Debbie and Mark's Big Day at McDonald Ansty Hall

I had met Debbie and Mark so many times at various wedding fayres that I had almost forgotten that they were one of our wedding couples - they felt more like old friends!

'Unconventional' would be the word that best describes the finishing touches that this dynamic duo sprinkled over their wedding day at the wonderful McDonald Ansty Hall... Mark even arrived for his nuptials by helicopter! Show off! :)

Amazed by Lonestar Performed Live by Adam Thomas

<a href="http://adamthomas.bandcamp.com/track/amazed">Amazed by Adam Thomas</a>

As I've said before, every wedding is unique and, other than the helicopter, the other thing that stood out for me was their choice of second dance: following on from Adam's live performance of Amazed (Lonestar) the bride's colleagues (fellow school staff) were ordered to join the lovely Debbie in a rendition of... (drum roll please)... the Birdie Song! What a way to break the ice! (Watch the video below and join in!!)

Michael Buble, Hey Ya and Swinging!

When it came to the rest of their wedding entertainment, Adam's live performances kicked off with a little bit of Michael Buble and swing followed by a full-on Pop and Soul second set for dancing. Once again this was slightly adapted to include a few of the numbers that we've been performing in our brand new Soul show: Forget You (Cee Lo Green) and Hey Ya (Outkast)... Both were well received as always with lots of shimmying and shaking being done by all ;)

The atmosphere was fantastic (you would never have believed it was a Sunday night!) The dance floor was full all night long with the wedding party jigging away to everything from Take That (Debbie is a mahoosive Take That-ite!) to Amy Winehouse, Erasure to Scissor Sisters... There's nothing better than a couple with an eclectic taste!

A beautiful day weather-wise was rounded off with a barbeque plus a wonderful evening entertainment-wise. Here's to Debbie & Mark, all the very best guys... Congratulations! :) x x x

Swing & Soul Wedding Entertainment at Sketchley Grange

I have to really like a bride to allow her to book Adam to perform on his own birthday... Rebecca Kinnersley was one such bride!

At the time of booking, Rebecca's fiance Sean was posted in Afghanistan and she was handling most of the wedding planning alone. She knew what she wanted and what she liked but was always so lovely and endearing... My favourite qualities in a bride!

The Big Day at Sketchley Grange

On their big day itself, they were both really easy going and Rebecca looked truly radiant. Every wedding is unique and, for me, the three things that stood out most with this wedding was the beautiful pink flowers on the tables (hopefully a picture will follow), the quirky barbecue (rather than a buffet) it looked scrummy ;) (the head chef at Sketchley Grange really knows what he's doing!) and Rebecca's stunning dress, of course!

The First Dance... Chasing Cars

When it came to their wedding entertainment, they had opted for Chasing Cars as their first dance followed by a very unusual choice: Kiss with a Fist by Florence and the Machine! Very different!!

Adam's live performances kicked off with a little bit of Michael Buble and swing but the second set was slightly adapted to include a few of the numbers that we've been performing in our brand new Soul show: Forget You (Cee Lo Green) and Hey Ya (Outkast)... Both were greatly received as always with lots of Polaroid picture shaking done by all ;)

The evening was over in a flash with both the bride and groom dancing for the entire night. The dance floor was overflowing all night with the wedding party boogie-ing to everything from The Specials to Rihanna, Ultra-Nate to Dirty Dancing... We really love couples with eclectic tastes and crowds that love 90's dance! (Adam used to love all that stuff you see!)

Adam thoroughly enjoyed his birthday too as they were such a wonderful audience and it really felt that we were surrounded by family and friends anyway... They even sang happy birthday to him at the end of the night! Ah bless!

Here's to Rebecca & Sean, we wish you all the happiness in the world, thank you for letting us be such a big part of your day :) x x x

A Singing Snooker Star is Born! Introducing "The Selby Thomas Show!!"

The new Mr and Mrs Selby...

We first met Mark Selby and the then Vikki Layton after we had performed our Swing Show with our lovely dancers at a fancy corporate event at Leicester City's King Power Stadium in 2009. We immediately began talking about music, singing and even about Mark performing in our Toast & Jam project (more about that at a later date!) 

I'd heard on the grapevine that Mark was a very keen singer and anyone who has been to a karaoke bar in Leicester city centre has probably heard him singing his personal favourites: Dean Martin's "Kick In The Head," Elton John's "Your Song" and Snow Patrol's "Chasing Cars to name just a few!

Click here to watch the HD larger scale of the video from the Adam Thomas Channel on Vimeo.

Mr Selby to the stage please... 

Mark & Adam had chatted quite a lot before the big day and it had been decided that a duet was in order (although this remained a surprise for 198 of the 200 guests!) Three quarters of the way through his set, Adam began performing "Kick in the Head" but was rudely interrupted by another singer at the bar! ;)

As you can see from the video their duet went down a storm, as did the remainder of the set, and there was even a short encore from Mark during New York, New York!

Great feedback

The evening was a huge success and I'm sure that everyone enjoyed themselves thoroughly. It was great to see the video footage of the ceremony itself played on the screens around the room (although they did make us all jealous parading around in Mexico!)

