The Dotted Crotchets: A Dotted Crotchets Wedding : Natalie and Clare

At the end of August 2013 we had the privilege of performing for Natalie and Clare's wedding reception at the Manchester Art Gallery. This is a beautiful and unique city centre venue, which suited the couple's big day perfectly...

"We got engaged in Paris at the beginning of 2012 after 6 years together. As soon as we started planning our wedding it was clear that what we both wanted was to ensure that our family and friends had a fun, relaxed and enjoyable day. For us making a commitment in front of the people that we love was enough, so all of the ‘extras’ that we planned into the wedding were to show our appreciation for the support and love we have received from our friends and family. We wanted to arrange a day that they would all enjoy and remember as a ‘good day out’."

"We chose The Manchester Art Gallery as our venue, having been to a friend’s wedding reception there a few years previously. We could imagine creating the day that we wanted in that venue. We knew that we wanted some live music to feature in the day and set about looking at the options and how this would fit in with the ‘feel’ that we wanted for our day. We liked the idea of a string quartet who could play during the drinks reception and dinner to give our friends and family something nice to listen to, but we didn’t want the traditional ‘classical’ string quartet. We googled ‘string quartet and Manchester band music’ and up popped The Dotted Crotchets. We loved their unique style and the fact that they wore colourful quirky clothes rather than more formal attire, completely in tune with our loose Parisian/vintage theme, including colourful macarons as favours for the guests! The Dotted Crotchets website was really helpful and we loved the extensive musical playlist on offer, including The Stone Roses and The Cure!! They were exactly what we were looking for and we emailed them straight away hoping they would be available! They were and we certainly have no regrets about booking them for our wedding."

"Our ceremony took place in one of the smaller gallery rooms with the day moving on into one of the larger galleries for the drinks reception. We had chosen to add hibiscus flowers to the glass of prosecco that our guests would receive, giving it a distinctive purple colour and in keeping with the bright colours of the macarons and flowers. The Dotted Crotchets played our eclectic choice of music throughout the drinks reception ranging from Oasis to Lady Gaga. Our guests really enjoyed their music and I think they all felt very decadent wandering around the artwork, drinking prosecco and listening to a very talented and unique string quartet."

"The day moved on through the gallery and dinner was in the glass atrium, where The Dotted Crotchets set up professionally at one side of the room. They played music as our entrance into the atrium was announced and we walked together down the staircase into the centre of the room, something that we had decided at the last minute to do and were so glad we did as we honestly felt so special being welcomed by our guests. The Dotted Crotchets thought on their feet and plated ‘Marry you’ by Bruno Mars for our entrance. We were happy with their choice. They played throughout dinner until the speeches and really added to the ambience and feel to the day that we had wanted to create."

"Dinner was over and sadly it was time for The Dotted Crotchets to leave, however, the live music was not over as Natalie’s dad had arranged for The Manchester Gay and Lesbian choir to sing to us all after his speech. They sang ‘Climb every mountain’ – The sound of music and ‘Somewhere’ – West Side Story. This was an amazing end to a wonderful day and we all moved onto the evening reception to dance the night away."