Happy New Year, Symphomaniacs! This time of year always naturally comes with some reflection as it's the time of year when the gigs slow down, the holiday hustle is over, and we start to book out the rest of the year.  Our years tend to fly by with wild abandon, considering we are not only musicians, but also have full-time jobs, partners, and some of us, children. This past year was filled with some fantastic gigs and we hope to see you at those same venues and even some new venues this year.  We are also actively (and speedily) booking weddings for 2019 and 2020.

We in the band have some happy news to share: our lead singers, Christine & Ricky, have also gotten engaged to one another. The two met when Ricky was auditioning for Christine's former band, She Said Sunday, and more or less sang together before they actually conversed.  Almost eight years of harmonizing later, Christine and Ricky are now actively planning their own destination wedding in Turks and Caicos for June 2020.

Both Ricky and Christine's experience in performing at weddings and working with our local vendors has facilitated their own wedding planning.  If you're considering having live music at your reception, we encourage you to reach out to a real couple who knows the ins-and-outs of the wedding business here in the Lehigh Valley.  

Contact us for our rates and details about our wedding entertainment options and hurry! We're running out of dates for 2019 and booking now for 2020.

Happy 2015 to our new fans and our fans from the very beginning! We are overjoyed that 2014 was so successful.

We booked lots of new venues! We met so many great people and got to celebrate with our wonderful new friends and fans at their happy occasions.  We'll be making our debut at Club Gravity at Chicago's Restaurant (previously Mezza Luna in Allentown). We're excited to be playing for the members of the Fullerton Fire Company in May, and playing more shows at the Coplay Saengerbund this year.  Also, we hope to soon add a few dates at the Parx Casino in Philadelphia. Several weddings are already booked here and in Philadelphia and there are a few more in the works.

We're working on new music! At rehearsal on Monday, we worked on 5 new songs that we'll be adding to upcoming sets and probably a few more in the next few weeks before we start getting ready for "wedding season". The result of our 2014 Music Poll showed the MOST votes for the Luke Bryan song "Play it Again" - so we may be adding that to our set soon.  Other high-ranked songs from our poll: "Happy" from Pharrell Williams, "Fancy" by Iggy Azalea (I am not fantastic at rapping, but I'd try it),  "Rude" by Magic (already in our set list!) and "All of Me" by John Legend.

I'm currently obsessed with Taylor Swift's "Blank Space" song and can't seem to get that out of my head...we may have to add that one as well.

What would you like to see from us in 2015? More videos? Where would you like to see us play? Let us know in the comments, and we'll do our best to make it happen. Happy New Year - hope it's a great one for you, too!

Peace, Love & Rock n' Roll,
Christine Bainbridge, Sunshine Symphony
 

Stacey and Jeff's wedding in Turks and Caicos. Music by Ricky Bell and Ian Frey of Sunshine Symphony.

Eloping isn't quite the same as it used to be. According to a survey by TheKnot.com, 24% of brides choose a destination wedding - where not only the bride and groom escape to an exotic location, but the wedding guests do, too! A vacation and a wedding in one, destination weddings have an average of 86 guests! 

One unique thing that Sunshine Symphony can offer is entertainment for your destination wedding ceremony, rehearsal dinner and reception.  Just this past week, Ricky, Ian and Christine traveled to Turks and Caicos in the British West Indies (just next door to the Bahamas and the Dominican Republic) for our friends and longtime fans Stacey and Jeff's wedding.  It was a wonderful opportunity to escape someplace warm in spite of a dreary, chilly Spring...but behind the scenes, it required an immense amount of planning and coordination to make it happen. We are happy to say that everything went off with only one hitch - Stacey and Jeff's "hitching!" (Sorry for the corny wedding joke).

Destination wedding planning is challenging, and it seems like a lot of jumping through hoops to get it to happen (and it is), but it can happen. If you have your heart set on having your favorite musicians play your song as you walk down the flower-petal lined beach aisle, it can be done.

One thing we discovered is that Top 40 bands in the islands are few and far between - in fact, there was ONE in Turks and Caicos and the restaurant manager we talked to said they were not so good. You could always hire a DJ, sure - but it's just not the same. I can vouch for that!

At Stacey and Jeff's wedding, the walkway for the bridesmaids and bridal party was LONG. In fact, Stacey wanted Jason Mraz's song "I Won't Give Up" performed for her bridal party AND her processional, and the song would have ended way before she even got on the beach. Ricky and Ian were able to add instrumental parts to make up time so she set foot on the beach at the very moment in the song she wanted. Cue Stacey's tears. There is just something so special about someone singing your favorite song live.

Since making Stacey and Jeff's dream wedding come true this week, we know what it takes to get us and our gear to your destination wedding location. We can handle getting necessary things like work permits, Customs and Immigration, dealing with wedding planners, and renting sound equipment so everyone can hear us perform, too. For what it's worth, Christine also speaks French so she can communicate with the appropriate wedding professionals if need be.

If you're getting married and are thinking about music for your destination wedding, please don't hesitate to contact us. We LOVE making couples happy on their special day!