On March 23rd I was lucky enough to be a part of David & Sarah’s big day in the glorious surroundings of Leeds Castle. At our initial meeting they shared their wedding day vision with me. My brief was to help them create a day that was fun, exciting, crazy and with a lot of laughter! We discussed some some ways they could we could inject some fun into the day and keep their guests entertained throughout.
David & Sarah booked me to provide music throughout their entire day and I was also on hand as their Master of Ceremonies. The day started relatively late, with the ceremony at 4pm. So we had a lot to pack into our time at Leeds Castle. Guests gathered in the Castle Library before taking their seats to await the arrival of the bridal party.
The Ceremony
Sarah loved the idea of having a song just for her bridesmaids to make their entrance, followed by her processional music, accompanied by her dad John. Here’s a run down of the music they chose for the ceremony;
Bridesmaids Processional
Con Te Patiro – Andrea Bocelli
Sarah’s Processional
Canon In D Major – Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra
Signing The Register
Somewhere Over The Rainbow – Israel Kamakawiwo’ole
The Flower Duet – Charlotte Church
Heavenly Day – Patty Griffin
Flying – James Newton Howard
Recessional
I’m A Believer – Smash Mouth
The Grand Entrance
I ushered the newlywed’s friends and family down to the castle’s Henry VIII Banqueting Hall just before dinner was served at 6pm. Then it was time for the guests to welcome the new Mr & Mrs Hutchings in.
Weddings can often be the first time the two families have got together and that was certainly the case for Sarah & David. Sarah’s family are from Wolverhampton, whilst David’s are based in Kent. So to properly introduce their top table guests to everyone else, we planned a very special Grand Entrance. All Sarah & David’s VIP guests were introduced to into the Banqueting Hall, including their very own walk-in music, before the bride and groom finally made their way in. Here’s the music they chose;
David’s parent’s Nina & Stephen
Traditional Trumpet Fanfare
Sarah’s parents Carol & John
Harry J Allstars – Liquidator
Bridesmaids (Carmanah, Helen & Hema) – The Rembrants – I’ll Be There For You
Best Man John & David’s son Zach – Thin Lizzy – The Boys Are Back In Town
David & Sarah The Killers – Mr Brightside
To stamp their personality on the day, the newlyweds chose a selection of film theme music for me to play during the meal. I provided guests with Pearls Of Wisdom cards for them to share their marriage advice with David & Sarah and then I read out the best comments before introducing the speeches. One of the bridesmaids, Hema was the happy recipient of the cash pot for correctly guessing the length of the speeches in our speeches sweepstake.
After cutting the cake, the newlyweds and their guests moved to the Heraldry Room for the start of the evening party.
First Dance
Never Enough – Loren Allred
Father & Daughter Dance
Something – The Beatles/Hi Ho Silver Lining – Jeff Beck
This Will Be (An Everlasting Love) – Natalie Cole
September – Earth Wind and Fire
Shut Up and Dance – Walk The Moon
Jason_Derulo – Want To Want Me
Justin Timberlake – Cant Stop The Feeling
Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It) – Beyonce
David’s Whiskey Toss Song
Red Right Hand – Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
Despacito – Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee Feat. Justin Bieber
Danza Kuduro – Lucenzo & Qwote feat. Don Omar
Bob Sinclar – Rock This Party (Everybody Dance Now)
Timber – Pitbull
Yeah! – Usher Feat. Lil’ Jon and Ludacris
Turn Me On (Radio Edit) – Kevin Lyttle
Bootylicious – Destinys Child
Neil Diamond – Sweet Caroline
Don’t Stop Me Now – Queen
Summer Of 69 – Bryan Adams
Place Your Hands – Reef
Billie Jean – Michael Jackson
I Wanna Dance With Somebody – Whitney Houston
Uptown Funk – Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars
Shotgun – George Ezra
Dancing In The Moonlight – Toploader
Soul Banana – Mastermix
Proud Mary – Tina Turner
She’s So Lovely – Scouting for Girls
Build Me Up Buttercup – The Foundations
Brown Eyed Girl – Van Morrison
Crazy Little Thing Called Love – Queen
Marry You – Bruno Mars
Everybody – Backstreet Boys
Subeme La Radio (Radio Edit) – Enrique Iglesias Featuring Sean Paul
A Little Respect – Erasure
Ice Ice Baby – Vanilla Ice
Apache – The Sugarhill Gang
U Can’t Touch This – MC Hammer
I Can’t Help Myself ( Sugar Pie Honey Bunch) – Four Tops
Mr. Brightside – The Killers
Sex on Fire – Kings of Leon
Hi Ho Silver Lining – Jeff Beck
It Must Be Love – Madness
Don’t Stop Believin’ – Journey
C’est la Vie – B*Witched
David Vs Sarah – The DJ Battle
I should point out that our bride Sarah is VERY competitive so there was only ever going to be one winner as the went head-to-head as guest DJs for the night! In the build up to their day, they’d each given me 3 songs that they were convinced would fill the dance floor. With some technical jiggery pokery I mixed their choices together and on the night, they made their DJ debuts to a great reaction from friends and family.