Emily+Lance, St. Mary's Chapel

We love it when we get to play in local Charlotte weddings! St. Mary's Chapel is one of the cutest chapels just on the edge of the city. The acoustics in there are beautiful, and we have enjoyed every wedding in that pretty place.

Lance and Emily were such fun to work with. They knew exactly what they wanted, and we had fun learning new pieces for them. Keep reading to see their musical selections below!

CEREMONY SELECTIONS:

Prelude [30 seamless minutes of our Sacred, modern, and Classical selections]

Dawn by Jean-Yves Thibaudet [2 Mothers/2 Grandmother ]

Comptine d'un autre ete, l'apres-midi by Yann Tiersen [4 Bridesmaids, 1 Flower Girl]

La valse d'Amelie - Version piano by Yann Tiersen  [Bride]

La Rejoissance [Recessional]

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Venue | St. Mary's Chapel, Charlotte, NC

Musicians | Wescottage Music

Photographer | David Malament Photography

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CONGRATULATIONS TO THE NEW MR.+MRS. MAR!

Kalyn+Kelin, Vista Development Clubhouse in Lake Lure

In recent years, couples have steered away from the traditional church wedding to having a beautiful outdoor wedding. The decor is naturally gorgeous, and the photos usually turn out beautiful. However, outdoor weddings aren't always the most comfortable for guests and everyone else involved. Almost every October Bride who dreamed of having a perfect outdoor wedding in 2015 didn't get one.

The rain was depressingly constant and seemingly unending. However, Kalyn and Kelin had such a perfect backup plan for their mountain destination wedding. The rain didn't dampen a single spirit. Instead, they had one of the most gorgeous indoor weddings with the misty Blue Ridge Mountains as the backdrop in the tall windows.

Their wedding was intimate, emotional, and joyful. We smiled the entire time! It was such a joy to be a part of their wedding.

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Meghan Rolfe Photography

Kalyn asked us to wear colors that coordinated with the wedding instead of our professional black attire that we usually wear. We always love to change things up a bit! Her colors were a natural palette of creams, ivory, khaki, green, and an accent of Red/Burgundy with the florals. So tasteful and beautiful.

CEREMONY SELECTIONS:

Prelude [Seating of the Mothers/Grandmothers]

[They were seated during the last prelude song we played]

Over the Rainbow [Officiant/Groom/Ring Bearer]

A Thousand Years [Bride]

Best Day of My Life [Recessional]

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Venue | Vista Development Clubhouse

Musicians | Wescottage Music

Photographer | Meghan Rolfe Photography

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CONGRATULATIONS TO THE NEW MR.+MRS. BIDELSPACH!

Ashley+Stephen, In Action Photos

Happy October! We have finally entered the new engagement season!

If you are like us, your Facebook news feed is blowing up with ring photos and updates in relational statuses. This is such a fun time of year!

On another note, I am so excited to share some of the images from Ashley+Stephen's wedding! We loved working with Cheyenne and Geoff Schultz and seeing their stunning work. To see Cheyenne's full blog post on the wedding, visit here.

Enjoy!

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[Just in case you missed the last journal post - listen to this LIVE recording of us playing a wedding in September while you scroll through the photos! Shutter-Hutch {photobooths+videography}]

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Venue | Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden

Photographer | The Schultzes

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Ashley+Stephen, Daniel Stowe Botanical Gardens

I had anticipated this wedding for quite some time! Ashley had quite the time with the wedding planning. What should be a fun process turned out to be tricky and difficult. During the first few months of our correspondence, she went from waiting for a wedding venue to finish construction to needing to quickly book another venue and refine the guest list.

In the end, everything turned out absolutely beautiful and stunning.

Beauty for Ashes Photography - Wescottage Music

Ashley was glowing as she walked down the aisle. Stephen was tearing up. Some of the sweetest moments.

I'm definitely a fan of scripting your own vows. I think the best combination is when couples script their personal vows and then do the "repeat after me" vows.

