It's always fun to reminisce about beautiful events we've attended in the past, and this month marks the 5 year anniversary for a special former client of ours who was married at Ethereal Gardens in the summer of 2018. We had a few property pictures (like the one above of their absolutely gorgeous ceremony site) and just today, got a few that she was looking through specifically of our quintet performing for them! As you can see, the wedding was a dreamy, boho inspired rustic outdoor ceremony, and Ethereal was the perfect choice for this couple. 

Huge thank you to Rachel and Josh number one for bringing us in to provide wedding ceremony and cocktail hour music for you, and for finding these fun pictures of our group performing at Ethereal Gardens! It was such a special day - thankfully not too warm although we had our own shade, and the music of our group filled the air.

Ethereal is a very open location with a large field that can be designed however your imagination will see fit. Bringing in a wind quintet to this location was the perfect choice, since our sound was able to project out and be heard by all of the guests. We had so many family and friends coming up to us between songs and chatting about how much they loved the music and ambiance we were providing for the celebrations. 

We were delighted to join Samantha and Connor at Seagrove Park in Del Mar, CA at their wedding ceremony this weekend. Seagrove is right in the heart of Del Mar, overlooking the Pacific Ocean, and just steps away from the little shops and restaurants that Del Mar is known for. While it's a public park, it is such an amazingly beautiful location and easy to set up for wedding ceremonies of all sizes. 

For this celebration, Left Coast Quintet performed for prelude as guests arrived, for the wedding ceremony, and for a postlude while everyone took pictures with the happy couple. Our selections took us from Disney classics like Aladdin (A Whole New World), Beauty and the Beast (Be Our Guest), Pinocchino (When you Wish Upon a Star), and Cinderella (A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes), to more pop covers from John Legend (All of Me) and Bruno Mars (Marry You). We also did a lot of jazz standards (Que Sera, Sera, Besame Mucho, Llorendo se Fue, and more). It was a fun and diverse mix of music that helped initially set the mood, then bring all the fun emotions of the couples favorites songs into their wedding mix. 

A few pics above of the quintet, enjoying the ceremony and preparing to perform for the recessional, which was Marry You by Bruno Mars!

We are always eager to return to Del Mar and to perform at these beautiful outdoor wedding venues that the San Diego area has to offer. 

Talk about a beautiful location to have a wedding! We performed today at the Coronado Island Marriott Resort, right on their lawn overlooking the San Diego Bay and downtown San Diego. It was really beautiful, a small and intimate ceremony with our favorite officiant, Bethel Nathan! We started performing for prelude while guests arrived and took their seats, about thirty minutes of music with accompanying laughter of small children running around the lawns and playing with each other. Honestly it was a small concert for us, and the guests really enjoyed the music! We performed Rainbow Connection from the Muppets, a few pieces from Beauty and the Beast, When You Wish Upon a Star from Pinocchio, Storybook Love from the Princess Bride, Sound of Music, and more. 

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!

The quintet was delighted to play for a wedding ceremony at the historic and pink La Valencia Hotel this past weekend, and we had a blast. From custom arrangements of Israeli pop music to beautiful classical interludes, as well as a sprinkling of movie soundtrack magic, we elevated the atmosphere and put a smile on our bride, groom, and the guests!

One of the best things we can hear from people after we finish playing is how much they loved the performance. In this case, it was quite warm outside, so the guests sitting in the sun while we played prelude were sweating in their suits and dresses but still had a great time. We had people coming up, to chat between songs, lots of toe-tapping, and some really special music selections. 

La Valencia is a gorgeous location. Located right above the Pacific Ocean in the downtown village area of La Jolla, it's known as the Pink Lady for obvious reasons - it's exterior stucco color and it's charm. The hotel boasts scenic views all over the property, whether you're enjoying the restaurant, you're down in the garden, at the pool, or in the Veranda Room for cocktail hour, there are lots of places to explore. Our couple had their wedding ceremony in the Garden, or El Jardin, and you can see the setup in the above pics. A beautiful flower arch was built on the front of the Chuppah, a traditional Jewish wedding structure with a tallit hanging above that the couple gets married under. 

