Wedding Music: String Quartet for Stephanie & Marc!

Wedding Music for a Charming Catholic Ceremony

Wedding Music in Scranton, Wilkes Barre: String Quartet (violin, viola, cello) — The Wedding Party
(photo Courtesy Julie Jordan Photography)

About Stephanie & Marc’s Wedding Music…

Earlier in 2015, the Valenches Music Company worked to create wedding music that was both classic and elegant to fit Stephanie and Marc’s unique style. The couple opted for a string quartet (2 violins, viola & cello), in addition to organ, oboe and voice for their Catholic wedding ceremony at St. Mary of Mt. Carmel Church in Dunmore, PA.

The Wedding Music Team

The Valenches Music Company String Quartet
- Violin 1: Fritz Valenches
- Violin 2: Leah Valenches
- Viola: Lynn Hurst
- Cello: Peter Brubaker
Director & Organ: Joseph Moffitt
Soprano: Anne Marie Cannon
Oboe: Tom Heinze

The Ceremony & Wedding Music…

The Valenches Music Company String Quartet performed a variety of classical and operatic preludes as guests arrived, creating the charming atmosphere the couple had envisioned for their wedding music. Stephanie’s father, Gene, approached us about a YouTube video he saw of Schubert’s “Ave Maria” featuring oboe on melody and an obligato violin part. We reached out to our go-to composition expert, Juliet Valenches (she’s our daughter and just 11 years old!), to help us recreate this piece for the presentation to the Blessed Mother and it worked beautifully.

Other notable selections for the wedding music included:

Seating of the Mothers: “Intermezzo” (Mascagni)
Procession of Bridesmaids: “Hallelujah” (Cohen – arr. by the Valenches Music Co.)
Procession of the Bride: “Wedding Processional” from the Sound of Music (Rodgers/Hammerstein)
Preparation of Gifts: “The Prayer” (Foster)
Communion: “Musetta’s Aria” (Puccini)

Working with the Valenches Music Company…

“I would be remiss if I did not reach out to you regarding our daughter’s wedding last Saturday. I knew we were dealing with pros but really never had reason to hire musicians before. From the minute the church doors opened, we knew it would be great. Great would be an understatement. Everything I had wished for was performed to perfection. To hear it all come together live was so moving and beautiful. We put a lot of thought into that day and the music was very important to us. The Valenches Music Company delivered the GRAND SLAM! We cannot say enough how beyond pleased we were and the guests also were so impressed with the music. Once, twice, three times again, THANK YOU!!!”

~ Gene & Maribeth (Parents of Stephanie)

About Stephanie & Marc

How They Met…

“Marc and I were introduced by mutual friends at a bar in downtown Scranton in 2008. We were just friends for a couple of years, although my friends kept telling me he wanted to be more. Since he never told me himself, I just ignored it. I even went so far as to try to set him up with one of my best friends from PSU on Parade Day when she was visiting!”

“Marc and I grew very close, talked all of the time, went out every time I came in from Philly, etc. Throughout the summer of 2011, my friends point blank told me that they were sick of listening to him talk about me and that I either needed to give him a chance or tell him that I wasn’t interested. At this point, he STILL hadn’t ever told me any of this himself. We went on an awkward “friend dinner date” in Philadelphia in August of 2011. The conversation was awkward. We were awkward. It just wasn’t us. In September, Marc finally manned up and told me how he felt. We have been together ever since!”

The Proposal…

“Marc proposed to me on Friday, December 13, 2013. I was living in Philadelphia at the time, but was out of town traveling for work and came home that weekend before heading back to Philadelphia. Marc’s 30th birthday was that Saturday, December 14th. What Marc didn’t know is that I had arranged a surprise party for him at Stalter’s with all of our friends and family on the night of his birthday. I got into town a little late on Friday, so we ordered take-out and went over to his house to eat and help his mom decorate the Christmas tree. I, of course, forgot to bring home sweats, so borrowed an old “work” sweatshirt from my mom which had a PrimeMed logo on it, managed to spill food on the front, and was just an overall mess.”

“After we ate, Marc went upstairs for a little and I was putting ornaments on the tree with his mom. When he came back down, he said he forgot his medicine upstairs and asked his mom to go get it for him. Naturally, I started to tell him he was lazy and that he should go back up himself rather than making his mom do it. A couple minutes later, as I was grabbing another ornament out of the box, I turned back toward the tree and he was down on one knee. I thought he dropped an ornament or something and was completely caught off guard.”

“I had no idea he was even considering proposing to me and did not even see it coming which is what made it so special! What was even better was that we got to celebrate with everyone the next night at his surprise birthday party which worked until we got into the parking lot and he saw cars he knew. At the party, Marc told me that he called multiple friends that week asking them if I was throwing him a surprise party, hoping that someone would give in so that he can flip the surprise on me and propose to me in the doorway as we were walking in. To my advantage, since I get flustered and embarrassed when put in the spotlight, not a single one of them said anything!”

