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!

Wedding at Castle Combe

Congratulations to Daniela & Simon – Married at Castle Combe on Sunday 22nd August

The first of two gigs on the Sunday saw us at one of our most local venues – the stunning Manor House in Castle Combe. A first for us, this was a civil ceremony followed by a Jewish blessing conducting by Rabbi Rachel.

Daniela, looking fabulous, walked in to David Gray’s ‘This Year’s Love’, with Faure’s ‘Pavane’ and Dvoraks ‘Humoresque’ for the Registers.

Then the guests turned to their Hebraic Orders of Service as Rabbi Rachel conducted the blessing, before the couple led the guests out to the group photo on the lawn to Handel’s Arrival of the Queen of Sheba.

Wedding at Berkeley Castle

Congratulations to Hannah and Mark!

Not a spot of jet-lag in sight as the new Mrs Loveridge and the rest of the quartet arrived at Hannah and Mark’s wedding at Berkley Castle on the Friday morning. Hannah had run through the last-minute details with Rebbeca whilst we were away in the US and everything was in place and organised in its usual way.

After 30 minutes of light popular classics up in the minstrels gallery, it was time for Hannah to make her grand entrance to Pachelbel’s Canon in D.

After the ceremony we made a quick dash to play outside under the gazebo, but sadly the weather had other plans. As a brief monsoon-like downpour began, the wedding party made their way indoors and thankfully remembered to come back out with some brollies to collect us! Relocated indoors, we played an uplifting mix of jazz and showtunes to help the afternoon go with a swing!

Wedding reception – glastonbury

Congratulations to Emily and Stuart – Wedding Reception at Compton Dundon.

Emily and Stuart were married in a sunnier (much sunnier as it turned out) clime, and chose to have a wedding celebration / reception for all of their family and friends at the Meadway Hall in this lovely little town in Somerset.

It was a late-evening event, and the South West of England was still suffering from the 4 inches of snow that had landed several days earlier. Violinist Rebecca was the first to brave the snow, travelling from Hertfordshire. I had already gone outside and checked the car hadn’t completely seized under 7 consecutive nights of temperatures below -8. The Ardeton Quartet have never missed a gig yet, and we weren’t about to start now. With 3 hours to do the 90 minute journey, we drove along an almost deserted M5, now reduced to 2 lanes by the lingering snow, and out onto the country roads around Street and Glastonbury. A completely frozen approach road left us tip-toeing our way to the hall itself, but we arrived in good time!

A great evening, the quartet were feature-entertainment on the hall’s stage, and Emily had requested a number of tangos from the quartet, including the version of classic Police hit ‘Roxanne’ as featured in Moulin Rouge.

A great evening, and some very appreciative guests.

Then it was just a gently slow crawl home in the -4 temperatures!

Wedding at Clearwell Castle

A New Year, and January 2nd sees our first wedding of 2010, and a return to Clearwell Castle.

Battling our way up the hillside, across snow and some terrible black ice lining many of the approach roads, we made it to Emily and Mike’s ceremony in good time.

The splendid Emily made her regal entrance to Pachelbel’s Canon in D. The similarly elegant Air on a G String provided a gentle backdrop to the registers, and the new Mr and Mrs exited the ceremony to a lively rendition of the Arrival of the Queen of Sheba.

We then moved to the drawing room, where we recieved a number of requests from guests creating a warming mix of classics and jazz for their drinks reception.

New Year, New Resolution

2009 got a bit hectic during the latter part of the year. The quartet performed at over 60 weddings and many corporate events. We appeared on BBC TV, opened shops and launched new products. We celebrated 50 years of NHS nursing in Bristol, and helped to give the retiring Chief Constable of Gloucestershire Constabulary an official retirement evening to remember.

As a result, we neglected our blog a little. And for that we apologise.

Our New Year’s resolution is to keep the blog up to date this year. We promise.

Moreton-in-Marsh Wedding – August 2009

Congratulations to Maureen and Guy – wedding at Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire

We’ve played many times at the Manor House in Moreton in Marsh, but today was the quartet’s first visit to the Parish church behind the hotel. There truly was a mix of cultures at the wedding blessing, with people having travelled from across the British Isles, America, Australia and Norway.  Maureen walked in to Pachelbel’s Canon, and the couple exited to All You Need Is Love by The Beatles.

Whole-day bookings are becoming increasingly popular in the last few months, and it’s often a good job we have around 10 hours of music to choose from. The couple had chosen a light-classic selection for their outside drinks reception, to help maintain a feel of grandure and ocassion. We then moved inside for the wedding breakfast, where the guests were so taken by our 2-hour non-stop performance of Jazz standards that we were given a standing ovation at the end!

Classics and Pop music for a wedding at Eastwood Park

Congratulations to Emma and Geoff – Married at Eastwood Park, South Gloucestershire

The sun was again shining as we made a return one of our frequent appearances at Eastwood Park. Between here and Tortworth Court, the quartet really are spoilt for choice for venues right on our doorstep!

After a brief announcement from their toastmaster, Emma walked gracefully into the civil wedding ceremony to the traditional ‘here comes the bride’ Wedding March by Wagner. A nice classical-mix was chosen for the registers, before the newly-married couple exited the ceremony to All You Need Is Love by The Beatles.

It was to be a busy day for the quartet, as Emma and Geoff had decided to extend their booking to the whole day as their special day neared. There was a gentle mix of bright and uplifting classical pieces as the string quartet played on the terrace that faces out onto the wonderful countryside of the Gloucestershire/South Gloucestershire border.

Emma and Geoff had chosen the increasingly-popular Jukebox option for their wedding breakfast. The jukebox cards were distributed amongst the tables before the guests entered, and it’s always great to see the tables getting to know each other as the choices of music for the couple became an immediate talking point. We had a nice mix of classical and pop requests continually being fired at us by the guests, and a steady-stream of cards being returned to us.