Migis Lodge Wedding in South Casco, ME

East Coast Soul was fortunate to be invited to join Avery & Jack for their stunning Migis Lodge Wedding in South Casco, ME.

Preprations for Avery & Jack's Big Day

Our planning for the wedding began well ahead, with Avery & Jack sharing their music and logistical preferences and vision with us for the wedding (preparation is a key part of our process). Avery & Jack were happy to be a key part of this advanced planning and a huge asset throughout.

Once the wedding arrived, East Coast Soul traveled to South Casco, ME and carried out our normal load-in, set up, and sound check process for Migis Lodge 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

One aspect of our planning involves outlining exactly what portions of the wedding East Coast Soul will be involved with. For this wedding in particular, Avery & Jack were also interested in East Coast Soul to help out for their ceremony. Avery & Jack '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 common, East Coast Soul was requested to perform cocktail hour music. Cocktail hour is a great opportunity for the bride and groom to unwind after the heightened emotions of the ceremony. We contribute by performing a blend of relaxed music for guests to enjoy. In this case, We provided a Playback and and featured music by artists such as Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, and more.

Reception

In a majority of receptions, East Coast Soul is asked to handle MC services for the formal portions of the weddings. This Migis Lodge Wedding was no different. However, there were in fact no formal intros for this wedding.

The bride and groom’s First Dance

With no introductions to take care of, we transitioned into the bride and groom’s first dance.

The groom and bride's first dance is traditionally 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 wedding, we were requested to perform the first dance number live, instead of playing it from a recording. With this portion of the evening finished, the guests and vendors took a break for dinner. After a super brief break, East Coast Soul's Soulsville ensemble circled back to the stage.

Parent Dances

In many weddings, we are also asked to perform the couple's parent dances. The parents dances were an opportunity for the to join Avery & Jack to share a brief moment in the center of the floor with their mother and father. For this particular wedding, the bride and her father shared a dance. Jack and his mother shared a dance as well. Parent dances are a great 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

our dance performances commonly kick off with vintage material. We've found this is a great way to get guests up on the dance floor with songs they know and love. Artists like Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye, and more dominated the beginning of our set list. We then moved into playing tunes 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 Avery & Jack for having us at their beautiful May wedding at Migis Lodge! And thank you to Natalya Desena for sharing these beautiful photos with us!