Ochre Court Wedding in Newport, RI

East Coast Soul was blessed to be asked to join this beautiful couple for their stunning Ochre Court Wedding in Newport, RI.

Preprations for the couple's Big Day

Our preparations for the wedding began well ahead, with the bride and groom expressing a variety of musical and logistical preferences with us for the wedding (we always leave an excess of time for preparation). The bride and groom were heavily involved in this advanced planning and incredibly helpful throughout.

Once the wedding arrived, East Coast Soul traveled to Newport, RI and carried out our normal load-in, set up, and sound check process for Ochre Court 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 asked to provide cocktail hour music. Cocktail hour is a great opportunity for the bride and groom to relax after the heightened emotions of the ceremony. We contribute by performing a variety of relaxed music for guests to enjoy listening to. In this case, and featured music by artists such as Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, and more.

Reception

In a lion's share of receptions, the band is asked to provide MC services for the formal portions of the weddings. This Ochre Court Wedding was no different.

The bride and groom’s First Dance

The groom and bride's first dance is invariably 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 portion of the evening finished, the guests and vendors took a break for dinner. After as short a break as possible, East Coast Soul's Stax ensemble circled back to the stage.

Dance Party

our dance performances often start with older material. We've discovered this is an excellent approach to get folks up on the dance floor with songs they're familiar with. Artists like Marvin Gaye, Sam and Dave, The Temptations, and more dominated the beginning of our set list. We then moved 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 this beautiful couple for having us at their beautiful October wedding at Ochre Court!