“Fun, exciting, crazy!” David & Sarah’s Leeds Castle Wedding Day

 

 

 

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

Leeds Castle

 

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.