Archive for the ‘Case Studies’ Category

A gorgeous wedding for Claire & Jules

Thursday, September 29th, 2011

A few weeks ago, MIB performed at the wedding of the lovely Claire & Jules at the beautiful Four Seasons Hotel in Hampshire. I just wanted to share with you a few parts of the day as we feel that Claire & Jules went for a fantastic combination of our acts and extras.

Claire & her Mother met with us back in April this year to discuss the big day. It was clear that they wanted a package that would cover most parts of their day, and something with a touch of class! Claire’s mum was keen on the more traditional atmosphere, whereas Claire prefered a younger feel, and I think they got the combination perfectly.

The entertainment started off with a gorgeous saxophone set, playing jazz standards and setting a lush atmosphere while the guests chatted away.

Over the meal, our wonderful pianist Francis entertained the guests with well known classical numbers, movie themes and ballads.

The 7 piece band then took to the stage and entertained the crowds with 2 x 70minute party sets, which included a highlight for everyone at the end where Claire’s brother and a friend joined them to sing, which sent the audience into a huge frenzy!

All in all it was a fantastic day – thank you so Claire & Jules for looking after us so well!

Here’s a little feedback from the happy couple themselves:

Your performance was amazing, especially Rachael singing ‘Halo’ for the first dance, I have had so many comments about how well you played and sang it…wow!! And all the other songs…I thought the playlist worked really well. You all looked like you were really enjoying yourselves, which makes such a difference.

All the guests loved the performance with my brother, Stuart & Caroline. You were great letting them join in with you. My brother Stuart had a great time, so thank you.

Plus I loved the sax set played by Lindsay. I only got a glimpse of her playing at the reception as we were having to be photographed, but again I had great feedback from the guests at how refreshingly different it was. All the guys thought she was very sexy ;)

You were all so lovely & friendly, the stage looked great once you were all set up, and again I’ve had so many comments from friends and family as to how lovely you all were.

I just want to say a massive thank you for being over and above what I was expecting for a wedding band, you were such a big hit with all the guests! And to let my brother sing with you was excellent! Choosing a band for a wedding is really hard as its such a big day and I’m really fussy, but I’m so happy that you played my wedding and I will be reccomending you to everyone in need of a band for a wedding, or any big occasion. Thank you all so much! x

Many thanks to Reportage By for the beautiful photos!

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A Story that will make you smile…

Friday, July 22nd, 2011

 

I just wanted to share this story with you, because it TOTALLY makes me all goo-ey inside! You know when you hear something and just think….’ahhhh now that’s what life is all about!’  This is one of those stories!

21st Century Riot were playing at a wedding a few weeks ago. All was going well…the guests had obviously had a fantastic day, the band had gotten set up, and were mid-way through their first set. Guests were up on the dance-floor, arms & legs flying all over the place, happy smiles everywhere….all was going well.

Jay (our lead singer of the band) was mid way through singing, when an older lady came up to him. ‘This lady was trying to talk to me, but it was while we were playing and I couldn’t really hear her. I suddenly got the fear that perhaps she thought we were too loud, so I gestured over to our soundman and explained that he would be able to help and try to sort it out.’

So, off she pops to our sound man and has a chat with him. Once the band were on their break, she approached Jay again, and explained what she’d been trying to say. This lovely lady and her husband had met 47 years ago to the day, and the first song that they had danced to on that day was ‘Walk the Dog’ by the Stones. She was wondering if the band knew the song and could play it for them. Sadly, the band didn’t know it and apologised as it would have been a lovely idea.

However, back in their dressing room, the boys talked it over and decided to get their iPhones out, download the song and learn it. They didn’t have long, so God knows how they managed it, but the whole band managed to learn the song, and they surprised the lovely couple by playing the song in the 2nd set! This gorgeous couple were able to dance the dance that they did 47 years ago when they had met!

‘It was such a lovely atmosphere,’ explains Jay. ‘Everyone was gathered around the dancefloor, cheering and clapping. I think a few people were even in tears. It was a lovely thing to watch and I’m so glad we put the extra effort in to be able to make that happen.’

