Wedding Strings in Alfriston, East Sussex

Lat weekend we returned to Alfriston to perform at our first wedding of 2019 (January is always a nice quiet time to catch up, sort out new music for strings and generally recover!). We were asked to play as a String Trio for a wedding ceremony and drinks reception.

Deans Place is a lovely hotel and wedding venue on the edge of the village of Alfriston. The ceremony room looked fantastic with drapes and extra lighting and we are often told that having a wedding string quartet or one of our smaller ensembles at the front of the room can add even more atmosphere to the occasion. Before the ceremony, as the guests were being seated we were asked to play some of our more traditional classical music for strings which included music by Vivaldi and Bach. One of our favourites is the Vivialdi Double Concerto:

The bride had requested to walk in accompanied by her favourite piece of music – Gabriel’s Oboe from the Mission by Ennio Morricone:

 

During the signing of the register, when we always suggest having at least 2 pieces of music, we played our version of Pachelbel’s Canon in D as well as How Long Will I Love You by Ellie Goulding:

To exit, the couple had asked for All You Need is Love by the Beatles which we have again made a special arrangement of for weddings. Modern Music for Strings is really popular now and we have an absolutely enormous selection of pop covers for string quartet, string trio and string duo.

Following the ceremony the guests and ourselves relocated to another room for the drinks reception, and the weather was nice enough for the bride and groom and their guests to go outside to get some nice pictures in the grounds of Deans Place, overlooking the East Sussex countryside.

It was really nice to get to chat to the couple as their guest were seated for the wedding breakfast and we hope the rest of the day was as enjoyable as the time we spent at this lovely wedding.

A few days later we received a lovely email thanking us for being part of the wedding:

Hi Rachel,

Now that things have settled down, we wanted to take the time to thankyou for your hard work playing at our wedding at Deans Place last weekend.
Your skills and professionalism were second to none and really helped make the day special for us. To walk in to Gabriels Oboe was such a special moment for me and one I will always remember, and the combination of both classic and modern really helped create a fantastic atmosphere among our guests.
Our guests were truly blown away by the music and couldn’t stop talking about how beautiful you sounded and your expansive repertoire.
We would have no hesitation in recommending you to others as we really were blown away.
Once again, a massive thankyou!
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February 25th, 2019|Ensembles, Events, Pop Music for Strings, Testimonials, Venues, Weddings|

Wedding in Penshurst, Kent

Back from a fantastic day in Penshurst, Kent! A longer booking than usual – the usual choice for our Wedding String Quartet is for the ceremony and drinks reception but sometimes when the ceremony is at a different venue we are asked to move between venues. Today we began in the beautiful St John the Baptist Church, dating back to the 12th Century.

http://www.penshurstchurch.org/the-church/

We ran into the Rector, Tom as we got to the church so could discuss arrangements for the wedding ceremony. It’s always important for us to establish the format for the ceremony as there are many different ways this can happen. He was really helpful throughout, giving us really clear signals – not always the case!! On this occasion the Bride and Groom had chosen 2 separate pieces for the entrance of the Bridesmaids and the entrance of the Bride:

and our version of Pachelbel Canon in D

Among the couple’s other choices were their chosen exit music, God Only Knows by the Beach Boys, which you can listen to in our arrangement of pop music for strings on our website:

LISTEN

 

Following the ceremony we made our way to the reception venue, Penshurst Place and began our music for the drinks reception in the fantastic setting of the Barrons Hall, a beautiful room with a circular open fire in the centre and suits of armour on tables around the outside. The couple had asked us to play a selection from our repertoire for String Quartet so we began with some classical pieces including Vivaldi Concertos, moving on later to music from films and shows and more contemporary pop music for string quartet. How about this?

 

After a break we moved to the marquee for the wedding breakfast, the guests were seated on long tables all joined together rather than seperate tables which was lovely and the flower arrangements were incredible! We continued with our pop arrangements, including some of our newest ones. How about a bit of Metallica for String Quartet?

Overall it was a tiring but ultimately rewarding day and we hope the addition of a wedding string quartet added to what was a really lovely wedding in an amazing setting.

Penshurst

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April 12th, 2018|Ensembles, Events, Pop Music for Strings, Venues, Weddings|

String Trio in London

Last Friday night Premiere String Quartet were booked to provide a String Trio for a 30th Birthday party in the Institute of Directors, which is in Pall Mall in London. It’s one of several wonderful buildings that we have performed in along the same stretch which has also included the RAC Club.

We worked closely with the client in providing a playlist that she was happy with, balancing her love of classical music (especially Debussy) with a mixture of music which would be popular with her guests. So we performed several sets, starting with Classical music including Schubert’s String Trio, Debussy’s The Girl With The Flaxen Hair and Pachelbel’s Canon in D. Moving on we performed some lighter, jazzy numbers including songs by Gershwin and Sondheim. Tangos followed and we finished the evening playing a set of modern covers including many of our unique pop arrangements for strings.