The quintet did a prelude selection of movie music from films like Cinema Paradiso, An American Tail, and Fiddler on the Roof, as well as pop covers of the Beatles & the Beach Boys. We hit some classical notes with Debussy's Petite Suite, and some Israeli/Jewish music including Yerushalyim Shel Zahav and Erev Shel Shoshanim, both beautiful melodies that set the tone for the day as one of wonder, beauty, and excitement. 

If you're reading our blog and searching for wedding inspiration, I hope you check out La Valencia and the La Jolla area, there is so much to do and no one needs a car. Lots of parks, museums, stores, amazing restaurants, and of course the views of the Pacific during sunset, all make for a great event weekend for family and friends! 

The Left Coast Quintet had the pleasure of returning again to Ethereal Gardens, north of Escondido, for a beautiful July 4th wedding ceremony. We performed for prelude, processional, and recessional, and had some custom music arranged from the Twilight movies specifically for the bride. 

Ethereal Gardens is a lovely place to get married! A large 40 acre private estate, the gardens include lush landscaping, private suites to get ready, numerous fountains, an indoor bar/lounge, a large outdoor party tent, and space for lawn games. It is truly an all-in-one wedding venue where your guests can come, celebrate, and enjoy themselves. 

Our quintet fit in perfectly here. We don't need amplification to easily be heard across the lawns and the seating areas, and we performed many fun arrangements while guests arrived including music from West Side Story, The Little Mermaid, How to Train Your Dragon, Lady & the Tramp, Charlie & the Chocolate Factory, Romeo & Juliet, and many others. For recessional, another custom arrangement for our group of Born to be Yours by Imagine Dragons & Kygo set the mood for the rest of the festivities. 
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Many thanks to Jim George for subbing in on clarinet! Jim has played with the quintet and our trio on numerous occasions and is a fantastic musician and doubler - he's actually able to fill in for us on either clarinet or flute, so you may see him at future gigs in either roll. 

Also a thank you to our fabulous couple who were so easy to work with and so cheerful! They even gave us this beautiful thank you card when we finished which was the icing on the cake!

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!

Many people we talk to regularly think that the go-to ensemble for wedding ceremonies is a string quartet. Of course that is what is seen in the movies often, having a string quartet serenade guests as they arrive, or play processional music while the happy couple walks down the aisle. 

But while string quartets are still very much the standard, there are so many other options available to provide that same sense of grandeur and elegance, who can bring the atmosphere of live music, and who can customize your wedding songs to suite your desires and specifications. 

There are also many amazing San Diego string quartets out there, some of them are professional, some are more amateur but still do a nice job at weddings. As local San Diego musicians, we all run in the same circles and know each other from various symphony, stage show, and other local ensembles and have a good time together catching up on the wedding and events business and trends that we are seeing. 

But what I hope brought you to this blog today is a desire to see what our ensemble can provide for your wedding that a string quartet can't. As a wind quintet, we have a very wide array of music stylings - over 700 arrangements of music spanning cinema soundtracks, classical and Baroque favorites, jazz and swing, Broadway, pop covers, and more. In fact we custom arrange music to fit many of our clients - some that are Disney lovers enjoy listening to their favorite melodies from Aladdin or The Little Mermaid, others that love the Beatles find their wedding songs in our extensive Fab Four catalogue. 

Wind quintets are made for outdoor performances. We typically do not need to be amplified and our sounds carry throughout the wedding venue, allowing us to instantly set the mood as guests arrive. Historically, wind quintets have been around for hundreds of years, and were a common sight in the plaza's of Vienna performing for royals and at special celebrations. Our ensemble consists of the principal wind instruments of the symphony orchestra: clarinet, flute, oboe, French horn, and bassoon. The sound combinations of our instruments meld to create unique colors, harmonies, drama, flare, and a full rich feeling.

​Wind quintets are made for outdoor performances. We typically do not need to be amplified and our sounds carry throughout the wedding venue, allowing us to instantly set the mood as guests arrive. Historically, wind quintets have been around for hundreds of years, and were a common sight in the plaza's of Vienna performing for royals and at special celebrations. Our ensemble consists of the principal wind instruments of the symphony orchestra: clarinet, flute, oboe, French horn, and bassoon. The sound combinations of our instruments meld to create unique colors, harmonies, drama, flare, and a full rich feeling.

