SHOW REPORT - Marcus & Hazel @ Eagle House Hotel, Launceston - November 2010

Marcus & Hazel hired me to perform at their post-Wedding party at the the fabulous Georgian Eagle House Hotel on 13 November 2010

Hotel lounge, looking into conservatory

It was a real adventure travelling down from South Wales to this picturesque hotel just over the Cornish border, fun despite the freezing fog and torrential rain!  I arrived in plenty of time to set up a compact show in the cute conservatory area just above the lounge bar. 

Good thing I arrived promptly, as during my sound-check the power kept cutting out! Cue some frantic equipment checking... The culprit, we then discovered, was the function band in the function suite downstairs using a damp/faulty extension lead.

I offered loan of some of my backup gear, and fortunately the separate events went ahead unspoilt*!

*Take-home lesson for today, folks? Always check the wedding band or entertainer you hire has got safe, PAT certified equipment, Public Liability Insurance and contingency equipment. (Just like the team and I do)!  Also, as a member of NADJ (National Association of DJs) should even my failsafes...er...fail...I have access to details of other NADJ-siblings in all parts of the UK who are able to help each other in a crisis.  It's like being in the Masons, but with better lighting.  ;-)

Ahem - moving on:
Marcus & Hazel had married a couple of weeks before in Fabulous Las Vegas, so wanted to kick off a fun & high energy celebration from the very start, for a special group of friends and family that had travelled down from Manchester and up from deeper Cornwall respectively.

After some upbeat background music as final guests arrived, lots more family joined the happy couple & myself on the dance-floor as I opened the night with a soulful live performance of the couple’s choice of first dance: ‘Amazed’ by Lonestar.

We continued through three 30-minute live sets, including a little Vegas-style Swing at Hazel’s request, plus some fun “classic” party tunes performed especially at our bride's behest  – ‘Copacabana’ & ‘Amarillo’ being particular favourites of the group this night!  (Good call, Hazel!!)

Afterwards Marcus contacted me to say the entertainment was “lively engaging and very good” and “a great all round selection”.

The live sets were supported with more background music, including the couple’s choices of Paulo Nutini and then various disco music chosen by me for between and after my singing.  The couple had requested lots of chart and pop, which I was happy to provide.  From our entertainment consultation, and knowing that Marcus was yet another typically shy and retiring Mancunian(!), I made sure to play a few 90s “Madchester” anthems – and the fellas went duly ‘mad for it!’.

[And I MIGHT have joined one or two of them in a bit of “Happy Mondays’ Bez”-style dancing! (You’re twistin’ my melon, man!)]

Marcus later wrote to say the night was “great stuff, kept us on our toes!...everyone really enjoyed the evening. Thank you very much, will use Jon Paul again he is a top man!"

All I can really say to that is....

Top one; nice one; sorted.  [Our kid.  ;-)  ]

Take care…and have fun,

Jon Paul

SHOW REPORT - Alistair & Natasha’s Wedding: Brownsover Hall, Rugby - 22nd October 2010

As a Welshman, travelling up to Rugby, the home of …. some ball game or other that we Welshmen like… was a real pleasure.  This is a lovely part of the country, made lovelier by the October sunshine, and the Victorian venue, Brownsover Hall, was delightful.

Al & Tash booked me to provide a complete evening entertainment service that ticked more than a few boxes.  While only a compact disco was required for this small group, they had big plans.  In addition to me singing a variety of styles within their evening, Al had also booked an additional live entertainer and had some very specific disco requests that didn’t fall within the ‘typical’ music played at most weddings.

The couple and I had planned to include music for all ages, so I opened the evening by warming the crowd up a mixture of swing and soul, then after a short increment of traditional disco tunes, I engineered for the guest artiste, before returning with a final set of pop and rock favourites. 


The groom later revealed they had received  “comments from people on the evening that noted they thought you were actually the original artist on the CD - until they saw you singing so hopefully a great compliment to you.”



The Gothic Bay we performed in.

Making someone’s wedding perfect is also not about behaving like a diva, so I had no problem swapping out some of my regular songs so not to clash with the guest singer’s more specific repertoire.  It was also a real pleasure to work alongside this high-quality artist - a lovely young singer called Krystal.  She adding some wonderful live vocals to fabulous funk, disco and soul classics, performing tunes I simply don't perform live, by artists such Whitney Houston, Candi Stanton and The Weather Girls.  (All a bit high for me!)  This added a tangible new dimension to the variety of night – which is exactly what the couple were after.

Planning well ahead with the couple and tailoring to what they wanted helped me construct my final live set up to end with some rock classics, climaxing with the recently added Sex on Fire: which formed a perfect point to then start to mix into the rock and beat-beats/drum n bass styles of music the couple and many of their guests were huge fans of.

With a little research and some practice I rose to the challenge of live club-style mixing - a little outside of my comfort-zone – although alongside the guests’ pre-requests I was pleased to be able to drop in some favourite artists of my own choosing – including some The Prodigy, Chemical Brothers, Pendulum and even Roni Size! 

Not something weddings often require too much of - but the big grins and thumbs up from the crowd were very reassuring!

Al later commented of me: “Not only was it a professional and quality service that was personally catered exactly to our requirements but working with you was the easiest most enjoyable part of the wedding for me at least.”

[ED: Well thanks – just don’t let Tash read that, fella. ;-) ]

After the club-selection-section ;-) I was able to coax older guest back to the dance-floor with some modern classics including Scissor Sisters, Black Eyed Peas and Amy Winehouse.  I was adamant to not fall into the “Abba-trap” as - that night - ‘Dancing Queen’ was not an option!  Afterwards, Al’s email said “Everybody else commented on the great music selection and a personal thank you from me in providing a non-cheesy package which as you know was so important to me.”

The groom went on to add:

“We had a brilliant day and the singing and entertainment you provided was outstanding….Your easy and professional approach to the day was also very welcomed - any questions or queries were always answered promptly and I felt throughout that you cared about our wedding and took pride in making it both special and unique for us. This is something I can say you do well and above some of your competitiors I also looked at initially.
I would recommend you without hesitation to everyone and anyone that would listen. Once again we had an amazing day and if our cake had had a cherry on it, I'm pleased to say that it would have been a Phat Aahs!  Al (and Tash!)”

So: Mission Accomplished.  Thank you guys for choosing us to be a part of your special day: it was a absolute pleasure, and a very very fun night!

Take care...and have fun

Jon Paul








Jon Paul Wedding Singer & DJ is available as a high-quality alternative to a wedding band, providing top class and self-contained, wedding entertainment tailored to each client.  He is available in in Warwickshire, Wiltshire, East and West Midlands as well as Wales and the West, Home Counties and London.