There are summer weddings, and then there are weddings where Britain suddenly decides it has spent far too long pretending to be a damp island in the North Atlantic and would instead like to have a go at being southern Spain.
Nicky and Emily’s wedding at Abbey Farm near Woodhall Spa in Lincolnshire was very much in the second category.
It was hot. Properly hot. The sort of heat where carrying a Nord Stage piano, electric cello, speakers, stands and all the other paraphernalia required by two professional wedding musicians becomes less a case of setting up and more an unscheduled fitness assessment.
But what a splendid day it was.
JAM Duo had been booked to provide live cello and piano music for the outdoor wedding ceremony and drinks reception, taking us from a beautiful ceremony overlooking the grounds at Abbey Farm to an afternoon of music, drinks and canapés near the barns.
And despite spending a reasonable proportion of the afternoon wondering whether we might actually melt into the Lincolnshire countryside, we thoroughly enjoyed being part of it.
A Summer Wedding at Abbey Farm in Lincolnshire
Abbey Farm provided a wonderful setting for Nicky and Emily’s wedding.
With approximately 88 guests attending, the ceremony was planned outside with the aisle positioned to make the most of the surrounding countryside and the remains of the old abbey in the background.
The weather forecast had clearly decided that the venue’s indoor backup plan would be entirely unnecessary.
There was sunshine.
Lots of it.
Fortunately, one of the less glamorous but increasingly important items carried around the country by JAM Duo is our large navy performance canopy.
It may not possess quite the romance of an electric cello or a grand piano shell, but when the temperature starts heading towards levels normally associated with continental Europe, it suddenly becomes the most important piece of equipment we own.
Electronic instruments and direct summer sunshine are not natural friends. Nor, for that matter, are pianists.
So up went the canopy.
This gave us a properly shaded performance area while still allowing the cello and piano to project across the outdoor ceremony space.
Live Music as Guests Arrived
Guests began arriving from midday, with the ceremony scheduled for 1pm.
We always like the pre-ceremony period because it allows the atmosphere to build naturally.
Rather than guests arriving to silence or a generic playlist coming from a speaker somewhere behind a shrub, they hear actual musicians playing as they take their seats.
For Nicky and Emily, their pre-ceremony choices included:
Stargazing, Stand By Me, Marry You, The Glasgow Love Theme and All My Life.
It was an eclectic selection and exactly the sort of thing we enjoy performing.
One minute something cinematic and romantic, the next something contemporary, all arranged for live cello and piano.
That variety is an important part of what JAM Duo does. We are not interested in making every wedding sound identical.
Every couple chooses different music, and the resulting soundtrack should feel like theirs.
Canon in D Meets The NeverEnding Story
The bridal entrance was particularly enjoyable.
Nicky and Emily had chosen a combination of Canon in D leading into The NeverEnding Story.
On paper this might look like two pieces of music which have wandered into the same room by accident.
One is one of the best-known pieces of classical wedding music ever written.
The other is associated with a flying luckdragon.
Yet musically, it worked remarkably well.
This is one of the advantages of having two musicians playing everything live.
We can adapt the length of the music according to what is actually happening.
There were two flower girls, a page boy with a bridesmaid and three adult bridesmaids before Emily made her entrance, so the music needed to accommodate an entire bridal party rather than simply pressing play and hoping everyone reached the front at approximately the correct moment.
We could extend phrases, move naturally between sections and make the transition into The NeverEnding Story happen at the right point for Emily’s entrance.
No backing tracks.
No fixed recordings.
Just two musicians watching the ceremony and responding in real time.
Music During the Wedding Ceremony
Once Nicky and Emily were together at the front, the ceremony unfolded beneath a blazing Lincolnshire summer sky.
For the signing of the register they had selected another wonderfully varied trio:
Signed, Sealed, Delivered, Beneath Your Beautiful and All About You.
This is another part of the ceremony where live music is especially useful.
Signing the register has no fixed duration.
Sometimes it takes four minutes.
Sometimes there are photographs.
Sometimes relatives become involved.
Sometimes somebody discovers that a pen has apparently ceased functioning at the precise moment it is required for the most legally significant signature of the afternoon.
With live music we simply continue until the registrars are ready.
The couple then left the ceremony to This Will Be (An Everlasting Love), which provided exactly the right upbeat ending as everyone prepared for confetti.
Confetti, Photographs and the Great Equipment Migration
At around 1.30pm came the confetti, followed by photographs and some time for Nicky and Emily together.
Meanwhile, JAM Duo had another task.
Move everything.
The drinks reception was approximately 100 metres away, back towards the barns.
