We are no strangers to weddings in Somerset as it is not too far from our home in the Cotswolds. However, this was our first wedding at Coombe Lodge near Blagdon. And what a delightful wedding venue this is.
The Wedding
Lee and Rachel
Coombe Lodge, Blagdon, Somerset
28 December 2021
Arriving in good time we set up in the main lounge area of the venue as we had been specifically asked to use the Grand Piano.
As is so often the case, the Grand Piano was not in the best of tune, but luckily it was close enough to get away with, provided certain notes were avoided! Jules is fortunately used to having to deal with such instruments so adapted the music accordingly!
Whilst we were not booked to play for the Ceremony, as we were set up and ready in plenty of time we played for a little while as guests arrived and made their way into the ceremony room. Rachel then appeared right on time looking resplendent in her wedding dress.
This is not a view we usually have of the bride just about to enter her wedding ceremony! In the majority of cases we play for ceremony and drinks reception. Today, however, the bride wanted some songs played via Spotify for the ceremony so our job was to play for the drinks reception and the wedding breakfast.
Wedding Drinks Reception
As the newly weds came out from the wedding ceremony we picked up with Music during their drinks reception. In line with tradition, however, the first moments of that were taken up by the photographer lining everyone up for the traditional confetti shot. The picture below shows the lovely couple just preparing themselves for this!
The drinks reception lasted for around 90 minutes whilst the ceremony room was set up for the wedding breakfast. On occasions such as this where we are playing for the drinks reception followed by the wedding breakfast we tend to find out the approximate timings from the wedding planner. Once we know the ‘call’ time we allow ourselves around 15 minutes ahead of time to move our instruments.
On this occasion as we were using the grand piano for the drinks reception, we had already set up our digital piano in the wedding breakfast room (utilising the time whilst everyone was outside for the confetti shot). This meant it was a seamless move for us from the hotel lounge area into the dining room.
Music for the Wedding Breakfast
Using a little amplification we continued to provide background music during the Wedding Breakfast. Our general policy is to continue playing throughout the meal until the point pudding / coffee has been served. This is usually a good time for us to discretely pack away and leave so we are not moving around in the background of the speeches.
JAM Duo at Your Wedding
Jules and Anne-Marie would be delighted to play for your wedding whether that’s in Somerset or anywhere else in the UK. We will also happily taken on Destination Weddings.
If you would like to find out more then please do get in touch by heading over to our Contact Page and we can discuss the various options with you. You will also find a plethora of information on our website showing you what we can play as well as a portfolio of other weddings we have played for.
[…] to Coombe Lodge in Blagdon. Ironically the last time we were here was also around Christmas for Lee and Rachel on 28 December […]