Weddings at Horwood House and RAF Halton
This Saturday we were pleased to be asked back to play for another wedding at Horwood House in Little Horwood, near to Milton Keynes. Although the main house was only built in 1911, it has the feeling of Edwardian splendour and has a sizeable modern extension which is used for the wedding ceremonies and receptions.
After the ceremony, the quartet played in a bay window area in the main Edwardian part of the building - so that the music was able to project both inside and outside into the gardens where photographs were being taken. As the weather was quite windy, most people came inside after the photographs and we gave them a good selection of pieces which had been hand picked by the bridal couple a few weeks before the wedding.
The bride and groom had come along to one of our concerts at the Stables in Milton Keynes last year and this had given them both a few ideas of pieces that they’d like playing - so it was particularly special to perform these for them on their big day.
As the Horwood House drinks reception finished quite early at 2.30pm, we were then able to fit in another wedding (also in Buckinghamshire) about 15 miles away. The second wedding took place at Halton House which is part of the RAF Halton near Wendover. Tucked away within the Wendover woods, you just wouldn’t know such a grand building was there at all - with beautiful Georgian architecture and stunning central hall area. This time, two members of the quartet went home and myself and Julia (cellist) performed as a string duo.
Playing as a string duo means that all the music we play needs to be especially arranged for that combination in order to sound full, so we had to switch folders to another selection of music created for the violin / cello duo. We began by playing outside in a shaded area whilst photographs were being taken, then before the receiving line we moved up to an overhead gallery which was a nice elevated position so acoustically the music could drift down and be heard by all the guests. We picked a spot just to the right of the top table so that the bridal couple could see us as well as hear our playing. At the end, many guests commented that although they could hear the music clearly, it didn’t drown out conversation and helped to create the perfect ambiance during the meal.
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