The Wedding

The Flowers…

“Having my dad be able to do all of the flowers was one of the best parts of the wedding. He was so excited and had so many ideas, so Marc and I just let him run with it. From the moment I walked into the church to the moment the reception was over, I was wowed by his work and how classy and elegant everything looked. I’ve seen him do some pretty amazing weddings, but nothing like that, especially when it came to the head table. I could not have dreamed of a better setup for everything.”

The Dress…

“When shopping for my dress, I knew I wanted something classic and elegant, not strapless, and maybe with some sparkle. Probably about 3-4 years prior to being engaged, my mom saved a website with a wedding gown that she thought was stunning. When she showed it to me, I hated it and told her that the top looked like a bathing suit and that it was way too plain, not my style, and I will never wear something like that. After trying on gowns at 4 different places and not finding anything, I was so frustrated because no one seemed to have what I was looking for.”

“When we went to La Bella Moda in Conshohocken, PA, I knew they carried Paloma Blanca gowns, the designer of the gown that my mom had saved in her favorite places. I decided to pacify her and ask if they had it and sure enough, they did! As soon as I tried it on, I knew it was my gown. She had this huge grin on her face saying “I told you so.” Lesson learned – mother knows best! With the help of Debbie Sherman from Sew Smart and Marc’s Aunt Pearl’s antique pearl earrings, the gown and accessories were exactly what I had envisioned.”

The Fire!

“One scary (and unique I guess you could say) part of the day happened when we first got to the reception before all of the guests started arriving. Marc and I were looking at our cake (which was another one of my favorite parts of the wedding — a funfetti sprinkle covered cake!) and went around to the back of it to see the covered button details that Community Bake Shop had added. Behind the cake was a screen that had small candles lit all throughout. A couple minutes later, my mom and some bridesmaids started screaming because my veil had dipped into one of the lower candles and caught on fire. Within seconds, my dad ended up somehow thinking about the amount of hairspray in my hair and saving the day by grabbing the veil from where it was pinned into my hair and ripped it (and my hair) out.”

“Amazingly, and we still don’t know how, the only physical reminders of the fire were a small brown spot on my train (which was getting bustled anyway), half of a veil with lace edging dangling from it, and the fact that my hair was completely ripped out. Luckily for me, my hairdresser, Kelly, also a very good friend of ours, happened to be at the bar down the street with other guests waiting for cocktail hour to start and was there within seconds to put me back together before the receiving line started. I don’t know what I would have done without her! Once Marc and I both realized that I was fine and that my skin on my back wasn’t burnt (and for me, that my gown was fine), we laughed about it and went on with the night as if it never happened!”

The Couple’s Wedding Vendors

Flowers: Seamons-Poinsard Florist (570) 961 – 0843 (Stephanie’s Father!)
Caterer: Constantino’s
Cake: Community Bake Shop
Venue: St. Mary’s Center
Photographer: Julie Jordan Photography
Videographer: Kevin Fonash
Makeup: Carina Scott Makeup (Carina is Stephanie’s best friend and was one of her matrons of honor. She’s also a Valenches Music Company wedding client!)
Hair: Kelly Lamond
Wedding Music: the Valenches Music Company

Best Wishes Stephanie & Mark!

Wedding Music by our Professionals…

Nothing says “memorable” for your event like live musicians. Our highly skilled musicians know just the way to make your event exceptional. When you’ve got the Valenches Music Company, you’ve got the best. There’s no holding your breath about what you’ll be hearing at your event. We only play with the area’s best and most seasoned string players. The Valenches Music Company offers a variety of performance combinations, including solo instruments (to be accompanied by piano or organ), duos, trios, quartets, quintets and more. (Check here for more information about what the Valenches Music Company can do for you!)

Wedding Music, String Quartet, String Trio, String Duo, Solo Violin — The Valenches Music Company’s Wedding Music Professionals

The Valenches Music Company Professional String Group

We have thousands of events under our belt and a healthy following of of repeat business and referrals. Our event appropriate music collection ranges from Mozart and Beethoven to opera and Joplin Rags. We can play anything and everything, provided we have music. If you’ve got something unconventional in mind, the Valenches Music Company is happy to arrange music at competitive rates as well.

The Valenches Music Company provides music virtuosity for events all over Northeastern Pennsylvania. We’ve played literally thousands of events in NEPA at a variety of venues and locations. Check out our locations page for more.

Our musicians have performed with many notable names including: Frank Sinatra, Al Martino, Tony Bennett, Bing Crosby, Liberace, Bobby Vinton, Engelbert Humperdinck, Olivia Newton John, Bread, Moody Blues, Johnny Mathis, Bob Hope, Rosemary Clooney, Richard Harris, Cathy Rigby, Canadian Brass, The Irish Tenors, Regis Philbin, Susan Lucci and Clay Aiken.

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