I don't think I have ever played outside in January before! Just look at the weather though - it was beautiful. Congratulations to Faye and Philippe on a really beautiful ceremony and drinks reception in this gorgeous corner of South Devon Thurlestone Hotel. Faye walked into the very popular Canon in D and then I played a variety of musical styles outside on the balcony. #musiciandevon #devonviolinist

I had a lovely day yesterday playing for Lizzie and Williams Christmas wedding. That was the last gig for 2021. St Audries Park Wedding Venue is a stunning location for a wedding. I played electric violin for the drinks reception only. Nice to play through the repertoire including the theme tune from Jurassic Park.. #musiciandevon #freelanceviolinist #devonviolinist. It has been a very unusual year.  No gigs for the first half of the year due to the pandemic and then suddenly all goes mad and I have lots of gigs both as a soloist and also with the string quartet.  New weddings, existing weddings and of course fitting in all of the postponed weddings.  2022 is shaping up to me a little bit more controlled!  Happy new Year.

'Having you at our wedding was the cherry on the cake. All my guests loved it and you soothed my son to sleep so he didn’t cry during the ceremony so 11/10 by far. I just loved it so much. '

Thank you Jodie and jack for your lovely feedback.  It was a lovely wedding in a beautiful venue.

I had a great afternoon with my friends in the Exe Valley String Quartet yesterday. Another trip to our most popular wedding venue of 2021 Rockbeare Manor. We played for the drinks reception only which gave us the opportunity to play some of our new more modern arrangements including a very funky/jazzy version of L-O-V-E (Frank Sinatra), Under the Bridge (Red Hot Chilli Peppers) and On Melancholy Hill (Gorillaz). We really pride ourselves on being versatile and the guests really appreciate it.

Last Tuesday I travelled up to Westward Ho in North Devon for a wedding ceremony. It is always lovely to play in an old church like this because the acoustic is gorgeous. Congratulations to Beth and Connor. Beth made her grand entrance to Canon in D by Pachelbel. During the signing of the register I played 'Can't help falling in love with you' and 'Perfect' and then the wedding party and guests make their exit to the Beatles classic 'All you need is love'. I also got to play a new request - 'Bitter Sweet Symphony' by The Verve which is a great one to practice your skills in improvisation!

To complete a busy weekend of playing solo violin I had the privilege to play for Katie and Jon’s wedding at Crowcombe Court in Somerset. A stunning location with a fabulous staircase for the bride to enter from. Katie obviously likes Disney as she made her grand entrance to ‘Take as old as time’ from Beauty and the Beast. The wedding party made their exit to ‘Can you feel the love tonight’ from Lion King. I played the lovely 'Rewrite the stars' from The Greatest Showman and The Beatles classic ‘All you need is love’ during the signing. I love a winter wedding! #musiciandevon #devonviolinist

I had the privilege to play at Jodie and Jack’s wedding on Saturday. A beautiful winter wedding at the stunning Trevenna Barns. Jodie came in to ‘More than a woman to me ‘ by Billie Joel. We had ‘How long will I love you’ and ‘This will be’ during the signing and the very beautiful 'Better Together' by Jack Johnson to exit. Great wedding with very appreciative guests. We even had some dancing! #musiciandevon #devonviolinist

On Saturday I played in a fabulous Christmas and Viennese orchestral concert with the wonderful British Philharmonic Concert Orchestra at the Playhouse in Weston Super Mare. Of all the different musical jobs I do I have to say that playing in an orchestra is right up there. Being in and around such talented musicians is so inspiring. We played waltzes and Polkas by three of the Strauss family. We also played some Leroy Anderson and Lehar. There were three amazing solists singing beautiful arias and other opera excerpts. It was wonderful musical evening.

Lovely autumnal wedding this afternoon at beautiful @rockbeare_manor_ . Red leaves all over the floor as we walked into the venue. Lovely ceremony. We played our new arrangement of John Barry's 'Somewhere in time' which is just gorgeous. Today was about being versatile. Paganini to Beauty and the Beast to Guns and Roses. #ExeValleyStringQuartet. #weddingViolinist. #DevonViolinist.  The bride walked into "I can't help falling in love with you', and the exit of the bridal party was the 'You and me' song which is really fun and funky.

