Ocean Gateway Wedding in Portland, ME

East Coast Soul was blessed 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 began well ahead, with Anne & Derek offering a myriad of musical and logistical options with us for the wedding (preparation is a key part of our process). Anne & Derek were incredibly helpful during this advanced planning and incredibly helpful throughout.

Once the wedding arrived, East Coast Soul traveled to Portland, ME and began our standard load-in and sound check 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 asked to provide cocktail hour music. Cocktail hour is a great opportunity for the bride and groom to unwind after the heightened emotions of the ceremony. We do our part by performing a variety 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 majority of receptions, the band is asked to take care of MC services for the formal portions of the weddings. This Ocean Gateway Wedding was no different.

The bride and groom’s First Dance

The groom and bride's first dance is invariably one of the most emotional parts of the wedding. It's a chance for the bride and groom to take a moment for themselves. With this part of the evening complete, 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 performances often start with older material. We've discovered this is an excellent approach to get everyone relaxed and dancing with songs they know and love. Artists like Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye, Sam and Dave, and more dominated the outset of our performance. We then moved into playing tunes by artists like Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Prince 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!