It’s back to working in a “tent” again for this week’s wedding reception.
After a week which saw the hottest temperature ever recorded in the UK just down the road in Cambridge, I think tonight must have been the wettest ever recorded!
That didn’t stop Nicola, Tom and their guests celebrating their evening wedding reception in style in a marquee in the grounds of the Nyton Hotel in Ely though.
And what a night it was!
This was never going to be one of those receptions with a hundred guests on the dance floor. It was a small reception with close friends and family, and I like how personal those can be.
Nicola had a lot of fun with my online request system prior to the evening….with a playlist which ran to over 26 hours in length!
That’s not a problem. There’s obviously no way I can squeeze that many songs into the average 5 hour evening reception, but it gives me a very good idea of musical tastes for the night and I’m more than happy to work with that.
The Logistics
By their very nature, marquees can be tricky to get in and out of. This one involved going across grass into the hotel’s garden so everything had to be carried by hand rather than using my usual trolley system. Add to this that the rain was hammering down both on the way in AND on the way out, and this part wasn’t a lot of fun.
Once into the marquee though, the setup was a doddle with a fairly minimal rig – mainly due to the stability of the floor underneath the marquee (I have to take safety into consideration as well as how things look). Even with a minimal rig though, there was plenty of sound and light for the evening.
The evening had been running late before I managed to set up, with me not getting access to the marquee until 7pm…the scheduled time for the first dance (which actually happened at 8:15pm). That’s not a problem, timelines slip at weddings and I certainly don’t watch the clock and keep reminding you that you should have done something by a certain time if you don’t want me to….it’s YOUR day after all – take the time to enjoy it!
So, a little background music whilst the guests chatted then until Nicola and Tom were ready for their first dance (Perfect by Ed Sheeran).
That was swiftly followed by Nicola dancing with her dad to Sweet Child Of Mine by Guns and Roses.
After that – party time!
So, some photos then
I didn’t take too many photos of this one, but hopefully these will give you an idea of how things can go in a small marquee wedding reception
And so to the playlist
As already mentioned, Nicola had a lot of fun with my playlist system generating a list which would have run for around 26 hours if played from end to end.
Selections ranged from Beyonce, Paramore and Rihanna to Abba, Whitney Houston and modern dance tracks.
On the night, I was also allowed to take guest requests (most of the requests I received were actually already ON Nicola’s playlist….so all good there as well.
The evening was definitely shaped by the guests on this occasion. It could have gone down the hard rock route, the R&B route, the modern dance route…..instead it went firmly down the cliche wedding music route (if that’s what people want to dance to….that’s what I’ll play and Nicola was happy with that).
So….here we go….
Background music between setting up and the First Dance
- Prince – Purple Rain
- Michael Bolton – When A Man Loves A Woman
- John Mayer – Waiting On The World To Change
- Freya Ridings – Lost Without You
- Jason Mraz – I Won’t Give Up
- Adele – Set Fire To The Rain
- John Mayer – Slow Dancing In A Burning Room
- John Legend – All of Me
- The Shires – Friday Night
- Prince – When Doves Cry
- Marvin Gaye – Sexual Healing
- Adele – Someone Like You
- The Shires – Tonight
- Westlife – What Makes A Man
- Bryan Adams – Heaven
- Westlife – You Raise Me Up
Evening Playlist
- Ed Sheeran – Perfect (First Dance)
- Guns N Roses – Sweet Child O Mine (Father & Daughter dance)
- Busted – Year 3000
- Gloria Estefan – Conga
- Whitney Houston – I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)
- The Spice Girls – Megamix
- Abba – Mamma Mia
- Abba – Dancing Queen
- Wham – Wake Me Up Before You Go Go
- Kenny Loggins – Footloose
- Various Artists – The Grease Megamix
- The Jacksons – Blame It On The Boogie
- Rick Astley – Never Gonna Give You Up
- The Human League – Don’t you Want Me
- A-Ha – Take On Me
- Bryan Adams – Summer of ´69
- Bon Jovi – Livin On a Prayer
- Calvin Harris & Dua Lipa – One Kiss (Promo Only Intro Edit)
- Calvin Harris, Sam Smith – Promises
- Queen – Radio Ga Ga
- Queen – We Will Rock You
- DJ Casper – Cha Cha Slide
- Los Del Rio – Macarena (Bayside Boys Remix)
- The Proclaimers – I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)
- Rednex – Cotton Eye Joe
- Steps – 5,6,7,8
- S Club 7 – Reach
- Village People – YMCA
- Vengaboys – We Like To Party (The Vengabus)
- Vengaboys – Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom!
- DJ Otzi – Hey Baby
- Boney M – Rasputin
- Gipsy Kings – Bambaleo
- Gibson Brothers – Que Sera Mi Vada
- Shania Twain – That Don’t Impress Me Much
- Flo Rida Feat T-Pain – Low
- Rihanna – You da One
- Gibson Brothers – Cuba
- Ottawan – D.I.S.C.O
- Donna Summer – Last Dance
- Walk The Moon – Shut Up And Dance
- Cascada – Evacuate The Dancefloor (Radio Edit)
- Pitbull feat. Ne-Yo, Afrojack & Nayer – Give Me Everything
- Avicii – Hey Brother
- The Jam- A Town Called Malice
- Phil Collins – You Can’t Hurry Love
- Dexys Midnight Runners – Come On Eileen
- Run-DMC – Walk This Way
- Starship – We Built This City
- John Legend – All of Me
- Starship – Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now
- Ed Sheeran – Castle On The Hill
- The Killers – Human
- A R Rahman & The Pussycat Dolls – Jai Ho! (You Are My Destiny)
- Shakira – Hips Don’t Lie
- Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee – Despacito (Remix)
- Ike and Tina Turner – Proud Mary
- Elvis Presley – Jailhouse Rock
- Bill Haley & His Comets – Rock Around The Clock
- Bee Gees – More Than A Woman (2007 Remastered)
- Katrina & The Waves – Walking On Sunshine (Last Dance)
So, to conclude
A very wet night outside didn’t curtail the celebrations within the marquee. A LOT of dancing, smiling, happy guests made sure that Nicola and Tom’s marquee wedding reception went with a bang!
