A Wedding Carnival

Over the past year we have performed our music at several wedding fayres and have met many great couples and exhibitors. One of the most recent fayres we have done was run by All Wrapped Up Events and Weddings and was held at the brand new Salford City Stadium on the 24th March. Now this wasn't just any wedding fayre, this was a Wedding Carnival and suppliers were encouraged to pull out all the stops to make this an event to remember. Armed with brand new business cards, a handful of sample CDs, a couple of paper doilies and several meters of floral bunting we were ready to go!

The venue is a great space due to the massive windows which lets in the light and by the time we got there the empty space had been transformed into a bride's dream with tables of sweets, stationery, cakes, photographs and fashion accessories. The team from All Wrapped Up had even styled different sections of the room with different themes ranging from countryside chic to an indian summer. The whole room looked amazing.

We set up our stall in the entrance so that the couples could hear our music as they registered with Julia from Brides Up North. Throughout the day we played lots of requests with popular choices including 'Marry You' by Bruno Mars and Lady Gaga's 'Poker Face', and we got to try out some new arrangements including 'Patience' by Take That and 'We Found Love' by Rhianna. The music seemed to go down well with lots of interest from brides and grooms and we're looking forward to working with them soon! I think one of the best things about The Dotted Crotchets is said that when some couples see that we are a string quartet they presume that we just play classical music so aren't interested, but then they'll have a look at our repertoire list and are amazed that we can play anything from Greenday to Michael Jackson.

We all had a great day performing at the Wedding Carnival and can't wait to exhibit with All Wrapped Up very soon. A huge congratulations to them for organising a great event and thanks to Julia from Brides Up North who kept us busy with requests, the Cheshire Cat Cake Company for the delicious cupcakes and to the Ice Cream Dub who saved us from the unexpected summer weather with yummy basked alaska ice cream. We'll see you at the next Wedding Carnival!

The Dotted Crotchets x

The Story So Far....

2011 was a great year for The Dotted Crotchets. In April we were invited to perform at the Southbank Centre in London, which was a great honour in itself but it also happened to be on the same day as one very special Royal wedding. As our performance wasn't until the afternoon we woke up very early and found a spot along the procession route not too far from Westminster Abbey. Then we waited. And waited.

All the waiting paid off in the end though as we caught a pretty good glimpse of the Royal family as they drove past and we managed to get a great photo of Kate and Will as they rode past in their carriage.

After a quick dash across the Thames we arrived at the Southbank Centre ready to play for a larger than expected audience. Given the theme of the day we were in our element and chose a programme of music that we would normally play for a wedding, starting with the Bridal March, moving into jazz, then pop and ending with Katy Perry's 'Firework', which seemed an appropriate song to end the "wedding" with.

Over the summer of 2011 we were rushed off our feet with weddings every weekend but hearing the feedback from brides, grooms and guests made it all worthwhile and we felt very grateful to be part of so many people's special days. One of our favourite weddings during this time was for a young couple who got married in Liverpool. The quartet performed for the ceremony and drinks reception, then we provided a ceilidh band and a jazz group for the evening entertainment. Overall we were there for about 14 hours but we were made to feel like guests and were treated to a delicious meal which definitely helped us keep going!

In October we were booked to perform for our most unusual event to date. We were to provide music for an annual dinner and the theme was a venetian ball, so off to the Royal Exchange Theatre's Wardrobe Department we went! With the men in tights and us girls in dresses that weighed a tonne (not to mention the wigs) it wasn't the most comfortable gig we have ever done, but it was certainly a night to remember.

Performing for two different events at Manchester Town Hall was a great way to end the year and we were delighted to be given the opportunity to perform for Manchester's Lord Mayor on both of these occasions. Little did we realise that the next time we would perform at the Town Hall there would be a very special guest in attendance.

On the 23rd March this year we were given the amazing opportunity to perform for the Queen and Prince Philip during their visit to Manchester as part of the national Diamond Jubilee tour. After weeks of having to keep it top secret and not tell anyone what we were doing it was a great privilege to be part of the day. Still waiting on the letter from Buckingham Palace to say we've been appointed as the Royal Quartet though...

I'd like to take this opportunity to say thank you to everyone who has supported us over the past year and a massive congratulations to all the newly married couples. With our diary nearly full for 2012 we are looking forward to performing at even more weddings this summer and can't wait to share with you all the new arrangements we've been working on. 

Lots of love

The Dotted Crotchets x