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LCQ Musician Blog

Music creation can be a mysterious place to many people, so here you'll find little notes about our wedding music experiences, holiday event happenings, venues we love, and other topics that might be of interest if you're randomly scrolling the internet.

If you like what you read - leave a comment!

Some good reading while deciding on your ceremony music!

6/2/2019

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Found a great NYT article about wedding ceremony music trends and history. Check it out and give us your thoughts - what are you planning for your ceremony?

NYT Article
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What are You Listening to Today?

5/3/2019

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Our continuing series of music on our play lists recently that you might enjoy too!
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The Canadian Brass have been around for a long time, and many of the best players in the world have performed with them or wanted to! What makes them so good? Well, they are phenomenal musicians of course. But like us, they also have an incredible library of unique arrangements of music that are engaging, fun to listen to, and help bring in new audiences.

One of the most beautiful pieces of music they've recorded (in my opinion) is Make Our Garden Grow, from Candide, written by Leonard Bernstein. On brass instruments, this piece sounds amazing, give it a listen: 
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37d7eVlrHYY


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Ceremony Music at The Thursday Club

4/11/2019

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San Diego Wedding Ceremony Music in Point Loma
Our string trio had the chance to perform at The Thursday Club for their wedding open house on April 10th, 2019. It was such a good time! We got to schmooze with engaged couples, catch up with some of our favorite wedding pros, and enjoy really awesome dinner and dessert samples by some of San Diego's best catering companies!

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What are you listening to today?

3/17/2019

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In our new segment, we are going to post about some amazing music that we love listening to and/or playing, in hopes that it brightens your day! Today, the masterful soundtrack to How To Train Your Dragon 2, by John Powell. In fact, the soundtrack to all three movies in the series is phenomenal, but we hadn't listened to the second one in a while so, here it is!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSoyuQHPuOg&list=PLtyKXtrk46WDR0wFTtNacuPii4HjO19Ov
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We can spend hours just relaxing and enjoying the beautiful and exciting melodies that make up this soundtrack, and you probably guessed by now, yes we do have it in our music library to play at events! If you are like us and fall in love with this music, let us know in the comments below and feel free to suggest other movie tunes to listen in on!
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Did you ever wonder how the music to your favorite movies was created? After the composer meets with the director and producers and comes up with their musical concepts, a full symphony orchestra gathers in recording studios located all over the world to fill out the magic that is movie music. From brassy chords to soaring strings, the recording studio orchestra is a fun place to be a fly on the wall, and these masterful pros bring it all together to get up on the big screen.

A little rant in this blog post - the individual musicians are some of the only people in movie credits who aren't listed! You'll see some people like drivers or caterers get credit at the end of films, but the hard working and talented musicians for some reason don't. Hoping that changes sometime- the movies absolutely wouldn't be the same without the music!
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Pop Music at Weddings

1/27/2019

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Bringing your unique music styles to your wedding ceremony!

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

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What does an LCQ Rehearsal Look Like?

1/9/2019

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Describing one of our rehearsals is like trying to describe a whirlwind of events, lets just say we sometimes spend more time catching up and telling stories than actually performing.

...scratch that - don't want to give anyone the wrong impression, we get through a ton of music, both old favorites and new tunes, but we also genuinely enjoy hanging out...and of course snack breaks!

That being said, here is a run down on the more serious side of our rehearsals, which is actually playing through music. I should start by saying that it takes time to even choose music, but maybe I'll save that for another blog post. We get our music from a variety of different arrangers all over the world, and choosing pieces to obtain for our library comes from our preferences on what we enjoy playing, as well as requests from clients, and generally what is new and available out there on the interwebs for wind quintet. See, everyone and their dog writes arrangements for ensembles like string quartets, but it takes a special arranger or composer to actually know what sounds good in a quintet, and we love when we find that person. Just so happens, our horn player RB is also an arranger, and many of our pieces come from his talented brain!

So, we've picked the music in general, then it's time to craft the rehearsal itself. We have well over 200 pieces of music in our library, and each piece is at least 3 minutes long (but many are longer), so if my calculations are correct, if I estimate about 4 minutes per song we have, that would take around 13 hours to get through. That's a lot of snack breaks!
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To structure rehearsals, I try to pick about 10 pieces we can go over in our two hour slot. Those 10 might come from new music that we need to try - we don't put anything in our binders until we try and like a piece. Or it might be older music that we got as a request for an upcoming wedding or event. We never want to show up unprepared, and this is an important detail in our readiness for important celebrations, we've got to go over what we're playing and just get it fresh in our memories. 