The whole thing just makes me realise how lucky we are to work with such LOVELY & kind hearted people. It would have been very easy for the guys to have said they didn’t know the song, and not thought about it for the rest of the night, but the fact that they put the effort in to doing that for them is just beautiful. This kind of thing is so lovely to hear, and we got some fantastic feedback from the client too…

‘What a fantastic thing for them to have done. It made such an impact and the band have my utmost respect for going out of their way to make it happen. The guys were absolute stars. I have not stopped smiling since the guys played for us.’

 

Awwwh! Thanks to Chris, the Groom, for his lovely words, and big love to our 21st Century Riot boys….they are lovely! :)

Posted in 21st Century Riot, Case Studies, Day In The Life, Getting to know..., Our latest Acts, Our Musicians, We play at..., Weddings, What the people say... | No Comments »

A truly inspiring wedding for Paul & Amy Schneider

Wednesday, June 1st, 2011

On Sunday 29th May we had the honour of being involved in truly one of the most inspiring weddings we’ve ever had the pleasure of performing at. Paul & Amy contacted us back in August last year, and made it clear that when it came to planning their wedding, music was hugely important to them.

We worked closely with Paul & Amy, as well as the rest of their very lovely family, to come up with an entertainment schedule like nothing else I’ve ever seen before at a Wedding. We discussed quite a few different options, but after they came to see our showcase last September, Paul & Amy decided on a final line-up, and wowee did they make a fantastic choice!

Here’s a little rundown of the day’s entertainment. For couples that are really into their music, this is a true inspiration to how to make the most of your wedding entertainment….

2.45p.m We provided a fantastic string quartet that we often work with, ‘Tapestry’ to perform as guests arrived in the ceremony. This set a really lovely scene as guests arrived, and the quartet played a selection of Amy & Paul’s favourite music (all chosen by them).

3.30p.m I (Sera) performed a song in the ceremony. Amy & Paul chose ‘I’ve dreamed of you’ by Barbra Streisand. For some reason I’d not come across this song before, but it was just beautiful, and an honour to sing it for them (although somewhat nerve wracking!). Here’s a copy of the original if you fancy a listen…its very lovely…

4p.m-5.15p.m Tapestry then moved with the guests outside, and performed more of the bride and groom’s choices during the drinks reception.

5.45p.m-8.10p.m Once the room had been transformed for the wedding breakfast, our pianist performed 2 x 45mins sets of ‘movie themed’ songs (to match the ‘movie themed’ table names!). We hired in a beautiful white grand piano from Grand Hire Pianos, which sat on the white sparkly dancefloor, with a white stage and backdrop behind him. It was just gorgeous!

8.40p.m 1st dance (which was ‘the way you look tonight’) followed by MIB 12 piece band perform their first set. Paul & Amy chose every song in the set-list and we started off with some light jazz/swing like ‘Fly Me To The Moon’ and progressed into some fun party tunes like ‘Valerie’ and ‘Long Train Running’.

9.30p.m  MIB performed a 15mins Jewish Medley, again all songs chosen by our lovely couple. This included classics like ‘Hava Nagilla’ and ‘Siman Tov, Mazel Tov’ and got absolutely EVERYONE on the dancefloor. Great fun!

10p.m Our gorgeous saxophonist performed her Buddha Bar set, with our live percussionist. The idea of this is that they improvise to clubby dance style tracks, and Paul & Amy commissioned her to do this to a professional mix of their favourite club songs. It was absolutely awesome! Lindsay (sax) was up on stage in a gorgeous red sparkly dress, playing her heart out to tunes like ‘Footsteps’ and ‘Don’t Mess With My Man’. This went down a storm, and even got the older generation up dancing like they were on a night out in a posh London club :)

10.30p.m  MIB performed their 2nd set. This featured an epic Michael Jackson Medley, that we wrote and designed specifically for Paul & Amy. They were both keen that the music choices weren’t too cheesy, and we were really excited when they chose 4 of our favourite MJ songs (Don’t stop til you get enough, PYT, Off the Wall and Working Day & Night). It was really nice to be able to play some of his lesser known tunes – you always see bands playing ‘Beat it’ and ‘Billie Jean’ – but rarely hear these songs played live (ha, probably because they’re ridiculously hard!) so it was really great to spend some time on these great tunes. We also got to play my all time favourite song, ‘Waiting for a star to fall’ – which brought a tear to my eye!