I had a lovely day at Rockbeare Manor which is a venue that I have played at many times this summer.  This was my last wedding gig for a while now and I am looking forward to a bit of a break so that I can recharge my batteries and catch up on some music arranging before we get busy again in November and December.  Music was a really special part of the day today with some personal requests from the bride and groom.  I played 'Wise men say' for the entrance of the bridal party and then I returned later in the day to accompany the wedding meal with a set of romantic violin classics.  This included 'My Way' and 'Abide with me' in memory of some people no longer with us.  The guests really appreciated these tunes inparticular.  It was also another sunny autumnal day and a nice way to sign off for a couple of weeks.

I had a lovely afternoon playing with the Exe Valley String Quartet at an autumnal wedding.  We were in the stunning Great Barn in Ashton not too far from Exeter and we played to accompany the wedding breakfast. Its so nice just to play through our music and choose some of the pieces that we dont play too often.  We played some classical music including Eine Kleine by Mozart which we dont play too often.  We also played David Bowie's Life on Mars, The Jurrasic Park theme and the really lovely Concerning Hobbits theme.  Fab day!

It isn't everyday you get this close to a limited edition Bentley with John Lennon's artwork on it. I couldn't resist a picture. St Audries Park Wedding Venue.

What a fabulous day we had today at the stunning St Audries Park Wedding Venue in Somerset. Beautiful venue, beautiful couple and beautiful weather. The ceremony was in the Orangey and we played A Million Dreams for Charlotte’s entrance, Hopippola for the signing and then Bittersweet Symphony for the exit. We also played two new arrangements during the drinks reception which went down really well. Blinding Lights and Blue Monday. A thoroughly enjoyable day.  A lovely day out with the Exe Valley String Quartet.

I play at so many lovely venues but this has to be one of my favourites. (The Tunnels in Ilfracombe) To play the violin with the sea crashing against the rocks in front of you is amazing. Great wedding. Congratulations Lauren and Colin. Loved playing Jurassic Park for your entrance and Boccherini. We even had a bit of a dance party while I played a set of modern upbeat dance and pop tracks.

Today I put down the violin and played the piano for a wedding blessing at the Waie Inn nr Crediton.  It made a nice change to play the piano today.  I played one of my favourite Beatle songs for the brides entrance 'Here there and everywhere' and then we had Maestro from Holiday Inn and Glasgow Love Theme from  Love Actually for the exit.  I then played a variety of pieces as background music for the welcome drinks reception.  Phlippa, the bride is a huge fan of Einaudi so I got the chance to play lots of his hits.  I really like Einaudi.

More music and fun with the Exe Valley String Quartet today. We played at our second home Rockbeare Manor (it certainly feels like it anyway!) for todays ceremony and drinks reception. We played our brand new arrangement of 'Beautiful in White' which is a beautiful song based around melodic patterns of Canon in D by Pachelbel. Good day. Congratulations Ben and Rebecca.

Wow! What a stunning September wedding in the sunshine. I joined the Exe Valley String Quartet as we returned to one of our regular venues yesterday Bovey Castle to play for the ceremony and also the drinks reception out on the terrace. Great to play such a wide range of requests from the very elegant 'Flower Duet' to the extravagant 'Tradegy' and yes this was for the entrance of one of the brides! Great fun to play and the guests loved it to.

On Septermber 18th I returned to one of my favourite new venues Shilstone House. This is a really lovely venue with lots of helpful staff.  Congratulations to Hayley and Ben on a cracking ceremony. So nice to see people singing along and dancing along when I play some of the tunes.  It was nice to play 'No place I'd rather be' again after a while.  It was a day of pop and rock classics in the September sunshine.

I love a September wedding. Today I was at another of my regular venues. @deerparkcountryhouse. This time to play for the wedding ceremony of Lauren and Charlie. We had Robbie Williams Angels for the glorious entrance of the wedding party. We then had All of me and Perfect for the signing and the Bruno Mars Marry you for the exit of the bridal party. It was a really lovely ceremony which was unique when the groom and his friends arrived at the ceremony on their motor bikes. Brilliant!

Lovely wedding at Rockbeare Manor with the Exe Valley String Quartet. Great venue with stunning views. We played ‘Tale as old as time’ for the entrance of the bride which is always magical. This was followed by ‘Stand by me’ and ‘How long will I love you’ for the signing of the register and ‘isn’t she lovely’ for the exit of the bride and groom. We played two brand new arrangements as well during the drinks reception- ‘In my blood’ by Shawn Mendes and ‘Sweet Caroline’ by Neil Diamond. A great day.