We are all professional musicians, so sightreading (playing music for the first time without a prior rehearsal) is somewhat second nature and sometimes expected for certain gigs, but I don't expect it for our performances. I never want to be embarrassed by starting a piece that has errors, sounds bad, isn't written well, or if it has tricky passages and roadmap issues.

​Sidenote- did you know we have a roadmap in music? There are fun symbols built in to what we are reading on the page that might tell us to repeat a section, jump to a certain bar, hold out a section, or end a certain way. Isn't music fun?!? 
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Once we decided what we're playing, we talk the piece through. We all want to make sure we are on the same page about repeats (as mentioned directly above this), and also about the key the music is in, the volume, who is taking lead on various sections. It's all very complicated stuff but basically, we talk through it. 

Then, the music happens. Our process for new songs is typically to play through a piece of music all the way, errors and all, and try not to stop, just so we get the hang of it. Once we finish, we'll go back and start to polish sections, work out trouble spots, and make it better, and ultimately we'll probably play through it again once more to solidify things. We might not see this particular piece of music again for a few months, so it's important to make sure we put it away with a good feeling about how it sounded. 

I try my best to mix up rehearsals with a wide variety of music. While our group mostly plays "pops" which is a pretty broad category that covers movie themes, Broadway, pop covers, and similar contemporary music not originally composed for quintet, it is also important to get back to the roots and practice quintet specific music, which is all classical. Classical can be fun too, don't get me wrong, and it is so incredibly challenging and rewarding to play, but it isn't as recognizable and, with few exceptions, it isn't picked often by our clients when choosing music for their events. So, our rehearsal might look like a few new Disney or other movie themes, a classical number, some new pop arrangement of The Jackson 5 or Jason Mraz, and then another movie tune. 

We try to get a few videos when we rehearse, but since we don't bring a professional audio and video tech with us wherever we go (we should, but we can't afford it!), we have to make do with cell phone video. I'm really picky about my videos, and I'm rarely happy enough with them to put them online - but I'm working on upgrading some recording equipment so we can showcase ourselves on YouTube. You can check out what we have done in the past on our YouTube Channel!

Post rehearsal time is spent adding new and group-approved music to the binders, and getting things set up for our next performance. And of course, writing blogs, because there is nothing more that a musician wants to do with their time than...write stuff.

I really do hope you enjoy reading a little about the inner workings of musician life - I actually do have fun writing things!
​-Dan
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Bayside Weddings at the Bali Hai

10/2/2018

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Bali Hai Outdoor Wedding
Bayside View on the Patio
We had the opportunity to attend the fall open house at the Bali Hai restaurant on Shelter Island, and meet with clients and other wedding professionals who are regulars at ceremonies here. First off, the weather couldn't have been better - scattered clouds with clear skies, a fantastic view of downtown, and a magical sunset.

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A Renovated Kona Kai Resort!

9/13/2018

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Kona Kai is the perfect place for events and weddings in San Diego!

I had the opportunity to take a site tour of the newly renovated Kona Kai resort, located on Shelter Island in San Diego. The place is breathtaking, inside and out. It reminded me of a Greek village overlooking the water, and the views were stunning. Keep in mind, I'm a musician, not a professional photographer, but hopefully you can get the gist of the place and see what a special feeling it has.
Kona Kai Resort Weddings
Main Lobby - Kona Kai Resort

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Shadowridge Golf Club Weddings in Vista

7/8/2018

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Wedding Ceremony Shadowridge Golf Club
The secluded wedding gazebo at Shadowridge Golf Club
It was a hot day up in Vista at Shadowridge Golf Club, but that didn't stop the guests and the wedding party from dressing to the 10's! Everyone looked fabulous, and the surroundings were beautiful. Shadowridge has an excellent staff of friendly people who know what they are doing when it comes to coordinating weddings, coupled with a secluded private ceremony location and onsite clubhouse, it is a great all-encompassing location for weddings in North County San Diego.

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Ramona Weddings at Milagro Winery

7/1/2018

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Milagro Winery Wedding Musicians
Our musicians set up at the ceremony site at Milagro Winery.
Our group had an opportunity to play for Kareem & Paige's wedding ceremony at Milagro Winery, our first time at this gorgeous Ramona venue. The rolling hills, oak trees, and vineyards really bring out a Central Coast vibe, just going to show that you really can find any style of wedding venue or location right here in San Diego County.
Milagro Winery Event Space
Milagro Winery Events Patio

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Wedding Celebrations at Ponte Winery

6/29/2018

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Ponte Winery Wedding
LOVE is in the air at a wedding ceremony at Ponte Winery
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.
Temecula Wedding Ceremony Music
Beautiful blue skies and rolling hills provide an amazing backdrop for this Temecula wedding ceremony.

