Busy few days. Solo Violinist wedding this afternoon at the very beautiful Powderham. Lovely wedding ceremony and drinks reception in the rose garden. It was a wedding where timing of the music was so important. The bridesmaids walked in to 'You Raise Me Up' and then I subtly went into 'Lean On Me' for the entrance of the Bride. For the signing of the register I played 'You are the Reason' by Callum Scott and Lily Allen's 'Somewhere Only We know'. The exit music today was 'Marry You' by Bruno Mars and then I played for another hour or so while the photos were taken and the guests caught up over drinks. Love my job! #devonviolinist #weddingviolinist www.musiciandevon.co.uk

I went back to the very lovely Upton Barn & Walled Garden today for another beautiful wedding. This time I was on my own as a solo violinist playing some new tunes. The bridal party entered to 'If I ain't got you' by Alicia Keys which works really well on electric violin. I played L.O.V.E. for the signing of the register and played another new tune 'Are you ready for Love' by Elton John for the exit which also went down really well. I played for the drinks reception and then swapped instruments and played some background piano tunes for the wedding breakfast. Lovely day. Thank you to the staff for being so helpful and welcoming.

August has been a super busy month full of wonderful gigs at wonderful venues. Saturday 10th August I had the privilege to play for Emily and Will's wedding. The ceremony was a traditional ceremony in Shobrooke Parish Church where I played a new arrangement of Sail Away by David Gray. Afterwards we drove through some good old Devon country lanes to Pitt Farm near Thorveton where I played for the drinks reception. Gorgeous wedding in stunning Devon countryside. Always feel very privileged and lucky to do what I do for a living! Looking forward to a short break now - back in a couple of weeks!

I joined the Exe Valley String Quartet today for a lovely wedding at a new venue for us.  Lavender House near Ashburton. Another lovely summers day playing outside in the gardens for the ceremony and the drinks reception.  Music requests included a new one - Habits by Tove Lo for the brides entrance.  We also played At Last and Sign Sealed Delivered for the signing of the register and a good old classic to send them on their way - All you need is love by The Beatles.  We were also asked to play a quartet version of Hi Ho Silver Lining - it kinda worked!  Another great day!

Beautiful September wedding at St Elizabeth's House in Plympton. A more contemporary theme today with some Rihanna and Florence and the Machine with Elton John sandwiched in between. #musiciandevon #weddingviolinist #dawlishfiddler

A new venue for us this weekend at The Grand Hotel in Torquay by the sea. The wedding ceremony pieces included Pachelbel’s Canon in D for the brides entrance, What a Wonderful World and All I Ask of You for the signing and then L-O-V-E for the bride and grooms exit music. We then played a variety of classical and pop for the drinks including the bride and grooms special request of La Vie en Rose. We even played Tale as old as time and Toxic-you can’t say we’re not versatile!

We had the pleasure of playing at the beautiful Poltimore Church on Saturday. After a lovely wedding service the quartet played a variety of pop pieces at a private venue for the drinks reception. We finished the set with a rendition of Sweet Child O’ Mine including a fabulous improvised solo from Richard our 1st violinist.

A busy week started at the lovely St Audries Park Wedding Venue nr Taunton. This was for a wedding vows renewal drinks reception. Always like drinks receptions because it gives me the opportunity to play through different repertoire. Music requests included ‘You’ve got the love’ by Florence and the Machine.

Busy weekend. Sunday I joined Lucy and played as a string duo for a wedding ceremony and drinks reception at the very lovely Deer Park Country House . I transcribed 'Flowers' by sweet Female Attitude and we played it just before the ceremony. We played a stripped back version of 'Say you won’t let go' by James Arthur for the brides entrance. Lovely wedding at a beautiful venue. Nice to play as a duo.

Back to our second home today Rockbeare Manor. Always a lovely place to visit. Beautiful wedding as well in the Devon sunshine. We played 'Latch' by Sam Smith today during the signing of the register which is a really lovely song. We also played a slowed down acoustic version of 'Came here for love' which works so well for string quartet. Then we went outside into the garden house to play a range of pieces and songs for the drinks reception.

Wow! What a beautiful venue @coombelodgeblagdon . Lovely summer wedding in the gorgeous sunshine. Full day today. Violin for the wedding ceremony and the drinks reception. This included the lovely A Thousand Years for the brides entrance and my new arrangement of signed sealed delivered by Stevie Wonder for the exit music. Then I moved onto piano to accompany the wedding breakfast. Great day at a beautiful venue.

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!

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!

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.

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.

I joined the Exe Valley String Quartet again for our second wedding in a couple of days which was on Monday morning in the very beautiful parish church in Lympstone. Before the ceremony we played lots of classical favourites which was so nice as the church had a beautiful acoustic. The bride walked down the isle to 'Spring one' from Bridgerton which is proving to be very popular this summer. This is an original take on Vivaldis Spring which is really clever. We played 'Bitter Sweet Symphony' for the signing of the register and then 'Hoppipola' for the exit which we haven't played for a long time. I don't know why that is because it is a really lovely piece of music.

Last Saturday I joined the Exe Valley String Quartet as we returned to a very familiar venue. We play many weddings and events at Bovey Castle every year so it was nice to be back after a break due to Covid. A beautiful wedding and the chance to play some of our classical repertoire pre ceremony. We played outside overlooking Dartmoor for the drinks reception. This gave us the chance to play a few of our new arrangements and some old pop and rock classics.

Friday 20th August I played at Staddon Heights Golf Club for the wedding of Rachel and Craig. This was the view from the ceremony! It was a lovely ceremony taken by the brides father both from America. Rachel came into 'All of me' and the wedding party exited to 'Viva La Vida'. I then played on for an hour or so for the drinks reception. A lovely gig with lots of really positive feedback. Congratulations to Rachel and Craig.