Wedding at De Courcey’s, Cardiff

Congratulations to Gemma and Andrew

Another trip across the bridge for us. A little tight on space, but we managed to fit in, just. Gemma walked in to Pachelbel, and out to The Queen of Sheba. The guests absolutely loved ‘All you need is love’ for the registers – becoming quite a favourite of late that one! One couple in particular came over to us at the end of the ceremony to congratulate us on our ‘Arrival of the Queen of Sheba’ – they’d had it played on organ for their wedding, but thought it was much better with strings – and thought our version of the Beatles song was even better!

Whilst the guests and the photographers dodged the showers outside to get the group photos, we set up in the reception hall so guests inside and out could hear us. We had a few light classics and jazz, but not too many of the popular ones as Gemma and Andrew had used the jukebox cards on the tables – so as we played for their meal we were treated to a constant flow of requests from guests which always sends us of into a few unusual pieces in our folders!

It’s always satisfying to know that after 6 hours of playing, we still had at least 3 more hours of music we hadn’t played! That said, today we were treated to a great spread of food and an hour’s break during the speeches – which Jan used to catch up on the canoeing on the telly!

Wedding at Priston Mill – Sep 10

Congratulations to Cate and Craig who booked the Bristol and Bath based String Quartet – The Ardeton String Quartet!

Not that we’re biased or anything, but we love a wedding with a vintage bus! This meant the guests arrived in small groups – which gave us an ever-growing audience to entertain!

Cate had requested light classics before the ceremony, which added an extra level of refinement to the great setting of Priston Mill. As the registrars asked everyone to stand, we played first the bridesmaids and then Cate and her dad in to Snow Patrol’s ‘Chasing Cars’ which worked brilliantly. Our ever-popular arrangement of ‘All you need is love’ accompanied the registers, before everyone left to a special request – Queen’s ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’. A fan of ‘Shaun of the Dead’, I wondered how this was going to go down, but every one of the guests seemed to enjoy it, with everyone taking a closer look at what we were doing before heading out to the drinks reception. I have to say, it really is a good arrangement so we’ll be playing it lots over the coming weeks.

Again, another couple lucky with the weather – the rain held off just long enough for us to provide some pop and jazz as the group shots were taken, although at times we needed weights to stop our music stands blowing away in the wind!

Wedding at Clearwell Castle

Congratulations to Charlotte and James – Married at Clearwell Castle

We hadn’t been to Clearwell Castle for a while, so it was a welcome return to the venue just across the Severn Bridge from us. Except, today it wasn’t just across the bridge as the Highways Agency had closed the original bridge so we had a detour via the M5, then Magor Services, then up the A48. Ever punctual, we made it still with plenty of time, but let’s just say it didn’t help our fuel-economy or blood-pressure!

Charlotte looked radiant as she walked in to Wagner and out to Mendelsohnn’s Wedding Marches, with ‘All you need is love’ whilst signing the registers.

Charlotte and James must have pulled some strings when it came to the weather – it stayed dry just long enough for their drinks reception (where we concentrated on pop and jazz tunes), the heavens opening as the line-up began! With 3 photographers and 2 videographers the quartet provided a great backdrop as the photo-pros went about their jobs, including getting guests to dance holding sparkly letters spelling out the word ‘love’(!)

Wedding at Orchardleigh, near Bath

A lovely Summers day, and a return trip (the 2nd this weekend!) down the Warminster road this time stopping at Orchardleigh.

A lovely drinks reception on the balcony at the rear, armed with a large can of wasp spray to fend of a pesky swarm that had decided to invade the Orchardleigh estate at the last minute. A splendid mix of popular classics for such a refined setting and lovely view.

Then a quick break – always great here for a spot of snooker. Keeps me very happy indeed!

We don’t often play for meals at Orchardleigh as there isn’t always the space, but today there was just the perfect performing area in the library end of the room. We had plenty of requests to keep us busy, from Snow Patrol to Clapton, and a rapturous round of applause greeted our semi-improvised 15 minute Beatles medley!

