Ocean Gateway Wedding in Portland, ME

East Coast Soul was grateful to be asked 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 months in advance, with Anne & Derek offering a myriad of musical and logistical options with us for the wedding day (we always leave an excess of time for preparation). Anne & Derek were heavily involved in this advanced planning and a huge asset throughout.

Once the wedding day arrived, East Coast Soul traveled to Portland, ME and began our standard load-in and sound check for Ocean Gateway weddings. We're often asked about our process for loading in and sound checking at various venues. 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 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 intense emotions of the ceremony. We do our part by providing a variety of relaxed music for guests to enjoy listening to. In this case, and featured music by artists such as John Coltrane, Miles Davies, and more.

Reception

In a bulk of wedding celebrations, the band is asked to provide MC services for the formal portions of the wedding celebrations. 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 unforgettable parts of the wedding day. It's an opportunity for the bride and groom to take a moment for themselves. With this portion 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

our shows often start with older material. We've found this is a great way to get folks 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 Anne & Derek for having us at their beautiful April wedding at Ocean Gateway!