Wedding Ceremony Music Options


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String Trio Wedding at Paradise Point Resort

5/19/2018

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Our string & harp trio headed to Mission Bay to play for a beautiful outdoor wedding at the Paradise Point Resort yesterday. The weather was perfect, overcast but still bright out, not hot but not cold, and all of the guests were happy to be there (so were we!)

Our day started off checking out the reception site where we played after the ceremony, and setting up our string trio for the processional. The clients requested a harp/violin/cello trio, which is a beautiful option and provides many options for wedding ceremony music.
Paradise Point Wedding Ceremony
Wedding Ceremony site setup complete!
Paradise Point Wedding Music
The Trio is Ready to Go!

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A Martin Johnson House Wedding - La Jolla Ceremony

4/17/2018

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This past weekend was beautiful for outdoor occasions, with cool breezes, mild coastal weather, and clear blue ocean water. The Martin Johnson House, part of UCSD and Scripps Institute of Oceanography, sits atop the beautiful cliffs of La Jolla and looks south toward the Cove and La Jolla Village. The views are perfect for San Diego outdoor weddings, and the grounds are reminiscent of a small cabin in the woods, with really endless possibilities of decorating. 
Martin Johnson Wedding Ceremony
Our couple hired our string duet, which is a great ensemble for this intimate location. The strings are easily heard over a gathering of 50 family and friends, and provided pre-ceremony and processional & recessional music for the bride and her new groom.
Wedding Ceremony La Jolla
La Jolla Wedding Musician

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Rancho Santa Fe Weddings Style - Morgan Run

4/2/2018

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We had the opportunity to return to the beautiful Morgan Run Club and Resort over the weekend, and are always impressed by this Rancho Santa Fe / Del Mar area wedding venue. Beyond the views and welcoming spaces, the staff at Morgan Run are incredibly friendly, outgoing, and helpful- so you really feel like you're part of the family here and that is why it is such a special place.
Rancho Santa Fe Weddings
Morgan Run is, primarily, a golf and tennis club- and they have the facilities to prove it! Gorgeous greens go on for miles, and the courts are top notch. On site, their aquatic and gym facilities leave nothing behind either, and they even offer a kids day camp for wedding parties which is quite reasonable!

Del Mar Wedding Hotel
Weddings in Rancho Santa Fe

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The Estancia- An Amazing La Jolla Wedding Venue

2/22/2018

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When people picture La Jolla, it is typically the quaint downtown with boutique shops, waterfront parks, and gorgeous historic buildings. The Estancia Hotel fits in perfectly with the ideals and natural beauty of the area, but is an absolutely unique property that should be considered on anyone's list of wedding venues in the La Jolla area.
Estancia La Jolla Wedding Garden
Estancia La Jolla Weddings
The history of the hotel and gardens is a unique story unto itself. Originally a horse stable, the property has been developed into an urban oasis, filled with stunning succulents and open spaces, and a small campus of historic buildings with rooms of varying sizes for any number of events.
Estancia Wedding Spaces

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Mission Bay Weddings at the Hyatt Regency

1/17/2018

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I am by no means a wedding photographer! That being said, I had the opportunity to tour the Hyatt Regency Mission Bay with a group of other great wedding professionals on a gorgeous January afternoon, and wanted to share my experience with soon-to-be brides and grooms or others looking for an amazing space for an all-encompassing event with true San Diego bayside class.
Mission Bay Wedding Location
Secluded garden perfect for cocktail hour or other meetings.
The Hyatt Regency in Mission Bay is a distinct landmark, with a tall tower of hotel rooms and a sprawling front row seat to the bay. But the hotel resort has many hidden gems that might not be obvious just by driving by.
Mission Bay Wedding Hotel
The Hyatt Regency hotel tower, with boat dock in the foreground.

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San Diego Botanic Garden Weddings & Events

1/9/2018

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San Diego Botanic Garden Wedding
Wedding Set-up at the San Diego Botanic Gardens

Weddings in the Botanic Gardens of Encinitas:

The San Diego Botanic Gardens are an oasis in the middle of Encinitas, a cute coastal town about 15 minutes north of San Diego. The gardens have a rich history, having been developed since the early 1900s on land overlooking the Pacific Ocean and incorporating a wide variety of different spaces. While you could consider this a museum for plant species, the gardens have evolved and become a spectacular event space, perfect for weddings, parties, engagements, photo shoots, and other happenings.
Wedding Music Botanic Garden San Diego
The Left Coast Trio under some shade providing acoustic ambiance.

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Outdoor Park Wedding in Chula Vista

12/25/2017

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When you live in San Diego, the outdoors provides year round beautiful wedding settings. This was the case this past Friday in Chula Vista, at the Otay Lakes area in a park called Mountain Hawk. 