Wedding at Bradley House, Near Warminster

Congratulations to Elizabeth and Robin!

We’ve been to Orchardleigh and a few of the surrounding churches, but this was our first visit to the delightful Bradley House in Wiltshire, just a few miles down the road.

A quick glance at the website shows it’s used often as a filming location for tv, and also as a recording studio for an unnamed band.

The ceremony room looked grand decked-out in purple and white bouquets, and a bust of Henry VIII over the fireplace. Elizabeth had chosen a traditional Wagner and Mendelssohn entrance and exit in terms of the popular wedding marches, with Pachelbel to sign the registers to.

We then moved outside, where we braved the occasional gusts of wind to play an uplifting blend of popular classics, with a 13 month old Sophie coming over regular to assist us and check we were playing everything to her liking!

Wedding at Beechfield House, Beanacre Chippenham

Congratulations to Michelle and Steve – Married in Bitton!

The sun was just started to peep through the clouds as we arrived at St Marys Church, Bitton. A lovely, picturesque church tucked just off the main road in Bitton. A quick chat with the Rev Maria who was conducting the ceremony to check the signals for the entrance and exit and we were all set. We were even given a brief history of this delightful church and its bell-ringing history from the verger!

Michelle looked radiant as her pageboy and pagegirl scattered white rose petals down the aisle as she walked in to Pachelbel’s Canon in D. Michelle had requested an especially slow performance as her bridesmaids were walking in one at a time.

Michelle and Steve had the organist play the hymns, before we played The Beatle’s ‘All you need is love’ whilst the registers were signed. The registers took a little longer than expected, so we filled in with ‘Here there and everywhere’ which seemed to match the mood quite well. After this, the Maria gave some directions to the congregation for the reception venue, and the happy couple walked out to ‘God Only Knows’ by the Beachboys – an unusual choice for an exit, but it worked very well!

At the Beechfield House, the perfect setting for an episode of Poirot or Miss Marple in our opinion, Michelle had asked for jazz and pop during the drinks reception and Classical for the meal – the opposite way round to normal for us – which made her day feel a little extra special!

Quartet Wedding!

As I’m sure all of our previous clients will know, Sarah and I have been a couple for longer than this quartet has been together, and as the quartet comes towards celebrating a decade of providing music for weddings, that’s quite a long time. We met at the University of Birmingham, where we were both studying music.

The Ardeton Quartet had an unusually quiet opening to August this year, as Sarah and I were married at the one of our favourite venues to play – The Great Tythe Barn in Tetbury, after a wedding ceremony at St Johns in Chipping Sodbury. We had an absolutely fantastic day, but we’re not telling anyone what our music choices were – we like to stay impartial during music consultations!

However, we would like to say thank you and give a big recommendation to: The Great Tythe Barn – who were as always fantastically professional and accomodating; and to Eilieen Johanna and her band who provided the perfect backdrop to our meal; and The Moon Loungers who kept us singing and dancing into the night and reminded us very much of ourselves as they had as much fun as the guests getting on with the music!

Anyway, as I said in my speech(!), it’s a great pleasure to spend every weekend playing opposite my best friend in the quartet for weddings and events, and now I can say ‘my wife’!

Dury

Wedding Evening at the Swan Inn, Bibury

Congratulations to Kerry and Quinn – Wedding at The Swan Inn, Bibury

The second gig of the day, and a quick trip down the road to the picturesque village of Bibury. We arrived nice and early, which allowed us some time to enjoy the almost picture-perfect setting. Jan particularly so as she decided to share the river with the ducklings and swans…

… which Sarah seemed to find quite funny!

Kerry and Quinn had arranged for the hotel to provide some food for us – which always goes down well with everybody – before we entertained their intimate party for the evening from 7:30-10pm. The couple asked us to play ‘That’s Amore’ for their first dance, which inspired the other guests to join in with some salsa dancing to Santana’s ‘Smooth’, and some fine tango dancing to Piazolla’s ‘Libertango’ to name a few!