It was a day of firsts for us this weekend. We got to play at Hackness Grange Hotel near Scarborough for the first time to help Philip and Karen celebrate their wedding day; and, when we arrived at the venue we were told that we would be performing at the very first wedding to be held there!
Hackness Grange is a beautiful country hotel near Scarborough and on the edge of the North Yorkshire Moors National Park. The hotel is set in its own grounds and has only recently been granted a licence to conduct Civil Ceremonies. The function room – formerly the swimming pool – had only been finished a few days before the wedding!
After a swift load in (being very careful of the new paintwork), we had a quick soundcheck and even squeezed in a run through of the first dance with the bride and groom. We were wary when we were told the function room had formerly been a swimming pool, but we needn’t have worried as it was a great sounding and really well proportioned room. Once we were set up we made a quick dash to get smartened up before show time.
Philip and Karen had requested ‘Can You Feel The Love Tonight’ by Elton John for their first dance. This was something of a challenge for us as we don’t have a keyboard player and Elton is rather well known for playing a bit of piano… However, we put our musical training to good use and came up with an arrangement just for Philip and Karen which meant their night started with something unique to them.
We’d been tipped off that the crowd wanted plenty of 60s and 70s hits, so we were able to adapt our set list to suit. It was great to play so many classic hits from the likes of The Beatles and the Stones through to The Pretenders and Blondie. We still threw a few modern tunes in for the younger member of the crowd including songs by Adele, Duffy and Amy Winehouse.
The crowd were great and kept the dance floor busy all night. As we finished, a fireworks display started in the hotel grounds. It was a great way to end the evening.
We’re already booked to go back to perform at Hackness Grange in August – we can’t wait!
Wedding Band York 
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