We are well and truly into the wedding season and Niche – The London String Quartet have bundles of exciting news for you! First unique and new wedding discounts for clients of the string quartet, and a beautiful wedding in leafy Berkshire!

Today we received the fabulous news that anyone who books with Niche String Quartet will automatically receive a massive discount of 25% off wedding planning packages provided by a wonderful wedding planner and a winner in the Wedding Industry Awards 2012! These run up to the wedding packages are perfect for those who have chosen to organise most of the wedding themselves but would like support in the week before the wedding or simply on the day itself. Just another way of Niche Quartet thanking you for picking us to be part of your special day!

This weekend we provided wedding music for a ceremony in a Newbury church. The music chosen by the Bride and Groom was the perfect example of a tasteful traditional wedding entertainment, capturing the celebration and joy of the moment:

Entrance of the Bride: Bridal Chorus (listen on the player to the left)

Signing of the Register: Boccherini’s Minuet, Handel’s Fireworks Music & Pachelbel’s Canon

Recessional and exit of the guests: Wedding March

After a small interlude to travel to the wedding reception venue, Newbury Manor Hotel (pictured) Niche – The London String Quartet continued to provide entertainment for the wedding guests during the drinks reception as the newly married couple had their photos taken outdoors.

We split this hour into two half hour sets. First a half hour classical set, starting with relaxed music and gradually building the excitement to continue to our popular music set, finishing with some perfect romantic wedding songs from Love Actually and our Beatles Medley ready for the announcement and dinner to begin.Many of the guests specially came over to thank us for our work and in particular our wedding songs arranged from films went down a treat! A beautiful day out in the home counties and a very happy Newly-Wed couple – a perfect start to a Bank Holiday weekend for Niche String Quartet!

It’s been a busy start to March for Niche – The London String Quartet as we provided gala ball entertainment and released some big news!

For the first weekend we travelled down to leafy Surrey and the beautiful Savil Court Hotel to entertain at the Tasis Gala Ball and Silent Auction.  For this the girls were wearing our favourite red dresses and playing a full one and a half hour set. For the first 45 minutes as the guests arrived we kept it sophisticated and relaxed with our classical set.

Once the reception was really on its way (and after a quick break to indulge in a sip of champagne!) we returned to play another set filled with our contemporary songs and favourites.  It was the first outing for our Beatles 12 Song Medley which is an arrangement unique to Niche – we saw smiles as the guests recognised strains of their favourite songs across the venue. As the silent auction hotted up and the guests were vying to place the final winning bid we finished our set with the vibrant and exciting Pirates of the Caribbean Soundtrack, from which you can hear extracts from our recording in the player on the left.

As we left many of the guests came over to thank us and tell us how much they appreciated our work – this is always the best part of the evening for Niche, as we love playing, but even more so we love to hear that others have enjoyed it too! A successful double set for Niche and a very successful fundraising Gala Ball for Tasis!

For the second weekend in March we were back to London and the gorgeous venue 8 Northumberland right next to Trafalgar Square.  This time we were dressed in black and white ball gowns to play for The Children’s Trust Spring Ball. For 30 minutes we set the ambience with pieces from our classic set list as the guests arrived and mingled downstairs.

Our next half hour set was to take place in the grand ballroom upstairs to accompany the start of dinner and the silent auction. Once again the recognisable melodies of the Beatles and ‘Holding out for a Hero’ had everyone’s toes tapping and we finished with the humorous ‘The Lion Sleeps Tonight’ leaving the guests in high spirits as Phil Tufnell took to the stage.  Find out what the host and double World Record Holder Sally Kettle said about Niche – The London String Quartet’s performance here.

We have two more massive news releases to write about but for now we have got to dash; they will be covered in the next blog post. Subscribe on the left to be the first to find out about the next update!

This Valentine’s Day Niche were up early at the crack of dawn, dressed in our ball gowns and tuxs ready to take part in James Robert’s perfect example of how to propose! This was no ordinary surprise wedding proposal as it was centred around the Penguin Beach at London Zoo and involved a team of PR gurus and an ITV film camera!

Niche had prepared Paradise by Coldplay, arranged specially for the occasion by our violinist Kimi, ready to add a beautiful personal touch to an already life changing moment. First though there was the hiding and waiting in the penguin hut next to the rather large buckets of fish! As Michelle the potential bride to be continued to feed the penguins, James joined us in the hiding place to quickly get changed into his tux and his nerves were clear!

Then it was action time and we rushed to our seats and as James got down on one knee Niche played the theme tune to their romantic dream. Of course Michelle was knocked off her feet and said yes immediately and burst out crying with joy! Smiles all round and cheers from the team Niche finished the song knowing it was a job well done.

What an utterly romantic Valentine’s Day 2012 for Niche – The London String Quartet. Watch out for the footage to be screened on ITV sometime in the summer!

Check out what James wrote about his experience working with Niche on his special day here.