Soulution provided live wedding music for Marianne and Read at The Farm at Old Edwards in Highlands, North Carolina, on January 27, 2024. Sacoya Jenkins of Jenkins & Co Weddings coordinated the day, and McSween Photography photographed it. The couple asked us to prepare music for their entrances and formal dances alongside the reception.
From cocktail hour into the reception
The schedule called for quiet at 5:00 PM for the ceremony, followed by cocktail hour at 6:00 in the barn room connected to the reception. Reception guests were due to enter at 6:30.
At a wedding using connected spaces, those transitions belong in the music conversation. Share where guests will be, when they’ll move and when the ceremony needs quiet. For Marianne and Read, identifying the cocktail-hour room alongside the reception entrance time made those parts of the evening clear.
Choosing live music and specific recordings
For their formal moments, the couple requested a live entrance to “Signed, Sealed, Delivered” and the full version of Sam Cooke’s “Nothing Can Change This Love” for a live first dance. They chose a combined parent dance to a shortened live version of “Georgia on My Mind.”
A combined dance needs one cue for both pairs, and a shortened song needs an agreed ending. Those are useful details to settle while choosing the song.
They selected James Taylor’s recording of “How Sweet It Is” for cake cutting. Their private last dance was scheduled for 9:55, with Ray Charles’s “Come Rain or Come Shine” requested live if possible, before the 10:00 send-off. A live band and chosen recordings can both have a place in the same wedding.
Giving the band a direction for the evening
Marianne and Read liked country, classic rock, oldies, and music from the 1990s and 2000s. They gave us room to choose for a mix of generations, with a clear request for clean lyrics.
That combination of preferences and specific formal-dance choices gave us direction without fixing every song in advance. Our song-request guide explains how to separate must-play songs, broader preferences and anything you’d like left out.
Thank you, Marianne and Read, for having us. For your own wedding at The Farm at Old Edwards, send us your date and the spaces you’re using through our contact page.
Photography: McSween Photography
Venue: The Farm at Old Edwards, Highlands, North Carolina
Planning: Sacoya Jenkins, Jenkins & Co Weddings
Live music: Soulution