A hundred metres does not sound very far.
It is, after all, barely worth starting the Land Rover for.
However, when you are moving keyboards, cello equipment, speaker systems, stands, cables, tablets and assorted cases across a field in serious summer heat, 100 metres develops the geographical significance of an expedition across the Andes.
Wedding guests quite sensibly wandered towards cold drinks.
We dismantled an entire musical operation and carried it across a field.
There are moments when being a wedding musician seems exceptionally glamorous.
This was not one of them.
But before long everything was rebuilt, plugged in and ready for the drinks reception.
Live Cello and Piano for the Drinks Reception
The drinks reception is one of our favourite parts of a wedding day.
The formalities have temporarily finished, everyone has a drink, photographs are happening and guests can simply relax.
Nicky and Emily had given us a particularly good list of requests.
Among them were Bitter Sweet Symphony, She, Blinded by Your Grace, Yellow, Wonderwall, Together in Electric Dreams, Until I Found You, Crazy Little Thing Called Love, Game of Thrones, If I Ain’t Got You, I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing, Starlight, Sweet Disposition, The Cave, You’re Still the One, You’ve Got the Love, Pink Pony Club, Mr Brightside, Friday I’m in Love, Ironic and Beautiful Crazy.
Which is quite a journey.
We went from Shania Twain to Muse, The Cure to The Killers, Queen to Alicia Keys and somehow found room for Game of Thrones along the way.
This is why drinks reception music should never be treated as musical wallpaper.
People listen.
They recognise songs.
They smile when something unexpected appears.
You will frequently see a guest halfway through a conversation suddenly turn towards us with the expression of somebody who has just realised that yes, the cello really is playing the theme from Game of Thrones.
Cake Cutting and Cocktail Hour
At around 2.15pm, Nicky and Emily cut their wedding cake.
The cake itself fitted beautifully with the relaxed style of the day: a long rectangular design decorated with soft pink and white details and a simple Just Married centrepiece.
Around us, guests enjoyed drinks and canapés in the sunshine while we continued playing.
This is exactly the atmosphere we like for a summer drinks reception.
Nothing needs to be over-produced.
There does not need to be somebody shouting into a microphone every six minutes.
Good music, good food, good weather and people enjoying themselves usually manage perfectly well without additional interference.
Wedding Musicians at Abbey Farm, Woodhall Spa
By late afternoon guests were due to make their way into the barn for the wedding breakfast.
The barn itself looked superb, with long tables, pale seating, soft pink details, candles and flowers beneath the beautiful exposed timber structure.
After several hours outside, it also contained another remarkable luxury.
Shade.
But despite the extraordinary heat and the considerable amount of equipment shifting required, this was one of those weddings which reminded us why we enjoy travelling around the UK doing what we do.
Nicky and Emily were an absolute pleasure.
Relaxed, friendly and clearly having the sort of wedding they actually wanted rather than one designed to satisfy somebody else’s idea of what a wedding ought to look like.
That always makes a difference.
Live Cello and Piano Wedding Music Across the UK
For JAM Duo, every wedding is slightly different.
Sometimes we are playing inside a castle.
Sometimes we are beside a lake.
Sometimes there is a magnificent grand piano waiting for us.
And occasionally we find ourselves erecting a substantial navy canopy in a Lincolnshire field while wondering whether the Nord Stage has quietly begun cooking itself.
But the principle remains the same.
Every note is played live by Jules on piano and Anne-Marie on cello.
We do not use backing tracks, and we do not send substitute musicians.
That means we can follow the timing of a ceremony, extend an entrance piece when necessary, shorten music when everyone has reached their seats and react to whatever is actually happening in front of us.
Because weddings rarely run with the military precision suggested by the timetable.
And nor should they.
Thank You Nicky and Emily
Thank you to Nicky and Emily for choosing JAM Duo to provide the music for their ceremony and drinks reception at Abbey Farm.
It was a genuine pleasure to be part of such a happy, relaxed wedding and to provide the soundtrack as everyone moved from the ceremony into a glorious summer afternoon of drinks, photographs and celebration.
We may have carried what felt like half a music shop across a field in temperatures normally reserved for pizza ovens, but we would happily do it again.
Preferably, perhaps, with a slightly larger supply of cold water.
For couples planning a wedding at Abbey Farm, Woodhall Spa, or elsewhere in Lincolnshire, JAM Duo provides live cello and piano music for wedding ceremonies, drinks receptions, wedding breakfasts and other parts of the wedding day.
Whatever the setting, the aim is simple: two musicians, every note played live, and music which feels completely part of your wedding rather than something merely playing in the background.
