Berkshire Wedding String Duo

As busy wedding musicians, Manor House Music¬†are increasingly invited to provide music for weekday weddings and events. On a Tuesday in April our string duo (consisting of violin and cello) played for a ceremony and reception in West Berkshire. The ceremony took place in the picturesque church of St Marys’ in the rural village of Sulhamstead Abbots. We began by playing a selection of beautiful classical pieces which hopefully soothed the nerves of the¬†groom as he waited for the ceremony to begin. The bridal entrance music was Pachelbel‚Äôs Canon in D which always adds the perfect atmosphere to this important moment. The other special musical moment came at the end of the ceremony when we performed Jackie Wilson‚Äôs song ‚Äò(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher‚Äô, which was especially arranged for this wedding. It’s always a pleasure to be able to add a touch of uniqueness to a particular wedding or event and nothing compares to arranging a song that has a special connection with both the bride and groom. It’s a painstaking task of many hours, and involves listening to the original track to pick out all of the details and bring it alive. This particular song is very energetic and complemented the bridal recessional well.

After the ceremony, we all travelled to nearby Ufton Court. Here we set up in the courtyard and played everything from Stevie Wonder to Bon Jovi and James Blunt, only finishing when all the guests made their way inside for the wedding breakfast. We were then able to congratulate the bride and groom ‚Äì it was wonderful to witness such a happy couple and we later received a lovely testimony. I‚Äôll include a little from it here: ‘We just wanted to thank you so much for helping to make our wedding such a special day! The violin and cello worked so well in the church and created a lovely, welcoming atmosphere as people began sitting down. The bride’s entrance was beautiful and the incidental songs whilst we were signing the register sounded lovely. Thank you for taking the time to learn ‘(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher‚Äô, it perfectly matched the celebratory mood at the end of the ceremony. Everyone felt lucky to be able to sit out on the terrace in the sun and enjoy hearing familiar songs, it was a lovely reception.’ We felt very lucky to be part of Alastair and Sam‚Äôs special day and would like to wish them much happiness together.