Matt Johnson UK: 2014

Tuesday 2 September 2014

The Lion Quays Hotel and Spa Wedding Venue North Wales - UK Wedding Singer - Matt Johnson

The Lion Quays Hotel and Spa Wedding Venue North Wales UK Wedding Singer - Matt Johnson

Dawn and Christopher had chosen to marry at The Lion Quays Waterside Resort Hotel in North Wales. They had booked me for my ‘Gold Package’, which includes both evening live entertainment and full evening disco.

The Lion Quays Hotel and Spa Wedding Venue - UK Wedding Singer - Matt Johnson

The Lion Quays is actually around 30 minutes travel time for me so it was a real treat to be so close to home! I set off nice and early, the wedding breakfast was scheduled to finish at 6:30pm allowing a 1-hour turn around time for the venue and for me to get my equipment set to hopefully start the night at 7:30pm.

I arrived at the venue at 6pm, they were just finishing their deserts and were going to start their speeches shortly. The venue had estimated around 45minutes for the speeches but I think it usually takes a good 1-hour. My timings were correct and the guests and bride and groom vacated the wedding breakfast at just after 7:15pm. There is a great large bar area at the venue so it didn’t matter that the guests had to wait for the room to be amended. I spoke with Dawn and Chris and advised that we would try and be as quick as possible, hopefully be ready to invite guests back into the room for 8pm.

The Lion Quays Hotel and Spa Wedding Venue - UK Wedding Singer - Matt Johnson

The evening reception room was large; there was a large dance floor area. The staff at the venue were extremely helpful and moved the tables blocking the area I needed to set-up in first so as I could get on with setting up my equipment. You wouldn’t believe the amount of venues I visit where they clear away all the other tables first it really frustrates me!

I set-up my equipment and as you can see from the pictures the room looked great, they couple had chosen to have ‘Rest of My Life’ by Bruno Mars for their first dance, they had originally heard my version on YouTube so it was really nice for me to perform it live for the couple.

The Lion Quays Hotel and Spa Wedding Venue - UK Wedding Singer - Matt Johnson

Originally they had scheduled their first dance for 8:20pm but as guests were still filtering through from the bar area it just wasn’t the best time for it. I spoke with the bride and groom and the wedding coordinator, they decided to delay the buffet for 30minutes and we would do the first dance/cake cutting at 8:45pm. I agreed this would be a good idea, it allowed people to get a seat and a drink, guests were still arriving so it allowed the bride and groom some time to greet their guests and have a relax.

The Lion Quays Hotel and Spa Wedding Venue - UK Wedding Singer - Matt Johnson

After the first dance, Dawn had chosen to dance with her dad to Heartland’s ‘I Loved her first’, I sang this live for them and it was a lovely moment. I then carried on singing up until the evening buffet. Both the bride and groom were great; they enjoyed dancing and getting involved as you can tell from the pictures! During the first half we had a dance for all the girls with the bride and also one with the groom and all his friends! Usually the men need a few drinks but not tonight!

After the buffet the guests were raring to get back on the dance-floor so I didn’t wait long before starting my second set. As you can see from the video and pictures the guests all had a great time and everybody danced all night.

I had a picture with the bride and groom at the end of the night, they were a lovely couple and I wish them the very best for the future.

The Lion Quays Waterside Resort Hotel is both a wedding venue and hotel/country club. The venue offers a wide range of services; including gym membership, corporate function event meetings and wedding fayres.
For more information visit their website for further details
http://www.lionquays.co.uk
The Lion Quays Waterside Resort,
Moreton Hall, Weston Rhyn,
Oswestry, Shropshire
SY11 3EW
Tel: 01691 684300

This review is by Matt Johnson.
My social links for wedding related sites:
http://www.facebook.com/ukweddingsinger
http://www.twitter.com/weddingsingermj
http://www.youtube.com/weddingsingervideos
https://plus.google.com/+UkweddingsingerMJ
http://www.ukweddingsinger.tumblr.com
http://uk.pinterest.com/ukweddingsinger
http://weddingsingermattjohnson.blogspot.co.uk/

My personal social links:
http://www.facebook.com/mattjohnsonofficial
http://www.twitter.com/mjofficial
http://www.youtube.com/mattandthemonkey

See more at: http://www.ukweddingsinger.com/blog.html

Thursday 28 August 2014

Meols Hall Wedding Venue Southport - UK Wedding Singer Matt Johnson

Meols Hall Wedding Venue Southport

UK Wedding Singer Entertainment Matt Johnson

Today’s bride and groom were Michelle and Robbie, the new Mr and Mrs Beattie. It was Hilary (Michelle’s mum) who had originally booked me after finding me on the Internet.

