UPCOMING CONCERT!

Hello everyone!! It has been a VERY busy summer for us and we have been posting more to facebook than to the blog, but we would love to announce an upcoming concert! 

Sunday, September 25th Chesapeake Strings Quartet Concert! 

2:00 p.m. at St. Andrew By the Bay, Upper Hall, Parish Center,

701 College Parkway, Annapolis, MD 21409

A great chance to meet us and hear us perform before your event!

We will be performing Dvorak "American" String Quartet, two movements from Mendelssohn Quartet No. 2, and a fun encore! The concert should be under an hour and we will have a light reception afterwards. This is a great chance to come meet us and see us in action before your event! Please stop by, enjoy the music, and say hello!

We are weddingwire rated for 2011!

Chesapeake Strings is now WeddingWire Rated for 2011

{Baltimore, MD} - {July 6, 2011} - WeddingWire, the nation's leading wedding technology company, is pleased to announce that Chesapeake Strings is WeddingWire Rated 2011 for the business category of Wedding Ceremony Musicians. WeddingWire Rated is an annual award program that distinguishes wedding vendors across the country for their excellence. Based on hundreds of thousands of recent wedding reviews, WeddingWire Rated is the most recognized and trusted brand among engaged couples looking to find the best local businesses for their wedding. 

Chesapeake Strings has 17 reviews on WeddingWire. Reviews by our newlywed clients include detailed ratings and insightful descriptions about their experiences working with our business and staff. Our reviews provide transparency for potential clients, assisting them in making the most informed decisions for their big day. 

"We are delighted to unveil the 5th annual WeddingWire Rated program," said Timothy Chi, CEO, WeddingWire, Inc. " Chesapeake Strings has made a commitment to capturing their clients experiences on the nation's leading wedding review site." 

As the largest site for wedding reviews, WeddingWire empowers engaged couples with the most comprehensive and trusted review system available. The WeddingWire Rated program provides Chesapeake Strings with a simple platform to capture customer feedback from their wedding planning experience. Newly engaged couples can easily access all of the reviews for Chesapeake Strings on WeddingWire.com. We would like to thank our newlyweds for our WeddingWire Rated 2011 recognition. 

For more information, please visit Chesapeake Strings on WeddingWire at [http://www.weddingwire.com/biz/chesapeake-strings-baltimore/26a277138bc3ec30.html]. 

For more information on WeddingWire Rated 2011, please visit www.WeddingWire.com. 

About WeddingWire, Inc. 
WeddingWire, the nation's leading technology company serving the $70 billion wedding industry, is the only online wedding planning resource designed to empower both engaged couples and wedding professionals. For engaged couples, WeddingWire offers the ability to search, compare and book over 200,000 local wedding vendors, from wedding venues to wedding photographers to wedding cakes. WeddingWire also offers an online community and a suite of cutting-edge planning tools for weddings, including wedding websites and wedding checklists, all at no charge. For wedding professionals, WeddingWire provides free online management tools creating the only market opportunity that gives local businesses control over their clients, reviews, leads and performance. Businesses that join the WeddingWire Network appear on WeddingWire.com and other leading sites, including ProjectWedding.com, MarthaStewartWeddings.com (NYSE: MSO), Weddingbee.com, and Celebrations.com (part of the 1-800-Flowers family of brands, NASDAQ: FLWS).

Love by Serena Photography

Hello all! Sorry it's been so long since our last blog post! We have had a very busy spring and have had the pleasure of meeting more and more lovely couples and awesome vendors! Below are some pictures from a wedding we played at the Kent Manor Inn back in May. We worked with Love by Serena photography--a husband and wife couple who shoot GORGEOUS pictures and were kind enough to share some with us. Check them out!

Click HERE to go to Serena's website.

St. Jude's Hope in the Harbor Gala!

We had the opportunity to donate our music to a fundraising event for St. Jude's children's hospital last week at the American Visionary Art Museum! Local photographer Teri Pozniak was generous enough to take a couple group photos and share them with us. Look her up online at http://www.tpozphoto.com/ you won't be disappointed!

Serenading the guests with some Gershwin classics

L to R: cellist Dan, violist Elizabeth, and violinist Justin

New video!

We played at the Chesapeake Bay Beach Club Bridal Show this past January, where our string trio was featured at the beginning of the bridal fashion show. Here is a video of our performance courtesy of videographer Matthew Buerhaus! We played Pachelbel's Canon, Trumpet Voluntary, All You Need Is Love (The Beatles), and Any Way You Want It (Journey).

Chesapeake Strings Presentation from Matthew Buerhaus on Vimeo.

