The wedding business, like many is seasonal and traditionally the majority of weddings will take place in ‘peak season’ which is potentially any time from approximately April through to October. However, we like to keep busy all year round and we have already been to several weddings in 2025. February was a little quieter for a week or so which enabled us to get on with some new recordings – you can find these over on our listen page.
The Wedding
Chloe and Lewis
The Croft Hotel, Darlington
Reception Drinks and Meal
Monday 17 February 2025
Having spent the previous weekend in Bath, where Jules was playing the organ at the Abbey for the services and accompanying Quorum choir directed by Chris Williams, it was an early start on Monday morning to drive to Darlington.
Fortunately our involvement in Chloe’s wedding didn’t start until the drinks reception, although we did have to be there in good time as there was a song for the couple to enter their drinks immediately following the ceremony. With the ceremony time of 1.30pm we didn’t delay and in fact arrived in Darlington just after 11am which gave us more than enough time to set up and be ready before the ceremony had even started.
The Drinks Reception
Chloe had requested that we play Children by Robert Miles as she exited from the ceremony into the drinks reception. Not only that the couple stood by us as they greeted their guests which was a really nice moment.
For this part of the day the musical request was a selection of pop songs and music from Bridgerton, with the proviso, no Coldplay until the wedding breakfast!
The Wedding Meal
As speeches were first, Chloe and Lewis had kindly provided us with a meal in the bar during their speeches. To ensure we provided as much music as possible during the wedding meal, we moved our instruments just before the guests were called into the meal room so we could seamlessly slot in and start playing once speeches were over.
There was a slight hiatus at the moment the couple were about to enter for the wedding breakfast as one of the tables collapsed, taking with it 8 place settings, candles and cutlery…. Fortunately the staff were quickly on hand and the disruption was minimal and before very long the table was rectified and new place settings were set up!
Our brief from the couple during the meal was upbeat songs and to specifically include:
Dancing in the Moonlight- Top loader
Coldplay- Yellow & The Scientist
Temper Trap- Sweet Disposition
The Source- You’ve got the Love
David Gray- Babylon
Bitter Sweet Symphony- The Verve
Oasis- Wonderwall
We really enjoyed being a part of this wedding and the Croft Hotel is a delightful venue in Darlington. We wish Chloe and Lewis all the very best for their married life together as husband and wife and would like to thank them for choosing JAM Duo to provide their daytime music.
