Down Hall Hotel & Spa
Jewish WeddingHaving squeezed their marriage ceremony -with only 6 guests- inbetween the 2020 lockdowns, Rafa and Daniel returned to Down Hall in November 2022 to host the wedding breakfast they were denied, by the pandemic, 2 years previously.
Surrounded by all of their loved ones, it was finally time to party and enjoy the fruits of 3 years of wedding planning.
In the lead-up to the big day, we worked with Rafa to realise her vision for the Bridgeman Selwin suite at Down Hall Hotel & Spa, and key to the overall effect was lighting. Most importantly, the use of colour and texture -breakup/gobos- around the room. Following Rafa's colour palette, we filled the room with warm uplighting and enhanced the stunning table floristry with our pin spots, ensuring their beauty wasn't lost. Additionally, we supplied our white two-tier stage, a luxury pinch pleat backdrop, with our white starlit dance floor completing the look.
After one covid-cancelled wedding date, two separate wedding days, and three years of planning it was finally time for their wedding breakfast to commence. After our interactive guest entrance set it was time for Rafa and Daniel to enter the room to our Israeli Dancing medley, accompanied by gold confetti and a considerable sense of relief that it was finally time to party the night away!
So here is how the evening unfolded, moment by moment.
With many of the guests experiencing an Israeli medley for the first time, the inclusive nature of the traditions makes it easy for all to enjoy our high-energy approach. Of course, the experience wouldn’t be complete without swinging the bride and groom around in circles and throwing them in the air.
We began the main course with a relaxed set of ballads. However, it didn't last long... almost as soon as we started, it was clear that this small yet very energetic crowd had only one plan, to party.
As ever, we delivered our interactive and engaging performance style, with the singers regularly performing on the dance floor, with Rafa and Daniel on stage singing with us and of course with guitar and saxophone solos thrown in for good measure.
For their first dance, Rafa and Daniel chose Ed Sheeran’s number one hit Shivers. With Rafa and Daniel's original wedding date planned for April 2020 and with Shivers released in September 2021, this was a fresh update to their original plans. High-energy first dances are becoming ever more popular and they work perfectly if the couple encourages their guests to join them during their first dance.
We love it when guests join us on stage to perform and Rafa and Daniel’s sons were super excited to sing the classic Sweet Caroline with us. They repeatedly asked throughout the night when we going to invite them up, and boy was it worth the wait. They bought the house down! If they were slightly older, we would have offered them a job in The London Function Band.
After dinner, we partied the night away until 1am, with Rafa and Daniel's selection of signature cocktails flowing and all of their guests on the dancefloor partying with us, we had a blast. In the lead up to the wedding we worked with Daniel to create our set lists, he chose more recent chart hits. With our extensive song catalogue -click to view- we had all the right songs, with clever joins between each and inbuilt audience interaction to keep the room jumping.
It was an absolute pleasure to be a part of Rafa and Daniel's long-awaited wedding party!
Suppliers
Entertainment & Production - The London Function Band
Photographer - Luke Hayden
Venue & Catering - Down Hall Hotel & Spa