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

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.

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.

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.

I played for a very intimate wedding ceremony and drinks reception on Tuesday at @boveycastle . Congratulations Kleber and Lucy. Lovely to play some different pieces today. Girl from Ipanema, Fly me to the moon and Dream a little dream of me. I like playing the light jazz repertoire.  Solo violin seems to work at very small intimate wedding ceremonies like this one.

Lovely wedding today with Sidmouth as the back drop.  This is The Sidmouth Harbour Hotel.  Nice to play outdoors in the sunshine.  Congratulations to Milly and Danny. Due to the liscence detail at the hotel I had to play acapella when outside so although this was a challenge it was a new refreshing sound and something I haven't had to do before.  I also played some piano tunes for the guests during the wedding breakfast.  Great song choices, How long will I love you, Adventure of a lifetime and then my new arrangement of Wildest Dreams from Bridgeton for the signing of the register.

Well what a lovely gig we had today. I joined up with the Exe Valley String Quartet today as we played for a wedding ceremony at St Stephens Church in beautiful Ashill by Collumpton and then off to the drinks reception in a private garden close by. It was a real pleasure to play a programme made up completely of classical music. Lot's of Mozart and Bach and lots of opera favourites as well with all the classic Opera melodies on the request list. Great to play these pieces.

Some more pictures from Wednesdays wedding ay Brickhouse Vineyard. A beautiful venue in the lovely sunshine. A nice small and intimate wedding ceremony with 1000 years for the brides entrance, 'I vow to thee my country' for the signing of the register and then a new arrangement that I have just written of 'Shine' by Years and years for the wedding party exit. (A great track!). I also stayed on to play for the drinks reception which gave me the chance to play another new arrangement, this time Aha's famous classic 'Take on me'. Another lovely wedding. Congratulations to Rachael and Craig.

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.

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.