Willowdale Estate Wedding in Ipswich, MA

East Coast Soul was grateful to be invited to join Jennifer & Mike for their stunning Willowdale Estate Wedding in Ipswich, MA.

Preprations for Jennifer & Mike's Big Day

Our planning for the big day began well ahead, with Jennifer & Mike sharing their music and logistical preferences and vision with us for the big day (preparation is a key part of our process). Jennifer & Mike were heavily involved in this advanced planning and super helpful throughout.

Once the big day arrived, East Coast Soul traveled to Ipswich, MA and took care of the normal load-in, set up, and sound check process for Willowdale Estate weddings. We get a lot of questions about the logistics of loading in to any given venue. 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 unwind after the intense emotions of the ceremony. We do our part by performing a variety of relaxed music for guests to enjoy listening to. In this case, and featured music by artists such as John Coltrane, Miles Davies, and more.

Reception

In a lion's share of receptions, the band is asked to provide MC services for the formal portions of the wedding celebrations. This Willowdale Estate Wedding was no different.

The couple’s First Dance

The groom and bride's first dance is invariably one of the most emotional parts of the big day. It's a chance 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 a super brief break, East Coast Soul's Stax ensemble returned to the stage.

Dance Party

East Coast Soul shows often start with older material. We've discovered this is an excellent approach to get everyone relaxed and dancing with songs they're familiar with. Artists like Stevie Wonder, The Temptations, Earth Wind & Fire, and more dominated the outset of our performance. We then moved into performing music 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 Jennifer & Mike for having us at their beautiful March wedding at Willowdale Estate! And thank you to Leona Campbell Photo for sharing these beautiful photos with us!