Ashley and Stephen had such sweet things to say about each other and truly were soaking in the moments and were overwhelmed by the beauty and significance of their marriage. We all couldn't help but smile and stifle our giddy squeals as we shared in their excitement.

CEREMONY SELECTIONS:

You Raise Me Up [Mothers/Grandmothers]

Love Story [Flower Girls/Ring Bearers]

A Thousand Years [Bride]

Best Day of My Life [Recessional]

[all of these are under our music samples page]

After the Ceremony, we headed over to the Cocktail Hour location. The hour was cut short because the area was attacked by bees!  

COCKTAIL HOUR FAVORITES:

Ho Hey

The Prayer

Time to Say Goodbye [Con Te Partiro]

All of Me

Marry Me

We loved working with Cheyenne and Geoff Schultz again! They produce beautiful work and are always so pleasurable to be around. Head over to their photography blog to view some of their work and to see how cute Cheyenne's baby bump is! We're looking forward to see the photos from this wedding. View Ashley+Stephen's engagement session here.

Venue | Daniel Stowe Botanical Gardens

Musicians | Wescottage Music

Congratulations to the new Mr.+Mrs. Crandall!

Laura Lee+Stephen, Victorian Crow's Nest

Laura Lee contacted us back in December of 2014 for her August 2015 wedding. However, since a family member already had a contact with musicians, she decided to book them instead [and we're all for using friends and family in your wedding!]. Fast forward about 7 months.

I got a phone call from Laura Lee and she explained that there were some difficulties with the other musical group. Amazingly enough, we still hadn't been booked that day! I loved how her wedding came together, and by the next day, we had everything nailed down and ready to go!

Before the Ceremony began, Laura Lee's friend sang a solo of Great is Thy Faithfulness. I love it when weddings begin with a powerful hymn like that. It prepares everyone for the sacred union and puts everything into perspective.

Although we don't have any photos of us during the wedding, here is the list of music we played!

CEREMONY SELECTIONS:

Great is Thy Faithfulness [Soloist]

Wonderful, Merciful Savior [Mothers/Grandmothers]

Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring [Bridal Party]

Canon in D [Bride]

Best Day of My Life [Recessional]

Canon in D is such a popular and common piece for weddings. Some don't like it because it's played so much. Consider why it is played so much:

It's absolutely beautiful! The melodies are woven together to swell in sound and harmony [which is perfect for processionals!]. It also has a very simple chord progression - which means that it's easy to end the song at any point. We also create our own version of the piece, so we never play it the same way twice. It's so much fun!

If you are a Bride, and someone tells you not to use a particular piece/song because it's overused, consider what they say, but make the decision yourself. I would totally use Canon in D for my wedding because it's beautiful [even though I've played it countless times - even a pop version of it].

Congratulations to the new Mr.+Mrs. Parker!

Venue | Victorian Crow's Nest

Musicians | Wescottage Music

Katie+Bryan, Brakefield at Riverwalk

"Where are all the real men?!" Woes such as these were common between Katie and I throughout the past few years as we were both teachers at the same music school. We would talk about our dreams and visions while encouraging each other to keep trusting God to provide. We shared stories from life, and I remember her talking about this guy - Bryan. But at that time, she ZERO interest in him [at least, that's what she said...]. It's funny how God can direct our lives. Today, Bryan is her husband.

When Katie asked me to play for her wedding, I was thrilled! Katie naturally knows so many musicians since she played violin for the Forest Hill Church band. I played the cello and filled in on some vocal songs with the band. Fun is definitely a good word to describe it!

CEREMONY SELECTIONS:

Carolina Tide [Mothers/Grandmothers]

We Dance [Bridal Party+Bride]

Called Me Higher, Abigail on Vocals [Communion]

My Beloved - [Recessional]

A big shout out to Autumn for the photos! Autumn is such a sweet person and definitely fantastic to work with. To see the full story of Katie+Bryan's wedding day, visit Autumn's blog.

Congratulations to the new Mr.+Mrs. Saylor!

Venue | Brakefield at Riverwalk

Photography | WE ARE THE KERNS

Musicians | Wescottage Music + Forest Hill band