The wedding venue was Meols Hall in Southport, this is a venue I have visted on a number of occasions for previous weddings, it’s a stunning venue but they have a real problem with sound. They had a sound limiter installed at the venue but on the last couple of occasions I had been there the lady in charge allowed me to bypass this was such a great help. A sound limiter can really effect a night, especially at this venue, as it is so sensitive. Clapping and cheering during a first dance is enough to cut the music and as you can imagine this is not what you want during your first dance!! I always make couples aware of the effect a sound limiter can have on a night, and especially at Meols Hall as this really impacts on the overall sound and would mean that a live band is a definite no at this venue (well if you don’t want the sound being cut constantly!). The lady in charge during the evening is extremely helpful and understands this so that is great.

Meols Hall Wedding Venue Southport - UK Wedding Singer - Matt Johnson

I had spoken with Michelle and Robbie prior to the wedding and the had told me their wedding breakfast was not until 5pm, as they had booked my ‘Gold Package’ which included both live entertainment and evening disco normally I wouldn’t arrive until the wedding breakfast was complete and the room was available for me to start setting up my equipment. The wedding breakfast and evening reception is all in the same room at Meols Hall, I anticipated the wedding breakfast would be complete at around 7:30pm, but I arrived in good time at 7pm, as usual they were running behind and still had deserts and speeches to go! This meant that the room was not empty and free for me to set up until 8:15pm! This was quite late for me; I was keen to get in and set-up as quick as possible so the bride and groom were able to have as much as a night reception as possible.

Meols Hall Wedding Venue Southport - UK Wedding Singer - Matt Johnson

Michelle and Robbie were extremely laid back and did not mind that there would be a short set-up time; the venue needed at least 45minutes to move tables etc., but thankfully the weather was nice and the guests were happy chatting outside. As soon as the room was ready I went to have a chat with Michelle and Robbie and we planned the night. They had a cheese cake for their wedding cake so we started the night by them cutting this and then went straight into their first dance which was ‘Green Eyes’ by Coldplay http://youtu.be/gmyq9tIiu8g this was a new song which I had learnt especially for the couple, I hadn’t heard of it prior to the wedding but enjoyed learning it for them.

Meols Hall Wedding Venue Southport - UK Wedding Singer - Matt Johnson

Michelle and Robbie were a popular couple and had lots of wedding guests, as the night started later than normal most were merry and ready to enjoy the night and have a good dance. Following the first dance I went straight into my first set, everybody really got involved and danced from start to finish, which is always nice for me as a performer. Thankfully the lovely lady in charge at the venue had allowed me to bypass the sound limiter so we were able to have the music as a good volume without the worry of it cutting.

The buffet was brought around by the venue staff which was great as this didn’t really impact on the night, there were a couple of really drunk guests and I was petrified of them near my equipment, I had to keep telling her off and encourage her to have some food! I’m sure she meant no harm but it’s hard to control drunken guests when trying to sing and DJ!!

Following the buffet I went straight into my second live set, again the guests were really up for getting involved, they liked a wide range of music, especially indie so I was able to sing a few songs that I wouldn’t normally sing which was a nice change.

The night went really fast and before we knew it was midnight! The bride and groom had a really great night alongside the parents and all the guests. They were a lovely family and it was great to be a part of their special day. I wish them the very best for their future together.

Meols Hall is Southport’s historical manor house dating back to the early 12th Century, Meols Hall Tithe Barn specialises in weddings and events, please visit their website for further information regarding wedding fayres and booking information
http://www.meolshall.co.uk
Meols Hall,
Botanic Rd,
Southport,
Merseyside
PR9 7LZ
Tel: 01704 228326

This review is by Matt Johnson.
My social links for wedding related sites:
http://www.facebook.com/ukweddingsinger
http://www.twitter.com/weddingsingermj
http://www.youtube.com/weddingsingervideos
https://plus.google.com/+UkweddingsingerMJ
http://www.ukweddingsinger.tumblr.com
http://uk.pinterest.com/ukweddingsinger
http://weddingsingermattjohnson.blogspot.co.uk/

My personal social links:
http://www.facebook.com/mattjohnsonofficial
http://www.twitter.com/mjofficial
http://www.youtube.com/mattandthemonkey

See more at: http://www.ukweddingsinger.com/blog.html

Matt Johnson UK

Tuesday 2 September 2014

The Lion Quays Hotel and Spa Wedding Venue North Wales - UK Wedding Singer - Matt Johnson

Thursday 28 August 2014

Meols Hall Wedding Venue Southport - UK Wedding Singer Matt Johnson

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