San Diego Safari Park Wedding Ceremony

Live Music at the Safari Park makes for an awesome afternoon wedding!

​Getting to perform at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park is always a treat for the Left Coast Quintet. Providing live wedding music as such a special and magical venue allows us to bring out some beautiful musical arrangements that help to tie the entire celebration together. When you've got the savanna behind you, the beautiful hills, the awesome animals, and all of your family and guests, bringing them into the ambiance with live music helps to create the place and set the tone of the day. 

​LCQ arrived early and got to golf cart up with Safari Park staff, what a way to ride! Say hi to the LCQ selfie!!

Once we got to Kijami Overlook, we took some time checking out the space, and set up our instruments over by the front of the ceremony site. They just installed some new artificial turf, which was incredibly comfortable to walk on! It takes a lot to set up this group:

• Getting 5 instruments put together
  
• Ensuring (for three of us at least) that we have the right reeds ready
  
• Turning on and getting our tablets to the right place
• Setting up stands for music and instruments
• Chair placement and finding the right spot under the shade umbrella

After that, we get to start warming up, running through a few passages, and meeting with the wedding coordinator and site staff to make sure everything in the timeline is good to go!

Our prelude music consisted of a mix of light classical and a few movie themes. Our clients requested music like La Rejouissance, Water Music, and other classical favorites, alongside movie themes from Forrest Gump, the Lion King, and the Magnificent Seven! Rarely do weddings start right on time, and it is really easy for us to roll with changes in scheduling - we just play more music for people to enjoy. While the ceremony itself was still getting set up, we entertained guests who had arrived and sat down with a bunch of fun music. 

For the ceremony processional, we performed classical music by our couples request, which included Ode to Joy, Canon in D, Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring; and then Mendelssohn's Wedding March for the recessional. 

After the ceremony, it was time for us to get into our cocktail hour set, which was a blast. With more movie and jazz numbers, we were able to connect with the guests while the wedding party was taking pictures. It was so much fun to have some of the younger kids dancing to music that they knew, and we had many of the wedding family members come up to chat about how great everything was. 

Right before leaving and turning everything over to the DJ for the afternoon, we had to get a picture of the cakes which were just spectacular, and take a selfie with the group in front of the savannah. We also have some videos of the rhinos and giraffes running around through the plains - check our our Instagram as we upload some things there. 

We can't wait for our next return to the Safari Park for another wedding or event, we already have one scheduled later this year. For those considering a beautiful, wild, and unique wedding venue in San Diego, definitely check out the San Diego Zoo Safari Park!