11p.m 21st Century Riot then took to the stage, performing a set of indie and rock covers. We were a bit nervous about this bit, worried that the rock music might be a bit out of place, but everyone flocked to the dance-floor and boogied away to tunes like ‘Mr Brightside’ and ‘My Generation’. Soooo very rock and roll – I really enjoyed watching this set!

12a.m MIB performed their last set, which featured lots of modern hits like ‘California Girls’ by Katy Perry, and ‘Crazy in Love’ by Beyonce. We ended on a very cool anthems medley, which featured ‘Don’t Stop Believing’, ‘Sweet Child of Mine’ and ‘Living on a Prayer’, and got the whole crowd playing air guitar!

We had such an amazing day and would like to thank Amy & Paul for including us such an awe inspiring wedding! :)

Here’s what Paul had to say:

‘Dear Sera, Helen and everyone at MIB,

Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!

We cannot stop talking about the weekend. The text messages, guest book feedback and facebook posts were incredible and keep coming! We also had 58 guests staying over and all of them were very very complimentary and raved about so many different aspects of the wedding.

The one thing everyone kept asking was: where did you find that band?! People raved about the ceremony song and said it made them cry, all said the Quartet were great and that the pianist during dinner really helped to set the mood. Beyond that, the five different sets all received amazing reviews. Particular highlights were the MJ medley, the jewish music (very well done), the end medley people said was so so different, plus the fantastic Buddha Bar set and Riot sets which people did not want to end!!!

Amy and I remarked to each other that of every penny we spent, the best money spent was on MIB! We stand by that!

We were so so pleased. We had such amazing comments and having been to 15 or more weddings in recent years we know we had the best and others also said you were the best. We just had this hunch you were going to be amazing and we were right.’

And some feedback from the rest of the family…

I just wanted to email you to let you know how fantastic I thought you all were on Sunday.  From the first time Paul showed me your website, to seeing you perform a sample set many months ago, I knew you guys would be outstanding and you definitely lived up (and surpassed) my expectations.

Sera, your solo song ‘I’ve Dreamed Of You’ during the ceremony was incredibly moving.  Tapestry and the pianist were pure class, all three sets from MIB were perfect and uplifting, Lindsay’s Buddha Bar set was amazing and 21st Century Riot rocked the Langham.

Everyone I spoke to throughout the night commented on the music and how fantastic you all were.  There was something for everyone and it was a delight to see the dancefloor full all night long.

After months of planning the day flew past so quickly but the memories will last a lifetime.  I cannot wait to see the video footage later this summer and I will make sure you receive a copy to use as you see fit.

Thanks for making Paul and Amy’s day so memorable.

David’

‘Hi Sera,
What can we say.   Faultless, amazing, professional, exciting.

From the moment we met you for coffee last year we knew all was going to be great.
You were as excited as Gerald and I as we discussed Amy and Pauls ideas.

Of course once we saw you and the team perform at the showcase event we were
even more convinced because you could provide all the different kinds of music we were wanting
for the wedding. Such a variety, each section adding another twist, each one a talking point.

Sera, when you sang during the ceremony, both Gerald and I had tears in our eyes, your most beautiful
voice, unforgettable, one of the highlights of the whole day for us.

Please pass on our thanks to each and every one of the team, and we wish all of you well in the future.
Hopefully, we will see you again sometime

Best wishes
Gill and Gerald Schneider’

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Posted in 21st Century Riot, Buddha Bar Sax, Case Studies, Day In The Life, MIB, We play at..., Weddings, What the people say... | 1 Comment »

A Beautiful Wedding packed full of live music for Hannah and Karl

Wednesday, May 25th, 2011

We were honoured to be part of Hannah & Karl’s special day at Stoke Park (Bucks) a few weeks ago. They obviously wanted to have a music-packed wedding, and we happily arranged the whole day’s entertainment for them.

