Ocean Gateway Wedding in Portland, ME

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

Once the big day arrived, East Coast Soul traveled to Portland, ME and moved swiftly through our standard load-in, set up, and sound check process 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 requested to perform cocktail hour music. Cocktail hour is a great opportunity for the bride and groom to unwind after the intense emotions of the ceremony. We do our part 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 celebrations, we is asked to provide MC services for the formal portions of the celebrations. This Ocean Gateway Wedding was no different.

The groom and bride’s First Dance

The couple's first dance is almost always one of the most meaningful parts of the big day. It's a chance 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 as short a break as possible, East Coast Soul's Stax ensemble returned to the stage.

Dance Party

our shows often start with older material. We've discovered this is an excellent approach to get guests relaxed and dancing with songs they know and love. Artists like Marvin Gaye, Sam and Dave, The Temptations, and more dominated the beginning of our set list. We then transitioned into performing music 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!