Willowdale Estate Wedding in Ipswich, MA

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

Preprations for Jennifer & Mike's Big Day

Our groundwork for the big day began months in advance, with Jennifer & Mike offering a myriad of musical and logistical options with us for the big day (preparation is a key part of our process). Jennifer & Mike were happy to be a key part of this advanced planning and incredibly helpful throughout.

Once the big day arrived, East Coast Soul traveled to Ipswich, MA and moved swiftly through our standard load-in, set up, and sound check process for Willowdale Estate weddings. We're often asked about our process for loading in and sound checking at various venues. 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 often the case, East Coast Soul was requested to perform cocktail hour music. Cocktail hour is a wonderful chance for the bride and groom to relax after the heightened emotions of the ceremony. We contribute by performing a blend of relaxed music for guests to listend to. In this case, and featured music by artists such as Duke Ellington, Glenn Miller, and more.

Reception

In a majority of celebrations, we is asked to handle MC services for the formal portions of the weddings. This Willowdale Estate Wedding was no different.

The groom and bride’s First Dance

The newly married couple's first dance is invariably one of the most meaningful parts of the big day. It's an opportunity for the bride and groom to take a moment for themselves. With this portion of the wedding complete, the guests and vendors took a break for dinner. After as short a break as possible, East Coast Soul's Stax ensemble circled back to the stage.

Dance Party

our dance performances commonly kick off with vintage material. We've found this is a great way to get folks relaxed and dancing with songs they know and love. Artists like Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye, Sam and Dave, and more dominated the outset of our performance. We then transitioned 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!