​So we hope that you will consider booking the Left Coast Quintet for your upcoming wedding celebration! While we are not a San Diego string quartet, we are a professional San Diego classical ensemble made up of fun, engaging, and down to earth musicians who can really impress and elevate your day!

The Left Coast Quintet performed for a beautiful wedding ceremony at Green Gables Wedding Estate on Thursday evening. It was our first time on the property, and we were very impressed with just how gorgeous it is. Mature trees provide plenty of shade, there are beautiful green lawns, well manicured patios - really it is an oasis in North County San Diego that transports you away to a different world. 

Our couple loves all things Disney, and we did a prelude full of Disney music, including Lion King, Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Pocahontas, Pinocchio, and more. The wedding ceremony processional even included a little Star Wars - Imperial March, and for the recessional, we got this custom arrangement of Marry You by Bruno Mars which is lively and upbeat, perfect for everyone clapping for the newly married couple. 

Definitely looking forward to returning to this venue - we have another wedding there in the fall where we will perform for prelude, ceremony, and cocktail hour, so a little more time to get more pictures and videos. Until then - have a great weekend!

The Left Coast Quintet had the honor to provide live wedding music once again in Temecula, this time at the Galway Downs. An absolutely stunning location, very typical of Temecula with beautiful lakes and water features, huge shade trees, a large barn/reception area, and just the nicest staff. 

We set up early and ran through a few new songs arranged by our hornist RB, including a beautiful rendition of Simple Gifts. Guests started trickling in and taking their seats in the ceremony spot, which overlooks a beautiful lake and is surrounded by gentle creeks and fun pedestrian bridges and walkways. We continued with prelude music for about 30 minutes while everyone was seated, and then got our cue to start the wedding ceremony. 

Yes there was a "best dog" ! After a beautiful and touching ceremony, we played "Our Love is Here to Stay" for the recessional, as the wedding party and guests started exiting the ceremony site and headed over for cocktail hour. We moved as well, over in front of a beautiful barn with a fun grass area, set up with lawn games and belly top tables. The kids and dog played around while we provided upbeat jazz, pop, and movie music, and the wedding party was off taking pictures. We ended just before the grand entrances and left everyone to a wonderful night of celebrating!

The Left Coast Quintet held an open rehearsal, as we call it, during the wedding open house and venue grand opening of The Point in Pacific Beach / Mission Bay. This spot, completely surrounded by beautiful water, is an exceptional location to have that "San Diego" wedding feel. Imagine small sail boats floating by while saying your vows, or the feel of the ocean air cooling you off after dancing at your party!

This is mostly a picture post, we had a great time and met some great friendors, so pictures of them are included. We hope to see you at an event at The Point soon!

Historically, most wedding ceremonies followed the same traditional pattern. Classical background music while guests were seated, a Handel or Vivaldi piece while the bridal party entered, Wagner's wedding march for the bride, and Mendelssohn's march for the recessional. These time tested music pieces are still hits with so many couples - there is a reason they are so popular - they work well and are recognizable to almost everyone that we are having a wedding here!

More often now, we are finding younger couples that want something a little different, more styled to their tastes in music or something that brings up a happy memory for them. What is great about our ensembles is that we are able to deliver on that request, and have acquired a large list of music that will transport you to your favorite band, a special concert, or a movie that gives you all the feels!

With a pop library that spans back to the 1960s, we've included hits from some amazing musicians, like the Jackson 5, the Beatles, Elton John, Elvis Presley, the Beach Boys, Queen, and so many others. Our musical abilities also include so many different movie soundtracks including Disney and Pixar favorites as well. You have a special song in mind that we don't already have in our library - no problem, we can arrange it just for you!

We checked recently, and here is a list of the top modern/pop songs requested by our brides for wedding entrances:

1: A Thousand Years, Christina Perri, as covered by the Piano Guys
2: All You Need is Love, the Beatles
3: Tale as Old as Time, Beauty & The Beast, Alan Menken
4: Hallelujah, Leonard Cohen
5: I'm Yours, Jason Mraz
6: A Whole New World, Disney's Aladdin, Alan Menken
7: Moonlight Serenade, Glenn Miller
8: Imagine, John Lennon
9: It Had to Be You, Gus Kahn
10: You've Got a Friend in Me, Toy Story, Randy Newman