Nicola & Ryan: The Grange Hotel, Winterbourne, Bristol North – Drinks reception live acoustic music

After yesterday's road trip to Cornwall, today's wedding was a much more local affair! A short 20 minute journey North to The Mercure Grange Hotel in Winterbourne, Bristol for Nicola and Ryan's big day. The happy couple booked me to play during the break between the ceremony and the wedding breakfast.

Set up and ready to play at the drinks reception

   

Despite a chilly wind (good old British Summer!), we managed to hold the drinks reception outdoors in the beautiful grounds of the hotel. The rain held off thankfully, and the photographer made the most of the beautiful surroundings, getting some great group shots and pictures of the happy couple. Meanwhile, I serenaded the wedding party with some acoustic covers picked by the newlyweds.

Playing at the drinks reception

Nicola & Ryan picked a bang up-to-date playlist, including songs from Ed Sheeran, George Ezra, One Direction and John Legend. This was mixed in with some classics such as Fast Car by Tracey Chapman and Higher & Higher by Jackie Wilson. I captured some of the set on film so will get this onto the YouTube page soon!

Guitar selfie!

A great afternoon and the music seemed to go down well! I spotted the bride dancing away to "What Makes You Beautiful" while having photographs taken :-) And I managed to squeeze in a request for the lads. Massive congratulations to the happy couple - thanks for inviting me to be a part of your big day. Hope you had a fantastic day and that married life is everything you hoped for!

Nicola & Ryan's acoustic playlist

Eagle Eye Cherry - Save Tonight
Jack Johnson - Better Together
George Ezra – Budapest
Alex Clare - Too Close
Ed Sheeran - The A Team
Bob Marley - Three Little Birds
Jason Mraz - I'm Yours
Bryan Adams – Heaven
The Lumineers - Ho Hey
James Blunt - You're Beautiful
Bon Jovi - Livin' On A Prayer
The Calling - Wherever You Will Go
Bruno Mars - Marry You

Pharrell – Happy
John Legend - All Of Me
Maroon 5 - Moves Like Jagger
The Killers - Mr Brightside
The Kooks - Naive
Kings of Leon - Sex on Fire
One Direction - What Makes You Beautiful
Daft Punk - Get Lucky
Bruno Mars - Uptown Funk
?Jackie Wilson - Higher & Higher
Jackson Five - I Want You Back?
Tracey Chapman - Fast Car
?Green Day - Time Of Your Life
Bob Marley - No Woman, No Cry
Oasis - Wonderwall (request)

Acoustic guitarist & singer for weddings: Ceremony and reception at Watergate Bay nr Newquay, Cornwall

An early start this morning for Claire & Mike's wedding at the amazing Watergate Bay Hotel in Cornwall. Just North of Newquay, Watergate Bay is a new destination for me, and I'm so glad I got to play at this incredible venue! The views as you walk into the hotel restaurant are just breathtaking - the restaurant looks out over the beautiful sandy beach, and fortunately we had a lovely sunny day.

Stunning beach views from the restaurant

I set off just after 7am this morning and made it to the venue before 10am - plenty of time to get set up and ready for Claire & Mike's 1pm ceremony. The events space is small, intimate and beautiful - and the styling looked fantastic for the ceremony. There was around 60 guests at the ceremony, which apparently is one of the larger weddings hosted at this venue.

My guitar getting cosy!

Guests started to filter in at about 12.30pm, at which point I began playing some acoustic songs. Claire & Mike selected today's playlist (see set list below) with some lovely choices, from The Beatles right through to Kodaline. The bride entered the ceremony to the traditional wedding march "Here Comes The Bride", played on acoustic guitar. For the signing of the register they chose "Can't Help Falling In Love" by Elvis and "Only Love" by Ben Howard - and they exited the ceremony to rapturous applause as I played "All You Need Is Love" by The Beatles.

Love is... a Gibson acoustic guitar!

Canapés were served and guests had an afternoon drink while I played some acoustic tunes at the drinks reception. I had an absolutely fantastic day - I'd like to extend my congratulations to Claire & Mike and thank them for inviting me to play on their big day! Hope the evening was just as fantastic as the daytime... I wonder if anyone got carried away and decided to go for a swim!!

