Shelby + Greg: Truly Perfect Wedding Day At Middleton Place

Believe it or not, I sometimes do not know how special a client's wedding day is going to be until the days leading up to it.  While the music for a couple's wedding day is one of the most important aspects of their day, I never really know what my couple's are envisioning and expecting as their wedding day approaches.  However, it's been my experience that when a bride and groom choose Middleton Place, an instant love story and fairy tale are created. Middleton Place is in my opinion one of the most beautiful wedding venues in the South. In order to appreciate Middleton Place, you've got to visit there to see the beauty of its lush gardens.  Middleton Place weddings tend to be classy, black-tie affairs with the backdrop of an old South plantation and exquisite gardens located on the Ashley River.  Shelby + Greg were from the Atlanta, Georgia area and actually found me by way of a very fine wedding planner, Nia Thompson, of Thompson & Tuile.  I'll put a link to her website toward the end of this post, but she is one of the many wedding planners NOT in Charleston, who over the years have hired me to provide the music for their destination brides and grooms.  I'll talk more about Nia soon, but let's get to the love story that is Shelby & Greg, who were married at Middleton Place on a spectacular Sunday afternoon in October.

Shelby graduated from the University of Georgia and Greg graduated from Georgia Tech, but "Clean, Old Fashioned Hate" would be the furthest from this couple who I could tell were very much in love as I met them in the days leading up to their wedding.  One of the things that made Shelby & Greg's wedding day so special was their wedding ceremony. Being devout Christians, their wedding ceremony would consist of a little more than just a few comments from their officiant and I-Do's. Their wedding ceremony would consist of worship songs, prayers and communion, as well as an exchange of vows.   I could think of no more beautiful place than the Octagonal Gardens for Shelby + Greg to make their marriage official.  Being an experienced wedding DJ who has performed at many outdoor wedding ceremonies, the pressure was on to make sure Shelby + Greg's wedding ceremony went as flawless as possible.  For more information on Why Wedding DJs Find Challenges With Outdoor Wedding Ceremonies, <----Click HERE.  I've always been a bit of a weather nerd and when an outdoor wedding ceremony is coming up on my calendar, I always begin to watch the weather forecast. Usually, and I do say "usually", the weather in Charleston by mid - late October is perfect.  And when I say "perfect", I am talking about much lower humidity, light winds, and reasonable temperatures. The weather gods were looking out for Shelby & Greg on October 23, 2022. At the time of the ceremony, we had light winds and perfect temperatures.  All of the photos you see on this post were taken by Eliza Ours Photography. A link to her photography business will be located at this end of this post. 

Shelby & Greg's Wedding Ceremony Music Selections

Prelude Music: Various piano instrumentals
Bridal Party Processional Song: " It Is Well" - Bethel Music / Kristene DiMarco
Bride Processional Song: "I Get To Love You" - Ruelle
Wedding Ceremony Worship Song: " Goodness Of God" - The Worship Initiative / Bethany Barnard
Recessional Song: "Lover" - Taylor Swift

Shelby + Greg's Wedding Ceremony began around 4:30 and wrapped up around 5:00. As is the case with most Middleton Place Weddings, Shelby + Greg would take a horse-drawn carriage ride around the plantation before meeting up with their bridal party and family for more photos.  All of the other guests would walk back over to the area outside the Pavillion for cocktail hour.

Photo Credit: Eliza Ours

Pleasant fall temperatures and a nice amount of remaining sunshine made for a perfect ending to Shelby + Greg's wedding ceremony, as well as the beginning of the cocktail hour. Wedding guests congregated outside the Pavillion to sip on cocktails in preparation to continue the celebration of Shelby + Greg's beautiful day. 

Shelby + Greg's Cocktail Hour Selections
"Crazy Girl" | Eli Young Band
"I Will Wait" | Mumford & Sons
"Ho Hey" | The Lumineers
"Only Wanna Be With You" | Hootie & The Blowfish
"Ophelia" | The Lumineers
"Signed, Sealed Delivered (I'm Yours)" | Stevie Wonder
"XO" | John Mayer
"Wagon Wheel" | Darius Rucker
"You Make My Dreams" | Hall & Oates
"You Are The Best Thing" | Ray Lamontagne
"Loving You Easy" | Zac Brown Band
"Riptide" | Vance Joy
"Dancing In The Moonlight" | King Harvest
"Beautiful Crazy" | Luke Combs

As the cocktail hour wrapped up, all of the wedding guests were moved inside to prepare for dinner and another special and impactful moment with Shelby + Greg. 

