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There were 150 guests for Tashauna and Roger’s wedding at Silver Hearth Lodge in Bent Mountain, VA. This was our first time at this venue, and it’s always such fun to explore new places. This one was especially remote with breathtaking views. We always leave a little earlier for weddings at venues we’ve never been, and we knew this one was up a winding hill! The weather was perfect with a high of 84 and a low of 67. There were thunderstorms expected, but it turned out to be a really nice day.
The bride and groom even sent us directions and a link to their wedding website to make sure we didn’t get lost! Apparently most people get lost finding this mountainous venue :) We found it just fine though!! Casey played solo violin for this wedding ceremony, and he played Canon in D for the bridal party and the Bridal March for the bride.  This wedding is the perfect example of a wedding where a solo violin works beautifully. They wanted simplicity and beauty, and a solo violinist captures that really nicely. The bride and groom had this sweet bicycle to show their fondness for cycling!
This wedding was simple, sweet, fun and relaxed. Guests were appreciative of the music. Virginia mountains are really beautiful, and it was fun to explore a new place. If you’re looking for a venue off the beaten bath a bit in Virginia, check out Silver Hearth Lodge. The views are some of the best we’ve seen!
Thanks for inviting us!! Hope to be back at a Virginia wedding soon!
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Cameron and Sara were such fun clients! We could feel their excitement from when they first reached out to us, and we loved planning with them! Even on wedding day, they were so kind and wanted to say hello and meet us! It’s so much fun when we really get to know our clients in the planning process. During the ceremony, the bride’s cousin sang “Perfect,” and we accompanied her on violin and cello. We get a lot of requests to accompany singers, and we’re happy to do this! We just ask that the singer be a trained singer, that they have sheet music they can provide for us, and that they’re comfortable performing after just a short rehearsal before the wedding. That was the case at this wedding, and everything went beautifully.
*SIDE NOTE: We’ve had a few REALLY bad experiences playing for singers, where they literally had no idea what they were singing and were super nervous, and it was just difficult to salvage. We’ve had a few singers ask us to change keys on the spot (which is really hard to do with some instruments), and things like that. So we’ve started asking better questions, and it’s saved us from some of those situations where we used to find ourselves :) Crestwood has such great options for wedding spaces. This particular wedding was inside with the large beautiful windows overlooking the mountains. There’s also a nice balcony for musicians, but this time, we played downstairs near the guests so that we could be near the singer.  The bride walked down the aisle to “A Dream is a Wish” from Cinderella! Isn't that sweet! That song is so romantic and slow so it was perfect for her entrance.
We played Concerning Hobbits for the recessional which brings the crowd to a peppy beat for the reception following! The cocktail hour was outside at Crestwood Inn and Spa on the patio area. The violin and cello played in the gazebo while guests walked around and enjoyed the view. There were about 65 guests at this wedding, so for a number like this, a violin cello duet is a really nice option. On June 22, we were at the Ridge in Asheville to play for K + J’s wedding! Paul played violin, and Mandy was on cello. As you can see, it was a perfect day! The Ridge in Marshall / Asheville is so beautiful. Look at these views!! And they’re just everywhere you look!  Being in the Asheville mountains is the perfect setting for weddings. It sets the mood for the rest of the day of a romantic and dreamy day. These clients chose such a fun prelude!! All of the guests could enjoy many songs they were familiar with! There was something for everyone in this very diverse prelude list: Perfect (Ed Sheeran) Fireworks (from Harry Potter) Tale as Old as Time (from Beauty and the Beast) Dream by Priscilla Ahn Who is She from Cinderella The Flower Duet It’s fun to play such different songs for prelude, because it keeps everyone really listening and engaged in the entire prelude. When we played "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" for the mothers to be seated, you could tell that everyone in the crowd was fully engaged and ready for the wedding.
Game of Thrones was for the groomsmen! By the way - if you want a really fun reaction from the crowd, play this song for the guys to walk down the aisle. It’s a fantastic reaction EVERY SINGLE TIME. Here Comes the Sun was for the bridal party. The bride walked down the aisle to Canon in D! It is such a beautiful classic and just feels right when it is played for the bridal entrance. Another note: Canon in D works SO nicely after everyone else has walked down the aisle to pop music. It’s a beautiful effect when this happens. It's such a contrast and brings such elegance to the bride's entrance on Canon in D. Great recessional! Marry You by Bruno Mars which is a fun peppy song and gets everybody ready to party!  Again - this couple chose some really good music. Also - they specifically requested Devil Went Down to Georgia for the cocktail hour, which we happily played! We love when our clients request specific songs because it helps us understand the couple more and make it an even more intimate day!
Mary Bell was the wedding planner in Asheville for this wedding. Mary Bell is so great, and she is super detailed. If you're looking for a wedding coordinator in Asheville, look her up! They also had these really creative favors for their guests where they had a theme of honeybees and gave jars of honey from this honeycomb - shaped display. #HONEYweddingfavors Blush Asheville did the bride’s makeup! The bride was glowing the entire day. Floressence Flowers was the florist. Unique flowers at a wedding are such a needed touch for a wedding. Floral businesses tend to have many different kinds of flowers that people have never even seen before! Perfect to add the touch of some different colors and textures to a wedding! This couple really gave creative license to their vendors, and it paid off! Vendors can do such much more when couples allow them to be a little creative and add special touches. If you're looking for an amazing Asheville wedding venue, check on The Ridge in Marshall. We're in love with this venue!!
