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 .

Preprations for Anne & Derek's Big Day

Our planning for the big day began well ahead, with Anne & Derek sharing their music and logistical preferences and vision with us for the big day (preparation is a key part of our process). Anne & Derek were heavily involved in this advanced planning and super helpful throughout.

Once the big day arrived, East Coast Soul traveled to and carried out our 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 common, 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 do our part by performing a blend of relaxed music for guests to listend to. In this case, and featured music by artists such as Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, and more.

Reception

In a majority of weddings, we is asked to handle MC services for the formal portions of the weddings. This Ocean Gateway Wedding was no different.

The groom and bride’s First Dance

The groom and bride's first dance is traditionally one of the most meaningful parts of the big day. It's an opportunity for the bride and groom to take a moment for themselves. With this portion of the wedding finished, the guests and vendors took a break for dinner. After a quick break, East Coast Soul's Stax ensemble circled back to the stage.

Dance Party

our performances often start with older material. We've discovered this is an excellent approach to get guests up on the dance floor with songs they know and love. Artists like Marvin Gaye, Sam and Dave, The Temptations, 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!