The guests seemed to have a wonderful time in this fantastic venue and we were well looked after so it was a really enjoyable booking for us!

Premiere String Quartet

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March 6th, 2013|Corporate Events, Ensembles, Events, Performances|

String Duo for a wedding at Leeds Castle

rPremiere String Duo were recently booked to perform for a wedding at Leeds Castle which is near Maidstone in Kent. Being quite a small wedding, the room was again too big for a wedding string quartet so a string trio or string duo were the options we advised. The couple decided to opt for the Duo as their number of guests was relatively small. We began by playing the guests in to the ceremony room which was a wonderful old room full of antiques and amazing artwork. The Bride had chosen to walk in to Pachelbel Canon in D. As usual we provided some music for the signing of the register and the traditional Wedding March by Mendelssohn for the exit. After the ceremony we moved rooms (just next door!) the the Old Library to provide entertainment for the assembled guests during the drinks reception. We performed a selection of our pop covers which we have made string arrangements of. These included Paradise by Coldplay, Kiss from a Rose by Seal and more from our selection of Modern Songs for Strings.
As the guests left the room for the Wedding Breakfast (which smelt amazing!) we discreetly packed away and left after another enjoyable afternoon.

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March 2nd, 2013|Uncategorized|

Wedding at Chilston Park

A couple of weeks ago Premiere String Duo performed for a lovely wedding at Chilston Park which is near Lenham in Kent. It is a wedding venue we have performed at many times as well as playing for many wedding fairs there. Although they have several rooms for the ceremony, the most popular is the Orangery, which overlooks the lovely grounds. This room can hold around 60-70 people and is a bit small for a string quartet so we have usually performed as a string trio or string duo, as on this occasion. As people can gather in the bar next to the ceremony room it means the strings can start playing before people enter, not realising that the music is live until they come into the room to be seated for the ceremony! Pachelbel Canon in D was chosen as the entrance music for the Bride. We performed The Flower Duet for the signing of the register and Clocks by Coldplay was a lively piece for the exit of the newly married couple! We moved next door into the bar area to accompany the drinks reception where the couple had asked us to play from our light and modern selection. Many of our original string arrangements of pop covers and modern songs were appreciated by the guests. However we probably couldn’t compete with the “stags” who had learnt the words to “It Must be Love” by Madness and performed it to the gathered guests after photos on the staircase! All in all a great day to be involved in!!
Orangery
The Orangery at Chilston Park, Lenham, Kent

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February 27th, 2013|Ensembles, Events, Performances, Weddings|

Pachelbel Canon in D

Pachelbel’s Canon in D] is the most famous piece of music by German Baroque composer Johann Pachelbel. It was originally scored for three violins and bass and paired with a gigue in the same key. Like most other works by Pachelbel and other pre-1700 composers, the Canon remained forgotten for centuries and was rediscovered only in the 20th century. Several decades after it was first published in 1919, the piece became extremely popular, and today it is frequently played at weddings and included on classical music compilations, along with other famous Baroque pieces such as Air on the G String by Johann Sebastian Bach.

You can listen to our versions for string quartet, string trio and string duo here:

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July 9th, 2012|Performances|

Premiere String Quartet perform at Diamond Wedding Anniversary!

We were lucky enough to be invited to perform for a celebration of a wedding anniversary yesterday in Long Crendon, near Aylesbury. A marquee had been erected in which lunch was served and we performed a wide range of our classical repertoire which was a really nice opportunity to play lots of Mozart, Bach, Pachelbel, Handel and Elgar as well as Karl Jenkins’ Palladio – the “Diamond Music”! We also performed some Gershwin as well as film music including Indiana Jones, Raiders of the Lost Ark theme! It was a wonderful day and we were glad that we could help add to the atmosphere of the day!

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July 9th, 2012|Performances|

Peter and Gary’s Civil Partnership 12th June

Yesterday Premiere String Duo had the rare pleasure of a local date – 5 miles from home! Peter and Gary chose to hold their ceremony in Danson House, Danson Park. The house is a stunning 18th Century House with lawns overlooking a lake. A gazebo kept us shaded from the sun as the guests sipped champagne before moving on to their evening venue. Classical music including Pachelbel Canon in D and Bach Air on a G string were included in the ceremony but as we moved into the evening we lightened the mood with such numbers as Come Fly With Me, Waltz from Amelie and our own arrangement of Abba’s Mamma Mia for string duo. As we left it looked like a good time was going to be had by all!

Danson House

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June 13th, 2010|Ensembles, Performances|