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 planning for the wedding day began well ahead, with Anne & Derek expressing a variety of musical and logistical preferences with us for the wedding day (we always leave an excess of time for preparation). 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 carried out our normal load-in, set up, and sound check process for Ocean Gateway 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

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 wonderful chance for the bride and groom to relax after the heightened emotions of the ceremony. We do our part by providing a blend of relaxed music for guests to listend to. In this case, and featured music by artists such as John Coltrane, Miles Davies, and more.

Reception

In a lion's share of weddings, we is asked to provide MC services for the formal portions of the celebrations. This Ocean Gateway Wedding was no different.

The bride and groom’s First Dance

The couple's first dance is traditionally one of the most unforgettable 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 evening complete, the guests and vendors took a break for dinner. After a super brief break, East Coast Soul's Stax ensemble circled back to the stage.

Dance Party

East Coast Soul performances commonly kick off with vintage material. We've discovered this is an excellent approach to get guests relaxed and dancing with songs they know and love. Artists like Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye, and more dominated the outset of our performance. 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 Anne & Derek for having us at their beautiful April wedding at Ocean Gateway!