Getting some feedback after the day so we can tailor our performance for future bookings…

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We all enjoy playing at weddings, but it’s always lovely when a guest takes the time to tell us how much they enjoyed our music, or to make a request. Often the bride and groom are so busy welcoming  all their guests that they don’t get time to talk to us. We don’t mind  – it’s an  intense day,  getting round all  your guests, let alone the musicians. Most brides and grooms do take the time to write to us afterwards, though, or sign our guestbook on our website to let us know how much our music meant to them.
We’re very proud of our guestbook, as all the entries are written directly by the couple. Reading it through gives me the impression that everyone we play for is really pleased with our music and service. It’s important for us to know that we’re doing a good job.
Best of all, we’ve got plenty more weddings to go to in 2012!  Long live romance!

Tithe Barn, Petersfield

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We love the Tithe Barn at Petersfield. This is a really good example of using a barn as a wedding venue. It’s in immaculate condition and has quite a ‘churchy’ feel to it for a barn (so if you don’t fancy getting married in a real church, perhaps this is the next best thing!) 

We played at Louise’ wedding there this summer. Their day got off to a bright start and the ceremony was lovely. But by the end of the ceremony the rain clouds had appeared, and never before have we seen such rain on a wedding day! We had to dash out of the barn across to the marquee where the drinks were being held while the barn was being changed around. The poor ladies in their heels I felt sorry for as the grass got soggier and soggier.The rain did have one advantage of keeping everyone in the same place (usually people often wander off around the venue during the drinks reception) to enjoy some of our music. There was a great, festive atmosphere as everyone huddled together in the marquee awaiting the end of the rain!

 

 

 

My friend wants to do some music at our wedding – can they join up with you?

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We know that musically minded friends often want to contribute something personal to your wedding ceremony. This is great, and we welcome this! We have accompanied vocalists, flautists, pianists and guitarists who have been friends of the couple.Our main consideration when joining forces with someone else is this: are they comfortable to perform with us with limited rehearsal time? Is their musical choice straightforward enough that we can play together on the day easily?Some examples:

Example: The groom’s sister sang ‘Joy of Jesu Man’s Desiring’ while we acommpanied her. We had a brief discussion in the weeks running up to the wedding to discuss how her version compared to our version of the music, agreed on the structure for the performance (i.e. verse 1, chorus, verse 2, end) and checked that the key signature was the same in our two versions of the music

Example: The bride’s friend wanted to play a flute solo during the service while we acommpanied her. We recommended Elgar’s Chanson De Matin, which she was familiar with. We sent her the first violin part which she learnt in time for the ceremony. We performed the piece with the flute replacing our first violin.

Example: The groom’s brother wanted us to provide the string backing for Greenday’s “Good Riddance: Time of Your Life”which he wanted to perform during the wedding reception. We determined that the structure would match exactly that of the recorded version by Greenday, and in the same key. We transcribed the strings part and performed the song (without rehearsal) on the day.
We’re happy to join forces with musical friends at your request, so long as they are happy with having limited rehearsal time on the day.

60th Birthday Party

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We recently surprised someone on their 60th Birthday by turning up at their garden party!
Cliff got in touch with us and asked us to play in the garden for his wife’s 60th birthday. They were having friends and family round for drinks and nibbles in the garden on a gloriously sunny September afternoon.

When we arrived, the party was already in full swing, with plenty of people milling about the house and in the garden. The birthday girl was enjoying a good chat with some friends under the gazebo in the garden.

Amazingly, we managed to sneak in and set up in the garden without her noticing. We’re not sure how we managed that – she must have been very engrossed in conversation and had her back to us. So, when we burst in with our first piece (I could have danced all night from My Fair Lady), she turned around in utter amazement. To see the surprise on her face was priceless, she could barely believe that a string quartet had turned up in her garden!

We entertained with a selection of show tunes to please this theatrically minded group, and there was plenty of singing along from a crowd who knew all of the words!

What can’t you ask a string quartet to play?

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We’ve been scratching our heads over this one. We’re pretty versatile and like to think there is nothing that we can’t adapt for string quartet. I mean, we’ve got Nirvana and AC/DC (yes, really) and Lady Gaga which might surprise some people. I guess the only thing we couldn’t really pull off is some rap / RnB which don’t have much tune in the instrumental part.

