Karen & Andy
The little details…
The Elvetham, Hampshire
Photography: Peartree Pictures
Wedding planner: Isabella Weddings
Florist: White Lilac
Services provided by The Get Downs & Mike Paul-Smith Music:
The Get Downs party band (9-piece)
Personalised first dance request
Jewish wedding music for The Horah
A Jewish wedding
The Get Downs absolutely love performing for Jewish weddings, and have a great selection of music for the Chuppah, drinks reception, Horah, and of course the evening party. Head over to Mike Paul-Smith Music to find out more about our sensational Jewish wedding music packages.
A Smashing the Glass recommended Jewish wedding vendor
The Get Downs are endorsed by the world-leading Jewish wedding blog Smashing the Glass and we perform at multiple Jewish weddings every year.
For many, the highlight of any Jewish wedding party is the Horah. Here’s a video of us performing Hava Nagila for the Horah live at St. Pancras Renaissance Hotel in London, which has had over 700,000 views!
We’ve also orchestrated a unique medley of Israeli dancing music (including Siman Tov! Mazel Tov!, Hevenu Shalom Aleichem, Chosn Kale Mazel Tov, Moshiach and a few more tunes) which we typically perform straight after Hava Nagila.
Here’s a shortened version of our Horah Medley - when we perform it live, it usually goes on for about 15 minutes with no breaks between the tunes!
Karen & Andy’s Jewish wedding
The Get Downs performed for the Jewish wedding of Andy and Karen at The Elvetham Hotel, Hampshire, providing a whole-day live wedding music package.
Andy and Karen had seen us perform at Andy's best man's wedding the year previously, and a few days after seeing our performance they got in touch to ask us to perform for them.
Karen is American and at the time they were living in New York; unusually, we managed to arrange a wedding planning meeting there with Mike taking a few hours off from his holiday to meet the couple and discuss the music for their wedding.
The day itself was wonderful, with a dream combination of a wonderful wedding planner, excellent venue and marvellous suppliers all coming together to create a perfect day.
The Chuppah
Andy and Karen’s Chuppah was in the house grounds and featured some beautiful floristry. They wanted classical music for the ceremony, so opted for our wedding pianist plus cellist performing Elgar’s Salut d'Amour and Handel's Largo.
It was a beautiful service outdoors in the summer sun and it set the tone for a wonderful celebration.
The first dance
After drinks reception and dinner, it was time for party band The Get Downs to take to the stage. We performed three sets of live music, starting with Andy and Karen's first dance, our rendition of Dean Martin's Ain't That a Kick in the Head.
Karen had actually managed to break her ankle just two months before the wedding but somehow she managed to get through the first dance - although did have to change her footwear!
The Horah
Immediately after the first dance, it was time for the Horah, danced to Hava Nagila. Karen and Andy were lifted high in the air on chairs, with everyone else holding their breath and crossing their fingers!
The Party
And then, it was more dancing before the evening culminated with a fireworks display. The dancefloor seemed like it was full all night long as everyone celebrated with this fantastic couple to the music of The Get Downs.
After the wedding
The wedding was a fantastic occasion and it was a pleasure to be involved in the special day of two great people.
Andy and Karen's wedding planner Kate had this to say about our performance:
"The Get Downs were the band for the evening reception and they were absolutely sensational. They played swing and soul music with a few modern classics thrown in for good measure. All of the guests danced the night away with this fantastic couple and everyone had such a fabulous time."