The afternoon kicked off with Live Loungers who performed during the ceremony, including a beautiful rendition of ‘True Colours’ by Cindy Lauper.

‘The ceremony was gorgeous,’ said Rachel, who took lead vocals for Live Loungers. ‘I loved performing in the ceremony – it was a really personal and special touch to have the live music added to this part of the day.’

Live Loungers then moved out onto the terrace where they entertained the guests during their drinks reception, performing lush arrangements of well known pop and jazz tunes.

As Hannah, Karl and their guests sat down to dinner, our solo vocalist Emily Louise performed and kept everyone entertained with her gorgeous vocal tones!

Our DJ then kicked off the party as the guests finished eating, warming them up for Funkadelics, who then really kicked the party into gear! However not before the gorgeous couple performed their first dance, which was to ‘Feels Like Home’ by Chantal Kreviazuk (lovely choice too!)

The whole day went splendidly – we loved being so involved and having been able to design the whole days entertainment to flow from one act to the next meant that the whole schedule just worked perfectly.

We were very pleased to recieve this fantastic feedback from Hannah…

‘I just wanted to say a big thankyou to everyone who helped on our day on Saturday for our wedding. I cannot thankyou enough and every song that was sung was absolutely brilliant. All my guests kept commenting on how amazing the band was , the solo singer, dj, live loungers! I will definitely be using you again for any upcoming events I may have and will recommend you to anyone having a wedding.
You have all been so great and professional  right from the beginning, and I can honestly say my wedding wouldn’t of been the same without you guys. Every set matched the mood of the wedding throughout the day and the only wish I have is if I could of had you longer!
You really got the party started and the music was for all ages, I was so nervous about booking a band at the first but you really reassured me and exceeded all my expectations.’

Thank you Hannah & Karl, we loved every minute of it! :)

 

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Posted in Case Studies, Day In The Life, Funkadelics, Tips & Advice, We play at..., Weddings, What the people say... | 1 Comment »

Fantastic feedback for Riot…

Friday, February 11th, 2011

21st Century Riot got some fantastic feedback this week, from a wedding they played at the end of January. I especially wanted to feature this on the blog, because Sophy (the lovely bride) almost didn’t book the band, or any band at all. The reason was, it was a small wedding (the reception was being held in a pub), and she was unsure whether it would be appropriate to book a band. When she mentioned her worries to us, we explained that all of our bands have played to all sorts of audiences – we had our 9 piece MIB band playing to an audience of 25 before, and a 3 piece Funkadelics performing to 10,000 – so there really are no ‘rules’. Just because a Wedding is being held in a pub, doesn’t mean a band won’t  be suitable. In fact, a sneaky secret fact I’ll share with you, is that we all secretly love playing in pubs! The atmosphere is always fantastic – so much more personal than a bigger venue!

So, Sophy booked, and we were really pleased to get such fantastic feedback from her….

Sorry it’s taken a while to send this, but…

 I just wanted to say thanks so much, firstly to you for persuading me to go with it, and of course to the guys for a truly amazing performance.  They really were absolutely superb, fantastic performance but also so very professional and got it just right, you could see the sound, lights, mood and everything was being tweaked all the time.  I was so worried we’d gone a bit long for such a small do, but they were totally relaxed and played brilliantly, they were perfect for us, they even looked like they were enjoying themselves :-)

 At one point I looked up to see the whole place literally jumping up and down.  It was certainly a rocking night and one to remember. 

 So, a heartfelt thank you, and if you’re planning any public gigs please do let me know as we’d love to see them again.

 Sophy x 

Thanks for the lovely comments Sophy, and we hope to see you at our public gig on 22nd Feb!

Posted in 21st Century Riot, Case Studies, Day In The Life, Our latest Acts, Weddings, What the people say... | No Comments »

Our latest naughty Singing Waiter Scenario Ideas

Thursday, February 10th, 2011

We’ve been doing all sorts of naughty Undercover Superstars scenarios lately – it seems like just lately all of our clients have decided they have their own ideas as to how it can work at their event (and rightly so too!), and they’ve really come up with some gems!!

