LCQ Musician Blog

We had an amazing opportunity to perform for a really unique wedding ceremony at a new venue for us, the Mingei Museum in the heart of Balboa Park! This was really a cool opportunity, completely thought out by our couple who are also musicians and wanted something totally different!

We started off the afternoon by performing while guests arrived, and it was a great variety of fun music to set the mood for the wedding ceremony. The "Married Life" theme from the movie Up, Anything Goes from Indiana Jones, Puttin' on the Ritz, and Clarinet Marmalade made their appearances while guests were finding seats.  

Once given the cue, we started our wedding ceremony with a custom arrangement of the Downton Abbey theme. Really a perfect piece of music for this beautiful space. 

The wedding ceremony was set up as a story book, with the officiant reading about the lives of our couple, how they met, dates they went on, favorite things. Each small story segment was intertwined with a live music performance from us! So, for one of their date nights, they went to see Rhapsody in Blue, and LCQ immediately burst into the beautiful opening clarinet solo of the Gershwin piece. Further along, as part of their love for opera, we performed the famous passage to Mozart's Marriage of Figaro. There were around seven different segments of music intertwined in the ceremony, where the couple, officiant, and audience got to sit back and listen to the quintet perform music that accompanied their life story up to this point. 

​We capped off the ceremony with a lively version of Hevenu Shalom Alechem, a traditional Yiddush dance performed often at Jewish wedding ceremonies. The guests were all clapping along and it was the start of an evening of celebration. 

Of course we had to take an opportunity to get a picture with the artwork of the Mingei, and this sculpture was perfect! Really looking forward to future events and weddings at this beautiful museum!

Our own clarinetist April tied the knot recently, and we couldn't have been happier to celebrate with her and her new husband at the beautiful Abbey on Fifth! Performing with April is always a blast, and getting to plan with her all of the music for her own ceremony was easy and fun. 

The Abbey is a historic building right in the heart of San Diego, in a really cool neighborhood called Bankers Hill. This vibrant district is just north of Downtown, offers a ton of amazing food and entertainment options, and is just one block from Balboa Park - so it's a perfect location for celebrations and gatherings. The vaulted cathedral ceilings, wood paneling, and amazing stained glass windows harken to a royal stately type of feel for a venue. There is even a music balcony right there above the alter where our quintet fits perfectly!

The quintet performed for prelude, and got to play for April and her wedding party while they were getting ready and still doing final touches before guests arrived. We played some meaningful music for the ceremony, and stayed up in the music loft to do an hour while cocktails were being served. LCQs wide range of music styles blended perfectly here for this event, sticking with mostly classical and softer music while guests arrived, and then more upbeat movie and jazz music for the reception. 

If you're still searching for a unique and beautiful location for a wedding, corporate event, or holiday party, look no further than the Abbey on Fifth - and give us a ring to provide some of that musical ambiance!

Balboa Park is the heart of this city. The sprawling gardens and parkscapes surrounded by urban San Diego provide some incredibly scenic and unique backdrops for weddings and other fun events. The shear size of the park itself has so many different interesting spaces, buildings, and gardens that anyone can easily find their perfect wedding spot, on any budget, with any dream in mind.

Here are a few location ideas in the park, but of course we aren't covering everything. If you have questions about San Diego wedding venues or just want some general tips, we are happy to provide our expertise! 

Located in the heart of Balboa Park, the classy and upscale Prado restaurant hosts many weddings and events every month. They have many options for both ceremony and receptions sites, including their grand ballroom, a gorgeous outdoor enclosed patio, garden spaces, and pictured above the patio fountain. Having an all-inclusive upscale Balboa Park wedding ceremony here would be easy, leaving all of the details to the superb event staff and being able to keep guests in one central location.

The Left Coast Quintet has had the privilege of bringing music to a number of different events at the Prado. For more info, check out: Balboa Park - Prado Weddings & Events