Happy Spring!

With daylight savings last week and the official start of spring tomorrow, I wanted to post some pictures of some bright green and light pink weddings--a favorite color combination of mine.  Our busiest wedding season at Chesapeake Strings begins in April and we are looking forward to seeing spring colors and providing outdoor music in warmer weather!

Lovebird Discount!

Happy Valentine's Day weekend, everyone!  We here at Chesapeake Strings love love, romantic music, and everything that February 14th entails.  We would also love to offer you a Valentine's Day discount this weekend--book with us by Tuesday, February 15th and receive 10% off of our services for your upcoming wedding or event!  We are currently booking events through February 2012.  New inquiries only, please.  Enjoy the weekend!  


Red Velvet Cupcakes

Announcing our first AWARD!

Chesapeake Strings is thrilled to announce that we have won a 2011 Bride's Choice award through weddingwire.com!  Thank you to all of our 2010 couples and we are looking forward to our busy 2011 season!  See press release below.

Baltimore, MD – January 24, 2011 - WeddingWire, the nation’s leading wedding technology company, is thrilled to announce Chesapeake Strings has been selected to receive the prestigious annual WeddingWire Bride’s Choice Awards™ 2011 for Ceremony Music! 

Recognition for the Bride’s Choice Awards™ 2011 is determined by recent reviews and extensive surveys from over 750,000 WeddingWire newlyweds. Our past clients are among those that shared their experiences on WeddingWire, the largest wedding review site in the nation. 

Chesapeake Strings stands among the top five percent of wedding professionals in the WeddingWire community, representing quality and service excellence within the wedding industry. Awards were given to the top wedding professionals across 20 service categories, from wedding venues to wedding photographers, and were based on the overall professional achievements throughout the past year. 

“WeddingWire is honored to celebrate the success of the top-rated wedding professionals within the WeddingWire community,” said Timothy Chi, WeddingWire’s Chief Executive Officer. “With the annual Bride’s Choice Awards™ program, WeddingWire has the unique opportunity to recognize the best wedding professionals across the US and Canada. We applaud Chesapeake Strings for their professionalism and dedication to enhancing the wedding planning experience last year.” 

We are happy to announce that Chesapeake Strings are among the very best Ceremony Musicians within the WeddingWire Network, which includes leading wedding planning sites WeddingWire, Martha Stewart Weddings, Project Wedding and Weddingbee. We would like to thank our past clients for nominating us to receive the Bride’s Choice Awards™ 2011. 

For more information, please visit our WeddingWire Storefront today at http://www.weddingwire.com/biz/chesapeake-strings-baltimore/26a277138bc3ec30.html

For more information on the Bride’s Choice Awards™ 2011, please visit www.WeddingWire.com. 

Upcoming Bridal Show!

Happy New Year, everyone!  Just wanted to announce that we will be playing at the 10th annual Chesapeake Bay Beach Club Bridal Show this Saturday, January 8!  The show is from 12-4 p.m. with a fashion show at 2:15 (for which we will be providing the music).  Tickets are being sold online through the Beach Club's website, www.baybeachclub.com, and at the door.  This is the perfect opportunity for you to come listen to us live and to chat with us about your wedding day.  Hope to see you there!

Happy Holidays!

Below is a Christmas Eve photo of Chesapeake Strings after we played the midnight mass at St. Andrews by the Bay Church in Annapolis!  Here we are with the church's music director and one of our regular violinists, Zack Stachowski.  Hope everyone is having a wonderful and relaxing holiday season!

I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm...

I love the winter weather.  We haven't seen any snow yet here in Maryland (which I'm sure most Marylanders don't mind after last year), but Chesapeake Strings has been getting into the Holiday spirit with some fun holiday parties and winter weddings.  My favorite traditional winter wedding scheme is navy blue, silver, and ivory.  Just imagine taking your outdoor wedding pictures overlooking the Chesapeake Bay, wearing white (faux) fur, and then warming up by the fireplace with some Ghirardelli hot chocolate...

Maryland/DC Holiday Party Music Offer!

We don't mean to sound as eager as many holiday-bedecked stores post-Halloween, but we would love to offer anyone planning a holiday party in Maryland or DC a $100 discount if you choose us to provide your live classical music this season!  Happy *early* holidays and stay tuned for a winter wedding post soon!

Summer Wedding: Our string trio at the Inn at Brookeville Farms

Chesapeake Strings provided wedding ceremony music this summer in Brookeville, Maryland where we worked alongside Annapolis photographer Kate Pelura.  Here are some pictures Kate sent us from the wedding!  (Lucky for us, this was not one of those 100+ degree summer days!)