There are soooo many I could write about which have been hilarious, but this one has to have been one of my favourites I think…

We hid three of our vocalists undercover at an army event. One played an ‘overly chatty’ waitress, and we had a male and female who were the ‘camp guard’. They were dressed in wonderful army outfits that were provided by the client, and entered the room in the middle of a fun ‘quiz’ that the guests were taking part in. The idea was that our two guards would interupt, and announce that some of the officers were illegally parked and had to move their cars immediately (which is very much frowned upon within the Army!). Our female Guard, who was played by the lovely Nadine, then whipped her beret off, let her hair down, and burst into a sassy version of ‘Santa Baby’ (this was at Xmas time!).
This was followed by the male guard, bursting into song, and then the waitress absolutely shocking everyone and bursting into song from the back of the room.

The show went down a storm, and was a massive talking point for the whole evening. To make it even funnier, the client who booked us hadn’t told a soul, and when things kicked off, he got a HUGE telling off from his boss, who thought that the camp guard really were going to ruin the party! LOL

We all had a proper giggle doing this one anyway. Its brilliant working towards a clients ideas because everyone has a different take on how it can work!

What would you do at your event? Undercover Firemen? A naughty secret singing guest? Or have you got any other ideas? We’d love to hear from you!

Posted in Case Studies, Charity Events, Corporate Events, Day In The Life, Our latest Acts, Private Parties, Tips & Advice, Undercover Superstars, Weddings | No Comments »

A truly innovative wedding for Andrew & Sara

Tuesday, October 5th, 2010

I wanted to post a huge CONGRATULATIONS to Andrew & Sara, who got married back at the end of August. I’ve been wanting to blog on their special day ever since…but to be honest, I don’t know where to start with this one. This wedding was by far the most innovative, individual and absolutely 100% special wedding I have ever had the pleasure of being involved with.

Myself and Rachael met up with Andrew & Sara a few months before the big day, just to discuss finer details, as we do with many of our B&G’s to be….and I think its safe to say both myself and Rachael were just astounded at the amount of planning, effort & attention that Andrew & Sara had put into their Weddding. It was clear to us that this was going to be no ordinary day for us, them, or indeed their guests!

Sara woke up to a huge bouquet of flowers from Andrew, with a note saying, rather mysteriously…..’All I ask of you today is that when I ask you to kiss me twice, make sure that you do!’….I’ll fill you in on what that means later on….but you can imagine how confused Sara must have been!

I expect the guests had a sneaky idea that this was no ‘normal’ wedding when they recieved their ‘Vintage Tea Party’ themed invitiations…(Andrew is a graphic designer and admitted himself he got a ‘little’ carried away with the design side of everything!). They then found themselves on the day, before the ceremony had started being presented with this video, featuring Andrew having a few troubles getting to the church after his stag do….(give this a watch, its hilarious!)

Andrew then burst through the church door, riding the little girls bike down the aisle!! I can only imagine the look on everyones faces….lol…

After the ceremony the guests made their way to Oving Village Hall, which was decorated like an English vintage tea party! There were British Flags everywhere, and they’d even built their very own cake shop, with its own sign ‘Cake it Away’! Andrew took it upon himself to hand out cake trays for each table at the reception…with each table having their very own cake monitor, who Andrew said a few words about and then played them their very own ‘theme tune’ as they came up to collect their cakes! (One guy walked up to ‘Black Beauty’ as he likes horse racing!)

The guests seemed to love the audience participation aspect – everyone was involved, and by the time we arrived to set up the band gear the guests were already in high spirits. Andrew & Sara even wrote a special, individual card for each guest (with a tea-bag in, haha) with a picture of themselves in for their place names when they sat down to dinner.

‘The day was as much about our guests enjoying the day as it was for us to get married…’ says Andrew.

The band were then ready to kick off….with just one more HUGE surprise from Andrew. The bride and groom had discussed holding a ‘Oving’s got talent’ take on ‘Britains Got Talent’ before the band came on, and I think as far as Sara knew, she thought a few of the guests would be getting up to perform before us. However, just before this was about to start, Andrew disappeared….

