Category Archives: Chicago String Quartet

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

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September 9, 2017
Union League of Chicago

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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

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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.

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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!

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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 🙂

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

Chicago Wedding Band Performs for Emily & Michael’s Wedding at Chicago Cultural Center

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May 20, 2017
Chicago Cultural Center

When the bride records herself singing Make You Feel My Love/Adele as a surprise to the groom for their first dance, you know it’s going to be a fantastic night! Our Chicago wedding band performed for Emily & Michael’s wedding at the Chicago Cultural Center, and we loved every minute working with these two.

The evening began with Emily & Michael’s wedding ceremony in GAR, featuring classical music selections from the Artistrings String Quartet. The bride’s brother, Billy, wrote and performed a special composition for Emily’s entrance into the room which overlooks Michigan Avenue. This is one talented family! The ceremony concluded in elegant fashion with the Overture to the Music from the Royal Fireworks. As everyone headed into cocktails, Artistrings showed why they are the most versatile string quartet in Chicago, and did a 180 degree turn into performing all of Emily & Michael’s favorite pop and rock requests.

Kirsty from LOLA Event Productions spearheaded organizing all details for the soiree, leaving no aspect unattended!

After a lively cocktail celebration, guests headed over to the other side of the building into Preston Bradley Hall, where our Chicago wedding band Chris Sarlas Orchestra welcomed them in for dinner & dancing. The biggest surprise of the night happened when Chris introduced the bride & groom into the reception and they transitioned right into their first dance. Emily’s voice soared under the Tiffany dome as they danced, and we all (including Michael) smiled from ear to ear. We live for magical moments like this.

Emily & Michael wanted a unique dinner music option that was conversation friendly, so they chose our Unplugged vocal quartet with acoustic guitar and cajon. It created the atmosphere they were looking for during dinner service, and then we kicked it into a full blown dance party!

Midway through our dance set, we invited Billy up to perform again, and the crowd went wild. ROCK STAR!

Emily, thank you for lighting up Wedding Wire with your kindness.

We cannot say enough wonderful things about the Chris & Carol Sarlas Orchestras. Our guests danced the whole night long and couldn’t stop raving about the music! We worked with many vendors for our wedding, but Chris and Carol were our absolute favorite to work with. They made sure we had the wedding experience we wanted, and didn’t try to sell us any pre-packed ideas or concepts. They make sure your day is your day and customize everything to what you’re looking for. We even had couple last minute requests (and by last minute I mean the night before the wedding) and they were able to accommodate and make it a seamless evening.

You don’t need to look anywhere else if you’re looking to have an amazing musical experience for your special occasion–Chris and Carol have it all.

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

Chicago Wedding Band Performed for Allie & Jonathan’s Wedding at The University Club of Chicago

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September 4, 2016
The University Club of Chicago
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We love celebrating on holiday weekends. They are the perfect time to host a celebration because most people have the Monday holiday as a vacation day, and who doesn’t love an extended wedding weekend?! Allie and Jonathan’s wonderful Chicago wedding was non-stop fun at the University Club in breathtaking Cathedral Hall. There are a handful of venues in Chicago that have a timeless feel and impeccable service, and the University Club is one of those coveted locations.

Catering director Lychelle Lawrenz from the Club collaborated with Nicole Zenner from LK Events, and just like magic: these two ladies created a soiree guaranteed to be a serious mega-hit!

Allie and Jonathan began their wedding day with the Artistrings Pop String Quartet providing ceremony music. With Crazy Love/Van Morrison for the wedding party entrance, and a special arrangement of Sea of Love/Cat Power for Allie’s entrance, guests knew from the very beginning of the day that this was going to be a really special celebration. Artistrings kicked off the recessional with Signed Sealed Delivered/Stevie Wonder, and then went down to the Library to entertain guests for cocktails while all vendor teams moved swiftly to reset Cathedral Hall for dinner and dancing.

While the room-turn magic was happening in Cathedral Hall, cocktailing guests enjoyed a wide selection of pop tunes, including the “must play” requests of Game of Thrones, Star Wars, and Hedwig’s Theme. Love it!

Mouthwatering food is always one of the main reasons that families choose the University Club as one of the go-to places to host a Chicago Wedding. Four courses of pure culinary delight were enjoyed by over 200 guests who were gathered to dance the night away.

Dancing began with two special family dances, and then the dance floor erupted into a massive hora – Mazel Tov!

From our rotation of over 800 tunes, Allie and Jonathan selected a playlist of the best artists to read the pulse of the evening, which was a great mix of old and new. Bruno Mars, Pharrell, Whitney Houston, Michael and Janet Jackson, Lionel Richie, Justin Timberlake and DNCE kept this Chicago wedding band on our toes.

Be sure to check out the sweetest video moment of the evening at the opening of the montage below. Let me set the stage: the band is cranking out Pharrell’s Happy, and a barefoot two-year old steals the show with his breakneck fancy footwork! Happy Feet ❤️