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 planning for the wedding day began many weeks prior, with Jennifer & Mike sharing their music and logistical preferences and vision with us for the wedding day (we always leave an excess of time for preparation). Jennifer & Mike were happy to be a key part of this advanced planning and incredibly helpful throughout.

Once the wedding day arrived, East Coast Soul traveled to Ipswich, MA and began our standard load-in and sound check 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 unwind after the heightened emotions of the ceremony. We do our part by providing a blend 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 majority of celebrations, East Coast Soul is asked to take care of MC services for the formal portions of the weddings. This Willowdale Estate Wedding was no different.

The groom and bride’s First Dance

The bride and groom's first dance is consistently one of the most meaningful parts of the wedding day. It's a chance 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 guests relaxed and dancing with songs they're familiar with. Artists like Sam and Dave, The Temptations, Earth Wind & Fire, and more dominated the beginning of our set list. We then transitioned into playing tunes 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!