farm in Princeton, MA where East Coast Soul's Atlantic ensemble had the guests screaming for an encore!
East Coast Soul was grateful to be asked to join Erin & Brendan for their stunning Harrington Farm Wedding in Princeton, MA.
Preprations for Erin & Brendan's Big Day
Our planning for the big day began well ahead, with Erin & Brendan offering a myriad of musical and logistical options with us for the big day (preparation is a key part of our process). Erin & Brendan were incredibly helpful during this advanced planning and incredibly helpful throughout.
Once the big day arrived, East Coast Soul traveled to Princeton, MA and took care of the normal load-in, set up, and sound check process for Harrington Farm 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 big day East Coast Soul will be involved with. For this wedding in particular, Erin & Brendan were also interested in East Coast Soul to help out for their ceremony. Erin & Brendan 's ceremony . East Coast Soul prepared a a Solo Piano performance and Single Mic for speeches. Following East Coast Soul providing approximately 30 minutes of “prelude” music as guests arrived, the ceremony took place.
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 intense emotions of the ceremony. We contribute by performing a variety of relaxed music for guests to enjoy. In this case, We provided a Playback and and featured music by artists such as John Coltrane, Miles Davies, and more.
Reception
In a bulk of weddings, we is asked to handle MC services for the formal portions of the weddings. This Harrington Farm Wedding was no different. However, there were actually no formal intros for this wedding.
The groom and bride’s First Dance
With no introductions to take care of, we headed into into the groom and bride’s first dance.
The bride and groom's first dance is traditionally one of the most emotional parts of the big day. It's a chance for the bride and groom to take a moment for themselves. For this wedding in particular, we were requested to perform the first dance song live, instead of performing it from a recording. With this part of the wedding finished, the guests and vendors took a break for dinner. After a quick break, East Coast Soul's Atlantic 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 Erin & Brendan to spend a couple minutes on the dance floor with their father and mother. For this wedding in particular, the bride and her father shared a dance. Brendan and his mother shared a dance as well. Parent dances are a fantastic way to start 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
East Coast Soul performances commonly kick off with vintage material. We've found this is a great way to get everyone up on the dance floor with songs they're familiar with. Artists like Marvin Gaye, Sam and Dave, The Temptations, and more dominated the beginning of our set list. We then transitioned into performing music by artists like Whitney Houston, Prince, Michael Jackson 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 Erin & Brendan for having us at their beautiful July wedding at Harrington Farm! And thank you to Audrey Cutler for sharing these beautiful photos with us!
Ready to Learn More?
Planning a Wedding? Maybe at Harrington Farm, perhaps in Princeton, MA? Either way, feel free to learn more, and let's connect!