We can also play most classical music if we can get the parts for it. Although if you are looking for a quartet to do a version of the Bruch Violin Concerto Movement III we might need to consider whether this is achievable! Just let us know what you might want, run some ideas past us and anything is possible !

New Repertoire

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We’ve got some great new repertoire that we are itching to play at a function near you!

  • Adele: Rolling in the Deep   NEW
    Arcade Fire: Crown of Love   NEW
    Barry Manilow: Copacabana   NEW
    The Beatles: Blackbird   NEW
    The Beatles: Eleanor Rigby  NEW
    Beyonce – Crazy In Love  NEW
    Cee Lo Green: Forget You  NEW
    Elton John: Can You Feel the Love Tonight   NEW
    The Foundations – Build Me Up Buttercup   NEW
    Kaiser Chiefs: Ruby  NEW
    Led Zeppelin: Kashmir   NEW
    Muse: Muscle Museum  NEW
    No Doubt – Don’t Speak   NEW
    The Police: Every Breath You Take   NEW
    Radiohead: Karma Police  NEW
    Seal: Kiss From A Rose  NEW
    Stevie Wonder: Isn’t She Lovely  NEW

And a new guestbook entry from Saturday night’s party we played at:

I cannot recommend The Bossard Quartet highly enough. They created the perfect atmosphere in a room of 100 people, and their repertoire is truly mind boggling.

They made a great contribution to the success of my 40th birthday party, for which I am very grateful.

 

Strings vs Pipes : Church Services

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We love playing a church wedding ceremonies. Strings sound great in a church with the building’s natural acoustics perfectly complimenting our sound. Many couples choose to hire us to provide music for the bride’s walk-in, signing of the register and the walk-out.If you are having hymns as part of your service, we sometimes get asked if we can play the hymns so that the congregation can sing along with us. In general, we don’t think this works all that well. We are a lot quieter than an organ, and our sound can get lost if everyone is singing along with us. The wonderful thing about church organs is that they are loud enough to keep everyone going at the same speed, and to come in at the beginning of each verse at the right time. It’s never precise with a large congregation, but an organ surrounds the church and allows people to sing along with confidence.So, we strongly recommend using a church organist to accompany your hymns and we will sing along, and be ready to play again for the instrumental moments (signing of the register, and walk-out)

Couples have all kinds of music requests for us to play. In the UK, one of the most popular bridal entrance piece is Pachelbel’s Canon. There’s something about the serene, calming music that many brides love. Other popular requests for the bridal entrance include Des’ree “Kissing You”, JS Bach Joy of Jesu Desiring, Mendelssohn’s wedding march, Eva Cassidy’s Songbird. Quite a mix of modern and classical.

During the signing of the register, popular requests tend to be more upbeat than the bridal entrance. People love hearing things like: Coldplay Viva La Vida, Beach Boys God Only Knows, Snow Patrol Chasing Cars, The Verve Bittersweet Symphony.

Southsea Royal Marines Museum

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We love it when we get asked to play at the Royal Marines Museum in Southsea (I suppose it’s actually Eastney..). Not only is it nice and local to us, so a shorter drive, but it’s also a pretty cool place.With a grand room for dining, a museum full of interesting artifacts (check out the broken violin in the music room upstairs, so sad!), an impressive building and grounds, close proximity to the beach, and an abundance of history, it’s a great place to hold an event we think!

HMS Warrior

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We have played many times aboard HMS Warrior. This fabulous venue is so local to us that we’re always over the moon to take a booking on board this historic boat. The Officer’s Half Deck and the Gun Deck provide a wonderful setting for both ceremonies and wedding breakfast. If you are looking for something a little different that will wow your guests, we think HMS Warrior is it!

We are in direct contact with the Events team at HMS Warrior, so that if you book us to play onboard we will sort out all of those necessary details (names, car registration, date of birth, address) that the dockyard need to allow us access to the ship. Getting our quartet down those steep stairs to the Gun Deck is also no problem, we are used to carting our instruments around with us. We’ll make sure we wear flat shoes (no heels – to protect the deck of the ship) and Sophie’s cello spike will be nestled in a flat cello spike holder to protect the floor too.

Just remember to tell the Events team that you have booked us, and we’ll do the rest !

Enjoy these lovely photos from Simon Coulson