The Maine Boathouse Wedding in South Freeport, ME

East Coast Soul was fortunate to be brought 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 expressing a variety of musical and logistical preferences with us for the big day (we always leave an excess of time for preparation). Cara & Matthew were incredibly helpful during this advanced planning and a huge asset throughout.

Once the big day arrived, East Coast Soul traveled to South Freeport, ME and moved swiftly through our standard load-in, set up, and sound check process for The Maine Boathouse weddings. Our process for loading in and setting up at any given venue is a big part of our preparation process. 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 interested in 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 arrived, the ceremony took place.

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, We provided a Guitar/Sax Duo and and featured music by artists such as Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, and more.

Reception

In a bulk of receptions, we is asked to provide MC services for the formal portions of the receptions. This The Maine Boathouse Wedding was no different. However, there were in fact no formal intros for this wedding.

The couple’s First Dance

With no introductions to take care of, we transitioned into the couple’s first dance.

The newly married 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. 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 part of the wedding complete, the guests and vendors took a break for dinner. After a quick break, East Coast Soul's Daptone ensemble returned 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 up on the dance floor with songs they know and love. Artists like Stevie Wonder, The Temptations, Earth Wind & Fire, and more dominated the beginning of our set list. 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!