The Hildene Wedding in Manchester, VT

East Coast Soul was fortunate to be invited to join Megan & Andrew for their stunning The Hildene Wedding in Manchester, VT.

Preprations for Megan & Andrew's Big Day

Our preparations for the wedding began months in advance, with Megan & Andrew expressing a variety of musical and logistical preferences with us for the wedding (preparation is a key part of our process). Megan & Andrew were happy to be a key part of this advanced planning and a huge asset throughout.

Once the wedding arrived, East Coast Soul traveled to Manchester, VT and took care of the normal load-in, set up, and sound check process for The Hildene 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

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 requested to perform cocktail hour music. Cocktail hour is a wonderful chance 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 listening to. In this case, We provided a Piano/Sax Duo and and featured music by artists such as John Coltrane, Miles Davies, and more.

Reception

In a bulk of celebrations, we is asked to handle MC services for the formal portions of the receptions. This The Hildene 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 emotional parts of the wedding. It's an opportunity for the bride and groom to take a moment for themselves. For this specific wedding, we were requested to perform the first dance number live, instead of playing it from a recording. Megan & Andrew danced to You Are The Best Thing by Ray LaMontagne, which everyone thoroughly enjoyed. 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 King ensemble returned to the stage.

Parent Dances

The Parent Dance was combined, and they song chosen was Forever Young by Bob Dylan.

Dance Party

our 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 know and love. Artists like Marvin Gaye, Sam and Dave, The Temptations, 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 Megan & Andrew for having us at their beautiful July wedding at The Hildene! And thank you to Jenelle Kappe for sharing these beautiful photos with us!