24th April 2010 - Woodhall Manor, Suffolk

A stunning venue, extremely friendly staff and a perfectly sunny day. The lawn at Woodhall Manor was transformed into an outdoor ceremony location with Heather and Adam exchanging their vows in the tiny dovecote, which had been blessed for such an occasion.

Just before the ceremony began, a dove thought it would be funny to aim a missile at me. The best man saw it happen and spent the whole time laughing to himself. Don't blame him - I'd have done the same if I wasn't the one with droppings on my trousers!

Film scores from 'The Holiday', Romeo And Juliet', 'The Notebook' and 'Love Actually' were requested for the ceremony, along with 'Iris' by The Goo Goo Dolls.

Jazzy music for the drinks reception and mellower music for the wedding breakfast rounded off a beautiful day in the glorious sunshine.

13th April 2010 - The Wedding Partners

Following a meeting with the majority of Wedding Partners members, I am now proud to say that I'm one of their newest members.

The group's philosophy is centred around building strong relationships with other wedding service providers. Every group member trusts and respects the talents of every other group member.

As most wedding service areas are covered within the group, it means that brides and grooms have an easily accessible resource to help plan their special day.

For more information on the Wedding Partners, please visit www.theweddingpartners.com, or just click on the blog title above.

11th April 2010 - The Grange Hotel, Thurston

I've played at The Grange on many occasions; Valentine's Days, Mother's Days, Easter Sundays and a Ruby Wedding too. This was my first wedding there and all went really well. Mendelssohn's 'Wedding March' is traditionally used as a recessional, so it was a nice change for it to be requested as a processional instead. Stuart and Fiona also chose songs by Sting, Ronan Keating and Lionel Richie to complete their ceremony choices.

For the wedding breakfast, I got to play on The Grange's piano in their main room again. After posing for photos with the bride and groom afterwards, a staff member told me what a massive difference having a piano playing made to the atmosphere. I agreed. But then I'm biased, aren't I? :)

5th April 2010 - The Assembly House, Norwich

Wow, what a beautiful venue! From the list of rooms available, Laura and David chose The Music Room for their ceremony and wedding breakfast. The Steinway piano sat on a raised stage, looking and sounding fantastic. You can see the room's ornate setup by clicking here: http://www.assemblyhousenorwich.co.uk/venue-details.php?id=3#

Songs from the films Love Actually and Enchanted were chosen for the ceremony, with Journey's 'Don't Stop Believing' (or Glee, or Joe McElderry, or whoever else has covered it recently....) as the couple's exit music.

For the wedding breakfast, the table closest to me (the bride and groom's parents and close family) couldn't stop singing. They surprised me by requesting Snow Patrol and Green Day, and they raised the roof with their renditions of 'Sailing' and 'I Can't Take My Eyes Off You'.

Afterwards, the groom's two best men gave one of the funniest speeches I've ever seen. Not to mention the photos!!

3rd April 2010 - Ravenwood Hall, Suffolk

It's always a pleasure to play at Ravenwood. I looked at a list of all my previous weddings today and realised that I've played here more than any other venue. Must be doing something right :)

I'd already met the bride and groom, Cheryl and Brett, by chance while playing at a Debenhams Wedding Fair a while back. They'd chosen their first dance - Sinatra's 'The Way You Look Tonight' - so I made sure I put my version of that song in my set too. They also picked out 'Sex On Fire', 'Chasing Cars', 'With Or Without You' and 'Fields Of Gold' as songs they wanted played, amongst others.

The wedding party certainly knew how to have fun with party poppers. I didn't have time to drift off into my own piano-playing world today - the bangs were going off left, right and centre.

Thanks to Cheryl and Brett for inviting me to entertain their wedding party. And thanks also to Yvonne, Ravenwood Hall's fantastic wedding coordinator.

1st April 2010 - Butley Priory, Suffolk

I've never played on April Fool's Day before. The happy couple, Lisa and Shaun, requested 'Why Do Fools Fall In Love' by Frankie Lymon as their recessional - what a great idea!

I accompanied Chantelle Love, local singer/songwriter and beatbox-flautist (you REALLY have to see her do it to believe it!) on Eva Cassidy's 'Songbird'. She's a great talent and has just been signed up. It was a privilege to perform with Chantelle.

Jazz/lounge music was requested for the drinks reception, so I got to play some of the real classics including 'Unforgettable', 'Autumn Leaves' and 'Summertime'. Just as I started playing the latter, the wind got up and everyone came inside. Seems like even the weather's got a sense of humour on April Fool's Day!

First time blogger!

OK, so this is my first ever blog.

The plan is to update after every wedding or event, or if there's any other news to tell.

To use blogging's No 1 overused phrase....'watch this space' ! :-)







http://www.addme.com/submission/free-submission-start.php