Category Archives: Artistrings

Artistrings, Chicago Pop String Quartet, Chicago String Quartet, Chicago Wedding Band, Chicago Wedding Ceremony, Chris Sarlas Orchestra

Chicago Wedding Band Performed for Annie & Tommy’s Wedding at Marriott Lincolnshire Resort

Leave a comment

October 14, 2017
Marriott Lincolnshire Resort

IMG_4633
Our Chicago wedding band performed for Annie & Tommy’s wedding at Marriott Lincolnshire Resort on the rainiest day of the year, which can only mean amazing luck for this fun loving couple! Beginning with the Artistrings pop string quartet for ceremony & cocktails, (don’t forget the two bagpipers performing their ceremony recessional) and Chris’ band for a New York style reception with dancing between courses, this Chicago wedding celebration went nonstop all night long!

Our incredible vocal team (Jae, Dayna, Tim and Andy) along with acoustic guitar and cajon, dazzled everyone with an ‘Unplugged’ set during entree service. For their guests’ added enjoyment during dessert, Annie and Tommy invited a group of Irish dancers (led by their friend Kevin) to provide a fun, high energy ten minute show.

We love performing a great variety of styles on every party, and their first dance was a lesser known song from Marcus Mumford ‘When I Put My Hands On You.’ It was a wonderful choice with an extraordinary message!

Annie and Tommy chose dozens of fantastic party tunes, but one of the most fun requests came from Annie’s family. Her family’s MUST PLAY at every celebration is ‘Walk The Dinosaur’/Was Not Was. As you’ll see in the video, the line of dancers snaked through the whole tent!

What rain? I just saw a great Chicago wedding band at an incredible Chicago wedding 🙂

Thank you, Annie, for the Wedding Wire love!

My husband and I hired the Chris Sarlas Orchestra for our wedding and it was the best decision we made for our special day. They were absolutely amazing, kept the dance floor packed all night and our friends and family are still talking about it saying it was the best wedding they have been to and the best band they have seen. They work with you on all details and execute your songs and music perfectly. Hire them, you will be grateful you did. They will make your wedding 🙂

Artistrings, Carol Sarlas Orchestra, Chicago Corporate Entertainment, Chicago String Quartet, Chicago Wedding Band, Chicago Wedding Ceremony

Chicago Wedding Band Performed for Alison & Karl’s Wedding at Marriott Lincolnshire Resort

Leave a comment

Marriott Lincolnshire Resort
December 30, 2017

Our Chicago wedding band performed for Alison & Karl’s Wedding at Marriott Lincolnshire Resort, and as you will see from the video clips, it was an amazing celebration! Customizing a package was key for this super sweet couple. Alison’s grandfather was a cellist in the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and she had always dreamed of having her wedding party walk down the aisle to the Adagio from Beethoven’s Op. 132 string quartet. The Artistrings string quartet timed this perfectly for their processional, along with a stately arrangement of the Promenade from Pictures at an Exhibition for Alison’s grand entrance.

Dancing to the Carol Sarlas Orchestra followed in the Grand Marquis tent. Kudos to the Marriott, as we were toasty warm on the coldest day of the year!

Artistrings, Carol Sarlas Orchestra, Chicago Wedding Band

Chicago Wedding Band Performed for Jenna & Adam’s Wedding at Oak Brook Hills Resort

Leave a comment

September 16, 2017
Oak Brook Hills Resort

IMG_3912-2

Our Chicago wedding band performed for Jenna & Adam’s wedding at Oak Brook Hills Resort, and our video clips tell the story. From Artistrings for their ceremony music, through Carol’s 11 piece band for dancing, this crowd went nonstop all night long, and only took a short break to go outside for the spectacular fireworks display. Nicole Zenner from LK Events brought everything together seamlessly, and made it look effortless 🙂

Artistrings, Chicago Pop String Quartet, Chicago String Quartet, Chicago Wedding Band, Chris Sarlas Orchestra

Chicago Wedding Band Performed for Melli & Steve’s Wedding at Union League Club of Chicago

Leave a comment

September 9, 2017
Union League of Chicago

IMG_3679

Our Chicago wedding band was thrilled to join Melli & Steve for their wedding reception at the Union League Club of Chicago. We always LOVE performing at the ULC! From cocktails on the 2nd floor with the Artistrings pop string quartet, to dancing between courses with Chris’ 14 piece Chicago wedding band, Melli & Steve’s wedding was one to remember.

