Wedding Musician Blog

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!

San Diego and Southern California provides such a wonderful and diverse amount of different locations and feels for wedding ceremonies and celebrations. From the beaches and luxury high rise hotels of the city, a short drive up to Temecula provides beautiful wine country rustic wedding ceremony venues, like Ponte Winery where we played earlier this month.

You may have noticed a few new pictures up on our website recently. We had an amazing weekend up in Temecula getting to bring beautiful wedding ceremony music to a beautiful couple, Matt & Elizabeth Haupert, and figured we would make some updates to our site with the gorgeous views provided to us.

Temecula is a special place. Located just about an hour north-east of San Diego, in the heart of Southern California wine country, the town is just the perfect get-away from the bustle of Southern California life. Whether coming from LA and the Inland Empire, or driving up from San Diego, the rolling hills, large estates, and numerous wineries will take anyone to a whole new level of relaxation.

For Matt & Elizabeth's special day, we found ourselves at the gorgeous Lake Oak Meadows, part of the Vitagliano Winery. Surrounded by fields of green vineyards, the main focal point is a sprawling lake with numerous perfect spots for wedding ceremonies and special moments. Large shade trees keep the temperatures down, while fountains inside of the lake provide a very calming ambiance. Our quintet set up under an amazing shade canopy, keeping the 91 degree weather at bay. We even enjoyed a nice breeze!

Our couple requested traditional wedding ceremony music, consisting of Pachelbel's Canon in D, Wagner's Wedding Processional, and Mendelssohn's Wedding March for a recessional. But, we like to have some fun, so while guests were seated prior to the ceremony, we were playing recognizable movie tunes, some older jazz pieces, and summertime favorites to get people in the mood for what became a very personal, heartfelt, and loving ceremony.