grace and simon

Client: Grace & Simon Bartlett

Event: Wedding

Venue: Addington Palace

Date: March, 2 2013

Package: Total Music Package

Music Requested: Jive, 70s, 80s, Motown

After all the excitement last week at a well known Kent castle, this week saw us at a palace in Surrey that has a history inextricably linked with Royalty and has been recently used to film Strictly Come Dancing …Addington Palace.

Its a Grade II listed Palladian Style Mansion, set in 163 acres which played host to clandestine meetings between Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII as well as the more recent regal associations that included the Golden Jubilee Celebrations for HM The Queen and HRH Prince Philip where the Palace hosted a banquet in July 2002 …and if that wasn’t enough production companies have also used the venue as a location for film, video and television recording which has included an advert by Kate Moss, a music video by Girls Aloud and tv programmes Footballers Wives, The Bill, Strictly Come Dancing and Don’t Tell the Bride amongst many others.

This was one of our longest days arriving on site around 1130am, we were providing background music for the drinks reception following the ceremony and then background music during the meal so we had to set up two systems in different parts of the building in order to provide a seemless flow of music throughout the day, this had to be done during the ceremony so this gave us an ample 45 minutes to get it all done.

It was my first visit to Addington Palace and I was very impressed by the way it worked as a wedding venue, apart from the big plus of having exclusivity, all the rooms used are very close to each other with adjoining doors and there’s no stairs or access issues …it’s a grand venue with excellent photo opportunities.

Grace and Simon actually used one of the rooms as a creche (with nannie) for the young children at the wedding, we also used this room to store all the kit during the day so when it came to the evening set up with just literally opened the door and wheeled it into position making everything a nice quick turnaround whilst Grace changed into an alternative dress for the first dance.

the great hall, disco sets up in front of the large mirror

The wedding breakfast and reception take place in The Great Hall which is a very large room, I would imagine it could easily accommodate 200 guests. There’s no dedicated dance floor as the room is wooden floor throughout and the disco usually sets up in front of the window shutters which is on the side wall, however on this occasion we set up in front of the mirror as I felt it gave a more symetrical look to the room. There’s a couple of great features which benefit highly from uplighting, the pillars which essentially form the entrance area to the open plan and a stunning fireplace, the Great Hall also boasts a gallery which would be great for aerial photos and there’s some fantastic wooden shutters which would come in handy for a summer wedding to shut out the light, I believe the venue do also offer a marquee option. It’s a room you can easily visualise walking into many years ago and imagining how an upper class family would have lived.

first dance was something completely different

And now for something completely different …the first dance, and what an uplifting performance that it transpired to be ! Grace and Simon had been taking dance lessons to Jive to  “Reach” by S Club 7, I’ve never played it as a first dance before but they pulled it off perfectly, all I had to do was slow the slow the song down 6 beats per minute as they had learnt it at a lower speed. It proved to be a great start to a night that ebbed and flowed and had a very nice feel to it throughout.

Grace provided around 30 songs that she said she would like played throughout the evening which of course we incorporated into the set, but it was groom Simon who took us by surprise displaying some nifty footwork throughout the four hours, I don’t think I’ve i have seen a groom on the dance floor quite as much as Simon.

“new york new york”

The night ended with “New York, New York” which was requested by the bride and groom and proved to be the final act of a very enjoyable day in Surrey, congratulations to the new Mr & Mrs Bartlett and thank you to Emma (wedding co ordinator) who looked after us and ensured everything ran smoothly on the day, if you are considering this venue we can certainly recommend it based on this experience. Next up for us is a trip to one of the venues we have played at regularly over the past couple of years …Winters Barns just outside of Canterbury !

Here’s the set list from Saturday, if you were at the wedding how about leaving us a comment.

20:08 : S Club 7 – Reach
20:12 : Van Morrison – Brown Eyed Girl
20:15 : Jackson 5 – I Want You Back
20:18 : Jackson 5 – ABC
20:21 : Jackie Wilson – Your love is Lifting Me Higher
20:23 : Aretha Franklin – Respect
20:26 : The Supremes – You Can’t Hurry Love (Single Version – Mono)
20:28 : The Temptations – My Girl (Single Version – Stereo)
20:31 : Frankie Valli – December 1963 (Oh What A Night)
20:34 : Dion & The Belmonts – Run Around Sue
20:36 : Bill Haley and his Comets – Rock Around the Clock
20:38 : Jerry Lee Lewis – Shake, rattle and roll
20:41 : Bobby Freeman – Do You Wanna Dance
20:43 : The Contours – Do You Love Me
20:45 : Jackie Wilson – Reet Petite
20:48 : The Four Tops – Reach Out, I’ll Be There (Edit)
20:51 : Stevie Wonder – Sir Duke
20:55 : James Brown – Get Up (I Feel Like Being Like a Sex Machine)
21:00 : The Jacksons – Blame It On the Boogie
21:03 : Chic – Le Freak
21:04 : Kool & the Gang – Celebration
21:05 : Earth, Wind and Fire – September
21:10 : Kool & the Gang – Celebration
21:14 : Bee Gees – Staying Alive
21:18 : Dan Hartman – Instant Replay
21:23 : Jean Knight – Mr. Big Stuff
21:26 : Wild Cherry – Play That Funky Music
21:27 : Rose Royce – Car Wash
21:31 : ABBA – Dancing Queen
21:35 : Gloria Gaynor – I Will Survive
21:38 : Donna Summers – Hot Stuff
21:42 : The Nolans – I’m In the Mood for Dancing
21:45 : BeyoncÈ – Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)
21:48 : Mark Ronson – Valerie (Feat. Amy Winehouse)
21:51 : Peter Andre – Mysterious Girl
21:55 : Ini Kamoze – Here Comes the Hotstepper (Heartical Mix)
21:59 : Mark Morrison – Return of the Mack
22:02 : Sugar Hill Gang – Rappers Delight
22:04 : Ultra NatÈ – Free
22:09 : Robin S. – Show Me Love
22:18 : Megamix – Dirty Dancing Mix
22:29 : Kenny Loggins – Footloose
22:33 : Irene Cara – Flashdance, What A Feeling
22:37 : Steps – Tragedy
22:41 : Spice Girls – Wannabe
22:44 : Journey – Don’t Stop Believin’
22:48 : Kings Of Leon – Sex On Fire
22:51 : The Killers – Mr. Brightside
22:54 : Reef – Place Your Hands
22:58 : OutKast – Hey Ya! (Radio Edit)
23:01 : Blur – Parklife
23:04 : Paula Abdul – Straight Up
23:08 : Prince – Kiss
23:12 : Maroon 5 – Moves Like Jagger
23:12 : Nicki Minaj – Starships
23:16 : PSY РGangnam Style (강남스타일)
23:18 : LMFAO – Sexy and I Know It
23:23 : John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John – The Grease Mega-Mix
23:27 : Michael Jackson – Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough (2003 Edit)
23:31 : Billy Ocean – Love Really Hurts Without You
23:34 : Curtis Mayfield – Move On Up
23:38 : Wilson Pickett – Mustang Sally
23:39 : Blues Brothers – Everybody Needs Somebody to Lo
23:42 : Queen – Don’t Stop Me Now
23:46 : Beatles – All you need is love
23:49 : The Monkees – I’m a Believer
23:52 : Michael Jackson – Rockin’ Robin
23:54 : Frank Sinatra – Theme from New York, New York
23:57 : Artie Kane – Mission Impossible – Main Title Theme