Some wedding entrances are rehearsed several times, carefully timed and polished until everybody knows precisely when to walk, where to stand and what happens next. And then there are wedding entrances where you are sitting at the piano, the vicar announces that everyone should be upstanding, a bridesmaid you have never met appears at the back of the church, you hand her a microphone and hope that all the arrangements made months earlier are about to work.
Fortunately, they did.
Sally and Sam’s wedding on 26 September 2026 took us to Barrow upon Soar in Leicestershire, where we provided live cello and piano music for their church ceremony at Holy Trinity Church before moving across the village to Barrow Town Cricket Club for an outdoor drinks reception.
It was a lovely example of just how much live music can become part of the character of a wedding day rather than simply filling in the occasional silence. There was a large bridal party, a very personal musical entrance, plenty of Coldplay and Taylor Swift, 105 guests, a champagne tower and, happily, some decent September weather.
Wedding Music at Holy Trinity Church, Barrow upon Soar
The ceremony took place at Holy Trinity Church on Church Street in Barrow upon Soar, with guests arriving from around 12.30pm ahead of the 1pm service.
We were positioned at the back of the church, which worked particularly well for this ceremony because Sally had chosen music not only for the principal moments of the service but also for guests arriving. This gave us an opportunity to establish the atmosphere before the bridal party appeared rather than beginning abruptly with the entrance itself.
The pre-ceremony choices included Bittersweet Symphony by The Verve, Paradise and The Scientist by Coldplay, Turning Page and Wildest Dreams by Taylor Swift. It was an excellent collection for cello and piano because it mixed recognisable songs with the sort of sweeping melodic writing which works especially well in a church acoustic.
With eight bridesmaids involved, there was also rather more entrance to accompany than you might get at a particularly economical register-office wedding.
But the main entrance had something rather different planned.
A Bridesmaid Singing the Bridal Entrance
Sally had asked us in advance whether one of her bridesmaids, Kim, could sing Lifetime by Justin Bieber while Jules accompanied her on piano.
Absolutely.
There was, however, one small detail which made things interesting: we had never met Kim and there was no opportunity for a rehearsal before the ceremony.
This is precisely the sort of thing where live musicians have to be able to respond to what is actually happening rather than what the timetable claims ought to be happening.
We had prepared the microphone and sound beforehand and Jules was ready at the piano. Then the moment arrived. The vicar asked the congregation to stand, the first bridesmaid appeared, we established that this was Kim, passed her the microphone and Jules began the piano introduction.
From there, Kim sang as the remaining bridesmaids and finally Sally made their way into church.
It worked beautifully.
Jules simply followed Kim’s phrasing as she sang, giving her the freedom to take the song at a natural pace rather than forcing her to follow a fixed recording. That is one of the enormous advantages of genuinely live wedding music. A singer can breathe, pause, hold a phrase or respond emotionally to the moment and the accompanist goes with them.
There was a round of applause afterwards, which is not something you get for every bridal entrance and was a pretty good indication that the plan had worked.
It was personal, slightly nerve-racking and completely unique to Sally and Sam’s wedding. In other words, exactly what live wedding music ought to be.
Coldplay, Taylor Swift and Hans Zimmer for the Ceremony
Following the entrance, we continued to provide music during the ceremony.
For the signing of the register Sally and Sam had chosen Yellow by Coldplay, Enchanted by Taylor Swift and A Sky Full of Stars by Coldplay. These are all songs we know extremely well and they work particularly effectively as cello and piano arrangements because there is enough musical substance in them to stand up without vocals or backing tracks.
For the couple’s exit, they went in a different direction with Cornfield Chase by Hans Zimmer, from Interstellar.
It is perhaps not the most obvious wedding recessional choice on paper, but that is rather the point. Wedding music does not have to consist of the same twelve songs played at every ceremony in Britain. If a piece means something to you, there is usually a way of making it work.
And Hans Zimmer on cello and piano in a church has rather more impact than one might initially imagine.
From Church Ceremony to Cricket Club Drinks Reception
Once the ceremony had finished, we had the glamorous task that sits behind a surprising amount of professional wedding music: pack everything away quickly, get it into the car, drive to the next location, unload it again and be ready before most of the guests have finished finding the bar.
Sally and Sam’s reception was being held at Barrow Town Cricket Club, only a short distance from the church, which made the transition considerably easier.
We relocated immediately after the ceremony and set up for the drinks reception, where we were booked to play from approximately 2.15pm until 3.45pm.