Stunning beach views at Watergate Bay

Today's wedding set lists:

Better Together – Jack Johnson
Rude – Magic!
Here Comes The Sun – The Beatles
Marry You - Bruno Mars
The One – Kodaline
Fly Me To The Moon - Frank Sinatra
Blame It On Me – George Ezra
Thinking Out Loud – Ed Sheeran

The Bridal March "Here Comes The Bride"
Ben Howard - Only Love
Elvis - Can't Help Falling In Love
Beatles - All You Need Is Love

Save Tonight – Eagle Eye Cherry
Three Little Birds – Bob Marley
Mash up – Get Lucky / Counting Stars
Budapest - George Ezra
Hey Ho – The Lumineers
Let Her Go - Passenger
The Cave - Mumford & Sons
Love Machine (acoustic version) – Girls Aloud
I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor - Arctic Monkeys
Uptown Funk – Bruno Mars
Sing – Ed Sheeran
Superstition - Stevie Wonder
Heard It Through The Grapevine - Marvin Gaye
(Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay - Otis Redding

Wedding Guitarist & Singer - Nailsea Tithe Barn nr. Bristol - evening party

The weddings season is in full flow now, so I thought it would be nice to document as many events as I can on my blog!

Well, May kicked off with a bang as I had a great night playing a private birthday party at The Station Kitchen, Bristol. Didn't manage to get any photos of the event unfortunately, but it was a great evening with an eclectic mix of songs, from the Jackson Five right through to George Ezra! The second weekend of the month involved a typically loud Friday night gig at my resident venue Illusions Magic Bar, followed by Matt & Laura's spectacular wedding at the beautiful Nailsea Tithe Barn.

The stage is set!

I play at a lot of wedding ceremonies & drinks receptions, so it was nice to play an evening set! Matt and Laura picked all the tunes on the night, with quite an indie/rock feel to the set list. I kicked off the night with their first dance - a song I'd actually never heard before "Hooked on a Feeling" by Blue Swede. Stripped back, it worked brilliantly on acoustic guitar, and it was a lovely moment. I captured quite a bit of the evening on film - so when I get a chance to sync the audio/video, splice together the footage and make it look a bit prettier, I'll upload some videos.

  
Later on, Laura & I surprised the wedding guests with a rendition of "Valerie" by Amy Winehouse! The bride joined me on stage to sing, and was absolutely brilliant! Maybe slightly too brilliant ;-) but if anyone's allowed to outshine me, surely it's the bride!!

The bride showing me how it's done!

It was an absolutely brilliant evening, I loved every minute. We had a full dance floor all evening, despite the hog roast, cheese board and LOADS of cake!! So thank you to everyone who danced, sang along, and made it an evening to remember. And massive congratulations to Matt & Laura... I'm sure we'll see each other soon as we live 5 minutes down the road from one another! Here's last night's set list:

Blue Swede - Hooked on a Feeling (first dance)
Jack Johnson - Better Together
Maroon 5 - Moves Like Jagger
Olly Murs - Dance With Me Tonight
Amy Winehouse - Valerie (sung by the bride!)
Lumineers - Ho Hey
Train - Drive By
Arctic Monkeys - Mardy Bum
Jake Bugg - Lightning Bolt
Kooks - She Moves In Her Own Way
Kings of Leon - Use Somebody
Marvin Gaye - Heard It Through The Grapevine
Avicii - Wake Me Up
The Calling - Wherever You Will Go

Pharrell - Happy
Stevie Wonder - Superstition
Killers - Mr Brightside
Arctic Monkeys - I Bet That You Look Good On The Dancefloor
Fratellis - Whistle For The Choir
Kings of Leon - Sex on Fire
Lady GaGa/Eurythmics medley - Bad Romance/Sweet Dreams
Rihanna - Umbrella
Maroon 5 - Payphone
White Stripes - Seven Nation Army
Razorlight - Before I Fall To Pieces
Red Hot Chilli Peppers - Dani California
Van Morrison - Brown Eyed Girl
Fratellis - Chelsea Dagger

Acoustic Guitar at the Vintage Wedding Fayre - Clifton, Bristol

It was wild, wet and windy here in Bristol this morning. Combine that with the fact that I was out gigging until midnight, and that British Summer Time had the nerve to steal an hour of sleep from us, and I must be honest - I didn't fancy getting out of bed when my 8.30am alarm sounded this morning!