WE LOVE SEPARK MANSION!! Every time we play here, we want to shout it from the rooftops. This is a great venue. Kelly and Jack’s wedding was a beautiful June wedding in Gastonia, North Carolina. They booked a classic string quartet for the ceremony, and our Charlotte string quartet was the perfect fit for this wedding day. The ceremony was out on the lawn behind the mansion, and then cocktails and dinner were located inside Separk Mansion. Separk Mansion weddings are so beautifully planned, and they do so many weddings at this venue that they are always very well-planned, on time, and so professional. They take care of their vendors AND their clients, which we love! They also have several planners who manage the weddings, so no one is spreading themselves too thinly, and they always have plenty people on-site to make sure everything runs smoothly on wedding day.  Our string quartet was composed of two violins, a viola, and a cello, which is a classic configuration for a string quartet. We played Edelweiss from the Sound of Music for the grandmothers and mothers to be seated. We played A Thousand Years for the bridal party, and we played Canon in D for the bride! The couple also did a creative twist on the unity ceremony which was a braid of three strands, and we played In Christ Alone while they braided the cords together.
The recessional was played by the DJ which is always a fun idea when you want the recessional to be very different and sort of “get the party started.” The DJ played Signed Sealed Delivered! A fun little behind the scenes tip: Whenever a DJ or another musician is playing during the ceremony, we always have the sheet music on our iPads ready to go, just in case there are any technical difficulties. We’ve saved the day once or twice using this technique, so we continue to do it just in case 😉 However, in this situation, everything worked perfectly!! The hired a very good DJ.  For the cocktail hour, we moved to the back garden area which is complete with twinkle lights and beautiful ambiance, and we played a nice mix of string quartet favorites. We were also amplified for this portion, which elevated the volume and made the music loud and exciting! We played some fun ones for this time: All of Me. Lucky. Best Day of My Life. La Vie en Rose.
Kelly and Jack were GREAT clients!! We loved playing this wedding. We’ve envisioned a wedding orchestra or a small string band for a long time, and we were so excited when a bride reached out to us interested in an 8-piece string group for her wedding ceremony in Greensboro! We essentially doubled our wedding string quartet to have 4 violins, 2 violas, and 2 cellos to create an epic ensemble and our first ever wedding orchestra! Elvis and Leslie had lots of energy and wanted to make their wedding ceremony unique.... like nothing their guests had ever seen. We were up for the challenge! We played a mixture of popular music and classical music for the prelude, and we even played “I’m Yours” with with one of our violinists switching to ukulele for the recessional! It was a great effect and was such a fun sound for an exit song for bride, groom, and bridal party.  The bride and her bridesmaids carried red roses, and all was opulent with sparkle and no detail left untouched!  The groom walked down the aisle to “Can’t Help Falling in Love,” which was fitting and a bit of an inside joke since his name is Elvis :) The wedding party processed down the aisle to the wedding orchestra playing All of Me. The two string quartets played the classic “Here Comes the Bride” bridal chorus by Wagner for the bride's entrance. Grandover Resort and Spa in Greensboro was the perfect place for this wedding. The ceremony was in a large ballroom, and the strings were all situated on a high stage as a backdrop for the wedding. It was very exposed, so we were careful to all dress alike, to all wear beautiful shoes, and to not have water bottles or anything on the floor near our stands. Sometimes you can’t tell exactly how a wedding will be set up and how it will feel until you arrive to set up for the music. At this one, we quickly realized that we were going to be the backdrop for the wedding and that everything had to be perfectly in place. The effect was really beautiful.
This wedding orchestra was so versatile, because we could play pop music like A Thousand Years and I’m Yours, but we also played classical music like La Rejouissance by Handel. We’re so thrilled to have played this first wedding orchestra, as we’ve received inquiries in other cities about orchestras, but this was our first performance in Greensboro. We have a few others pending for Asheville weddings and Wilmington NC weddings, so now we can officially add the wedding orchestra as another option to our services! This was in the opulent Carlisle ballroom at Grandover Resort, and the reception was in a separate ballroom.  Vendor list - Grandover Resort & Spa - Greensboro, NC: Venue: Grandover Resort & Spa Photographer: Maria Sollecito Photography Planner: Fabuleux Event Concierge Hair & makeup: UPDO's Studio Florist: Blossoms Florist & Bakery Rentals: Happy Rentz Inc Chairs: Young and Lovely DJ/Photobooth: Cutting Club Event Pros Band: Deans' Duets Videographer: K2 Productions Film & Video Cake: Edible Artistry Ice Sculpture: Artisan Ice Sculptures Pipe and Drape: Carey Sound Stationary: U R Invited A lot of people have asked us how the sound is different from our other ensembles, and this sound is like no other! Take a listen here….. The small wedding orchestra really sounds like a large group of strings, which can only be achieved with 8+ strings! It’s such a unique sound!
Thanks to Leslie & Elvis for trusting us with our first ever wedding orchestra performance for your wedding day!! |
AuthorApril is a professional violinist and the music coordinator for Dean's Duets. Archives
January 2022
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