This time the setting was entirely different. Instead of the more formal acoustic of the church, we were outdoors at the cricket ground alongside the marquee, playing as everyone relaxed after the ceremony.
This is one of the reasons we particularly enjoy bookings which include both the wedding ceremony and drinks reception. The two parts of the day need completely different musical approaches.
During the ceremony, every piece has a job to do. The entrance has to fit the bridal party. Music during the signing must last for however long the photographs and paperwork actually take. The exit needs to begin at precisely the right moment.
At the drinks reception, everything changes. Guests are talking, photographs are happening, drinks are being poured and the music can become much more spontaneous.
Live Music for an Outdoor Wedding Drinks Reception
Sally had given us a substantial list of songs she particularly liked, which is always helpful because it gives us a very clear idea of a couple’s taste without requiring the drinks reception to become a rigid ninety-minute playlist.
There was plenty of Taylor Swift, including Lover, Wildest Dreams, Enchanted, Crazier and Snow on the Beach, alongside Coldplay favourites including Paradise, Yellow, The Scientist and A Sky Full of Stars.
The list also ranged through Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol, If I Ain’t Got You by Alicia Keys, Until I Found You by Stephen Sanchez, Sign of the Times by Harry Styles, Angels by Robbie Williams, Here Comes the Sun by The Beatles, Dreams and Landslide by Fleetwood Mac, Wonderwall by Oasis, Iris by Goo Goo Dolls and many more.
That range is exactly what we like for a drinks reception. One moment we can be playing Taylor Swift and the next Fleetwood Mac, Coldplay, Oasis or Harry Styles. Because our arrangements are written for cello and piano rather than built around backing tracks, the sound remains consistent even when the repertoire moves across several decades.
And, crucially for an outdoor drinks reception with more than 100 guests, the electric cello and amplified piano mean the music can actually be heard.
There is little point hiring musicians if their contribution disappears somewhere between the marquee and the third conversation from the bar.
A Champagne Tower and a September Afternoon
During the reception Sally and Sam also had a champagne tower, which provided one of those visual centrepieces around which everybody naturally gathers.
With the wedding formalities over, this section of the afternoon had a completely different energy from the ceremony. Guests could mingle around the cricket ground, catch up with one another and enjoy the music while photographs and the various reception traditions took place.
That is where live music works particularly well. It does not demand everyone’s attention in the way that a performance on a stage might. Instead, it creates an atmosphere around everything else that is happening.
People can listen closely to a favourite song, recognise something as they walk past, sing along from a safe distance after sufficient champagne, or simply enjoy having music in the background.
By 3.45pm we finished playing as everyone began moving towards the next stage of the day, with speeches due shortly afterwards.
Personal Wedding Music Rather Than a Standard Playlist
What we particularly liked about Sally and Sam’s wedding was how personal their music had become.
Sally had told us beforehand that she listened to our recordings on SoundCloud every week and had been looking forward to hearing us play live. That meant the music was clearly important to her long before we arrived in Barrow upon Soar.
And the decision to have Kim sing the bridal entrance made the ceremony something that could never simply have been reproduced from a Spotify playlist.
It required a microphone, live accompaniment, a little flexibility and a certain amount of faith from all concerned. There was no rehearsal, no second attempt and no convenient button marked “restart”.
Which is why it was so satisfying when it worked.
For us, that is one of the best things about playing at weddings. We can plan everything meticulously in advance, but ultimately live music has to follow real people in real time.
Bridesmaids do not always walk at the predicted speed. Registrars take different amounts of time. Vicars occasionally start speaking sooner than expected. Someone decides at the last minute to sing.
And weddings would probably be rather dull if none of that ever happened.
Wedding Musicians in Leicestershire and the East Midlands
JAM Duo provides live cello and piano wedding music throughout Leicestershire, the East Midlands and across England and Wales, with music available for church weddings, civil ceremonies, drinks receptions, wedding breakfasts and other parts of the wedding day.
We always perform as the same two musicians — Jules on piano and Anne-Marie on cello — and all our music is performed live without backing tracks.
Whether you are planning a traditional church ceremony, an outdoor wedding, a marquee reception or something rather less conventional, we can help you build the music around your particular day rather than asking you to fit your wedding around a standard set list.
And if one of your bridesmaids suddenly needs a microphone at the back of a church while Jules starts playing Justin Bieber?
We can apparently do that too.
