Ocean Gateway Wedding in Portland, ME

East Coast Soul was fortunate to be invited to join Anne & Derek for their stunning Ocean Gateway Wedding in Portland, ME.

Preprations for Anne & Derek's Big Day

Our preparations for the wedding day began many weeks prior, with Anne & Derek sharing their music and logistical preferences and vision with us for the wedding day (we take our preparation process extremely seriously). Anne & Derek were happy to be a key part of this advanced planning and super helpful throughout.

Once the wedding day arrived, East Coast Soul traveled to Portland, ME and took care of the normal load-in, set up, and sound check process for Ocean Gateway 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

In this case, East Coast Soul was not involved with couple's ceremony, with those arrangements having already been taken care of.

Cocktail Hour

As is often the case, East Coast Soul was requested to perform 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 providing a blend of relaxed music for guests to enjoy listening to. In this case, and featured music by artists such as Duke Ellington, Glenn Miller, and more.

Reception

In a bulk of receptions, East Coast Soul is asked to handle MC services for the formal portions of the receptions. This Ocean Gateway Wedding was no different.

The couple’s First Dance

The groom and bride's first dance is almost always 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. With this part of the wedding finished, the guests and vendors took a break for dinner. After a super brief break, East Coast Soul's Stax ensemble returned to the stage.

Dance Party

our shows often start with older 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 outset of our performance. 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 Anne & Derek for having us at their beautiful April wedding at Ocean Gateway!