The Wedding Partners

Thursday, 27 May 2010

22nd May 2010 (evening) - West Row Village Hall

West Row twice in just over a week. This time, it was Nicola who had booked Cupid's Wish to play for her Masked Ball.

Georgia had gone to great lengths to create a very lavish backdrop for the band to match the occasion. Once the candelabras were lit and our cravats were on, we treated the party-goers to newly-polished versions of The Killer's 'When You Were Young' and Van Morrison's 'Brown Eyed Girl', then kick the gears up a little with Gimme Some Lovin' and River Deep (click here to see us in action on the night).

Once we'd finished, the crowd shouted for an encore. When we asked what songs they wanted, they shouted 'Don't Stop Believing' and 'Don't Stop Me Now' which we played. I think they were trying to tell us something....DON'T STOP! What a great end to the day - smiles all round!

22nd May 2010 - Brome Grange, Suffolk

I got really excited when this booking came through. The bride and groom wanted me to learn Led Zep's 'Stairway To Heaven' to be played during their Signing of the Register. Plus they requested songs by Guns 'n' Roses and Red Hot Chili Peppers. I couldn't wait for this day to come!

Louise and Jed were absolutely lovely people to meet and the weather was scorching hot! I played for the ceremony, then came back to play throughout the wedding breakfast. A guest complimented me on my 'great montage of music', which put a smile on my face. And I was also accompanied for a while by a funky dancer. She couldn't have been more than five, but she seemed to love moving around to my tunes.

I packed up knowing that I had a fantastic night with the band ahead of me.

15th May 2010 (evening) - Hinchingbrooke House, Huntingdon

Fiona and Gordon booked the Cupid's Wish Trio to performed at their evening reception. We started by playing some of their requests as background music, including Coldplay's 'Yellow' and Take That's 'A Million Love Songs'.

The happy couple then took to the dancefloor for their first dance, Etta James's 'At Last' - beautifully sung by Georgia. Around 3 hours later, and to a packed dancefloor, we rounded off the night with another request....New York, New York. I think it's safe to say that almost all the guests danced and sang themselves silly. A really enjoyable night for us all!

14th May 2010 (evening) - West Row Village Hall

Ian's 30th birthday party went with a bang. The full 5-piece Cupid's Wish band were in full anthem mode, playing older classics by Tina Turner, Prince and Queen before turning our hands to the likes of Beyonce's 'Crazy In Love' and Alicia Keys' 'Empire State OF Mind'.

Some plastic guitars appeared to come out of nowhere (I still don't know how the kids got them!) just in time for the rockier stuff - Stereophonics, Guns 'n' Roses, Lenny Kravitz, Kings Of Leon and some Journey and Led Zeppelin for good measure!

Saturday, 15 May 2010

14th May 2010 - Anstey Hall, Cambridge

Anstey Hall is an awe-inspiring venue. I went upstairs and got lost coming back down!

There was a gorgeous Steinway piano in the corner of the room for me to play. Laetitia walked down the aisle to Handel's 'Arrival Of The Queen Of Sheba', with 'I Can't Take My Eyes Off You' playing during the signing of the register and 'Isn't She Lovely' as the couple's exit music.

I stayed on the Steinway to play some jazz tunes for the drinks reception, incorporating some Ray Charles songs especially requested for the bride's father.

8th May 2010 - Bedford Lodge, Suffolk

Sara and Rob booked me to play during their drinks reception. They chose a lot of fairly modern songs from my repertoire, with virtually everything coming from the last 15 years, including 'Chasing Cars', 'A Million Love Songs' and 'You're Still The One'. I also got a request to play one of my personal favourites, 'Teardrop' by Massive Attack - an opportunity that I absolutely loved.

The bride and groom had booked a magician, Jamie Raven, for their wedding breakfast. He showed me his first trick which confused the living daylights out of me for the rest of the day....

1st May 2010 - Kingscliffe Hotel, Holland-On-Sea

Warren had booked the Cupid's Wish Trio as a surprise for Debbie's 40th birthday. I played some smooth solo piano to start things off, then the trio played a great first set with guests dancing to songs including 'Brown Eyed Girl', 'Dancing In The Moonlight' and 'Come Up And See Me'.

After the buffet, we hit them with our classic party set which went down a storm! One guest even joined us on vocals for a version of a Rolling Stone's classic (think it was 'Satisfaction'). Catching our breath outside afterwards, thinking we'd finished, Warren and a couple of his guests asked for some Pink Floyd. Cupid's Wish's guitar legend Michael and fabulous singer Georgia duly obliged, and then threw in some Hendrix and Prince for good measure to round off a fantastic night!