THIS GREEN MOON WEDDING BAND
Nestled away in the heart of an ancient forest in Yorkshire is one of the most beautiful and unique wedding venues it has ever been our pleasure to visit as an acoustic wedding band. It’s a magical place full of handmade feel and character, that feels as cozy and welcoming as its two managers Paul & Ash are as people.
Working under the brilliant name of This Green Moon, they produce brilliant and heartfelt sessions and events. Whether it’s an engaging and adventurous school trip, a challenging and inspiring team away day or a magical friends and family celebration, we are dedicated and completely focused on delivering an experience beyond expectation.
Yesterday morning we arrived bright and early with our trusty guitars and portable PA to provide acoustic wedding ceremony music, along with a little music for the drinks reception, at the wedding of Gordon and Bianca.
Arriving early allows us a unique opportunity to grab little bits of video and audio based around specific song requests from the bride and groom, and today was an extra special treat, since a couple of the songs they really wanted to hear us play live also happen to be two of our personal favourites: Life In A Northern Town by Dream Academy is an astounding one hit wonder from the 80s (and to be honest, with a song this good, you really don’t need a second). Gordon and Bianca fell in love with out acoustic cover of this one after seeing it on our Youtube Channel in early 2022.
Check out our little acoustic duo video of this absolute classic below!!
Down a little path leading away from the grand yurt that forms the centrepiece of this gorgeous venue is a small clearing where the wedding ceremony was to be held. Beautifully dressed and adorned with natural, log-carved benches either side of an aisle carpeted with fallen leaves, it really feels like something magical and close to nature.
As Bianca and her bridesmaids arrived, we played her down the aisle with a little acoustic cover of At Last by Etta James: a song we still have yet to film a video for, but a perfect choice and a lovely sentiment to accompany the arrival of the bride.
The bride and groom also requested a short burst of another fantastic song after the first reading of the ceremony: It Must Be Love by Labi Siffre (later made immortal by Madness), so at the appointed time we gave the assembled wedding guests just a verse and a chorus of this classic (we didn’t want them waiting around for the whole four minutes!) before settling down again for the exchange of wedding rings.
As the ceremony drew to a close and the new Mr and Mrs walked back up the aisle, we barrelled into their final song choice, Signed, Sealed, Delivered by the Stevie Wonder. There’s a very good reason that this is such a popular choice, and we were honoured to be joined by the bride and groom for a little dance and a photo before they made their way back to the main tipi – closely followed by their loving friends and family.
Once everyone was back at the central hub and the grand fire pit in the centre was roaring, we launched into our next acoustic performance of the day. The drinks reception is a great excuse to band out some well known songs as well as some slightly more obscure stuff, and Gordon and Bianca clearly shared our taste in music, having asked us to open up the drinks reception music with Life In A Northern Town.
They didn’t stop there, though. As their next request was yet another absolute banger of a track that gets nowhere near the kind of recognition it should: Teardrops By Womack & Womack. This is an incredible tune and we love playing it, so it was a lovely surprise to see it come up in the emails between us during the planning.
Check out our acoustic rendition of this stone cold classic below!
Around halfway through the drinks reception, manager Paul gave us a little heads up that there was a downpour on the way, so we quickly moved over inside the tent – only to discover a full stage complete with PA and lighting just begging to be taken advantage of. It turns out Paul is not only part of a great team of wedding venue hosts, but is also an incredibly talented stage manager and sound engineer, who took on responsibility for making us look and sound as good as possible without even needing to be asked.
This kind of passion for performance and pride in making it happen is an absolute blessing for an acoustic wedding band, and we saw out the rest of the drinks reception with a great crowd of lovely, enthusiastic wedding guests before us. We even got a little cheeky and forced an early, albeit fake, first dance when Gordon and Bianca happened to drift onto the dance floor at exactly the same moment as we reached I Can’t Help Falling In Love by Elvis Presley. We took a punt on getting the wedding guests to congregate around them, and for a moment you would have been forgiven for thinking that this was 8 o’clock in the evening, rather than 2 o’clock in the afternoon!!
We had a wonderful time with this group of delightful humans, and were gutted to have to leave for another wedding later that evening (more on that our next blog post), but the brief time we spent with Gordon, Bianca and their guests was a joyful few hours, filled with love and laughter. We wish them well in married life, and we cannot thank the good folks at This Green Moon enough for being so welcoming and making us feel genuinely like we were part of the family.
If you’re looking for a unique venue near Leeds, you’ll kick yourself if you don’t give them a call. The place has absolutely everything you could wish for!!