Our trio this day: Justin Gopal (violin), Elizabeth Polek (viola), and our friend Elizabeth M. (cello)

Justin Gopal

Elizabeth M.

Thanks to Kate for the photos!  To see more of Kate's work, please visit her website here!

Christy Aspinwall

We'd like to recognize a local hair and make-up artist with this post!  Christy Aspinwall is based out of Laurel, MD but travels throughout the MD/DC area.  She styled Elizabeth's hair for our own photo shoot and Elizabeth had a fantastic experience with her.  Here are some pictures of Christy's recent stylings:

A note from Christy:

I have a lot to offer any bride and aim to rejuvenate and pamper you, your friends, and family.  I am available and willing to travel to your wedding location and my goal is to accentuate your natural beauty on your special day!

To contact Christy about your wedding or event, call 970.227.8749.  Or, search for her on weddingwire.com.

Halloween Discount!

Ready for some not-so-spooky savings?  Email us your favorite Halloween candy and we'll give you 10% off if you book us by October 31!  

Happy Halloween!

A Quick Pic

Just wanted to share a picture of Justin and Devree playing as a violin/cello duo at a wedding last weekend!  Here they are outside at the Gramercy Mansion, most likely during the actual ceremony:

Thanks to Amy P. for the photo!

I don't know what to do, I think I'm fallin' for you

Yes!  It's starting to feel like fall here in Maryland!  Autumn might just be my favorite time of year (until the holiday shopping season...)  Revision: autumn is my favorite time of the year to hold a wedding.  The leaves are turning, pumpkins are abundant, the air is crisp, and, as I mentioned two posts ago, Starbucks has pumpkin spice lattes.  Win. (If only all PSL's featured pumpkin latte art like this one I found at javaqueen.com!)
I love the colors of pumpkin and red wine for a fall wedding.  Here come the pictures:

Happy Fall!

Click, Click, Click, Flash

I am so happy to be able to post some pictures from our amazing photoshoot with Allison Britton, Alexandria-based wedding photographer!  We had the best time taking these photos, and Allison was kind enough to shoot both in her studio and outside on the Potomac River.  Check out her website to see all of her gorgeous wedding, engagement, trash the dress and boudoir photos.
To visit Allison's website, click here!

Listen In!

Hello hello!  We've been recording lately and now we have some new song clips on our main site!  The clips are all classical pieces for string trio--standard wedding fare.  It's been a little tough because we've been using a computer and attached microphone, which don't always want to work together.  We hope to reconvene soon and produce even better quality recordings.


Please keep looking forward to more and more clips!  Here are the links to a few newbies.  Enjoy :)


Processional Music:
Canon by Pachelbel
Bridal Chorus by Wagner
Flower Song from Lakme by Delibes


Recessional Music:
Entrance of the Queen of Sheba by Handel
Wedding March by Mendelssohn

In our next post:
PSL's are out!  For those of you not as obsessed as I, PSL=Pumpkin Spice Latte.  Unfortunately, it's been a bit too warm in Maryland to truly enjoy fall's greatest gift as of yet.  But, I will of course be blogging about fall weddings and everything pumpkin very, very soon.  Those of you who know me know well how I love a PSL.

Glitter in the Air... and in your wedding

Yes, songs give me wedding ideas.  On my ipod I have a playlist called "lame mood," full of slow songs and artists like The Weepies, Frou Frou, Fleet Foxes, and Jamie Cullum.  I should say that this playlist isn't called "lame mood" because the songs are sad, because they're really not.  This is just my playlist for when I'm in a reflective, content mood.  Somehow Pink's song "Glitter in the Air" has made it onto "lame mood," and among the many miles of driving between weddings last weekend, I've listened to "Glitter in the Air" quite a few times.  

"Glitter" started me thinking... has anyone glittered their wedding?  I walked into A.C. Moore (local craft store) the other day, and can I just say that the Martha Stewart craft glitter collection is simply awesome.  Feeling down that I've been neglecting my arts-and-crafts-time, I left the store without any glitter in tow.  But can't you just imagine how you could incorporate some of that glitz into an event like a wedding?


Glittery birds cake topper by "beckykazana" on etsy:

Invitation:

Sequined Coach wristlet:

Tory Burch sequined flats:

It seems like the majority of glitter pictures I found online were in metallic colors--silver or gold.  But with the Martha Stewart glitter collection, why not take on a DIY project and dazzle your guests with whichever color you choose!  

Just Remember--no amount of wedding glitz can overpower your sparkler :)  (Tiffany.com)