Mountain View Grand Resort and Spa Wedding in Whitefield, NH

East Coast Soul was grateful to be brought to join Hilary & Chris for their stunning Mountain View Grand Resort and Spa Wedding in Whitefield, NH.

Introductions and Preprations for Hilary & Chris's Big Day

Hilary & Chris first reached out to East Coast Soul in July of 2018. Our planning for the big day began many weeks prior, with Hilary & Chris sharing their music and logistical preferences and vision with us for the big day (we always leave an excess of time for preparation). Hilary & Chris were happy to be a key part of this advanced planning and super helpful throughout.

Once the big day arrived, East Coast Soul traveled to Whitefield, NH and began our standard load-in and sound check for Mountain View Grand Resort and Spa 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 planning involves outlining exactly what portions of the big day East Coast Soul will be involved with. For this wedding in particular, Hilary & Chris were also looking for East Coast Soul to help out for their ceremony. Hilary & Chris 's ceremony started at 3:30 pm on and was held just out the back doors of the ballroom at Mountain View Grand Resort and Spa. East Coast Soul prepared a a Solo Piano performance and Single Mic for speeches. Following East Coast Soul providing roughly 30 minutes of “prelude” music as guests found their seats, the ceremony took place. Hilary & Chris provided a beautiful collection of songs for us to perform for the ceremony:

• Prelude Suggestions: Paul Simon – Graceland and similar
• Processional: Dirty Projectors – Two Doves
• “Bride’s Entrance”: John Prine & Bonnie Raitt – Angel From Montgomery
• Special Song: Simple Gifts
• Recessional: Talking Heads – This Must Be The Place [Recording]

Cocktail Hour

As is common, East Coast Soul was asked to provide cocktail hour music. Cocktail hour is a wonderful chance for the bride and groom to relax after the heightened emotions of the ceremony. We contribute by performing a variety of relaxed music for guests to enjoy. In this case, cocktail hour took place garden/outdoor patio next to ceremony site. We provided a Guitar/Sax Duo and and featured music by artists such as John Coltrane, Miles Davies, and more.

Reception

In a lion's share of wedding celebrations, we is asked to provide MC services for the formal portions of the celebrations. This Mountain View Grand Resort and Spa Wedding was no different. However, there were in fact no formal intros for this wedding.

The couple’s First Dance

With no introductions to take care of, we headed into into the couple’s first dance.

The newly married couple's first dance is traditionally one of the most meaningful parts of the big day. It's a chance for the bride and groom to take a moment for themselves. For this particular performance, we were requested to play the first dance number live, instead of performing it from a recording. Hilary & Chris danced to Time After Time by Chet Baker, which everyone thoroughly enjoyed. With this part of the wedding complete, the guests and vendors took a break for dinner. After a quick break, East Coast Soul's Stax ensemble circled back to the stage.

Parent Dances

In a majority of weddings, we are also asked to perform the couple's parent dances. The parents dances were an opportunity for the to join Hilary & Chris to spend a couple minutes on the dance floor with their father and mother. For this particular performance, the bride and her father shared a dance. Chris and his mother shared a dance as well. Parent dances are a great way to start 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. Hilary & Chris Were a huge help here, giving us a ton of great input. The bride and groom shared some amazing requests such as: his Must Be The Place by the Talking Heads, Start Me Up by The Rolling Stones, I Wanna Dance With Somebody by Whitney Houston. They also pointed to Kiss by Prince, Brown Eyed Girl and Into The Mystic by Van Morrison, Feel Like Makin’ Love by D'Angelo as additional tunes they'd love to hear.

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 Hilary & Chris for having us at their beautiful September wedding at Mountain View Grand Resort and Spa! And thank you to Billie Weiss for sharing these beautiful photos with us!