String Duo for a Hertfordshire Wedding at the Laura Ashley Hotel
On Saturday 24th May we played for a wedding at the lovely Laura Ashley Manor Hotel in Elstree, Hertfordshire. For this particular occasion, the couple had requested the violin and cello duo, and this particular combination suited the wedding ceremony and after-ceremony drinks perfectly. We started by setting ourselves up at the front of the ceremony room, to the left hand side of the registrar’s desk, out of the way of the actual ceremony but still facing all of the guests. Often the role of the pre ceremony music is to soothe everyone’s nerves, so a selection of popular classical pieces can work really well at this stage of the day. The bride entered to an arrangement of Desree’s ‘Kissing You’ for string duo, which had been popularized in a film version of ‘Romeo and Juliet’. An amusing moment occurred when she had completed her entrance and at this precise moment, the heavens opened with a huge clap of thunder (fortunately, the ceremony was indoors!). For the signing of the register, we played the popular ‘One Day Like This’ by Elbow and the bridal couple then exited to the equally oft-requested ‘It Must Be love’ by Madness. You can hear our string quartet version here:
After the ceremony, we relocated to the reception area of the hotel, where guests enjoyed drinks and canapés, whilst being entertained with a collection of modern rock and pop songs arranged for string duo. We then concluded by performing for the first half an hour or so of their wedding breakfast, setting the atmosphere for this part of the day.