It’s now coming up to 4:30am, and we’re finally home and unloaded from tonight’s wedding; an elegant wedding reception in the heights of mid-Wales’ rolling hills and valleys. When we arrived, shortly after 5pm, it became apparent that we had played this venue at a wedding over 5 years ago. The memories of that occasion are sparse, but we seem to recall that the groom that day worked with Lasers…
Today’s beautiful couple were more unassuming; a fact supported by their excellent choice of first dance, This Year’s Love by David Gray. It’s surprising that we have never played this song before, but it was definitely worth the wait. It’s a lovely, understated song and tonight the bride and groom made appropriately choreographed moves around the dance floor.
It’s late now, and time for bed, but suffice to say the bride and groom had a lovely day, and we’re already looking forward our shows next weekend!
It’s now coming up to 4:30am, and we’re finally home and unloaded from tonight’s wedding; an elegant wedding reception in the heights of mid-Wales’ rolling hills and valleys. When we arrived, shortly after 5pm, it became apparent that we had played this venue at a wedding over 5 years ago. […]
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We’ve just got back from another beautiful wedding at Barnsley House, down in the Cotswolds. The journey along the A429 is growing familiar this season, the picturesque Cotswold stone walls greeting us elegantly each visit.
Tonight’s set up was a relaxed affair; the guests eating in the marquee in the garden allowing us nearly 3 clear hours in the room. Of course, being well versed in setting up efficiently, and very well rehearsed doing so at Barnsley House, we were all set within an hour. As such, we had a little spare time to experiment; the results of which we hope to show you all in the coming weeks… Watch this space!
As is so often the case when we learn a first dance for a couple, we now have the song stuck firmly in our heads! Tonight the song was I’m Yours by the Script. It’s a lovely, understated choice and both Bride and Groom said numerous times how pleased they were that we had learnt the song for them.
Set highlights were Mr. Brightside in the first half, and Don’t Stop Believing in the second. An enthusiastic Glee contingent requested the Journey track persistently through the first half, but it always feels like a second half type of song to us!
I’m quite sure that next week we’ll be pining for the Cotswolds, as we make our way back from a wedding in South Wales. So I guess it’s time to make the most of this “early” night!
We’ve just got back from another beautiful wedding at Barnsley House, down in the Cotswolds. The journey along the A429 is growing familiar this season, the picturesque Cotswold stone walls greeting us elegantly each visit. Tonight’s set up was a relaxed affair; the guests eating in the marquee in the […]
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Of all the aspects of your wedding day, the one thing no bride or groom has any control over is the weather; whether here in Oxfordshire, or anywhere else in England! Today’s happy couple had booked an acoustic solo set during the afternoon from CoverUps front man, Mike. Those of you who have been to the Tythe Barn will know what beautiful and well kept grounds the venue has; ideal for that chilled afternoon drinks reception, with some soulful acoustic tunes in the background. But, with the best will in the world, it’s a tough call to set up a PA outdoors when foreboding clouds fill the skies! As such, the set up was placed in one end of the Cow Shed, facing out into the gardens; a setup that seemed to work really well, and with the least chance of ending up with a soaking wet singer…
Rain Didn’t Stop Play
As it happened, the sun came out in perfect timing for the drinks reception, and guests were blessed with a couple of hours in the sunny gardens of the Tythe Barn. The acoustic set was really well received; numerous comments about how much people were enjoying it found their way back to us from the venue staff. A comment they made is that people were much more aware of the acoustic set than, for example, pianists or string quarters, and that they all seemed to appreciate it more. I love the elegance of a string quartet, but I can imagine it getting lost under the babble of drinks reception chatter.
Wonderful Evening Reception
So, on to the evening. Will at the Tythe Barn is a great host, and fantastic organiser. He and his team managed to keep the wedding running immaculately to time, giving us plenty of time after the meal to get set up.
First Dance tonight was UB40’s version of I Can’t Help (Falling in Love with You) played live by the band. It was great fun putting together a faithful arrangement of the song, and the couple seemed chuffed to bits as they danced, inviting their guests to join them on the dance floor after the first chorus. From that moment on the dance floor remained packed throughout the evening. As is sometimes the way with 3 set evenings, some momentum was lost in the starting and stopping, but the enthusiastic crowd responded well to each of the opening songs; Valerie for set 2, and All Day And All Of The Night for set 3.
All in all it was great to be back at the Tythe Barn, and we’re looking forward to the next couple of shows that we have there this year!
Of all the aspects of your wedding day, the one thing no bride or groom has any control over is the weather; whether here in Oxfordshire, or anywhere else in England! Today’s happy couple had booked an acoustic solo set during the afternoon from CoverUps front man, Mike. Those of you […]
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To play for musical connoisseurs anywhere is great fun; and doing so in such a great room is always a pleasure! You can tell from the table plan that this couple are huge fans of music: the tables were named after the bride and groom’s favourite albums. Attention to detail here was remarkable with the plan itself being the album covers, the tracknames replaced with the names of the guests! A real sight to behold!
The weather has been great, so the first set didn’t begin until 9:30pm after the buffet. As is often the case with Sunday weddings, the audience starts thinning out from around 8:30pm, as some guests make their way home ready for work the following day. The band therefore had a hard core of revellers to entertain- those who had either taken the Monday off, or decided the celebrations were more important than sleep!
Tonight’s first dance was Stand By Me by Ben E. King. A lovely choice, and as the bride and groom so loved the original song, we did everything we could to be faithful to it. Without a strings section, the instrumental was guitar lead, but this aspect aside, I think our live band version maintained the feel of this classic track.
Cripps Barn is a great venue for a live weddings band. Great access, plenty of power, a good amount of space, hard floor throughout, so a good surface for dancing, and a very reasonable sound limit all add up to making this amongst the band’s favourite venues.
Off to bed now- there’s much to do this week with next weekend another busy one, and a corporate event for P&G the following week. Great to be busy!
To play for musical connoisseurs anywhere is great fun; and doing so in such a great room is always a pleasure! You can tell from the table plan that this couple are huge fans of music: the tables were named after the bride and groom’s favourite albums. Attention to detail […]
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Just in from the band’s first wedding at Somersal Cottages. The first thing to strike us about the venue was just how remote it is, and how beautiful it’s surroundings were. As is often the way in rural areas, the postcode centre, used by Sat-Nav, was some distance from the venue itself, so we got to see quite a lot of the surrounding area! As always, we had left in plenty of time, and despite roaming the countryside, we arrived with a good half hour in hand.
Lucy, the venue wedding coordinator, met us on arrival. Things were already behind schedule- the sunny weather keeping everybody laid back, and less than worried about the timings! We are always of the opinion that you can’t buy the sunshine (as I think Turin Brakes may once have said) so it’s great when blessed with the good weather to make the most of it. All that said, we set up during the meal, leaving live sound check for just before the performance when people were no longer at the tables.
Both sets tonight found the dance floor packed from start to finish. Despite the heat, the audience were as lively as you could hope for. There were a few in the list tonight which we’d not played live for a while; Billie Jean, 2 Princes and Buck Rogers. All were great fun, and we felt the Michael Jackson track sat much better than it had in the past- probably just us being perfectionists, but it feels like we got the vibe of that song in a way we hadn’t before. It’ll definitely be making more appearances in the coming weeks!
To bed now, as it nears 3am…
Just in from the band’s first wedding at Somersal Cottages. The first thing to strike us about the venue was just how remote it is, and how beautiful it’s surroundings were. As is often the way in rural areas, the postcode centre, used by Sat-Nav, was some distance from the […]
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