Thompson Island Weddings Wedding in Boston, MA

East Coast Soul was fortunate to be asked to join Amanda & Sean for their stunning Thompson Island Weddings Wedding in Boston, MA.

Introductions and Preprations for Amanda & Sean's Big Day

Amanda & Sean first got in touch with us in July of 2017. The groom had actually seen us at a number of his friend's weddings, and was excited to reach out once he finally got engaged Our preparations for the big day began months in advance, with Amanda & Sean offering a myriad of musical and logistical options with us for the big day (we always leave an excess of time for preparation). Amanda & Sean were incredibly helpful during this advanced planning and super helpful throughout.

Once the big day arrived, East Coast Soul traveled to Boston, MA and began our standard load-in and sound check for Thompson Island Weddings 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. Thompson Island in particular presents some unique challenges for wedding performances, due to the fact that it is, of course, an island! Fortunately, we have experience with island weddings of all types, and the Thompson Island staff is incredibly helpful during the process.

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, Amanda & Sean were also looking for East Coast Soul to help out for their ceremony. Amanda & Sean 's ceremony started at 4:00 pm on and was held lawn in front of the dock at Thompson Island Weddings. East Coast Soul prepared a a Solo Guitar performance and Single Mic for speeches. Following East Coast Soul providing approximately 30 minutes of “prelude” music as guests found their seats, the ceremony took place. Amanda & Sean provided a beautiful collection of songs for us to perform for the ceremony:

• Processional (including Bride’s Entrance): Eric Church – Love Your Love The Most
• Recessional: Stevie Wonder – Signed Sealed Delivered

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 do our part by providing a blend of relaxed music for guests to enjoy. In this case, cocktail hour took place at a covered gazebo-like structure adjacent to the ceremony location. We provided a Piano/Sax Duo and and featured music by artists such as John Coltrane, Miles Davies, 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 celebrations. This Thompson Island Weddings Wedding was no different. However, there were in fact no formal intros for this wedding.

The bride and groom’s First Dance

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

The newly married couple's first dance is almost always one of the most unforgettable parts of the big day. It's a chance for the bride and groom to take a moment for themselves. For this wedding in particular, we were requested to play the first dance tune from a recording, instead of playing it live. Amanda & Sean danced to Chris Stapleton - Millionaire, which everyone thoroughly enjoyed. With this part of the evening finished, the guests and vendors took a break for dinner. After a quick break, East Coast Soul's Stax ensemble circled back to the stage.

Parent Dances

East Coast Soul was asked to play a recording of "I'll Always Love My Mama" by The Intruders for the groom and his mother only, initially. The bride also danced with her mother during this tune. Parent dances are an amazing way to kick off the dance party portion of the evening. We often ask guests to join the couple and their parents on the dance floor, and then move directly in to the rest of the performance.

Dance Party

As part of our preparation process, we like to get a sense of what the bride and groom are excited to hear. Amanda & Sean Were a huge help here, giving us a ton of great input. The bride and groom requested tunes like Tennessee Whiskey by Chris Stapleton, and a bunch of Michael Jackson material such as Billie Jean, PYT, The Way You Make Me Feel, Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’. We also hit on I Wanna Dance With Somebody by Whitney Houston, You Make My Dreams by Hall and Oats, and nailed special requests for My Girl, Into The Mystic. We were also asked to cap off the night with some Taylor Swift and Justin Timberlake.

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 Amanda & Sean for having us at their beautiful June wedding at Thompson Island Weddings! And thank you to Emily Delamater for sharing these beautiful photos with us!