Suddenly, the band kicks into the awesome ‘Hold me, Thrill me, Kiss Me’ by Gloria Estafan…. the curtains are pulled by two very lovely bridesmaids to reveal Andrew, singing with the band! He jumps off the stage, serenading his new wife….and, you’ve guessed it…. after singing the lyrics ‘kiss me, kiss me’ she falls into his arms and they kiss passionately…leaving the band to carry on with the song….

Half way through the song, Andrew interupts with a ‘lets get this party started’, and the band launched into ‘Twist and Shout’ which got all the guests up and dancing for the whole evening.

Andrew & Sara were keen for us to enjoy ourselves as much as their guests, which was very sweet of them, so we were on strict instructions to only play tunes that we LOVED playing…which made the evening great fun for us!

Check out this montage that Andrew made for us (you can tell he’s a graphic designer eh!)

Here’s what Andrew & Sara had to say…

Now back in the land of the living after a 2 week whirlwind since our wedding, I just had to sit down and thank you Sera and MIB for what has to be the most amazing – incredible – hip shaking – mind blowing – dance your socks off finale to our amazing day!… OMG… did you guys rock!!… I promised myself I would never book a band for our special day that I had not seen live!!!..and yet your website drew us in…you guys were so friendly and professional, nothing was ever too much trouble, you were open to our thoughts and first dance surprise!… Sera not only are you an amazing singer but the rest of MIB are highly talent musicians in there own right who really love what they do and it showed!!..put together with the amazing song set you arranged and its all our guest now talk about.!…well that an me cycling down the isle of the church!..Yes the whole day was extra special, slightly mad..and a load of fun! Thank you..thank you…thank you! … 

 

I must just say, it was such an honour to be involved in this. Andrew & Sara put so much thought and effort into their Wedding, and the fact that they chose us as the band was a real compliment. I even found myself getting a little emotional in their last song even thinking about it…

We wish you guys all the best. I absolutely know that you guys will be happy together forever and ever, and I think we will all always have this in our mind as the Ultimate Wedding Day! Love to both of you,

Sera & MIB

P.S My absolute most favourite part of the day (in a selfish kinda way) was when we got to the dressing room and found this sign on the door….made me feel all important, haha

Posted in Case Studies, Day In The Life, First Dance Ideas, MIB, Weddings | 1 Comment »

Congratulations to Adam & Jemma

Saturday, August 14th, 2010

We played at a gorgeous wedding last weekend for the new Mr & Mrs Freeman, better known as Adam & Jemma, at Highgate House in Northampton.

I was really inspired by this wedding…well, to be honest, I love every wedding I go to, but this one seemed particularly special to me. Jemma & Adam had obviously made a big effort with every detail, and it really paid off. I loved how everything was so beautiful, but so very personal to them and obviously had their personality embedded into every aspect. I like this idea…I think a lot of people lose themselves when it comes to wedding planning. I don’t blame them…you get so caught up in the ‘this is the biggest day of my life and I want it to be amazing’ idea and sometimes I think people lose sight of their own tastes, personalities and….well, selves! I think its really important as a brides & groom to keep in mind what you want, and so the wedding stays ‘true to you’ rather than becoming the same as every other wedding you might have been to. This is something I feel Jemma & Adam did really well with…

Highgate House is a gorgeous wedding venue, however Jemma & Adam made the function room inside looks 100 times more gorgeous with some innovative decoration! I took pictures (below) but I don’t think I really did it justice… The walls were lined with gorgeous shimmering chiffon material, making the room look all floaty and fairy-like! Behind the slightly see-threw chiffon was twinkly fairy lights, which I absolutely loved! The material was also draped around the ceiling too, with beautiful white butterflies hanging down! It was like something from a fairy-tale…

There were a million little details about this wedding that I loved, but just managed to get a few snaps of a couple of them… The flower arrangements were gorgeous and really matched the rest of the rooms theme. The tables were named after well-known games, which I thought was a lovely fun touch! (See the ‘cranium’ sign above! What a great idea!)

