Ocean Gateway Wedding in Portland, ME

East Coast Soul was fortunate to be asked to join Anne & Derek for their stunning Ocean Gateway Wedding in .

Preprations for Anne & Derek's Big Day

Our planning for the wedding began many weeks prior, with Anne & Derek offering a myriad of musical and logistical options with us for the wedding (we always leave an excess of time for preparation). Anne & Derek were heavily involved in this advanced planning and incredibly helpful throughout.

Once the wedding arrived, East Coast Soul traveled to and began our standard load-in and sound check for Ocean Gateway weddings. We get a lot of questions about the logistics of loading in to any given venue. 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 great opportunity for the bride and groom to unwind after the heightened emotions of the ceremony. We contribute by performing a blend of relaxed music for guests to enjoy. In this case, and featured music by artists such as Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, and more.

Reception

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

The bride and groom’s First Dance

The bride and groom's first dance is consistently one of the most emotional parts of the wedding. 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 shows often start with older material. We've discovered this is an excellent approach to get guests up on the dance floor with songs they're familiar with. Artists like Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye, Sam and Dave, and more dominated the outset of our performance. We then transitioned into performing music 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!