Question: What’s the best way to guarantee an exceptional Chicago wedding reception?
Answer: A team of rockstar vendors working together! Ken Severin and his entire staff pay close attention to every detail of the evening, making the Union League one of Chicago’s most popular and respected venues. Add Stephanie Cook’s team of Creative Planners led by Michelle Alex to the mix, and you’ve gathered the key ingredients for a killer celebration.

Cocktails were held on the second floor, where 250 guests were thrilled by the Artistrings Pop Quartet as they visited and relaxed after the beautiful ceremony at St. Demetrios Church.

Melli and Steve wanted a New York style reception with continuous music all night long, which is this Chicago wedding band’s very favorite type of reception to play! Their first dance: This Magic Moment/The Drifters established the perfect mood to transition into a short dance set to get the evening started. We loved looking out on the packed dance floor and seeing so many happy guests, some of which had never been to an East Coast style dance party. Their jubilant reactions told us that they approved, in a very big way!

Music requests during dinner included several authentic big band Frank Sinatra arrangements, including Young At Heart for the evening’s father/daughter dance. When entree service began, we pared things down to an ‘Unplugged’ set. Featuring our incomparable vocal team of Jae, Dayna, Tim and Andy, along with acoustic guitar and cajon, guests were treated to hip arrangements of popular songs that were also conversation friendly 🙂

From there, it’s was all about Melli and Steve’s vision of continuous dance music for the rest of the night!

Here are some fun clips of the evening:

Check out the surprise during Sweet Caroline. One of the guests heard the intro, and walked onto the stage with laser focus…to perform the song with Andy! Andy took it all in stride and literally, did not miss a beat.

Oh what a night, Melli and Steve!

Artistrings, Chicago Pop String Quartet, Chicago String Quartet, Chicago Wedding Band, Chris Sarlas Orchestra, Unplugged Vocal Quartet - Dinner Music

Chicago Wedding Band Performed for Molly & Angelo’s Wedding at Drake Chicago

Leave a comment

July 15, 2017
The Drake Hotel

Molly & Angelo met while working together at NBC in South Bend, IN, and they chose one of our very favorite ballrooms for their Chicago wedding day, the Gold Coast Room at the Drake.

IMG_2642

From our first conversation together, we knew that this party merging Irish, German, and Sicilian traditions was going to be off the charts! Our Chicago wedding band performed for Molly & Angelo’s wedding at the Drake Chicago, and there were so many special moments to remember: Artistrings pop string quartet kicked things off for cocktail hour, family friend and tenor Tony Milioto brought down the house with O Sole Mio and Nessun Dorma during dinner, dancing featured an extended tarantella for all guests to enjoy, and we learned Allentown/Billy Joel in honor of Angelo’s home town.

Check out Angelo and his dad singing a special Italian song together – one of the sweetest moments ever!

IMG_2787

Molly & Angelo wanted to celebrate with an East-Coast style (New York style) wedding, so once we entered the Gold Coast Room for dinner service, we got everyone up to dance for a few minutes. We love how a NY style wedding gets the energy of the wedding up from the minute the reception starts, it’s so much fun! Here’s an uncut video clip of part of this dance set, so you can see how we transition between tunes to keep everyone on the floor.

We featured this smaller 8 piece Chicago wedding band for dancing between courses, and then our Unplugged vocal quartet with acoustic guitar and cajon during dinner service. For dancing after dinner, we expanded to the full 11 piece band (with horn section) for all of their requested favorites including Michael Jackson, Earth, Wind and Fire, James Brown and Bruno Mars. One of the best moments of the night was watching the dancers tear up the dance floor with another special request: Mambo Italiano!

There’s more video coming up soon, and our most sincere thanks to Nicole Zenner and her team from LK Events for making everything so easy 🙂