BRIDAL PARTY INTRODUCTION SONG: "Best Day Of My Life" | American Authors
FIRST DANCE SONG: "Tenerife Sea" | Ed Sheeran
BRIDE / GRANDMOTHER DANCE SONG: "Isn't She Lovely" | Stevie Wonder
MOTHER / SON DANCE SONG: "Humble And Kind" | Tim McGraw

Over the past several years, Ed Sheeran has released one of the most beautiful modern love songs. His music will be showing up on wedding playlists for many years to come. Shelby + Greg would do their first dance to one of those songs. In 2014, Ed Sheeran released his album x (pronounced Multiply), which would feature his songs "Thinking Out Loud" and 'Shape Of You". Not released as a single was the equally beautiful song "Tenerife Sea". The song was never released as a single, but would gain popularity through streaming. Shelby + Greg would ask to dance to the entire song as they spent a considerable amount of time choreographing a special dance for the song.

A very special moment as Shelby dances with her grandmother

Another special moment as Greg does a dance with his mother.

After the special dances were done, the bridal party and guests would prepare for dinner, which would be followed by toasts and Shelby + Greg's  cutting of the cake. 

Shelby + Greg's Dinner Music Selections
"Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You" | Frankie Valli 
"The Way You Look Tonight" | Frank Sinatra
"Better Together" | Jack Johnson
"I'm Yours" | Jason Mraz
"Amazed" | Lonestar
"What A Wonderful World" | Louis Armstrong
"Everything" | Michael Buble
"Marry Me" | Train
"Come Away with Me" | Norah Jones
"L.O.V.E" | Nat King Cole
"Today Was A Fairytale" | Taylor Swift
"Until I Found You" | Stephen Sanchez
"Fly Me To The Moon" | Frank Sinatra
"Have I Told You Lately" | Van Morrison
"You And Me" | Lifehouse
"Your Body Is A Wonderland" | John Mayer
"Scenes From An Italian Restaurant" | Billy Joel

CAKE CUTTING SONG: "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)" | James Taylor

After Shelby + Greg cut the cake, it was time to kick off the party and I must say that their families and guests came to Middleton Place ready to party.

Shelby + Greg's Dance Music Selections
"September" | Earth-Wind & Fire
"Low" | FloRida
"London Bridge" | Fergie
"Levitating" | Dua Lipa


"Summer of '69" | Bryan Adams
"Mr. Brightside" | The Killers
"Cha Cha Slide" | DJ Casper
"I Wanna Dance With Somebody" | Whitney Houston
"Hips Don't Lie" | Shakira

"We Are Family" | Sister Sledge
"Wobble" | VIC
"Just Dance" | Lady Gaga
"Africa" | Toto
"Sweet Caroline" | Neil Diamond

"Party In The USA" | Miley Cyrus
"Don't Stop Believin" | Journey
"Shut Up And Dance" | Walk The Moon
"The Anthem" | Pitbull

"All The Small Things" | Blink 182
"Cold Heart" | Dua Lipa with Elton John
"Perfect" | Ed Sheeran
"I Gotta Feeling" | Black Eyed Peas

By special request of Shelby's sister, the last song of the evening ended up being "C'Mon Ride It (The Train) by the Quad City DJs.  It was truly a magical way to end this magical wedding day for Shelby + Greg.

In closing, I just have to say that the perfect execution of Shelby + Greg's wedding is one of my proudest moments in the recent history of my award winning DJ company.   Professional wedding DJs don't ever just show up to play music. There were a series of steps taken before I showed up to Middleton Place.  There were a series of phone calls and emails had. There were a series of road trips out to the venue for review. There was a final meeting with Shelby + Greg just days before their special day. The success I had on Shelby + Greg's wedding day would not have been possible without laser focus on all of the details.   I would love to thank Nia Thompson who traveled to Charleston from Atlanta, along with her assistant to make sure Shelby + Greg had the time of their lives on their big day. I'm always honored to work with wedding planners who have extreme attention to detail and Nia blew me away. Be sure to check her out by clicking the link down below. I'd also like to thank the staff at Middleton Place for their exceptional service from venue coordination to catering and everything in between.  For the modern bride and groom who is looking to have some of the most beautiful backdrop for their wedding day, I thoroughly recommend a look at Middleton Place. Be sure to check out the wedding video produced by Rebekah Loren of Rebekah Loren Creative. She did an amazing job to capture this amazing day for Shelby + Greg. If you are interested in speaking with me about my professional wedding DJ service, please click on this link and for more information about Why You Should Hire Me <---Click HERE 

Shelby + Greg's Wedding Video

VENDOR LOVE
Planner: Nia Thompson - Thompson & Tuile
Venue / Catering: Middleton Place Weddings
Photographer: Eliza Ours Photography
Videographer: Rebekah Loren Creative