Willowdale Estate Wedding in Ipswich, MA

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

Preprations for Jennifer & Mike's Big Day

Our groundwork for the wedding began well ahead, with Jennifer & Mike sharing their music and logistical preferences and vision with us for the wedding (we take our preparation process extremely seriously). Jennifer & Mike were heavily involved in this advanced planning and incredibly helpful throughout.

Once the wedding 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. 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 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 contribute by performing a blend of relaxed music for guests to enjoy. In this case, and featured music by artists such as John Coltrane, Miles Davies, and more.

Reception

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

The bride and groom’s First Dance

The newly married couple's first dance is invariably one of the most unforgettable parts of the wedding. It's an opportunity for the bride and groom to take a moment for themselves. With this portion of the evening complete, the guests and vendors took a break for dinner. After as short a break as possible, East Coast Soul's Stax 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 everyone up on the dance floor with songs they know and love. Artists like Sam and Dave, 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!