The Maine Boathouse Wedding in South Freeport, ME

East Coast Soul was blessed to be asked to join Cara & Matthew for their stunning The Maine Boathouse Wedding in South Freeport, ME.

Preprations for Cara & Matthew's Big Day

Our preparations for the big day began many weeks prior, with Cara & Matthew offering a myriad of musical and logistical options with us for the big day (preparation is a key part of our process). Cara & Matthew were happy to be a key part of this advanced planning and a huge asset throughout.

Once the big day arrived, East Coast Soul traveled to South Freeport, ME and carried out our normal load-in, set up, and sound check process for The Maine Boathouse 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

One aspect of our preparations involves outlining exactly what portions of the big day East Coast Soul will be involved with. For this wedding in particular, Cara & Matthew were also looking for East Coast Soul to help out for their ceremony. Cara & Matthew 's ceremony started at 4:00 pm on and . East Coast Soul prepared a a Guitar/Keyboard Duo performance and Single Mic for speeches. Following East Coast Soul providing roughly 30 minutes of “prelude” music as guests found their seats, the ceremony took place.

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 heightened emotions of the ceremony. We do our part by providing a blend of relaxed music for guests to enjoy listening to. In this case, We provided a Guitar/Sax Duo and and featured music by artists such as Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, and more.

Reception

In a lion's share of wedding celebrations, East Coast Soul is asked to handle MC services for the formal portions of the weddings. This The Maine Boathouse Wedding was no different. However, there were actually no formal intros for this wedding.

The bride and groom’s First Dance

With no introductions to take care of, we moved into into the bride and groom’s first dance.

The newly married couple's first dance is invariably one of the most unforgettable parts of the big day. It's an opportunity for the bride and groom to take a moment for themselves. For this particular wedding, we were asked to perform the first dance tune live, as opposed to performing it from a recording. Cara & Matthew danced to More Than Anyone by Gavin Degraw, which everyone thoroughly enjoyed. 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 Daptone ensemble circled back to the stage.

Dance Party

East Coast Soul dance performances often start with older material. We've found this is a great way to get folks relaxed and dancing with songs they're familiar with. Artists like Sam and Dave, The Temptations, Earth Wind & Fire, 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 Cara & Matthew for having us at their beautiful August wedding at The Maine Boathouse! And thank you to Leslie Swan for sharing these beautiful photos with us!