It was a great night with a fantastic crowd and we both wish Mark and Vikki all the luck in the world. We're so glad to have been a part of their day... "Thank You!" x x x

-- For those of you that are particularly nosey then you can also view Mark and Vikki's wedding slideshow taken in Mexico here.

Can-Can-ing in Cannes with Can Can Dancers!

Not many can say that they’ve done a Can-Can in Cannes… but Adam and his dancers now can!

Adam and his dancers were flown out exclusively by French production company HYPEvent to perform at their Soirée Spectaculaire on April 6th. We were told that the venue, the wonderful Plage 45, was near to the beach… it was actually on the beach!! A truly stunning venue where only the best of the best get to hang out and, naturally, we fitted right in!! (Ahem!)

The lovely Sally and Grace from Hotcow, an experimental marketing company, (yep, you heard it right!) had organised the entire event to coincide with the MIPTV - a big thing in tv land, held in Cannes every year where production companies get a chance to sell their wares, and mahoosive TV production company Endemol, our client, was doing just that, showcasing their new shows for all to see.

Adam and his stunning can-can dancers were asked to create a real buzz in the main arena with short and sharp performances throughout the evening to wow the guests - and wow them they did! The girls even had a ball presenting the ‘Million Pound Drop’ to over 700 potential clients: we think that our dancer Claire Murphy may even be the new, all improved Davina – she was awesome!!

It’s a shame that their fun had to end with two ten-minute Can-Can performances! Yep, TWO TEN MINUTE CAN-CANS! The reception from the audience was simply phenomenal and it was thoroughly enjoyed by all but four girls within the venue!! :)  Apparently the girls enjoyed it until about half way through each and then felt that their legs were about to fall off! Such light weights, they should try doing my job at some point - all this typing, I mean, it really hurts your fingers after a while!! ;)

Well done Adam and the girlies (Sarah, Sarah, Claire and Keily)

Prestwold Hall, Leicestershire for Sam and Marcus Gale

Lovely venue, lovely couple, lovely day!

Last Saturday we performed at the lovely Prestwold Hall in Leicestershire for Sam and Marcus and we had a really great time!

A stunning venue

Having performed at Prestwold Hall before, it is a venue that we are now very familiar with and a venue that we always look forward to performing at. We always find the staff to be professional and friendly, the food is of the highest standard and the venue and grounds, with so many wonderful views and stunning features, are to die for!

A Special Request from the FOTB

Adam was kindly asked by Sam and Marcus if he could perform one of the most requested songs ever, Elton John's classic,'Your Song.' It was, however, their second dance that got most of the guests talking: a surprise request from the father of the bride to his daughter and son-in-law, Heartland's 'I Loved Her First.' A very emotional and heartfelt song and, I must be honest, whilst Adam was learning the song it really hit me too... a really beautiful song.

They say... 

Prestwold Hall and its stunning gardens provide the perfect venue for civil weddings and wedding receptions. The Hall is available for exclusive use only, which ensures that your day is truly unique and memorable.

Up to 175 guests can be accommodated for a wedding breakfast with excellent menus and a fantastic wine list tailored to your individual needs.

Prestwold Hall is registered to hold civil ceremonies in the library for up to 150 guests. There is a Church of England church within the Prestwold Estate where it is often possible to hold a wedding ceremony.

A chauffeur-driven Bentley is available for use on your wedding day.

PC Vanilla Ice?

They say that you're only as good as your audience and that could definitely be said of the lively bunch that we performed to on Saturday! We had a real mix of young and old and this made for a diverse evening of musical tastes, with a special appearance by a guy named Gareth (real name Steve!? Don't ask!!) as Vanilla Ice! It was like the Ice Man himself was actually in the room with us, he was that good! I dread to think how many hours went into actually learning the song in the first place! :)

The worst thing about Gareth is that, Adam spent the entire evening watching him and hoping that he didn't do anything serious for a living: it actually turns out that he's a police officer!! From this day forth I won't have it said that police officers are boring!!

Swing & Soul Wedding Singer

For their Wedding Entertainment the new Mr and Mrs Gale booked Adam to perform his Swing & Soul Solo Show and also chose to include the Wedding Disco too.

Adam performed all of his usual crowd pleasing favourites including 'Haven't Met You Yet,' 'Save The Last Dance,' 'Crazy Little Thing Called Love' and Michael Buble's 'Everything' as the bride and groom's second dance with the remainder of the wedding party. Swing and Big Band first half over - phew!

Act Two got the party into full swing as Adam kept them all going with a blend of Soul, Indie and Pop tracks such as 'My Girl,' 'This Love, and ' 'Mercy'. Adam also added some new-ish tracks this week: Cee-Lo Green's 'Forget You' and his Old Pop Medley Mix containing Maroon 5's 'This Love,' Gnarls Barkley's 'Crazy' and Adam's very unique version of Katy Perry's 'I Kissed A Girl.' They all proved to be brilliant floor fillers! :)  *these tracks will be released on a new Soul & Pop album coming very soon!*

Prestwold Hall

Prestwold

Loughborough

LE12 5SQ

Tel: 01509 880236

Fax: 01509 889060

Email

If you have any questions whatsoever then Sarah Hitchcock will be only too happy to help and can be contacted directly on 01509 882327.

You can also download the Prestwold Hall Wedding Brochure (.doc)