There are two comments I hear most often about the Barn at Gibbet Hill. First, “The food is amazing!!”. It clearly is outstanding. I’m by no means a food critic, but I have eaten a lot of wedding meals in my day. If you are looking for a fantastic meal, you won’t go wrong with either the Barn at Gibbet Hill or the Gibbet Hill Grill. The second comment is “How do you pronounce Gibbet?” I wasn’t sure because I’ve heard it pronounced so often two different ways. I’ve worked there quite a few times over the years so I thought I should know. At the end of the night I asked Dierdre the event coordinator. The correct pronunciation is in fact with a soft “g” like “gypsy”.
With that settled I’m going to get to what I intended on writing about and that’s the music highlights.
The intros set it apart for me. Matt & Allyson chose great songs from the late 80’s & early 90’s. We kicked off with “Got My Mind Set on You” by George Harrison for the parents. The song had great energy and got the crowd going right away. Interestingly, that song was the last number one hit by any of the ex-Beatles. You can find more about it here. We followed with Heavy D’s “Now that we found Love” for the Bride and Grooms attendants. Like in the movie “Stitch” the couples each had a great dance that worked with their entrance. Lastly the B & G entered to “What I Like About You” by the Romantics. This was a huge song for me for many years that I had all but forgotten. It was so great that I brought it back as an encore just prior to the last dance.
As you can see from the photos this was a fun wedding, and it was that way from the very start. The first song packed the Barn at Gibbet Hill dance floor and it stayed that way for the duration – and that was with some potential “dance floor busters”. First, Saturday was a beautiful night and the barn has a giant covered deck over looking the picturesque Gibbet Hill & cow pasture. It might have even been tempting for me to be out enjoying the weather. In addition, the very popular hand rolled cigar bar opened just after the dancing started. I thought for sure we might lose some of the guys.
Although some may have been swayed to some degree, the dance floor at least appeared to be the place to be!!
Other unexpected musical highlights were “Family Tradition” by Hank Williams Jr. and “Wagon Wheel” by Old Crow Medicine Show. It was the McCullough family that brought these songs to life & it was fantastic. I’ve never had so much success with Hank Jr. “Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy” by Big & Rich was an easy follow up which mixed in nicely with “All Summer Long” by Kid Rock. Neither were requested but were giants with this crowd.
There was talk of a Red Sox/Yankee rivalry in the Best Man’s toast. That with the Irish in the room made the Dropkick Murphy’s “Shipping Up to Boston for a perfect choice. This song was well received and set up the final 45 minute dance set. To close out, the last official song of the night was “Piano Man” by Billy Joel. As expected this sent the crowd over the edge. There was a giant circle on the floor, lots of swaying singing and of course dancing. We could have ended there as the luxury bus was waiting out front to bring the guests back to the hotel. Instead we ended with a request from the Brides sister – “Man in the Mirror” by Michael Jackson. I almost left things as they were as “Piano Man” seemed to have been the perfect ending. Well this crowd had 1 more in them and I’m glad we went with it!!
To wrap things up, this wedding was a huge success. That doesn’t happen by accident. First I’d like to thank Terri Altergott from “Something Borrowed, Something New Events”. Her 26 page itinerary was mentioned in the toast from the Maids of Honor and was what guided us through this amazing day. Second, Suzanna March Photography took what I’m sure will be the most amazing images, without ever getting in the way or interfering with the timeline. Lastly as always, the Barn at Gibbet Hill was amazing to work with. Event though the venue is almost 90 minutes drive for me it’s one of my favorite places to work every year.
If you enjoyed a sneak peek into another couples wedding and the music choices that made it great, please read this post from a recent deCordova Sculpture Park wedding and an upcoming MIT Faculty Club wedding.
