Adam-Morgan Wedding

With the approach of summer’s end, our quartet played at Adam and Morgan’s wedding in downtown Chicago.  Even though school had started for most students, the streets were still bustling with activity.  The ceremony location was magnificent; as guests walked in, we could hear their excited exclamations.  Adam and Morgan chose their processional and recessional pieces, and they wanted us to choose the short reflection pieces during their ceremony.

Here is the final music list:

• Grandparents/parents/groomsmen: “Air” from Water Music (Handel)
• Bridesmaids: Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring (Bach)
• Bride: Canon in D (Pachelbel)
• Recessional: Trumpet Voluntary (Clark)

We also played at the cocktail hour, and we enjoyed interacting with the guests a little more during this time.

Congratulations Morgan and Adam!

You may choose as much or little music as you want for your event.  We have played at weddings where the bride wants us to pick all her music, and sometimes couples will choose everything that is played from the beginning of the prelude to the end of the cocktail hour.  If you just know what kind of mood or style you would like to set, we have a lot of experience putting together playlists.

Laura-Jacob Wedding

One early evening in August, our quartet played at Laura and Jacob’s wedding in downtown Chicago.  Elegant decorations lined the aisle; there was a large chuppah at the front, and huge windows which opened and lit up the room after Laura processed down the aisle.  In the planning process, Laura expressed interest in opera, baroque, and Jewish selections, and we were able to make all of those genres work for her wedding:

Laura specifically requested that we not play any Mendelssohn or Wagner, and we are always willing to omit selections or composers on our repertoire list.  We also played at the cocktail hour which was, conveniently, right outside the ceremony room.  For the cocktail hour, Laura and Jacob requested light, baroque chamber music similar to “The Four Seasons” by Vivaldi.

Congratulations Jacob and Laura!

Making a “do not play” list for your musicians is perfectly acceptable.  Our ensemble has plenty of music, even if you do not want more than half of what is on our quartet repertoire list.  Of course your hired group will use their judgment when deciding what music to play during your event as well (e.g.: we only play “Bridal Chorus” if the bride specifically requests this piece).

Nydia-Shelden Wedding

In mid-August, our trio played for Shelden and Nydia’s wedding in Chicago’s southwest suburbs.  It was a beautiful, sunny day which was perfect for their outdoor ceremony!  The music they requested for the ceremony was:

• Family/Bridal Party: Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring (Bach)
• Bride: Canon in D (Pachelbel)
• Reflection: Ave Maria (Schubert)
• Unity Candle: You Raise Me Up(Groban)
• Recessional: Hornpipe from “Water Music Suites” (Handel)

Following the delightful ceremony and recessional, everyone walked inside for the cocktail hour.  At the cocktail hour, our trio played classical favorites as guests mingled.

Congratulations Nydia and Shelden!

Interesting fact: There are two well-known versions of ‘Ave Maria’ used in weddings, one written by Schubert and one written by Bach/Gounod.  The Schubert version seems to be the more popular, but both work well in a wedding ceremony.

Samantha-Jack Wedding

Our quartet played a mid-July wedding in Chicago’s west suburbs.  (Yes, I am way behind in our blogging- my apologies)  It was a very warm day and fortunately, the wedding took place indoors.  Samantha’s requests for the prelude were: Somewhere Over the Rainbow (Wizard of Oz), Love Theme (Romeo and Juliet), and All You Need is Love (Beatles).  Although their Sand Ceremony piece was not a traditional wedding selection like the other ceremony selections, it worked well.  The pieces for their ceremony were:

The wedding went without a hitch, and after the ceremony the couple/wedding party/family members went outside to take pictures by the fountain.

Congratulations Samantha and Jack!

This also happened to be our last wedding as the original White Lake Quartet ensemble.  Francois got an orchestra position in North Carolina and Erica went with him.  We really enjoyed working with them and will miss their presence in the group!

Jaclyn-Thomas Wedding

Jaclyn and Thomas’ wedding ceremony took place in the west suburbs of Chicago. It was an incredibly hot summer day, but fortunately their wedding was in an air conditioned church. Jaclyn originally wanted to process in to Bridal Chorus and to take her first steps with her new husband to All You Need is Love (a surprise to Thomas), but she soon found out that the church did not allow certain music. The pieces they chose instead worked very well:

• Grandparents/Parents– Air from Water Music Suite (Handel)
• Bridesmaids Processional– Air on the G String (Bach)
• Bride– Canon in D (Pachelbel)
• Unity Candle– St. Anthony’s Chorale (Haydn)
• Recessional– Wedding March (Mendelssohn)

We played Arioso (Bach) per Jaclyn’s request during the prelude and the three requests they had for the postlude were: Hornpipe from Water Music Suite(Handel), Spring from the Four Seasons (Vivaldi), and Trumpet Tune (Purcell). These three postlude pieces are very celebratory and worked perfectly in the postlude.

The cocktail hour was a bit of a distance from the ceremony location, but it was beautiful and definitely worth the drive! We played jazz and swing music, per the couple’s request, as guests entered the mansion. Jaclyn also requested Stookey’sThe Wedding Song, for her mom, and the heretofore forbidden All You Need is Love for Thomas.

Congratulations Jaclyn and Thomas!

-Christine

Christie and Aaron

The White Lake Trio’s first June wedding coincidentally was also the first outdoor wedding of the year. Christie and Aaron were alums of the same school two of our members attended, and it was nice to feel the alumni connection. The weather cooperated very well, and their wedding was beautiful! Christie was one of the most organized brides we have worked with; she knew exactly what she wanted for her wedding. The pieces they selected were:

Christie and Aaron told me they knew they wanted “Reminiscent Joy” and “I Will be Here” from the very beginning of their wedding planning, and they sent me the music early this year which greatly aided in the arranging process. The pieces worked out wonderfully.

Congratulations Aaron and Christie!

Shaun-Ian Wedding Reception

A trio from the White Lake Quartet (one of us had the day off) went on a road trip at the end of May to Peoria. We left in the early morning (a difficult thing for many musicians) and drove three hours to arrive at Shaun and Ian’s wedding reception. The family members were lively and everyone was incredibly nice! Shaun requested that we play Bach and Vivaldi and she had one special request: music from Chrono Trigger.

I arranged four pieces for string trio with four different themes from the video game and we interspersed them throughout the evening. As we watched the couple play the “newlywed game” (and won), it was obvious why they requested this piece: they really enjoy video games together!

Congratulations Shaun and Ian!

~Christine