Real Weddings is a new blog series where we interview real couples who have booked their wedding music through Encore.
Up next on our Real Weddings series are newlyweds Amy and Cash! Now, this was a night to remember! From traditional Catholic Church to English country house… The happy couple and their nearest and dearest partied the night… well, the year away on a beautiful winter New Year’s Eve! You can never forget an anniversary if you get married on New Years, especially if it’s any bit as amazing as Amy and Cash’s!
Want to have the party of a lifetime that people will be talking about years and years to come? Keep on reading, Amy and Cash have got you sorted with the deets!
Fact file
- Number of guests: 150+
- Budget: £25,000 – £50,000
- Location: Cheshire
- Wedding themes: Big; pre-pandemic; country house; traditional; Church; party; indoor; hotel; New Year’s Eve; Scottish; Irish; Catholic; winter
Contents
Thank you so much for taking the time to share the story of your big day with us, Amy!
To start off, please introduce yourself and your partner!
“So, my name is Amy and my partner is Cash. The story of how we met is actually really, really random! We met in Majorca about 5 years ago now. He was out with his friends and family and I was out with mine. When we came back to the UK, we kind of got talking on socials, from there we met up and the rest was history I guess!”
However, what’s really weird is that he and all of his family are teachers and me and all my family are teachers… A teacher conference that Cash had skipped to go to Majorca was actually being lead by my dad! It’s so crazy… such a small world.
The Music
Ceremony: Manchester Youth Choir, Organ, Bagpiper, classical violinist and pianist.
“All of the wedding had live music, we used no pre-recorded music! This was during the ceremony, at the drinks reception, during the wedding breakfast and then for the first dance and throughout the night until New Years!”
- Bride entrance: Pachabel’s Canon in D major
- Bride and groom exit: Traditional bridal fanfare
- The signing of the register: Manchester Youth Choir – Oh Holy Night & Ring Christmas Bells
“Because all of my family are Scottish we had a piper play outside! He played on entry to the church, he then went ahead and performed on entry to the reception and wedding breakfast as well”
Reception: Encore’s Violinist Richard Sanderson
We booked Richard Sanderson, he came highly recommended and we had seen him play loads of venues across Manchester so many times! I was adamant I wanted him at my wedding.”
“He played in between the wedding breakfast and the speeches. He then played at the toasts and the giving of gifts!”
- Notable highlights from Richard: Fairy Tale of New York by The Pogues
- First dance: A Thousand Miles by Christina perry
- Seeing the new year through: Auld Lang Syne
“Auld Lang Syne is a traditional Scottish song, that is sung in the new year to see the new year through. You basically all cross your arms in a circle and sing! It means ‘goodbye to last year’ in Gaelic.”
“Richard’s performance… Oh my God it was so good! He was up on tables and chairs; he had the whole crowd up and following him around the room!
I know it sounds crazy, but that went down really well with my family! They are all Scottish and Irish, so a lot of them had flown over from there. Him playing the fiddle was just crème de la crème for them!”
Encore Violinist Richard Sanderson! Entertainment at its finest!
Why book Richard?
“Richard was fantastic! He was so entertaining throughout the wedding breakfast without being obtrusive on the meal. He kept the guests uplifted throughout the night and even took requests.”
He went above and beyond and also stayed past his allocated time to honour the requests made!
See more reviews and performance videos of Richard here.
Thinking of hiring a violinist for your wedding? Richard is insanely talented with so many genres in his repertoire! Listen to more of Richard Sanderson here.
Why did you choose Encore for your wedding music?
Using Encore for the booking process was fantastic! It was really simple and really easy. Sometimes you have to send email after email, and confirmation after confirmation, but with Encore I basically just had to click a button, pay the deposit and that was it! It was absolutely stress free…
I had booked Richard quite early, so I was quite nervous in thinking it was definetlty booked, closer to the time, and Encore contacted to say ‘just to confirm your booking’ etc. It was so reasuring.
“I’d absolutely recommend Encore to anyone looking to book a musician! There were so many to chose from. I’m kind of a bit gutted really because, had I not already sorted the other elements of my music, I would have gone with Encore for everything from seeing what they had to offer, after booking Richard!”
Kayleigh and James’ dedicated Encore Booking Specialist for her wedding: Chiara
THE SUPPLIERS
Venues:
Ceremony: St Vincents Catholic Church
“We chose not to get the church dressed as it was still around Christmas time, so they still had the Christmas Tree and Christmas decor up. It was beautiful.”
Reception: Nunsmere Hall
“Nunsmere Hall was fantastic, we rented out the whole place! We had the pantry house and the marquee as well. It was so exclusive, there was no one else there!”
Decor – White Events Company
“I really could not fault them at all. Something was actually missing the night before the wedding and this fantastic employee literally got in his car and must have driven 45 minutes there and 45 back to get the missing items, just so I wouldn’t be stressed out and panicking on my day! They went above and beyond…”
Wedding outfits –
Bride and bridal party: Ava Rose Hamilton
“We went with them for the bridal party and wedding dress. I had seen them on Say Yes to the Dress with Gok Wan! They were fantastic.”
Groom and groomsmen: Slaters
“We had used them for various things in the past and they have always been super reliable!”
Photographer – Carpe Diem Photography
“We used Chris at Carpe Diem, he was amazing. Really, really good”
ADVICE FOR COUPLES
Do you have any advice for future couples?
“That’s really actually difficult! I suppose it’s the age-old one that everyone says; just try and take in the day, let other people do things for you and relax!”
What was your favourite part of your wedding?
Can I say… getting married? Haha!
“My favourite part? I really couldn’t narrow it down honestly. But, I guess it could be the combination of getting married and having family and friends there to see in the New Year!”