Meet Dayna, Jae, Andy, and Tim! We’re loving this option for conversation-friendly dinner music. It’s a fantastic way to showcase favorite tunes in a unique and unexpected setting.
Category Archives: Chris Sarlas Orchestra
Chicago Wedding Band and Classical Strings Performed for Alexa & Aaron’s Wedding at Loews Chicago O’Hare Hotel
May 26, 2019
From the minute we met with Alexa and Aaron as they planned their Chicago Wedding, it was so evident that this Memorial Day Weekend Celebration was going to be EPIC! Loews Chicago O’Hare was the location of choice for their ceremony and reception, with 350 friends and family geared up for an incredible evening with our Chicago wedding band!
Mary Ann Kenmotsu from Loews is one of the most efficient and respected catering managers in the Chicagoland area. And believe us, it shows!
The stage was set with a beautiful huppah awaiting their ceremony arrival, accented by the Artistrings trio of violin, cello and keyboard performing their family’s favorite classical selections. Family members and wedding party made their entrance to the lilting waltz of Canon in F, while Alexa followed to the iconic Canon in D/Pachelbel. When the ceremony concluded with the traditional breaking of the glass, everyone clapped and cheered along with Simon Tov Mazel Tov, as the guests of honor made their way over to cocktails.
After a jubilant cocktail hour, the ballroom opened for their New York style reception, with the full Chris Sarlas Orchestra – and this party was READY TO DANCE! Guests flocked to the dance floor immediately, and it was clear that they were there to celebrate. The new Mr. and Mrs. soon made their entrance, with guests mobbing them for the next 20 minute dance set! (Want proof? Check out the video). Ending this opening set was their first dance, Perfect/Ed Sheeran + Beyonce. Perfect, it was 🙂
We love it when our couples choose songs that have special meaning for their mother/son and father/daughter dances. For example, there were two tables filled with Alexa and Aaron’s friends from summer camp. Apparently, one of the songs that campers sing together is House on Pooh Corner/Kenny Loggins. So, when they chose this song for dancing with parents, their friends stood at their tables, joined arms, swayed back and forth and sang along with us! It was an amazingly sweet moment.
Changing up the mood, our Unplugged vocal quartet with acoustic guitar and cajon added the perfect conversation-friendly texture they wanted during dinner service.
After dessert was served, it was time for an extended Hora as the families united at this incredible mitzvah! Here’s a super quick sample of the hora (and check out our Instagram if you want to see Alexa & Aaron up on chairs):
Added bonus: Alexa’s dad is a seasoned drummer in Chicago’s percussion community, and we were delighted that he and two of his band mates joined us for an impromptu jam session to further solidify the event’s epic status! We followed that up with a few more tunes with Andy singing. If you’ve been following us for a while, you’ll know that Andy reveals a bit of his goofball side as the party approaches late night, and we couldn’t love him more. Here’s a little taste:
Alexa and Aaron produced an absolutely incredible evening from start to finish with so many extra special personal touches through music! We were so happy to celebrate with them, and were thrilled to see this terrific Wedding Wire review:
The Sarlas Rockstars
“Chris and Carol Sarlas were an absolute delight to work with! From start to finish, they were detailed, organized, and passionate about making our wedding out of this world. They truly cared about ensuring we had every song we wanted and even let one of our dads play the drums with his band. It was a packed dance floor all night, a true testament to the band for keeping the party going. We are so thankful for them and would highly recommend to anyone looking for a Chicago-area wedding band!”
Chicago Wedding Band and Pop String Quartet Performed for Colleen & Brendan’s Wedding at Galleria Marchetti
Colleen and Brendan were engaged in early September, and booked their three most important vendor priorities within a few weeks – church, venue, and band. They wanted a Chicago wedding band that would appeal to all of their guests, so that everyone would celebrate together and keep their party on the dance floor. We were thrilled that they chose us 🙂
The day began with Colleen and Brendan’s ceremony at Old St. Pat’s. When their guests arrived at the reception, cocktails were hosted in Galleria Marchetti’s Pergola (complete with retractable roof!).The Artistrings pop string quartet kicked things off with a wide range of requests: Flashing Lights/Kanye West, Sweet Child O’ Mine/Guns N’ Roses, music from Game Of Thrones, Star Wars,…and let’s not forget those guilty pleasures like: Carly Rae Jepsen’s Call Me Maybe, Katy Perry’s Firework, and Edward Sharpe’s Home. SO much fun!
Guests then moved to the tent, with the full Chris Sarlas Orchestra setting the stage for a serious celebration! After introductions, Colleen and Brendan danced to our performance of the acoustic version of Starley’s Call On Me. This foreshadowed our Unplugged vocal quartet with acoustic guitar and cajon adding the perfect mood they wanted during dinner service.
Rather than serve a plated dessert to their guests, a dessert bar awaited everyone after we danced with parents. Their first request to kick things up for everyone was Timber/Ke$ha + Pitbull. You can see from the video highlights that there was no shortage of favorite party tunes!
Planning the best Chicago wedding starts at the top, and both Colleen and Brendan were 100% committed as a team to make sure their party was setting the bar high for all spring and summer weddings this year!
All our congratulations to Colleen & Brendan, and our most sincere thanks for this terrific Wedding Wire review:
“Chris did an amazing job performing at our wedding. I don’t recall a time when the dance floor wasn’t packed! All night our guests kept asking where we found this band and giving us compliment on what an amazing job the band was doing.
Prior to the wedding Chris took the time to make sure that he could deliver exactly what my wife and I wanted for our wedding day. Chris made the experience very personal, taking the time to learn about us as a couple. Other bands that my wife and I contacted made us feel like we were just another client to them but we never got that impression from Chris.