My absolute favourite element, was this (below!)…I’ve seen brides & grooms providing their female guests with flip flops for the later part of the evening before, but I especially love how this was presented!

 

I hope you find some of these things inspiring – I certainly did! Congratulations to Adam & Jemma for putting on such a fantastic occasion. I expect they’re on their honeymoon at the moment, lucky things!

Love & Hugs

Sera xx

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Posted in Case Studies, Day In The Life, Weddings | 2 Comments »

Wedding Write Up – Jenny & Anthony

Friday, July 23rd, 2010

A few weeks ago, we performed at the wedding of Jenny & Anthony in the beautiful Lake District. This was such a great day, that I thought it would be worth doing a little write-up of the occasion.

The venue was the gorgeous Armaithwaite Hall…see below…what a breathtaking place to get married!

Firt off I must say that the view from the rear of the hotel was just the most amazing view I’ve ever seen – literally breathtaking. I remember walking out of the back door expecting it to be like every other very beautiful wedding venue I’ve been to…but I just couldn’t believe how gorgeous it was. In fact, I’ll stop gushing and just pop a picture below for you…it doesn’t even look real, but I promise it was that beautiful (and more!)…

 

See what I mean! Anthony & Jen then arrived (after their ceremony) by Helicopter!

 

During the wedding breakfast, they had our ‘Bhudda Bar’ Sax set which quietly set a mood over dinner. This is a lovely alternative to the traditional jazz sets you might usually find at weddings. Our saxophonist will improvise over ‘chilled-out Ibiza’ style tracks, which sets a lovely relaxed atmosphere.

So…the guests relaxed, ate and got merry, but what they didn’t know, was that Anthony & Jenny had booked our Undercover Superstars! Half way through the meal, two firemen appeared through the doorway, appearing to be ‘inspecting’ the room. People started to talk….’what do they want?’, have they booked strippers?!’, ‘Don’t you dare ruin my friends wedding’, were the comments that were flying about the place!

Our top Fireman, Dan, wondered up the microphone, and announced that the hotel had actually broken several fire regulations, and they were doing further inspections. When he announced that there was a possibility that they’d have to shut the event down, the guests all seemed rather shocked…. One of the ‘event managers’ came over and took him off to discuss, leaving his partner alone by the microphone. With a cheeky look on his face, this fireman decides to have a chat with everyone. He tells them he’s planning on auditioning for ‘X-Factor’ this year, and can he try out his audition piece?

He attempted a pretty appauling rendition of his audition song, causing Fireman Dan & The Event Manager to run back to the mic and remove him from it! Dan apologised…and just as he was about to walk away he said, ‘Actually…can I show you how its done?’

He launched into an amazing version of ‘Take on Me’ by Aha, which immediately got the guests screeching along and clapping enthusiastically. When he finished, while he was lapping up the applause…a voice came from somewhere, singing the intro to ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’ by Queen…. it was the other Fireman! As the music got faster, he began to literally sprint around the room, only stopping to cheekily wink at a few ladies as he passed!

The two guys got the audience up and dancing, singing and clapping along, but when they finished, the intro to ‘Hot Stuff’ started playing. They looked at each other in confusion….’Are you doing this one?’ Dan asked his colleague…. they both shook their heads and started picking people out of the audience….’Is it you singing this one?’ they asked a rather scared looking man on the nearby table. And suddenly from the back of the room, came the Event Manager, mic in hand, belting out the high notes and twirling round the room like a superstar!

The three of them all came together and admitted that they are not really firemen, and an event manager, but they are the Undercover Superstars! They then performed ‘Ain’t No Mountain High Enough’ and ‘All Night Long’ to finish, getting the guests up and dancing and having a fabulous time!

 

The Party then got started with the MIB 6 piece band, and DJ Matt to fill between sets. The night went down a storm.

Thanks for having us as part of your big day Jenny & Anthony! We wish you guys all the best and hope you have a wonderful future together

Love & Hugs

Sera & The MIB Music team

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Posted in Case Studies, Weddings | 3 Comments »

Congratulations to Lee & Lisa!