Rolling hills, a pristine lake, and a beautiful outdoor amphitheater made this December wedding one to write about. There aren't many places in the US that you can do an outdoor wedding like this at the end of the year.
Wedding Music in Chula Vista
Left Coast String Trio at Mountain Hawk Park

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The Fairmont Grand - An Amazing Holiday Venue

12/13/2017

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Live Music at the Fairmont Grand Del Mar

Many people might not know about the hidden gem in Del Mar called the Fairmont Grand. It's somewhat secluded, not on any major roadway, but the resort is an absolutely spectacular site, perfect for weddings, holiday parties, and other events.
Fairmont Grand Wedding Music
Main Entrance to the Fairmont Grand
Our wind trio has had the opportunity to perform here a few times for different events, and we were just honored to play for a company holiday party in their Elizabeth Capella, a wood adorned chapel with amazing acoustics.

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Music for Royal Weddings

11/29/2017

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Royal Wedding Music San Diego
Prince William and Princess Kate's Wedding Ceremony

Bringing Royal Customs to Your San Diego Wedding

With the recent announcement of the engagement of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, we thought it would be fun to focus on tips for making your wedding royal-inspired! British royal weddings have always caused quite a stir with brides from all over the world looking for inspiration on how they can bring a bit of the custom and class into their own ceremonies.

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Balboa Park Weddings & Music

11/6/2017

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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! 
The Prado Wedding Ceremony

The Prado - Upscale Weddings in Balboa Park

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

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Old Hollywood Style Weddings in San Diego

10/12/2017

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1930s & 40s Movie Style in the Heart of Southern CA

Lafayette Wedding Music
Lafayette Grand Entrance
We had the opportunity to tour the historic Lafayette Hotel in University Heights recently, and were incredibly impressed by the style, class, and ambiance the hotel offers. Having a wedding at the Lafayette means stepping back in time to the roaring swing era of classic Hollywood, when big bands took the stage and movie stars mingled with the locals.

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Cuvier Park Weddings & the Magic of La Jolla

10/2/2017

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Cuvier Park Wedding Music

Cuvier Park La Jolla Wedding Bowl Flower Arch San Diego Weddings
Cuvier Park-Wedding Bowl set up with a flower arch.
Cuvier Park La Jolla Wedding Bowl Ceremony
Looking north towards La Jolla from the top of Cuvier Park.
San Diego is full of beautiful places, where the venue itself actually becomes part of the event. Cuvier Park in La Jolla, also known as the Wedding Bowl, is certainly one of those special spots. This semi-secluded spot with some of the most iconic views that San Diego is known for might be difficult to acquire, with various permits from the City and scheduling with other events, but once secured you can be sure that you have one of the best outdoor wedding venues in San Diego!
La Jolla Wedding Bowl
Cuvier Park, La Jolla's "Wedding Bowl", looking out over the ocean.

Booking the Wedding Bowl La Jolla for your Weddings & Events:


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Holiday Party Ideas that We Love!

9/27/2017

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San Diego Holiday Party Music & Ideas!

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Creepy ghouls and goblins are coming soon, followed quickly by explorers with turkey, and jolly old men in red pajamas being flown by reindeer. Yes, it's holiday season in San Diego, and while the weather here might not provide any white dusting of snow or icicles hanging from awnings, it does mean fun parties, great food, and entertaining music!

Here are some ideas for those of you trying to plan for your office or home holiday party that we have found fun, insightful, or interesting. Remember to book your live music with us as soon as you've set a date, so we can start going over the perfect playlist for your San Diego holiday party.




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The Pendry Hotel- an amazing Wedding & Event venue.

9/13/2017

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A Key Gaslamp San Diego Wedding Location!

The Pendry pool area3rd Floor Pool Area
The downtown San Diego Gaslamp district is home to many fine restaurants, clubs, activities, and hotels, and one of the newest and finest is The Pendry, recently opened in February 2017. The prime location on J Street between 5th & 6th was developed with class, sophistication, and elegance, and it's no wonder that it is the place to be for many visitors and locals alike.

I should start by mentioning this isn't just a hotel, it's a destination. With multiple restaurants, meeting spaces, event halls, an underground club, bars, swimming club & spa, their visitors could easily just wander around for a few days and enjoy everything the location has to offer. I toured the facility with many other San Diego Wedding professionals, ranging from photographers to event planners to other venue coordinators, and we all really enjoyed the atmosphere and incredible opportunities that The Pendry has to offer.

Check out some of the other pictures I took during the tour, and let me know what your favorite wedding venue is in San Diego- maybe I'll visit there next! If you contact the Pendry for an event, please let them know I sent ya!



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    Dan is the bassoonist & one of the founders of the LCQ.

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