I would recommend Chris to anyone who is looking to book a live performance for their event. You will not be disappointed.”
Chicago Wedding Band & Pop String Quartet Played for Katie & Tyler’s Lake Geneva Wedding
Grand Geneva
October 6, 2018
Lake Geneva, WI is one of our very favorite getaway performance spots for this Chicago wedding band. With gorgeous autumn foliage it’s perfect for escaping the hustle of the big city and enjoying the crisp clean air. Katie and Tyler chose have their reception at the very popular Grand Geneva Resort, so that Katie’s family from Chicago could converge with Tyler’s family from Minnesota for a fabulous Lake Geneva wedding weekend!
When we first met with Katie & Tyler to talk about music for their wedding day, they said that they were focusing on finding the right band, because a fun dance party was at the top of their wedding day wish list. That’s our kind of couple! Why did they choose us? Well, as they were vetting wedding bands, they noticed that many other bands featured singers performing songs that weren’t a good fit for their voices. They loved that our vocalists sound natural singing the styles and songs they’re featured on, and that was the ballgame for them.
Again, our kind of couple 🙂 Needless to say, we were all super excited to head up to Lake Geneva to perform for Katie, Tyler, & their guests!
They kicked off their cocktail hour with the Artistrings pop string quartet completely flooring their guests with their incredible arrangements. Tunes included Everlong/Foo Fighters, Tom Sawyer/Rush, All You Need Is Love/Beatles, You Make My Dreams Come True/Hall & Oates, Chandelier/Sia…and SO many others that had guests singing along and tapping their toes.
The ballroom opened with the impact of the Chris Sarlas Orchestra and a New York Style flow: all guests flooded the dance floor and got the party started in the best way possible! We ended the set with You and Me/Dave Matthews for Katie & Tyler’s first dance. After the salad course, we invited Katie & her dad up for their special song together (You’re My Best Friend/Queen), and then Tyler & his mom shared their moment with Days Like This/Van Morrison. From there, we transitioned into a short dance set for everyone as Alex and her Grand Geneva Staff reset place settings for entree service. The flow was absolutely perfect for this dancing crowd!
Jenna Thayer from Graceful Events kept the party on point all night long – ensuring that guests were eating, drinking, and dancing at all the right times. Jenna is absolutely amazing at what she does, and we can’t wait for the next event we have together!
Our Unplugged vocal quartet with acoustic guitar and cajon added the perfect vibe they wanted during dinner service, and then we were back into a full tilt dance party! Justin Timberlake, Bruno Mars, Whitney Houston, Paul Simon, Stevie, Beyonce, Ke$ha, Pitbull…you name it, we played it!
Katie planned two surprises with us: a dedication of Louis Armstrong’s ‘What A Wonderful World’ in honor of her grandmother, Peggy. The other was a tune that she promised would bring the house down: S.O.B/Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats. Boy, was she right!
‘Sweet Home Alabama’/Lynyrd Skynyrd was another must, as Tyler went to school in AL.
Katie and Tyler’s wedding celebration in Lake Geneva was a night to be remembered! All our love to you guys, and our most sincere thanks for this wonderful Wedding Wire review:
Book them now! Amazing orchestra!
If you don’t book them, you simply will not have THEE best band! Chris and Carol are phenomenal people and extremely talented. They were a pleasure to work with and made the entire process fun and easy! They have a ton of experience and I so appreciated their input and expertise throughout the process. They read the room and played one great song after the next (all genres!). The only down side was that our dance floor was too small!! EVERYONE was out on the dance floor and sweaty when we were saying our goodbyes… 🙂
Our idea of a great party!
Chicago Wedding Band Performed for Mia & Quinn’s Celebration at The Westin Lombard
October 27, 2018
Our absolute favorite thing to do is to visit together and get to know each couple that chooses us to be their Chicago wedding band. Mia and Quinn are an incredible pair that exudes a peaceful, content happiness together — they’re always smiling! It follows that their celebration at the Westin Lombard was filled with over 300 of their friends and family that mirrored their cheerful character and affection!
When guests arrived for cocktails, they were musically transported to South America with our Spanish guitar duo performing a range of flamenco and latin-inspired music. This first impression was such an unexpected and fun twist to cocktail music, that guests were primed to expect the unexpected for the rest of the night 🙂
At dinnertime, the ballroom opened to impact of the band with their favorite motown, swing and pop tunes as their wedding party and families gathered themselves for introductions. The music they music they chose let everyone know in no uncertain terms that a serious dance party awaited them!
Mia and Quinn entered to deafening cheers from all, and headed straight to the dance floor. Their moment was It Had To Be You/Harry Connick Jr., and every guest knew that the bar was set way, way up high for the evening of dancing after dinner!
Tammy Jordan’s Westin staff expertly served 4 courses to their party with the greatest attention to the smallest detail while always keeping a 10,000 ft. macro view of the evening’s timeline pulse in clear view.
After dinner, we expanded a bit to the 14-piece Chris Sarlas Orchestra to play a full array of American and Greek music. Dances with parents (‘What A Wonderful World’ and ‘In The Mood’) led into an American dance set that packed the floor, only to be rivaled by the set of Greek dancing that followed! Mia was blessed to have all 4 of her grandparents there. We were so happy that one of the featured Greek dances up front was specially requested for them – this was a beautiful photo moment which will be treasured forever!
The sweet table, complete with ice cream bar (yay!) opened as we transitioned back to American dancing, and despite the mountain of delicious pastries, check out the video to experience how this party would…not…stop…dancing!!
Mia and Quinn’s happiness and health as a couple is infectious – everyone is so happy to be around them. We know we were! 🙂