Monday, May 17th, 2010

MIB & Undercover Superstars performed at a gorgeous wedding on Saturday, for the new ‘Mr & Mrs Baines’ in Luton. This really was one of the best planned and inspirational weddings we’ve seen, so thought I’d do a small write-up on the occasion…

Lee & Lisa are a great couple. I met with them a few weeks ago, just to over the final details of their Wedding, and I couldn’t believe how laid back (although super excited) they were about the big day. I was even more shocked when I actually saw the effort they’d gone into the create the perfect wedding day! I am sad because I probably didn’t even get to see most of it (as I was running round like a headless chicken organising things all day) but here’s an idea of some nice touches…

First off, the venue was absolutely stunning. I’d highly reccomend checking out the Luton Hoo Hotel - you’d be hard pressed to find a more beautiful place to get married, with such helpful staff too!

When we arrived, guitarist & singer Mike Mayfield was about to start performing on the terrace while guests enjoyed the gorgeous weather, and the even more impressive views. I was really impressed by Mikes voice…and he set a lovely atmosphere while guests milled around chatting.

I also noticed two white doves on the terrace which I thought was a beautiful touch!

At this point, our Undercover Superstars www.undercoversuperstars.com were getting into character. Nadine & Nick joined the guests, pretending to be a couple who met Lee & Lisa in Jamaica last year, and Rachael took the guise of ‘Event Manager’.

The guests all sat down for dinner, while Mike played another set. They were all greeted with favours as they sat down, which was rather originally a National Lottery ticket waiting for each of them! What a fun idea!

After the main course, our Undercover Superstar Nadine shyly approached the microphone that was set up for speeches, and in front of everyone proposed to Nick! The crowd went absolutely mad…I’ve never seen such a reaction! She then launched into a rather painful and terrible attempt at singing to him….to which he replied ‘Of course I’ll marry you, if you stop singing!’  The ‘event manager’ Rachael then presented the ‘happy couple’ with a bottle of champagne, and Nick burst into an amazing rendition of ‘Can’t Take My Eyes off You’…running round the room, climbing on the chairs, and getting everyone singing along and on their feet.

As he finished his song, he lapped up the applause, taking a bow….but over the applause, the sound of ‘I wanna dance with somebody’ started over the sound system. From knowhere appears our ‘Event Manager’ Rachael, and she works the room, singing away (and getting quite a reaction from the table in the corner which I presume was housing all the single men in the room, lol). Everyone sang along and by this point the whole room was up dancing & clapping.

Then, Nadine, our other ‘guest’ jumps up from her table and launches into ‘I’m So Excited’, with the other two getting guests up to dance and whirling them around the room, and then all three singers came together to reveal that they are in fact the ‘Undercover Superstars’ and they had hijacked the Wedding! They then performed two more songs – ‘Ain’t No Mountain High Enough,’ and special request of the bride ‘Hey Jude’.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a reception for singing waiters ever! What a fabulous crowd!

The guests finished their meal and were then entertained by MIB (www.mibband.com), and the MIB DJ, who kept the crowd dancing all night, only to stop for a fabulous firework display and buffet later in the evening, but not before watching the couple’s legendry first dance!

The room at Luton Hoo is split into three compartments – one end with the bar, the long middle for the main wedding breakfast, and the other end room with the band in. Lisa and Lee placed themselves on the middle of the dancefloor, filled the room with dry ice and had the guests locked behind doors in the other middle room. As the ‘new Mr & Mrs Baines’ were introduced, the doors were opened to reveal the couple, their feet covered in dry ice, doing a beautifully choreographed dance to ‘A Moment Like This’ by Leona Lewis. This was enough to bring a tear to anyone’s eye, and to be honest, when the key change came and an explosion of silver confetti burst all over the whole room, I think I actually sobbed a bit! It was truly spectacular and I’m sure a moment none of their guests will ever forget (I certainly won’t!)

Anyway, congratulations to Lisa & Lee and the rest of their families. I hope you had a fantastic day, and thanks for letting us be a part of it!

Sera & The MIB Music team

Posted in Case Studies, Day In The Life, Weddings | 6 Comments »