On Saturday, I drove into central London for a wedding at the Foundling Museum, in Brunswick Square. (It took days to try and register my French-registered car for the congestion charge and I’m still not sure I was successful. I figure they’ll find me if they want some money. I […]
weddings
27 posts
Moving to the UK was easy, but not without stress points. I’ve moved countries before — a few times — but France was home for the last 15 years. The country is familiar, obviously, but changing absolutely everything around you has quite an impact. And launching a new business — […]
My knowledge when I wrote this post, claiming a wedding near Montauban was the furthest south I was going this summer, was incomplete. I was, in fact, going much further south than that. Beyond Carcassonne, to Chateau Rieutort, near Montpellier. If you don’t know Carcassonne (or the excellent board game […]
On Friday, I had the great pleasure of playing a wedding ceremony in the church at Limeuil. If you don’t know this part of France, it is one of the most beautiful villages anywhere. At river level, the Dordogne and Vézère meet by a restaurant I’ve played at a few […]
On Saturday, I drove about 20 minutes away for the wedding of Harriet and Leo at Chateau le Tour. Rain had been threatening this long-awaited day for a couple of weeks. And it was still spitting during the morning, as I set my keyboard up for the wedding ceremony. Bravely, […]
I think this is a first for me: three gigs in a row with varied set lists. A nice, easy one to start with – with SouthWest, playing our second public gig of the season in Cadouin. Here’s a shot from after we finished… The following evening, a piano & […]
On Saturday, I went east for a wedding at Chateau du Doux. I’m now setting up a bit earlier than I did at the start of the season, which gives me a bit more time to socialise and settle in. It also means, even when I’m not scheduled to play, […]
Last Saturday saw me drive 3.5 hours south to Chateau la Commanderie. (This is the furthest south I’m going in 2022 – to my knowledge.) I got there three hours before I was due to play, just to be on the safe side. Which meant there was plenty of time […]
On Sunday, I drove through the rain (again – which wasn’t falling only on the plain) to Chateau de la Couronne. Matt and Emma (my first Olympian bride!) had waited so long for this day that they were joined by their new baby! And Reggie, the most well-behaved (and photogenic) […]
On Saturday, I set off in the rain for Chateau du Doux. I’d been watching the forecast for a couple of weeks and it wasn’t looking good. Jason and Chloë had been waiting a long time for this… I drove through light rain, heavy rain, heavier rain and very heavy […]
Once in a blue moon, you get to play a gig that doesn’t involve hours of driving home after packing up. Last Wednesday was just such a night. Domaine de la Fauconnie is new to me and the band. But it’s absolutely perfect, in so many ways. Ceremony, cocktails and […]
On Saturday, SouthWest returned to Chateau du Doux for our second Irish wedding of the year. (Featuring easily the tallest Irish people I’ve ever met.) I got to play the ceremony beforehand, and learnt a new song for the occasion (“The One” by Kodaline). The weather was fantastic – again […]
Last Saturday, I returned to Chateau de la Couronne for the first time since Covid. When I’m there, I usually set up in the garden. But this time, April showers said, “No”. Which meant I got to play the baby grand piano again! (Even when you have the best digital […]
Last Saturday saw the first wedding of the 2022 season, at the beautiful Chateau du Doux (as seen on TV). The weather (as you can see) could not have been more perfect. It was somewhere in the high 20sC and not a cloud in the sky. Which led to two […]
This year, I’ve been Instagramming stories on gig days. Which means I’ve totally neglected this blog. Back in June, the band actually got to play a wedding! At a venue we haven’t played before – Chateau Camp del Saltre. It was excellent to get out there again, and Andy fronted […]
A few clients have asked me about my solo piano set list, recently. I’ve been avoiding this, because my music pile has looked like this for months (taken earlier this morning): Following some prompting from a hairstylist and make up artist, I waded through the pile just now. And here […]
Last weekend (nearly up to date with the blog now), I had two weddings in one day. The first was a lunchtime affair back at Château de Lacoste, about 45 minutes east of where I live. The chapel is very small, as you can see from this photograph… So I […]
At least once a year, I get to play with the astonishing Phyllipa Scammell—singer, cellist, double-bass player and entertainer extraordinaire. This year, it was for a wedding at Chateau Soulac. We played the ceremony in the chapel, including a special request, followed by the drinks party in the garden. Because […]
And later that same week, I went to Chateau de la Côte with SouthWest for a full wedding. To me, that means playing the ceremony, the drinks party, then the evening with the band. The ceremony was wonderful, held in woodland in the chateau grounds. I had to use some […]
Andy Wilson-Taylor has appeared on this blog a couple of times so far—and this wedding was the main reason why. If you’re new to Andy, he’s a singer, drummer, bass player, guitarist, pianist, composer, and frontman for Midgar. Which means he’s perfect for SouthWest when Wil (or, actually, any of […]
On Saturday, I drove a couple of hours east, to the appropriately named Beaulieu(beautiful area)-sur-Dordogne, for a ceremony and evening party wedding at Chateau du Doux. I don’t have a TV, so I didn’t know the building and owners have been on this year’s Escape to the Chateau. It’s probably […]
On Saturday, I went back to the Chateau de St Paul in Boudy de Beauregard (which isn’t far from where I live). It was a ceremony, then cocktails, then dance party wedding and I tried out the panorama setting on the device I use. I think I’ll make a habit […]
Not really. This is the setup before we played a wedding last Saturday. A half-French, half-British affair – I’ve never seen so many bilingual people in one place! Video was shot and sound was recorded, but this week is very busy, preparing for two big gigs on Friday and Saturday, […]
On Saturday, we played a wedding for a Dutch couple up in the north of the Dordogne. I have very little Dutch, and some of it obscure—Hagelslag, for example, always raises a smile (although I’ve only just seen it written down for the first time and was expecting more As. […]
This is slightly out of order (not in a bad way), because of the confusion caused by the hacking of this site at the start of the season (which was out of order and not in a good way). It’s a video from the first wedding of 2019, at Domaine […]
I was delighted to witness – and play for – the marriage of George and Andrew yesterday, up at the Chateau de la Couronne. They asked for a wedding version of “Can’t help falling in love”, which I ripped off from this video. And then I played for drinks in […]
You’ll have to put up with the odd painful pun, I’m afraid. (I’m a dad.) While we’re (not) on the subject of comedy, here’s a gag from Gérard, the drummer of SouthWest: What’s the difference between God and a guitarist? God doesn’t think he’s a guitarist. I’m here all week, […]