Howkins Wedding
Friday March 25th saw XO travel to the beautiful Great Fosters Hotel in Surrey for the wedding of Mr and Mrs Howkins. We have played this venue numerous times in the past year, but this time we appeared as our 7 piece band – including horns. This is one of my personal favourite venues, and I was delighted to return! The Tithe Barn (where the wedding breakfast and evening reception were held) is the idyllic barn style back drop, but is within the walls of the hotel, joined with the Painted Hall bar area. This creates the perfect space for day to night celebrations.
We arrived late afternoon to begin set up. Before the wedding breakfast was cleared and we could move into the Tithe Barn, the staff produced a delicious meal for all of us 7 band members. Soon after, the guests filtered through to the bar area, and we were free to set up all our equipment and sound check.
After the Bride and Groom had cut the cake, it was time for their first dance. For Mr and Mrs Howkins this was to the classic Stevie Wonder song ‘For Once In My Life’. The couple began with the traditional romantic dance, starting a full dance routine! The bridesmaids and groomsmen soon joined in, creating a flash mob effect! The guests were delighted and it kicked the evening off to an incredible start.
We continued the night with some classic soul party tunes including Car Wash, Play That Funky Music and I Wish, which are great fun with the 7 piece band and horn section. We continued to play some more modern tracks, like ‘These Days’ by Take That, as requested by the couple. The party was incredible in full swing, with the dance floor packed, family and friends watching on from the side tables, and guests taking turns at the photo booth next to us.