We played for a really lovely couple at their wedding at the Elvetham Hotel. Nigel had booked us last year, and commissioned a special arrangement from Love Actually. Being quite a fan of Love Actually myself, I was more than happy to provide the music. Nigel had asked for Glasgow, Prime Minister’s Theme and Portugese Love Theme, all composed by Craig Armstrong. We were really pleased to play the music from “Love Actually” at The Elvetham Hotel !
We set up in the ceremony room at the Elvetham, and after a quick fix of a broken light by the staff, we were all ready to go. We played a variety of classical pieces while the guests gathered and awaited the arrival of the bride. I have to say, the guests at this wedding were all very attentive and listening to our music. We played Elgar’s Chanson De Matin, Boyce’s Suite, Bach’s Air In G, Delibes Flower Duet, and Bocherini’s Minuet.
The bride entered to Pachelbel’s canon, accompanied by her brother. The ceremony was officiated by two registrars from Hampshire County Council. It is the first time we have ever encountered this : the registrars were married….. to one another! I thought it was very sweet that they were out working together as registrars.
During the signing of the Register, we played the music from Love Actually and it was clear that the bride and groom were both very pleased with our music throughout, which was lovely to see as we were playing.
The newly married Mr & Mrs Church then exited to Handel’s Queen Of Sheba. We then moved over to the lawns outside the venue and played a variety of tunes as requested by the bride and groom.
We enjoyed playing Frank Sinatra’s Love & Marriage, Carly Simon’s Nobody Does It Better, Arcade Fire’s Crown Of Love and The Eagles’ Hotel California.
There was, of course, time for a quartet selfie between pieces!
I would like to give a shout out to the staff at The Elvetham who really did go out of their way to be helpful and accommodating. We were offered water on arrival (tick!) and even offered a glass of bubbles at the request of the bride and groom. Really very sweet! Not every venue is as good at looking after suppliers as well as guests, so we thought this was worth a nice shout out. 🙂 🙂
At the end, the bride and groom personally thanked us and said we had really made their day, and that our music was exactly as they’d envisioned. It makes us all very happy to know we have impacted on a wedding day in a great way!
Thanks for booking us Mr & Mrs Church and best wishes for a long and happily married life. xx
