Thomas Scaglione and Lauren Quatro Wedding

Venue: Private Residence, Hinckley Reservoir
Date: August 23, 2014

It’s easy to take Upstate New York for granted.  It’s snowy, the taxes are high, and when an outsider hears you’re from “New York”, they immediately assume the city (not that there’s anything wrong with that).  But every so often we get to work an event that brings us on the road and we see the true beauty of the region.  One of those days was August 23, 2014 wedding of Thomas Scaglione and Lauren Quatro on a private residence on Hinckley Reservoir, just North of Utica, NY.  This was a truly one-of-a-kind wedding where the loveliness of the day was matched beat for beat with the majestic views provided by the venue.

I mean, Wow!

The bulk of the action of the day took place between two different places: the lakeside altar for the ceremony and the large tent for the reception.  We provided the sound and microphones for the ceremony, but not the music, which was provided by a harpist.  The processional (Here Comes The Sun – The Beatles) featured the wedding party enterting in pairs with the groomsmen escorting the bridesmaids down the aisle.  They were followed by two young men shooting bubbles out of bubble guns in preparation for Lauren’s arrival (A Thousand Years – Christina Perri).  When the ceremony concluded, Thomas and Lauren walked back up the aisle to the same song as their wedding party previously and the party briefly transitioned to the tent for the remainder of the night.

Following a quick cocktail hour, the guests were seated under the tent and the reception festivities began.  The intros for the reception started with the couples’ parents (Mustang Sally – Wilson Pickett), followed by the 20-person wedding party (Let’s Get It Started – Black Eyed Peas), and finally Thomas and Lauren themselves being announced as Mr. and Mrs. Scaglione (One More Time – Daft Punk).  Directly after the introductions was the First Dance (You Are The Best Thing – Ray Lamontagne), followed by the Father/Daughter Dance (In My Life – The Beatles), after which everyone sat down.  Usually, the next step is some speeches and toasts, followed by dinner, but in this case, there was another moment yet to happen.  The Father of the Groom had a plan to surprise the bride and groom and their guests with a Danish tradition.  He recounted the love story of Thomas and Lauren but as lyrics set to the tune of My Favorite Things from The Sound of Music.  He even wrote out the lyrics and handed copies to everyone so they could sing along!  It was a unique moment that brought us into dinner with a smile.

Dancing began as soon as dinner was over.  The tent had its own dance floor so people were encouraged to have a great time, and they did!  Some stayed on the dance floor all night, but for those who didn’t, there were lake-side Adirondack chairs, plenty of drinks, and other activities to take advantage of the beautiful location.  Shortly after dancing began, Tom and Lauren cut the cake (Cut The Cake – Average White Band), which was Lauren’s cue to disappear for a while to change out of her dress into something a little more comfortable that she wore for the rest of the night.  She even was in that second dress for the Bouquet Toss (Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It) – Beyonce) and continued in it throughout.

Two of the major positives about having a wedding at a private location in the Adirondacks is that because it’s essentially someone’s back yard, the end of the night is pretty much up to the property owner, and the general lack of close neighbors means that noise isn’t as much of a problem.  As such, the party can go on indefinitely.  Thomas and Lauren absolutely took advantage of this and had their party going until 2am, or at least that’s what we were told.  However, SCSM was only there until 11pm, before a friend took over DJing the rest of the night.  As for the final song, Thomas and Lauren gave SCSM the option to choose the final song for their portion of the evening.  As we were only the beginning of a larger celebration, we thought it was only appropriate to choose Don’t Stop the Party – Pitbull.  After all, the party wasn’t ending, just our part.  But the part that we did play was memorable and it was an absolute blast to DJ for this wonderful couple

Congratulations to Thomas and Lauren.  Thank you for choosing Salt City Sound Machine and we wish you the best of luck in the future!

Soundtrack

• Here Comes The Sun – The Beatles (Ceremony – Processional) (Harpist)
• A Thousand Years – Christina Perri (Ceremony – Bridal Processional) (Harpist)
• Here Comes The Sun – The Beatles (Ceremony – Recessional) (Harpist)
• Mustang Sally – Wilson Pickett (Grand Entrance – Parents)
• Let’s Get It Started – Black Eyed Peas  (Grand Entrance – Wedding Party)
• One More Time – Daft Punk  (Grand Entrance – Bride and Groom)
• You Are The Best Thing – Ray Lamontagne  (First Dance)
• In My Life – The Beatles (Father/Daughter Dance)
• Cut The Cake – Average White Band (Cake Cutting)
• Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It) – Beyonce (Bouquet Toss)
• Don’t Stop the Party – Pitbull (Final Song for SCSM)