Nicole and Arnaud Weather the Storm…

Date: 8/27/11

Location: The Candlewood Inn, Brookfield, CT

First Dance: The classic jazz standard, That’s All

Number of Approaching Hurricanes: 1

Nicole found us online in the midst of the Holiday season and booked us before the new year started.

During the last week of August we were all watching Hurricane Irene as it swirled up the coast, but none so closely as Nicole and Arnaud. Their wedding was scheduled for the weekend that Irene was projected to make landfall…in the early morning hours of August 28th…in New York City… about 60 miles from their wedding venue. Yikes!

The morning of the wedding Nicole called Yves to “make sure you guys are still coming”. “Of Course” was his reply. Apparently several guests would be unable to make it to the wedding because of travel restrictions, and Nicole was worried that the band might fall into that category. Never! We knew what was coming and all planned to head out early to beat the storm to Nicole and Arnaud’s wedding. After the wedding? We would cross that bridge when we came to it.

The ceremony had been planned for outside overlooking a beautiful lake…

But, by the time the ceremony rolled around the view from inside looked like this…

No worries though, the good folks at The Candlewood Inn have seen weather before, so plan B was enacted and the ceremony was set up in the main reception room with just a little bit of adjustment. The guests would have thought that was the way it was planned. Once we were all safely inside (a few guests short) the ceremony went off with out a hitch. Nicole and Arnaud, a mixed religion couple, had both a Rabbi and a Minister present who worked extremely well together. The ceremony was touching and heartfelt with some humorous and lighthearted moments thrown in. Solo classical piano was the perfect backdrop to it all.

Solo piano continued for the cocktail hour, but switched genres to light jazz. Appetizers were passed while the room was reset from ceremony to reception seamlessly. At this point I think most of us forgot there was a storm bearing down on the east coast, nonetheless, Nicole offered to get us all hotel rooms if anyone needed to stay. It was truly gracious of her, and if she was stressed out by the storm in any way she sure didn’t show it.

As the cocktail hour ended and we transitioned to reception it was time to get the dancing started with Nicole and Arnaud’s first dance, That’s All. This beautiful jazz standard love song is a perfect choice for a first dance. Check out the lyrics, they would make great wedding vows! From That’s All we went into a hora medley to wish the bride and groom good luck.

People really got into dancing that night to all kinds of music. We went, as usual, from Van Morrison to Ke$ha and back again. All the hurdles of the storm had been overcome, the news was that it was slowing down, so most people would be able to get back home and everyone cut loose!

 

Even Yves!

We played until midnight and beat the storm back home by a few hours…

We were very lucky during Hurricane Irene. We made it home safely, we were able to be there to celebrate with Nicole and Arnaud and we didn’t suffer any losses from storm damage. That’s not true for a lot of our neighbors here in the northeast, a lot of whom are still struggling to overcome the losses they suffered and will continue to do so for quite some time. To find out how you can help the victims of Hurricane Irene go to: www.facebook.com/Support4CatskillMtns

Several weeks later, Nicole posted this review on our WeddingWire.com page…

AMAZING BAND! PROFESSIONAL. FLEXIBLE. Extensive song list. Yves worked with us during the planning stages. He is friendly, easy to communicate with and I had complete confidence in their service from the moment we first spoke. They were EVERYTHING that we could have wanted, and more! We would absolutely hire them again in the future. There is nothing that they could have done better or differently. We were extremely impressed and so were our guests. THANK YOU, THANK YOU!

Chris and Katie, Happily Ever After!

Date: June 11th

Location: The Waterview, Monroe, CT

First Dance: You and Me, Dave Matthews Band

Chris and Katie are an adorable couple, very sweet, generous of spirit and a pleasure to work with. They made some notable selections as far as special songs. Katie wanted the Theme from Sex and the City for her bouquet toss, which I thought was fun and showed her upbeat nature and sense of humor, and I guess that could also be said for Chris’ choice for the garter of Welcome to the Jungle! I love when people think outside the box for things like that.

Huge fans of all things Disney, the couple got engaged at Disney World, and so for their cake cutting they chose the song Be Our Guest from Beauty and the Beast. It was a sweet moment. We didn’t know the details when they first picked the song, but it all made sense when we heard the best man and maid of honor’s speeches.

Like a lot of our couples they wanted variety when it came to the song list. Katie is a fan of more contemporary artists while Chris likes a lot of classic rock and alternative. For their parent dances they chose two of my favorite picks. Lullabye by Billy joel was perfect for Katie to dance to with her dad, and when Chris and his mom spun around the floor to Somewhere Over the Rainbow by Israel Kamakawiwo’ole there wasn’t a dry eye in the house!

You and Me was a perfect choice for a first dance, and we were happy to get to play it again. It’s not one that comes up too often, and we hadn’t had a request for it since Maribeth and Gary back in September. It’s a great song that gets the party started on a high note!

…and speaking of a high note! Chris and Katie had the most rockin’ dessert of any wedding we’ve done so far this year. In addition to traditional dessert and wedding cake, they had an amazing array of candy! Yes, candy! There was a beautifully done table of every imaginable kind of candy that guests were welcome to stock up on. Everything from Pixi Stix to full size Twix was there and it was a trip. People kept saying they felt like kids again. This is the best pic I could get through the feeding frenzy…

Maribeth and Gary

Date: 9/18/10

Location: Tarrytown, NY

First Dance: You and Me, Dave Matthews Band

Maribeth and Gary are an incredibly fun and energetic couple. They danced non-stop all night, as is evidenced by the collection of blurry dancing pictures I have of them.

Good thing they had the folks from All That’s Video and Photography there to get the real pics!  Maribeth had an in, since her dad owns the company. They’re real pros that have been providing photo and video services in the area since 1986. They were great to work with and so were Maribeth and Gary. An easygoing and fun loving couple, these two just wanted to dance, and dance they did. After the party Gary confided in me that he wasn’t a huge Lady Gaga fan, until we segued from the Black Eyed Peas, I Gotta Feelin’ right into Bad Romance. Gary, I promise if you make it down to Pete’s Saloon for the show on Oct. 8th I’ll kick a little acoustic Paparazzi!

Seriously though, I’m used to seeing our brides and grooms dance their newlyweds butts off, but not as much as these two. They even whipped the band into a frenzy!

Yves jamming out at Maribeth and Gary's wedding!

We had a great time playing for them and you can even check out their first dance on YouTube! Scott and Danny did a great job with a simple guitar/vocal version of You and Me by Dave Matthews Band as per Gary’s request. A great first dance choice! Thanks again to Maribeth and Gary for having us and for being such a great couple. We hope to see you again soon.