This was our first wedding in Staffordshire, which is somewhat ironic since Stafford is Anne-Marie’s home town! As a Duo we have travelled all over the UK and often driven through Staffordshire on our way somewhere. So it was lovely to finally stop and be part of a wedding in Stafford.
The Wedding
Rosie and Chris
23 February 2022
Weston Hall, Stafford
Arrival and Setup
The ceremony was scheduled to start at 2pm. Planning ahead, but knowing that Stafford wasn’t that far from our home in the Cotswolds, we left, as usual, in good time. Anne- Marie was confident it would only take 90 minutes to get to Stafford, having undertaken the journey many times in the past.
Today, however, there was some sort of issue with the M6 which was indicating a delay of over an hour. Luckily armed with this information we left plenty of time and also found an alternative route. This meant, with careful planning, we arrived at the hotel by 12.30 and so still have plenty of time to set up our instruments and then retire to the hotel bar for a coffee before we were due to start playing.
This does however serve to highlight and important part of our responsibility as wedding musicians which is to ensure we always allow sufficient time to get to a venue no matter where it is in the UK or indeed Europe.
The Wedding Ceremony
The ceremony was upstairs in the hotel in a beautifully decorated room with a lovely flower arch. We played a selection of pieces (chosen by Rosie) before the ceremony whilst their guests gathered. Rosie then walked in to Pachelbel’s Canon, only a few minutes after 2pm, preceded by 4 bridesmaids looking lovely in a navy blue.
Positioned at the back, we were performing by a Bay Window which meant we could be heard during the ceremony but were not ‘centre stage’, leaving that for Chris and Rosie. Exactly where we set up in the ceremony room is largely down to a combination of available space versus the wishes of the bride and groom. Some people like us at the front some prefer us to one side.
Wedding Drinks Reception
After the short ceremony, the guests went outside briefly for some photographs. We were told to stay put in the ceremony room as people would be returning there for the majority of the drinks reception. This was quite pleasing as otherwise we would have had to set up amplification, and also be sat outside on what was still a rather cold day!
Sure enough, about 15 minutes later the wedding guests returned indoors.
We continued to play a selection of popular covers, again mostly chosen by Rosie. It’s worth emphasising that unlike the majority of wedding musicians, we do not operate a ‘repertoire list’. Our listen page now has around 140 tracks on it for inspiration. However, whilst a lot of our couples do choose their music from here, there is no requirement to do so.
JAM Duo pride themselves on being able to play any piece of music. As 2 professional musicians we can play anything providing we can either find a score or at least listen to something in order to make our own arrangement. And it doesn’t matter if there isn’t an official ‘music score’ for piano and cello. We can easily make an arrangement from the most basic musical score.
We really enjoyed being part of Rosie and Chris’ wedding at Weston Hall in Staffordshire. If you are getting married in Stafford, Staffordshire, the Midlands or indeed anywhere else in the UK we would love to hear from you. Please do get in touch via our contact page where you can email or WhatsApp us.