However, drag myself from my pit I did, and I had a great day playing acoustic songs for the Bristol Vintage Wedding Fayre at Freemason's Hall. It was lovely to meet lots of brides and grooms-to-be and chat all things wedding music. Lovely to see lots of friendly faces and mingle with fellow wedding suppliers too! That's my last wedding fair of the year (unless I book in any last-minute) - so if you want to catch me singing live, keep an eye on the gigs page :)

Thanks to The Little Wedding Helper for this photo!

Playing live acoustic music at the Wedding Tweet Ups - Goldbrick House, Bristol

Tonight I played some live acoustic music at Goldbrick House, Bristol for the Bristol Wedding Tweet Up. The Tweet Up is an informal get-together arranged by Kirsten aka The Little Wedding Helper for people in the wedding industry. It's a good excuse for us all to get together, have a glass of bubbly, some canapés and a good chinwag!

Goldbrick House is a lovely venue on Park Street in the centre of Bristol. I've played a couple of weddings there before, but never been up on the top level before (the Orangery). It's absolutely beautiful with some great views.

Here's my set lists from tonight:

Bob Marley - Three Little Birds
Eagle Eye Cherry - Save Tonight
George Ezra - Budapest
Zutons/Amy Winehouse - Valerie
Jack Johnson - Better Together
Jason Mraz - I'm Yours
Tom Odell - Grow Old With Me
Beatles - Here Comes The Sun
Otis Redding - (Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay
Blackstreet - No Diggity
Ed Sheeran - Don't
Bastille - Pompeii
Avicii - Wake Me Up

Pharrell - Happy
Stevie Wonder - Superstition
Killers - Mr Brightside
George Ezra - Blame It On Me
Stealers Wheel - Stuck In The Middle With You
Daft Punk - Get Lucky
Lumineers - Ho Hey
Bob Marley - Stir It Up
Jackson Five - I Want You Back
Oasis - Wonderwall
Tracey Chapman - Fast Car
Van Morrisson - Brown Eyed Girl
Ben E King - Stand By Me

Acoustic Halloween!

Had an amazing Halloween night playing at Illusions Magic Bar! My Halloween-themed set list included Soft Cell - Tainted Love, Jamie T - Zombie, Michael Jackson - Thriller, The Ghostbusters theme, Monster by the Automatic, Creep by Radiohead, Superstition by Stevie Wonder and Highway To Hell by AC/DC. Oh, and The Joker by the Steve Miller Band (see pic below!)

A photo posted by Pat McIntyre Wedding Guitarist (@thepatmcintyre) on Nov 11, 2014 at 3:32pm PDT

Public Appearance at Clifton Arcade

Tomorrow I'll be playing some fun, upbeat summery acoustic tunes at the beautiful Clifton Arcade centre. Dating back to 1878, Clifton Arcade is a unique and beautiful shopping little centre full of charm and character, right in the heart of Clifton Village. From 2pm-ish, I'll be playing an hour or two of acoustic songs, so if you're nearby then why not pop down and say hi!

Pat McIntyre playing at the Bristol Balloon Fiesta

Very pleased to announce that I'll be playing some live music at the Bristol Balloon Fiesta (7-10th August 2014) this year. I'll be performing for the balloonists and crews, hopefully camping over at the site too - should be a big old knees-up! And yes, I get to take a flight in a hot air balloon... can't wait!

Viral cat video!! And a TV appearance on BBC1

Unrelated to weddings, and (unfortunately!) unrelated to music - but in a random turn of events, I've been invited to appear on The One Show on BBC1 this coming Wednesday. Some of you may know that a little while back, a video I posted to YouTube went viral. It was shared on sites such as the Huffington Post, and was even featured on the Steve Wright Show on BBC Radio 2 at one point! It was a strange week. As well as being a musician, I work 3 days a week as a postman. Yup - you guessed it, I really am Postman Pat! I was out on my walk one day when a friendly cat took a liking to me. You guessed it again - it was a black and white cat! So we had a real-life Postman Pat and his black and white cat, and the internet went crazy for it... you can see the video here:

Now, with the upcoming launch of a Postman Pat movie, the One Show are doing a feature and decided to invite me down the studios to get involved with the programme. Well, what could I say other than... YES?!! Should be a lot of fun, I'm already getting nervous though - live TV! You can catch the programme this Wednesday 14th May, from 7pm - 8pm.